Author Topic: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer  (Read 35883 times)

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Offline aircooledtechguy

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The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« on: April 30, 2014, 12:16:57 PM »
This car has been a long term project of mine that has gotten WAY out of hand and has taken a turn for the worst better. 

I've built it in phases along the years, and I've waffled on mainly styling aspects, but in the past year it just took a turn for a more serious racer.  It started out as a humble '67 VW Squareback that I originally bought for my wife.  A brief overview is that it is a modified '67 VW Squareback that is currently running a 2056cc Porsche 914 street motor.  It will be upgraded to a 2.3L in the coming weeks by my son Josh who will be building the new race motor.  It's going to be getting an upgrade in the EFI from the current plenum based MS2 w/ EDIS to an ITB based MS3X w/ LS1 COP and full sequential injection.  The trans is a Porsche 912E 5-speed, the front suspension/brakes are Porsche 911 and the rear suspension/brakes are Porsche 944.  The whole progression thus far can be seen here:  http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=495312



While it's been built for road handling and track-days, we're going to be testing it at the WOS event this September and try our best to gain entry into the 130 club (fingers crossed).  My son and I are hoping to have a really fun father/son trip out to the salt, see some really cool/fast cars and make some memories that will last a lifetime.



Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline wheelrdealer

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2014, 05:37:43 PM »
Sounds like a great project. The salt can be addictive so get ready for 25 years of a high sodium diet.

Keep us posted on your progress.

BR
ECTA    Maxton D/CGALT  Record Holder 167.522
ECTA    Maxton D/CBGALT Record Holder 166.715

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Offline wickedwagens

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2014, 11:17:55 PM »
My Ghia started out as a street car built for road handling and track-days also.  It has turned into a full race car now.  Good to see another VW build.  Maybe i'll see you at WOS.

Mark
1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
G/CFALT  106.643 MPH  8/2016    G/CGALT  113.131 MPH  9/2016
G/CBGALT  169.462  MPH  8/2021    G/CBFALT  146.715  MPH  8/2017
G/CBGC  158.242  MPH  9/2017   H/CBGC  94.334 MPH  8/2018
H/CPRO  93.383 MPH  8/2018   H/CBFALT  101.282 MPH 9/2018
H/CBGALT  120.591 MPH 9/2018
Top Speed 170.726 MPH
36hp VW 100 mph club 9/2019 102.319 MPH

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2014, 12:30:39 AM »
My Ghia started out as a street car built for road handling and track-days also.  It has turned into a full race car now.  Good to see another VW build.  Maybe i'll see you at WOS.

Mark

We'll be there for sure!!  Every time I turn around, it's becoming a more and more serious racer and less and less a streetable car. ..  I fully intend to keep blinkers tail lights and collector plates, but I'm finding it really easy to say, to hell with streetability; all-out performance is what I want.  I'm finding that once you fall down the rabbit hole of all out performance, you never come back from it. :-D
Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline Gary Perkinson

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2014, 10:06:32 AM »
My Ghia started out as a street car built for road handling and track-days also.  It has turned into a full race car now.  Good to see another VW build.  Maybe i'll see you at WOS.

Mark

We'll be there for sure!!  Every time I turn around, it's becoming a more and more serious racer and less and less a streetable car. ..  I fully intend to keep blinkers tail lights and collector plates, but I'm finding it really easy to say, to hell with streetability; all-out performance is what I want.  I'm finding that once you fall down the rabbit hole of all out performance, you never come back from it. :-D

LOL...I'm already down that rabbit hole with my HHR... :-)

The Squarsche looks great! Really like those old VWs...
LTA   G/BGALT Record (1 mile)     143.313
LTA   G/BGALT Record (1.5 mile)  148.321
LTA   F/PRO Record (1 mile)         114.668

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2014, 03:26:08 PM »
I temporarily turned my attention to the bumpers this weekend.  I’ve got a pair of fiberglass bumpers from Glass-Action in AZ (http://vwinnovations.com) and I’m to the point of needing them to be mounted in order to do trimming and such for the fenders.  I also needed to graft on the air dam I purchased a while back too. 

I began by cutting some 2” muffler tubing in half on about 10” lengths.  Then I made some flat brackets with captive nuts with which to mount the brackets to.  This way I could fiberglass the metal mount brackets to the fiberglass bumpers w/o requiring any thru-bolts to show.

I tossed the stock bumpers and brackets to the side and chose a thin, light set of early beetle bumper brackets.  The front brackets were used on the rear of the Square and only required elongating the mounting holes slightly to fit like a glove. 



The rear beetle brackets were used in the front of the Square and required custom holes to be cut in the proper place and the excess cut off the back.

I prepped the bumper bottom and the air dam top with a 3” disc to remove the gel coat.  Then I cut a slice in the center of the air dam to allow it to be splayed out a bit more on each end to fit the fiberglass bumper better.  I temporarily put them together with some spring clamps to ensure they would work correctly together.



I test hung the bumper/air dam combo onto the brackets and it fit well.  With my car at the current height, the bottom of the air dam is currently 5” off the floor. 




This air dam also has a rubber skirt that hangs down an additional 3”.  So as it is, the bottom of the air dam will reside about 2” above the floor.  Since I have infinitely adjustable suspension via the 911 front and adjustable spring plates rear, I will be able to get it to about 1” for racing purposes pretty easily.  Woohoo!!

