AutoCraft 2783cc street engine in 61 Rag

[Dauz]

Bumper looks much better

[King_vw61]

Bumper does look better. I think with no tail lights and as low as the engine appears to sit was the cause. Off to Wolfsburg for a few parts then Anaheim for 3 weeks.

[74 Thing]

Are you going to use black chrome trim for the front and rear window channel trip to match the rest of the car?

[King_vw61]

Yes. Dropped window moldings off at full throttle power coating to get done. Last guy could not get the parts to match. The only thing chrome on the car is the dome light. Shifter and gas pedal.

[King_vw61]

So, I have been chasing an ignition issue for 2 weeks now. would not rev over 3500 rpm, acted as a rev limiter was on. Called MSD and they were no help, actually rude. Read lots of info in the internet and came to the conclusion my crank trigger wires were too close to the coil feed wires, ( I ran them thru the same hole) It says not to do that, so i didn't read the directions, my bad.. So went to the shop it is at and re ran both sets of wires, The orange/Black thru the firewall right to the coil. The green/purple i actually bought the upgrade MSD-8862 harness. wired it thru firewall 2 feet from the other wires. Same issue, no difference. last option was to cross the purple/green wires(they say to do this for the digital box) Did that and all was perfect. rev's from 3 to 7k perfect, faster than any other engine I have had. They do say small displacement engines rev faster than the bigger ones.

I hope this helps anyone from pulling their hair out. At least i got to work on the car where it was, the interior guys sure aren't.

[j-dub]

Great tip on the digital MSD and great build. Thanks for documenting all of the details.
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1957 Oval rag
"POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN ... Cops have nothing to go on."

[King_vw61]

So my car sat at the upholstery shop since Monday, nothings been done to it, they said this coming Monday they will start on the seats.. Waiting sucks.

Since I have nothing to do I have a couple questions, what rpm should I leave on the two-step? Is launching on the street going to be a different RPM then launching at the track? I have quite a few RPM chips, I’m guessing around 4800 on the street in probably 52 or 5400 at the track. I’m going to shift the car just under 7000 RPMs, I know the last time I was on the Dino and stop making power at 6500, but with I had work in the attic compression that should be safe to shift it just under 7K. Once it’s on the chassis Dyno i’ll know a lot more information on where to put the Rev limiter.

Does anyone know what amount you can retard the timing and still have it run OK, the reason I ask I want to be able to use my retard box and use it as a valet switch, that way when someone else drives the car it won’t have as much power, just didn’t know how far without trial and error I could go.


How much do the older Volkswagens weigh stock? I’m guessing I’ve added about 200 pounds to my car with the Dynomat and the stereo system, I am going to weigh it with four scales once it’s finished just curious to see where it will end up being weight wise.

I have the PLX wideband, instead of reading 100 pages of the wideband topic what numbers am I looking for while driving around on the street?

[vwracerdave]

Streets are dirty and don't grip as well as a prepared drag strip, so yes you will need to launch a little softer on the streets. 5000ish should be close at the track.

FYI...I run 28 PSI in my MT drag radials at the track.


Weight guessing 1725 Lbs.
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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

[King_vw61]

Got dave to make me a spacer so I can use the stock T handle with the creative car craft deck lid. Now just need a billet mount off the header to make it functional. Still no progress on interior. 2 weeks.

[HotStreetVw]

Get it dyno’d. It’s not going to peak at 6500 any more (head work). I’d guess 6800-6900 with 48vents. With an 89 and big heads, you should be shifting at 8k+.

On the street I wouldn’t worry about the two step. Just drive it.

At the track you should start around 6800 and go up from there until the 60’ doesn’t improve. Keep balancing between tire pressure and launch rpm. If you increase rpm and spin the tires, take some pressure out, etc.

Don’t use the retard for valet mode.
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4inBhore
50 Split - 2724cc NA. Haltech injected
62 Notchback - 2542cc Turbo WIP

[King_vw61]

Going to try to Dyno First week in April. Westech is 15 miles away and the guys there are great to work with.

I wanted to use the retard so when my wife or 22 year old son want to drive it. Thought it might make it a little tamer. Maybe not.

I have all the Glass for the car, thanks to Carlos at Koch for bringing it down the hill. Picking up rest of chrome tomorrow so now the door glass can be installed. Headliner is coming Thursday for the third time(wrong year then wrong material). once installed the rest of the glass will go in.

The car is actually about 1 block from Ron Lumus's shop. He is going to come over and see about making the bracket so the deck lid will close.

[HotStreetVw]

The retard doesn’t stop someone from turning 8k and burning all the fuel in the exhaust. I would find a better solution for the wife/son, like don’t let them drive it

Modern cars can have valet mode because they are computer controlled and drive by wire.

Maybe just change the pill to 5k. That’s going to seriously limit the fun and they will learn real quick their boundaries.
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4inBhore
50 Split - 2724cc NA. Haltech injected
62 Notchback - 2542cc Turbo WIP

[sled]

yeah I was going to say, just program a rev limiter.

but even 5K with this engine could get a 22 year old into trouble quick.
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drive your split.

[King_vw61]

Went to install T handle on decklid. It was an excuse to go see the progress on the car. Which is none. Let them know I was picking it up 4/1 and made sure they knew that I wasn’t making a April’s fool joke.

Took a picture of the coil power wire ran thru firewall now.

[74 Thing]

You need some sort of old school license plate frame on the back-maybe redo an original frame you find in the classifieds in the black chrome look like the rest of the car and then have the lettering painted white. I wonder if there was a VW dealership with the name King in it.

What about the seals for the rear bumper to body-looks like a gap there. I am sure you have something planned your car is very detailed.

Damn upholstery guys!

[King_vw61]

I am going to cut the back out of the bumper seals and silicone them to the fender, the fender is too thick to use them correctly. I am hoping i can get an 11/99 frame. I have one on my wifes car. It helps with the cops. In the mean time i will look for an old vw dealer with King in the name.

[jason]

If you drive it like it should be driven, the 11/99 frame wont help.

[Dauz]

prob should put some roll bars in this thing.

[King_vw61]

It is. I have a Ron Lummus cage. Suppose to be rated to 10 seconds.(which this car will never see unless it goes on a diet or gets force fed)The bolt together one on his site. Won’t go in until after interior is done. Has the support to the horn on passenger side also. The drivers side needs to be altered. The oil cooler is in the way. Ron is going to look at it next week and see what he can do.

[fl59bug]

ivkings, doesn't that MSD 7AL-2 come with a built in 2 step rev limiter? I was just curious as I also see a separate 2 step in front of it. Also, is this an earlier picture as I thought you mentioned swapping out the gold 7AL-2 for a black one.


Ted