Autocrossing the 58 rag

[auslander]

Congrats to both of you!
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Zombie
Wandering...Have you found what your looking for?

66 POS Bus
69 Class 11 Beetle
71 Cat-Look Beetle
64 Old Skool Baja
74 "Swamp" Thing

!!! F**k Cancer !!!
Time's Tide will Smother You
"You can't throw a rock in Long Beach without hitting a tweaker" Steve Tucci

[OTO X58]

Quick update. I have returned the 58 Rag to my brother, down in Houston, TX. We traded, the Rag for my late dad's 914.

The Ragtop was my brother's first car back in about the year 2000. He drove it to high school, built a big motor for it, learned a lot about cars with it, got arrested street racing, moved all over the country with it, before eventually selling it to me. I did all the Subaru stuff to it, and now it's back with him.

From back in 2001 or so:

He hitched the 914 up to his camper van and hauled it all the way out here from Texas.

We went for a cruise with the cars together. Both are turbo Subaru swapped.

Got to see some snow on the way home.

And he got it out to an autocross pretty soon after getting it back... making a long list of stuff that needs improvement in the process!

The car is in the best hands now. My brother loves this thing, and now has the chops to build exactly what he always wanted out of it. He's been autocrossing at the national level in his Dodge Viper GTS dedicated race car, and intends to apply a lot of that knowledge and experience setting up suspension to the Rag.

And I'm happy to have my late dad's 914 to tinker with and clean up. If I start a thread for that one I'll post a link here.
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RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

[SKT]

.

So cool to see this car evolve through the years.

Heck, I was mentioned in the first post of this thread over 15 years ago.

.

[auslander]

Awesome pics
_________________
Zombie
Wandering...Have you found what your looking for?

66 POS Bus
69 Class 11 Beetle
71 Cat-Look Beetle
64 Old Skool Baja
74 "Swamp" Thing

!!! F**k Cancer !!!
Time's Tide will Smother You
"You can't throw a rock in Long Beach without hitting a tweaker" Steve Tucci

[NJ John]

Bring some extra spring loaded push rod tubes. Oh wait, never mind.
_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[OTO X58]

Been out crusing the car shows with my kiddos, and driving through the Redwoods.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was Herbie Goes Bananas. I wanted to be that little boy who discovered the ruined rusty Herbie. He called Herbie Ocho (5+3=8), so I decided the 58 should get an 8.

I got invited to take the Bug to the Overcrest Rally, this time in Idaho.

If I'm going to drive this pile to Idaho, rally it, and drive it home a total of around 3000 miles, I decided I should have some shoulder belts and also a taller transaxle.

So I drove down to LA and had my transaxle rebuilt by KCR Transaxles. I also managed to find a roll cage on Craigslist.

(nevermind the ice.. That was there to try and treat the overheating and screaming fuel pump.

I cut the front part of the cage off, and am only using the 4 point section. Really just to hang the shoulder harnesses. If this goes well, I may build a proper and permanent 6 point cage.

Added a hood pin, because the latch is not reliable at all. Usually I'll hit the first bump and it'll come unlatched.

Made an intake tube to move the aircleaner somewhere cooler. Previously, it was here:

New H4 headlights! New on left, old on right. The old ones were Omega brand H4s, some cheapie lights I bought years ago. New ones are Bosch brand.

Currently wrapping up some new relayed harnesses for the lighting. Then I'll flip the car around and rip the old transaxle out. I only have a few weeks left, so I'll need to move quickly.

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

[NJ John]

That crack is crazy. Wonder what would cause such a thing.
_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[OTO X58]

I scored another set of wheels, which will likely be much more appropriate for the backroad and off road driving that I'm doing with the Rag lately:

Widened 911 Steelies with a fresh set of BFG T/A Radials, 205/60/15 in front, 215/60/15 rear. After just a quick test drive, I can say that they're much softer and squirmier than the 17" Azenis. They should soak up the bumps and uneven surfaces much better.