Now I’m off to consult with my friend, Jim who does fiberglass/carbon fiber for a living, to see how he recommends permanently bonding the brackets and the air dam to the fiberglass bumpers. . .  More to come. . .
Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline wickedwagens

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2014, 07:57:43 PM »
The bumper and air dam combo look great!
1968 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
G/CFALT  106.643 MPH  8/2016    G/CGALT  113.131 MPH  9/2016
G/CBGALT  169.462  MPH  8/2021    G/CBFALT  146.715  MPH  8/2017
G/CBGC  158.242  MPH  9/2017   H/CBGC  94.334 MPH  8/2018
H/CPRO  93.383 MPH  8/2018   H/CBFALT  101.282 MPH 9/2018
H/CBGALT  120.591 MPH 9/2018
Top Speed 170.726 MPH
36hp VW 100 mph club 9/2019 102.319 MPH

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2014, 10:36:22 PM »
Look what showed-up today on the brown truck. . .



I contacted my machinist and asked him to make it light, but not a bomb. . .  He was able to remove 6.8# off of it right where it counts.  Started out a portly 16.8#.  Now she's a trim 10.0#!!  Hell, my daughters have more crap hanging from their key chains than this thing weighs!!   :-D

Should make for a lively rev'r and allow a lot more of the power to actually get to the tires!!  This was the last piece I was waiting for before I could send the rotating parts to the balancing shop to get it all balanced to within .1 gram.
Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #8 on: May 07, 2014, 06:39:45 PM »
My buddy hooked this brother up and used Plexis to permanently bond the bumper and air dam together.  Then he fared the two together for a smooth seamless look.  Now it's ready for a scuff, prime and paint.  I added the flexible rubber bottom skirt to see how it looks together with the bumper.


Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline tauruck

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #9 on: May 07, 2014, 10:03:15 PM »
Plexus is a good one and those parts should stay together very nicely.

It all looks great. :cheers:

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #10 on: May 12, 2014, 02:50:30 PM »
Lots of mundane stuff this Saturday.

Fixed and pulled the drivers front fender into place to give it room for the front tires/wheels.  Here's a couple before (stock) and pulled so you can see how much can be done with just your hands.

tire clearance begins with under 1/4"; ends with just over 1":



Subtle pulling can just be seen:



It should be noted that by pulling the fenders even by hand like this causes the door gap at the front of the door to get HUGE and filling/re-gapping is required after.

Added the driver mirror mount and filled the OEM mirror holes.  Also filled the stock windshield squirter hole.  In time, I'll be adding a set of OEM Porsche 911 squirters to the front hood.




Finally got a chance to mate-up the front bumper with the fenders in place to get a good look.  For street driving, I probably won't run the rubber skirt.  For the track though, it'll definitely be on there.


Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #11 on: May 28, 2014, 08:25:15 PM »
As body work continues at my buddies house, I've turned my attention to the new motor.  After 3 years of acquiring parts, I finally have the final pieces in hand and none too soon.  The final pieces were the custom Web cam, and a custom set of Deves rings.  So I mocked-up the bottom-end so I could clearance the H-beam rod caps so they wouldn't hit the cam lobes on pistons #2 & #4.  I also had to modify and clearance a type1 pump and the cam bolts so they would all live in harmony as well as port the oil passage on the pressure side of the pump.



I also took this occasion to get my deck height and calculate static CR for this motor.  It's a dual purpose mill that will see street driving as well as track duties.  I know that it's a compromise on both parts, but it's built more for the track since I always have my trusty 2056cc to fall back on if it's just not practical for street use.  I was already having fun with the local H*nda V-tec dorks with the mild 2056cc, so this 2.3L stroker  with an extra 75-80 HP should send all but the turbo'd guys home with their tails between their legs. :evil:



Once I get the parts back from the balancer, my son Josh is going to build this motor as I look-on.  I want him to get the credit/accolades for any wins the car gets in future events.  He's stoked about the opportunity to *finally* build a motor after 5+ years of tear-down duty here at the shop.  He's been the tear-down-king since he was 8 y/o and it's about time he did the deed.  As I always say, families who build motors together, stay together. :-D
Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline tauruck

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #12 on: May 29, 2014, 12:32:26 AM »
Those are difficult motors to build and they scare me.

People think they're simple but man if you don't know your stuff........ :oops:.

I tried once back in the day when I raced Formula Vee. Only did two races and moved on.

The motor I built was a doggie of note and ran really bad.

There's an art to building those and I have big respect for you guys that can. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Offline aircooledtechguy

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #13 on: May 29, 2014, 02:05:28 AM »
Those are difficult motors to build and they scare me.

People think they're simple but man if you don't know your stuff........ :oops:.

I tried once back in the day when I raced Formula Vee. Only did two races and moved on.

The motor I built was a doggie of note and ran really bad.

There's an art to building those and I have big respect for you guys that can. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

It's funny you should say that.  I hear all the time from folks that come into the shop "how easy these are to build and work on".   The air-cooled VWs have that reputation, but I have never found it to be true.  I don't feel they are easier or more difficult than most motors of the era.  What I have found is that they are fairly forgiving engines (at least in stock form) and as such will allow a complete fool to get away with some really foolish mistakes before they get bit in the @$$. :lol:
Regards,

Nate M.
Anacortes, WA
Owner: ProVolks LLC

Offline tauruck

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Re: The Squarsche - my street legal '67 VW Squareback racer
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2014, 03:04:34 AM »
You're good at what you do. Don't sell yourself cheap. :wink:

That little motor kicked our butt 40 ways from Sunday.