oh dear Krusty.....

have you ever tried to spin a old time grinding wheel ? or an old hand crank sharpening wheel?

to get a mass rotating takes a considerable amount of power... right? well once it is rotating it doesn't take too much to keep it rotating right ? that is just like a flywheel right.

well if you have a fly wheel that's has a heavy mass, and that mass affects the overall mass of the rotating drive train, if you lighten any part of that overall mass the car will accelerate at a quicker rate due to less power taken to accelerate the overall rotating mass.

clear as mud?????

Exactly. It's just physics.

I may in time duct it to the cooling air duct like the factory did but I doubt it. I may in time turbo the car so this would be obsolete then. Absolutely no way a cold air intake would be more beneficial to this car than lightening the flywheel. Have you ever changed a car to a lightened flywheel and actually felt the big difference it makes??

Finally, the fender stretching is done!! Got the drivers side rear finished-up yesterday evening and it feels good to have that all behind me. It came out pretty darned good but was a bit tedious to get the same as the left side.



I also shaved the inner edge of the fiberglass bumpers in order to allow them to fit since the fenders wouldn't allow proper fitment without it. Luckily there's enough meet on them to trim around 1/2" off and still have them look un-modified.



I still have a bit of under fender work to do, but the part everyone see's is done. I really like the "fat squatting" look from the rear with the fat tires and the 911 banana can poking out. I may reposition the exhaust tip a little higher, but all in all the look of the rear is about where I wanted it.

I love this thread. I wish you had more time to work on this project.

Well that makes two of us!! I'm making time these days as my deadline looms near. . .

Took about an hour to shorten these IDF/DRLA manifolds 1 3/4" so they would fit into the Squarsche. I cut them apart on a band saw.



Then after beveling all the edges so I could get good penetration, I TIG welded them back together again. Then after they cooled down, I used a burr to smooth out the transition on the inside for good flow from the ITBs.

Physics? There you are. I passed HS physics by the skin of my teeth and a volunteer job as a lab assistant. I learned something today. I learn something every day.

The Cap'n

This Saturday, I got the sway bar mounts made (well mostly made) and test fitted.



I also tweeked the entire throttle cable system and get it swapped over from the single TB location to the new location that works with the ITBs on this car. This also called for a custom cable, cable sheath extension and some other stuff so that it would work in this bastard step-child of a car. The result is a SUPER smooth cable linkage. The system is from Tangerine Racing and is a piece of art. If you want smooth linkage that is simple to sync and clean, this is the only set to get.



Today, my son Josh began assembling the bottom-end of the new race motor. He's doing a great job so far and I'll post photos of that when the bottom-end comes together.

Beginning this week, my son Josh has been out of school and is coming in to give his old man a hand at the shop. But it’s not without a mission. Since he was about 8 y/o, he’s been coming in occasionally to help when he needed some extra money to buy stuff kids buy. Over the past 6 years or so, he’s been my tear-down/parts-washing king. The un-disputed king at that. Now that he is 14 y/o he’s earned a new job. . .

Monday and Wednesday, he spent the better part of both days assembling the 2.3L race motor that will be the new heart of the Squarsche. What follows are a few shots of him assembling the bottom end. I have to say that he has really listened well and is doing a bang-up job on this motor so far. I couldn’t be more proud. . .

Yea Josh!!

Josh; PM me, your probably less money than your dad for motor rebuilds.

About time you got some help. You really are fuchin slow
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Okay seriously though. Good to see Josh getting some first hand work in on the project. You have made amazing progress on it. Can't wait to see that thing in person

Nice T-Shirt Josh...Great Work!!!!!



Vysoc

Thanks guys. He's a good kid and to my surprise, through all the smart-assness he listens really well and is really careful and methodical with his actions. Which is perfect for engine building,. . . and plotting to burn down the school. . . I'll steer him to the former and hope the later never enters his mind.

