LandSpeed Buggy

[slalombuggy]

Got the first parts for my fire system from Fire Research Systems in CA. The bottle was held up in customs.

My good friend John sheared me up some 5 bar aluminum plate for the inside floor between the seat and front firewall

My lifters are waiting for me at the postal depot and my Childs & Albert wrist pins are going back to the samba member I bought them from because they are rusty and pitted

I was surprised on Saturday when my good friend Jason presented me this at our weekly Aircooled D-bag coffee meeting.

Hand painted by Vane' Morgan. Super cool, Super grateful.

brad

[joescoolcustoms]

That is a cool gift!
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[slalombuggy]

I stripped the chassis down to roll it over and finish the welding. and get it ready to fabricate the floors, side and firewall.

We're also building another fuel tank that will hang on the tubes between the main cage and the rear strut tower which will greatly simplify the firewall fabrication.

Today we took it to my friend Johns shop so we could cut the bottom floor out of .100" aluminum

brad

[joescoolcustoms]

Since that floor is soo flat, would there be any advantage to making it slightly like an airfoil to produce a low pressure underneath the buggy to help pull it down?

Or does the natural shape of the buggy provide sufficient downforce to keep the front from lifting?
_________________
Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race

Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[slalombuggy]

The car will have a bit of a raked stance which should create a bit of a low pressure area under the car and with the angle on the hood slightly increase it will hopefully generate enough down force to overcome the lift generated by the fenders. But I'll also be working on the fenders a bit and probably venting them where they start to kick down on the back.

brad

[MrGoodtunes]

It's really good that you're thinking about aerodynamics. Physics class taught me wind force varies with the square of velocity. So, since 120 mph is twice 60mph, wind force will be 4 times as great. (And 150mph will be 6.25x!) Another way to look at it, those speeds are like the eye wall of a catagory 5 hurricane!

Edit - Not meaning to scare you Brad, just happy to see you're considering aerodynamics.

[slalombuggy]

Aerodynamics are a major consideration in everything on the car. I can only do so much with a buggy body (lets face it you really couldn't design a dirtier body to move air around) Most of my planning is trying to keep the front wheels on the ground and balance the car well enough to keep the rear wheels from passing the front.

With all the suspension and small bits located it time to finally start finishing some pieces. This weeks lunch breaks were spent blasting, priming and painting the front end parts. The beam is done. One set of springs in the top tube and a .750 steel bar in the bottom one to act as ballast and a swaybar in the bottom one. The spindles are hanging to dry overnight and hopefully get them installed tomorrow with the new link pins and bushings.

brad

[slalombuggy]

A friend cut the pieces to fill in the front box section around the pedals and battery. When it gets above -30C I'll get them welded in.

My fire bottle arrived from Fire Systems Research in California. Good people to deal with. I'll fab up the mounts at work and weld them in when I do the front fill panels

brad

[slalombuggy]

A couple more packages last week. I sold to the wrist pins I got from a samba member that were rusted on the ends to a buddy(he didn't mind and said they cleaned up decent) and ordered a set of Wiseco .866x2.50" pins to replace the AA ones. The weight savings is just over 1/2 a pound. My package from Germany with my TP tool steel lifters also showed up. anything I can do to reduce internal mass and make it easier on parts like springs and bearings is a good thing.

[slalombuggy]

Too cold this week to even try to heat the garage so I worked on the engine at the shop. Monday I mocked up and ran all the valve train geometry to figure out my pushrods and then Tuesday after work I buttoned up the case and yesterday I got the pistons cleaned, cylinders honed and new rings installed and then glued the whole mess to the bottom end and let sit over night. Tonight I'll fit the valves and put the heads on for good.

brad

[tgodber]

Awesome job. Thanks for sharing.
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My wife said I never listen to her.
Or something like that!

[heywebonya]

Great picture of the bolts to hold on the oil screen and cover. So beautiful.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

[slalombuggy]

[Gary0302]

Hi Brad,

What length do you recommend those bolts to be that you use to mount the oil screen and plate? Are your sealing washers just made of rubber, or something else? I really, really like that idea.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[slalombuggy]

[Gary0302]

Thanks, I appreciate the followup.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[slalombuggy]

This weekend I finally got the aluminum pushrods from CB cut and installed them on Monday as well as the alternator and header. Last Friday I bent up and installed the new fuel lines and Marapassi fuel regulator so I can run a Holley Blue pump. Now the engine is completed, ready to break in as soon as someone in town gets a shipment of race fuel.

I got all 78 threaded inserts installed in the bottom rails to install the inner and outer floors as well as the holes that will pass through the chassis and floor to attach critical parts like pedals and seat.

Today I cut the sheet of fiberglass to make the cover for the rear of the body as well as make the templates for the front section and the sides which I'll cut tomorrow. Getting this 4x8 sheet of fiberglass will really speed things up. I also worked on the hood a bit and trimmed along the middle seam to get the hood to fit between the fenders better. Hopefully will start glassing it all together soon.

brad

[vwracerdave]

How long is the course? How long does it take to run the course from starting line to finish line? How long is the engine running for each pass?
_________________
2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK
Featured in Dec. 2001 HOT VW's Magazine page 63

Watch my racing video's http://www.youtube.com/user/okvwracer/videos

[wythac]

Cool!

I like the compact full flow filter set up. Can't tell from the picture how it's hung, does it have support from the fan shroud and maybe a bracket attached to an exhaust stud?

[slalombuggy]

The course is 2.25 miles. I covered the mile in just under 41 seconds so I'm thinking the engine will be flat out for about 70-80 seconds to cover the 2.25 miles. I don't run the engine much before a run maybe a couple minutes while waiting for the starter. I try and keep the top end as cool as possible. After a run I would idle it to the turn off with the water spray system going for about 30 seconds and then run it down the return road at highway speeds spraying it on and off. This time I'll be getting towed back to the start.

The filter is mounted on a bracket that attaches to the exhaust studs. It was custom made for me by Doug from DlxFe fabrications. He made me couple of them. Keeps the engine a nice tight package

brad