Basilari 306R Stance...

[NomadKGNM]

I'm sure many of you are aware of the 'Basilari 306R' being built by CoolRydes So-Cal Customs. If not, here is a link: it's a '58 Lowlight with a Subaru 3.0 H6.

http://www.basilari.com

My question: how did they get the 17x8's to fit without rubbing (they say it will turn lock-to-lock without rubbing) while keeping the car lowered (about 2" best I can tell), and having the track width so wide (wheels are nearly flush with fender lip). I assume they have rolled the inner fender lip -but what else? Did they do some minor flaring by applying pressure to the inner fender? Or did they cut the wheel arches to make more room? If they did- it was very subtle...

Any help is much appreciated - I just want to know how they got that stance!

[Bruce]

They adjust the steering stops so it doesn't rub. Then they can say it turns "lock to lock" without rubbing.
The better question is, "what is the turning radius"?
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[NomadKGNM]

Huh....I just did a brief search, seems you're right - a few people have commented that they've lost steering travel. Any idea on how much? How much does the turning radius increase? I assume it will still turn in normal traffic conditions, but I'm also sure it won't handle an SCCA auto cross anymore either...

[Exaktaphile]

Here's a picture from their website. Nothing between the front wheels looks remotely VW.

[Mellow Yellow 74]

Going off on a tangent, the website shows a photo of a clutch tunnel access panel (http://www.basilari.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/chassis-tunnel-clutch-setup.jpg) where they have cut a rectangular hole and installed tabs so it can be replaced with four screws. This may be convenient but cutting a large hole in the spine of the chassis and not welding it back up has got to remove a lot of strength!
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[rcooled]

OK, so here you have a 300hp Lowlight that's barely driveable 'cause it's slammed to the ground and probably rides stiff as a buckboard. I guess it would make an interesting conversation piece for someone's collection, or I suppose it could also be quite the attention grabber on the show circuit.

Instead of sinking a small fortune into all that trick running gear and suspension, I'd rather spend the money on a decent late '60s or early '70s Porsche 911. A bit more pedestrian for sure, but certainly more useful as a car you could conceivably drive every day. And more importantly, it was engineered from the ground up to be a high-performance sports car. Different strokes, I guess...
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'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone)

[Lo Cash John]

Wow. Who stuck the sticks up your asses? Y'all sound like the kind of people that bitch because the guy down the block painted his house a color you don't approve of.


To the original poster: Kevin, the guy building the car, posts here all the time. I'm sure he'll be glad to answer your questions.

To all the haters, you guys are REALLY gonna hate the Ghia my son and I are building. It'll make your eyes burn with it's utter lack or authenticity or stockness. Hell yeah!!!
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www.LoCashRacing.org
More brains than bucks...Believe it or not!!

If you actually drive your VW, you need www.AirMapp.com

My boss told me I need to work on my mutli-tasking. So now when I use the bathroom at work I surf The Samba on my iPhone.

[motorhead364]

It's cool, not what I'd do with a ghia but it should be fun. What I notice about builds like this is they they rarely get driven. So that's kind of a shame. However I can appreciate the work and creativity that goes into it.
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63 ghia coupe

[NomadKGNM]

All,

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I am aware that the car uses a mendeola double a-arm front suspension. I understand, far from stock VW equipment.

I've reached out to Kevin via his CoolRydes Facebook page. He says the clearance is entirely due to "the way the suspension moves." I've asked for more clarification, here is what I said:

[color=blue]I'm assuming I'm talking with Kevin (heard your name used in a few VW circles). - thanks for responding!

With regard to the suspension movement, I understand there are drastic differences between the double wishbone suspension vs the stock torsion beam setup (camber gain under bump being larger on the mendeola setup, which helps create space under the wheel well under bump conditions)
With that said - the front wheels still have to turn and clear the fenders. Obviously kingpin inclination and caster affect how far the leading edge of the tire crosses the plane of the fender while turning; I've also read that your spindles are zero scrub, which helps the wheel pivot about the center of the contact patch. However, your caster inclination seems fairly large, guessing it's about 6.5*, similar to the original 911. This would definitely allow the tire to pivot about an axis further rearward of the fender, allowing more clearance.

All that said - it still has to turn. I've read on some forums that the mendeola setup has less steering rack travel than stock - is there a measure of this? What is the increase in turning radius?

Again, thank you for taking the time to read and respond. If it isn't obvious, I'm pretty interested in how your setup works! [\color]

Hopefully we'll see what he says...

[rcooled]

[NomadKGNM]

Heard back from CoolRydes just now. In essence, they explained that the fenders have been rolled to fit the 17x8s used on the Basilari 306R. They also explained that some of their kits are limited in rack travel based on wheel sizing. However, they also mentioned that 205/50r17s can be run on a narrower rim without limiting the rack travel and with the correct wheel offset.

I don't know about you guys, but 205 section tires are plenty for a Ghia to perform on a road coarse.

Kevin - if you read this, thanks for the feedback!

[didget69]

No updates on the Basilari blog -

- looks like it may have become an objet d'art...

bnc
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I never found the need to impress people with any mechanic certifications, trophies or track wins... unless it was for Mom to post on the refrigerator door.

[Bruce]

[coolrydes]