Since I sent-in my car registration, Dr's certs, waivers and entry fees today, I may as well let everyone know that I'm officially planning to "pop the cherry" on the Squarsche at the Bonneville Salt Flats this September at the World of Speed event (Sept 6th-9th). We'll be attempting to gain entry into the "130 Club" which means we need two consecutive runs with an average between 130.000 - 139.999mph without going over. It's a tall order, but we're going. That's the goal, that's the mission and we're determined to make it.

Oddly, it turns out that there has NEVER been a type3 VW to compete at Bonneville so we'll be poppin' the cherry on that one too!! There has only been 1 type3 (a Fasty) to ever compete in a land speed event in the world and it was last year in Australia. Apparently they ran into motor issues and only attained a top speed of around 75mph. . . I'm hoping to better that in 3rd gear with another two gears to go.

My son and I have named our race team "Mutt Racing" since the Squarsche is a mutt-car. Our Race number is T-828 which s the average of all the cars that donated parts to the mutt, so cheer us on come early September.

As a side note: Josh is going to be towing me back to the pits after each run since "racing vehicles" are not allowed to drive back under their own power after a run (even if they are in a street car class like the 130 Club). I think Josh is more excited about getting to drive my '62 Ranchero tow vehicle than actually being part of a race team competing at Bonneville. . . He went for his first practice today on the back roads. . . I can't get that sh*t-eatin' grin off his face 3 hours later. . . Crap; hope his mother doesn't find out. . .

Wow, I'm going to know someone famous! What a cool idea. Where did this idea come from?

That is way cool Nate. Another site I visit has a couple of LSR folks - they drive Y-Block Ford pickups. They have documented how stringent the tech process is and how helpful it is to have an experienced person do a pre-check to keep from getting a big surprise at the Flats. Do you have anyone local to provide a second set of eyes?

The sort answer is NO. I'm racing with the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) in hopes of gaining entry into the 130 club which is a "street car" class. Meaning 90% of the class rules do not apply. The 130/150 Club classes are true grass-roots classes designed to get folks hooked on a high-sodium diet in hopes that next year you build a class racer. Basically only basic safety rules apply like no fuel lines in the drivers compartment, 3-point belts or better, H-series tires or better, helmet, long sleeves, long pants and closed toe shoes (the rules actually exclude sandals by name!!) etc. etc. If I were to compete for a specific class (an absolute speed record), then all the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) rules would apply and I'd need a gaggle of folks looking over my shoulder. Holy crap there are a lot of requirements and for good reason, but damn. Once you get into class racing, it becomes easy to see why sponsorship is not only a luxury, but darned-near a requirement. If I were to go class racing, I could easily see dumping $5-$10K into the car to gain compliance to the rule book and probably a lot more. It quickly becomes evident why there are so few true privateers in racing (any kind of racing).

While the obvious goal is to gain entry into the 130 club, privately, my goal is to just have a good time with my son and create memories that will last a lifetime. Any accolades are merely gravy to me and will rightfully go to Josh as the engine builder. The race is happening now. I can't imagine Bonneville being any more strenuous than what we're doing now just trying to get the car ready to run.

If in the future I do build the car for class-racing, I have several guys locally who race at Bonneville who have indicated that they would be happy to look over the car for compliance. One of the guys, Dave Tatom, used to race for Porsche in the late 50s/early 60s in Europe and raced a factory RSK. He now runs "Bonneville Betty" a bright yellow '32 Ford running one of his famous blown flathead V8s that he builds out of his shop. I've only met him once, but I came away thinking, "I should buy this guy endless beers just to hear his racing stories from the hay-day of racing" (videoing it of course for posterity). He's simply a wealth of knowlege. . .

We truly stand on the shoulders of giants that have come before us. I believe that with every fiber!!

I don't know about famous. NOTORIOUS is probably a better word.

Well, it goes back to 1974 when my mom bought me a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. Out of all the fun records like fattest man, tallest man, lingest fingernails/beard, etc, etc., the only two records that stuck in my mind were:

1. Fastest car - The Blue Flame 630+mph and
2. Longest skid - 5 miles, Spirit of America, Breedlove (of course)!!!
BOTH AT BONNEVILLE. I remember thinking that someday I should check out this place they call Bonneville. . .

