reliability & street/strip performance - suggestions needed

[six7vdub]

[six7vdub]

[Clatter]

Well there's a bunch of answers for ya!

So, if you're talking slicks and 12s the game changes significantly.

If you want to be able to try different motor combos and go faster,
But not have the car down all the time,
You'd be best to cough up now and build the car to handle some power.

Since it's your 'forever car', best get it right now while you can.
Many of the good parts are going away and NLA.
As are the builders..

First off, make sure the drivetrain is supported correctly.
This is a whole subject into itself, but vital to long-term survival of your drivetrain.

A kafer bar, front trans mount, Berg traction bar, strap kit, etc.
Keeping wheel hop at bay is key. Not using solid mounts and keeping the car quiet enough is a challenge.
What are you doing in this regard now?

Rear suspension.
Making the car go straight is important,
But also controlling wheel hop and parts breakage.
Urethane or even bronze torsion bar bushings, adjustable shocks and even limit straps or bigger snubbers have been used.
What's your rear suspension setup now?

The good axles are becoming hard to find.
In my 'forever car' I'd hunt down some old USA Sway-Away or Finnish Kujupula (sp?) axles.
Some have had good luck with Chinese, some haven't.

As for the trans, now is the time to get it right IMHO.
If you're broken, life sucks. Take the time and money now to build your forever trans while you can.
Here's how it's done Paul Guard ('Gears') lays it down-->
https://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=89944
Basically, get out your wallet if you want to run a heavy street car on slicks for 12-second quarter mile times.
Get a new aluminum white rhino case, or maybe one of those new Empi cases, and send it to Don Karracker (sp) at DK Machine in Norwalk for a pinion bearing sleeve. Then get an aluminum gear carrier, 300M input shaft, etc. from Weddle. Also the 'Gears' thru-bolt and pinion shims, etc. as per the thread i linked.
Yes, it will be painful. But thie idea is you never have to do it again.
Maybe you can get away with a factory ring n pinion or mainshaft if you had to.
The strength mods, don't be tempted to skip those if you want to stay together.

As for gearing, you never said you wanted to run long highway trips, right?
In town, some closer ratios can be OK.
Get taller street tires and switch to shorter slicks at the track?
or do you want to go clear there/back without changing?
Gear ratios are a compromise if you don't add a 5th gear.


Motor longevity advice here has been good.
Ween Brian_e says mentions an aluminum case or Icon pistons he's advising things that are going to be tougher and longer lasting.
Might even go clear to a real USA forged crank vs. welded or China?

Lots to think about.
If you're serious about running 12s you'll need to get more serious about your drivetrain.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[six7vdub]

I appreciate everybody's input thus far. I feel that I have a good starting point and have a decent plan to continue with the evolution of this car. The car is solid and has few flaws, which i'm thankful for. Knowing the history (having every receipt dating back to 1982 is helpful) as well as documentation for every oil change, every valve adjustment, every brake job, etc.) allows me to have confidence in the parts that were installed. Knowing how many miles are on those components is also helpful when making decisions.

As i've stated somewhere in this post, my father went through 5 engines in his time with the car (and 400,000 miles as his daily) and i put another 150,000 or so on it. It used to be my daily until I moved away for college, then over the last 20 years it was purely a hobby car that was well maintained. I had a job where I had a company car for 16 years, so I could afford to have this thing sitting and to use it only for sport, instead of needing to depend on it for daily use.

This is a very informative post for me, so thank you all for being great contributors. I grew up with an appreciation for the hobby and never lost that enthusiasm. I'm also thankful that this is a hobby, and not a necessity, considering i'm not great at turning wrenches...haha

[VeloMikey]

[SGKent]

Street Car - what you drive around town. Mostly stock
Race Car - built to win
Street Performance Car - built to make you feel good about what you drive but don't expect to be called a winner at the track if you take it there.

Most of the people I knew who liked to win at the track owned:

Street Performance Car they enjoyed driving
Race Car, built to win.
Momma's car, built to enjoy taking the family out or pulling the race car to the track.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Alstrup]

Turbo was an option.
That said, it is not a problem building a 12 sec dual purpose car. When i still had black hair (long time ago) The genaral consensus to build such a vehicle was to get a GOOD built transmission. Then hook it up to a GOOD larger cc built engine. I was never that much into dragracing myself, I only crewed for some people, but a lot of my German, Dutch and Belgian friends had dual purpose cars. They typically consisted of Super Beetles, big brakes, good suspension, good wheels&tyres. Transmissions were built units from one of the transmission houses. 3,88 and stockish gears. Engines were typically 2,6-2,7 type 4´s with 210-225 hp. They arrived at the paddock, pulled out a jack and some wheels with dot slicks, swopped the rear tyres and were basicly ready to go. Sunday evening they swopped back to street tyres and dove 2-3-4 hours back home again, - in the left lane.
With today´s knowledge we can easily pull that kind of power out of a 2,3 l. engine, and still make it dual purpose. However, the higher displacement did make them a tad easier to work with on as daily basis.

Also, static compression is - STILL - cam/DCR related. NOT just a random number puilled out of thin air.
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=435993

[Wreck]

I’ve done what Torben has just explained , 2600cc coupled to a 091 trans with ECRO gear housing ,albins first/second and a Paloquin diff . Bullet proof for my power level but very heavy .
The Ghia weighs in at 2400lbs with me in it and 3/4 tank of fuel .sound proofing and AC ,front and rear sway bars etc . I have 2 sets of rear tyres , 205/60r16S for daily driving and 205/5016 Yokohama semi slicks for fun track time .
Best 1/4mile time is 13.4 about 102mph .

On the other end of the scale was a well know local racer who had a early bug that weighed very little , a well built trans from a local expert . A simple 2007cc FK10 ,044 heads and 48 IDA’s Not huge hp but a very well sorted package .
. No creature comforts , stripped interior etc . It was a consistent 12 second street car .

Get the trans sorted and don’t skimp if you want it reliable . A traction bar works and is a must .

It always blows me away watching you tube clips of Dave” Volkstroke “ leaving the line .