The silly crap 8 y/o's remember. . .

Fast forward 38 years and one of my clients comes in and hands me a photo he recently took at Bonneville of a turbo'd bug that went around 160mph and a program for the event. . . The photo went up on my wall and the program has never left my desk. Damn him!! The die was cast and I blame HIM for it all every time he comes in!!

I had no idea that Dave Tatom had a Porsche connection. He is a legend in the flathead Ford world. His shop is in Mt. Vernon or Sedro Woolley or somewhere over there. Definitely cultivate that relationship.

Got my fenders and doors back from my body guy, so I hung them on and dragged her outside so I could take a shot for the official program for the World Of Speed event in Bonneville. It's sitting a little ass-high since there's no motor in it. All in all, the debauchery is coming together nicely. . .

Damn, that is bad ass! I should have come by the shop when I was out in Seattle last month!

I had Josh trace out and cut the second inner fender well panel for the Squarsche today. He'll be doing a mirror image of what he watched me do yesterday on the passenger side.




On the passenger side I marked and welded in the dzus anchors I bought from Speed Mart into the OEM inner fender well. This will act as an air duct to bring cooling air from the NACA ducts fwd of the rear wheel, over the rear wheel and straight into the OEM cool air duct at the back of the car. This will help to force-feed the fan at speed. I went this route rather than just switch to the later fender grills and *hope* enough air would find its way into the fan.

Since we're running at Bonneville, we had better be able to clean the ducts out after racing, so they are being held in with dzus fasteners. Here's my side:





His side to follow and I'm sure it'll be better than mine. . .

No pics today. . . Just verbage.

Had a couple days that disappointed me and ended up as wasted time, which I can't afford at this point with less than 50 days to go before World of Speed @ Bonneville. Anyway, progress was made on 2 fronts. . .

1. I got the inner fenders sealed for the NACA ducts to bring cooling air to the engine. This was huge. Originally, I had grandiose schemes of ducting from the NACA ducts to the inner fenders, however I had grossly over thought this. All I needed to do was to prevent air from traveling from the NACA ducts to the rear section of the fenders and attempted a fiberglass ducting system to make this happen. . . I lost a n entire day on this fiasco. A simple 6" wall prevents this and the "lazy air" will have no choice but to go down the duct over the rear tire and into the engine. Woohoo!! A HUGE burden has been lifted off my shoulders. . .

2. I now have brakes. Yeah, racing at Bonneville make brakes kind of the last thing you need to be concerned about, but it was forward progress, so I'm counting it today. I need all the fwd progress that I can get.

3. I found the perfect seals on Ebay for the inner fender/outer fender and I'll be ordering them tonight.

I may start throwing receipts away on this project. . . This sh*t is getting expensive and completely depressing . . I'm a freakin' privateer on a shoestring budget and and prayer!!!!!!!!!

No pics today. . . Just verbage.

Had a couple days that disappointed me and ended up as wasted time, which I can't afford at this point with less than 50 days to go before World of Speed @ Bonneville. Anyway, progress was made on 2 fronts. . .

1. I got the inner fenders sealed for the NACA ducts to bring cooling air to the engine. This was huge. Originally, I had grandiose schemes of ducting from the NACA ducts to the inner fenders, however I had grossly over thought this. All I needed to do was to prevent air from traveling from the NACA ducts to the rear section of the fenders and attempted a fiberglass ducting system to make this happen. . . I lost a n entire day on this fiasco. A simple 6" wall prevents this and the "lazy air" will have no choice but to go down the duct over the rear tire and into the engine. Woohoo!! A HUGE burden has been lifted off my shoulders. . .

2. I now have brakes. Yeah, racing at Bonneville make brakes kind of the last thing you need to be concerned about, but it was forward progress, so I'm counting it today. I need all the fwd progress that I can get.

3. I found the perfect seals on Ebay for the inner fender/outer fender and I'll be ordering them tonight.

I may start throwing receipts away on this project. . . This sh*t is getting expensive and completely depressing . . I'm a freakin' privateer on a shoestring budget and and prayer!!!!!!!!!

nate, how will you deal with the salt and the bottom of the engine? some sort of covering?

I could install a belly pan to cover/fair the engine/trans, but there's no time for that this year anyway. I'll just have to pressure wash it after the meet since there's nothing else I can do about that while I'm there.

For next year, there are some serious changes coming to the Squarsche and front/rear belly pans may factor into those changes. If I build a spec car, I'm allowed to fair up to 50% of the bottom on a stock bodied car. Since VWs come with a flat belly pan from the factory, I only have 40-45% to do anyway to make a 100% faired belly.

Just be sure you have enough cooling if you build an under-tray. There should be low pressure under the engine to draw the cooling air down across the fins, but low pressure will draw in salt and air, so...

Hopefully the air from the intakes will create enough pressure differential that cooling will be fine, but you might want to check that before putting the belly pan under the engine.

--DD

Nate, you ever get that package from me?
Zach

I did Zach; Thanks. No time yet to get them mounted and snap some photos. They are STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!

A lot of thought will have to go into belly pans in the rear for sure. Access to low pressure is not a huge problem with this car due to that flat rear-end That vacuum at the rear is gonna be an issue with this car going fast fo'sho'

After weeks of delays due to shop and family commitments as well as part incompatibility issues, Josh was finally able to finish the engine build that he started several weeks ago. None too soon I might add since it is getting down to the wire on this project!!

One of the issues we had was when I ordered a ring set, TWICE, I was sent the wrong oil control rings. Each time, causing a week or more in delays. . . Man was it nice to get those cylinders on and the motor finished. Here are a few shots of Josh back at it getting the cylinders prepped and heads on and torqued.







After we determined our rocker geometry and made adjustments via shims and push rod length, Josh got down to making the custom length chromoly push rods. He did a fantastic job!!




He then was able to get the modified 1.7L rockers w/ OEM Porsche 911 adjusters installed and the valves adjusted.



We’re going to start the motor with these bolt-on covers. Yeah, yeah, I know; they will probably leak, but we gotta try ‘em anyway since they’re easy to change out for stockers. . .



Before the engine tins went on, we set the air gap at the hall sensor and 36-1 trigger wheel to 3mm and verified a good signal with a multimeter. We wanted to do this now since getting at it later will be “fun”.

Then began the job of the engine tins. We robbed these off the old 2056cc and cleaned them-up.



After that, we mounted the ITBs and synced the linkage, which only took about 30 seconds (try syncing any other type of linkage that fast).



Then I had Josh break out the torch and anneal the copper exhaust gaskets so they would be butter-soft for good stub sealing.



After they cooled, he installed them into the ports, anti-seized the studs and mounted the custom stubs using OEM Porsche 914 2.0L exhaust nuts.




Below is a shot of Josh and his first motor build. I’m really proud of him and what he has created here.



Today, I had to make an exhaust hanger just before the V-band. With the 911 muffler, this is not needed, but if I run a straight pipe, it will need to be supported. This is what I came up with.




Then we got the header on and the muffler installed.

Lookin good Nate! What a great build & Josh is into it. Well done man! Good to see a young man cutting his teeth air cooled style

Nice. Looks like you've infected your son with the car bug ............... Please 'splain to him the benefits of using the box end of the wrench on those valve adjuster lock nuts. Tell him Cap'n Krusty says to do it.

The Cap'n

Nice catch Krusty!! Will do sir, will do!!

See? I LOOK at the pictures, albeit mostly in envy. Way to go!

The Cap'n

Thanks for the kind words guys. Even through all the smart-@$$ness, I think Josh is picking this stuff up pretty good and is doing a great job on his part.

I made some more progress yesterday. I modified the tank (via BAH ) and got it mounted. That enabled me to be able to finalize the front strut bar and weld-in the studs for it.



This is the first front stiffener to go in. I'm going to be doing some testing in the months to come to see if more will be needed.

I also made the spoiler stiffener support and mounted it to the inside of the spoiler. This is necessary because all the force of the air at high speeds will eventually break the mounts for the bumper since they are just fiberglassed in place. This will support the bottom really nicely and make it solid at high speeds. I still need to make the strut bars that tie it to the front suspension, Since I ran out of materials.



I also mounted & plumbed the Walbro fuel pump and filter as well as ran all the front fuel hoses.

Shouldn't your fuel hose / lines be 30R9 instead of 7 ???? maybe I gots it bakards . Still a great looking Square !!!!

Jack

i dunno, the fuel line is clearly marked 'not for fuel injection'. i use the same line on my car but with carbs. the line on the pump outlet needs a shouldered clamp and it looks a bit 'stressed' where it goes over the fitting. what pressure does that pump run at?

That fuel hose is a return hose so there is no pressure. All pressure hoses are EFI rated hose. Not to worry gents.

The pump is rated @ about 50psi unregulated and will be regulated down to about 40psi. Again, all hose that is in the pressure loop from the pump outlet to the regulator is the appropriate EFI rated hose. From the tank to the pump & from the regulator outlet to the tank does not require a special EFI type of hose because it's under no pressure.

Bad news? http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/2014-...gn=awdailydrive

The Cap'n

Yeah, that was a bummer for sure. A lot of folks turned out for nuthin'.

On the bright side, the event we're participating in is World Of Speed put on by the USFRA and is in about one month from now. 'Course without a crystal ball who knows what the weather will do between now and then. We'll pray for sun.

With temps in the 90s, it only takes about 2-3 days to dry out and be race ready after being flooded like it was. Last year WOS was canceled due to flooding too, but Speed Week went off without a hitch. Every year its a roll of the dice.

Luckily, I'm pre-registered and good to go for WOS. You wouldn't believe the number of people trying to buy a pre-registration spot for WOS now that SW was canceled.

Can spectators come to this?

Absolutely, and I believe it's FREE to watch. Log onto the USFRA website for all the details.

Land speed racing is one form of racing that is mainly for the racers. No press about anything that happens unless one of the really fast records gets broken. No prize money. Out in the middle of nowhere when it's hot.

It is one form of racing where the grass-roots racer and the highly financed corporate teams share the paddock and race head to head.

Hopefully I'll see you there. If you do come, please stop by our pits and introduce yourself.

I got the new motor stuffed in the car and some other details wrapped-up today as well.






So far the ride height as it is allows 3" at the flex-dam and 4" at the trans mount/skid plate and the sump. I'll be raising up an inch or so before any street driving just to be safe, but will lower it 1.5" front and another inch in the rear for Bonneville.

Maybe I missed it. Is that a 912E engine mount bar?

Nope. It's a standard Bus bar that has been welded directly to the engine mounts. I'll probably need ear plugs for long trips. . .

I don't see too many people mention Bonneville or flatheads or VW or land speed records around here.
What you are doing with your car and more importantly with your son is really cool.
I have a Flathead '32 Ford roadster, a real 914 6 and been a VW and Street Rod enthusiast for 40 years.
And been to Bonneville.
But you'll be running there ! How cool ! I'm jealous.
Good luck. Be safe.
PS the record for 2.0 sports cars is 147mph.
Doesn't seem outrageous

As I tell everyone, not too many people are foolish enough to bring an old air-cooled VW to a LSR event, but I'm just that kind of fool.

I won't be competing for an absolute speed record since I don't have a car built to the SCTA rulebook. The USFRA has two classes called "the 130/150 club which are specifically for "street cars". It' s a way to get guys hooked on a high sodium diet and get them to build a spec-built car next time. I'll be competing in the 130 club. If I can achieve my goal of being in the 130 club and feel like it's got more to give, I plan to buy another set of runs and just see how fast this pig can go.