I got them for a great price due to a crack in one of the wheels. I'll have this welded up, and it should be fine.

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

The Targa 805 rally was a success! I managed to make it through the whole thing without breaking the temporary stock transaxle. I think it helps that I set it to only allow like 3/4 throttle, and I shifted like the trans was made of glass.

I had only two minor issues- a fuel line clamp came loose and caused a fuel leak, and some zipties broke under the car that were holding the intercooler water lines. Tightened the clamp and put some new zipties on it, and it was good as new. I think the rally was around 400 miles total.

Very fun time, with a great group of folks in very varied cars!

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

Reposted from another thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=757122&highlight=

I ordered and installed the Swayaway stiffer torsions, and it made an improvement to the ride quality and the handling. The springs seem much better matched to the shocks now. And with the 27mm bars on the back, the springs seem better matched as well. Front end grip is much better now. But that's likely also due to the fact that the new springs raised the car a bit, and I removed the front sway bar. So it's got more proper geometry, and the front end is acting more independently. I didn't intend to remove the sway bar- one clamp was just damaged while towing somehow, so I had to run without it.

New ride height is slightly up in front.

The HD springs are the short ones that are more brown in color. In a balljoint setup, they get installed like this- every other one. The set of split leaves on either end get removed, but you keep the one single narrow leaf on each end.

This part was interesting. Because the SAW leaves are narrower, they don't have grub screw dimples in them. You rely on the original leaves to provide the grub screw dimple. The SAW leaf in the center is simply pushed back by the grub screw. Seemed weird to me, but it works.

I use zip ties to keep them bundled up tight, which helps when installing them through the center of the beam.

I've got to say, the instructions from SAW were awful. The pictures have been xeroxed like a million times and didn't show up at all. The instructions reference the labels on the image, but you can't see any of it. I ended up figuring it out using context clues and uncommon sense. :lol:

Pretty tight working conditions on my car, with the radiator in the way! But it worked.

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

I broke my Pro-Street 3.88 trans with the welded diff a few months back, so I swapped in a stock late model superbeetle trans for now. Once I got it ready, I found that the shift forks were jammed from rust. Ugh. So I used rust penetrant and atf, and got it all moving correctly again! I was surprised that worked.

Got it back in the car, and all seems OK so far. I drove around the neighborhood at least! But I shouldn’t lag on getting the Pro-Street trans rebuilt, because this thing won’t last forever.

It’s pretty noisy and shifts very stiffly. But then again, I don’t have the clutch adjusted 100%, and I have it filled with mostly ATF. I want to get that all through the gears, clean out some of the rust, and then I’ll dump it and flush with gear oil a couple of times.

One thing for sure, I really need to clean this engine up a lot whenever I have it out of the car again. Lol it looks way beat up.

The 245s look really wide when the car is jacked up!

I feel terrible having the lathe and mill covered in trash. A garage organization and cleanup day needs to happen. Geez.

A lot is going on here. The frame horn cradle mount is backwards, to help move the engine forward a bit in the car. That’s a homemade ladder brace from the shock towers to the frame horns. Water-air Intercooler pump is at the top wrapped in red. Nose cone mount is cut off, and a solid mid mount takes its place.

So greasy and gross. This engine needs to come apart and be re-sealed, an do the car deep cleaned. That’s from many miles of abuse with various engine and gear oil leaks for years.

Old broken pro-street in the left, stock superbeetle on the right.

There’s the rusty shift forks seized in place. After soaking them and then tapping/prying them, I got all 3 to move very freely.
This is in 3rd.

Forks moved to a different position. (This is in reverse)

Back together and sort of ready to roll.

The Targa 805 rally is coming up and I’m hoping to take the Bug. Please wish me luck!!
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RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[Busstom]

Tail lights are cool, license plate even cooler. The tail lights have such contrast in that pic (the one with the wife driving) that they look photoshopped in.

[OTO X58]

[DORIGTT]

Great shots!

I've read that those oil-filled Konis are the BOMB if you enjoy driving the Beetles 'spiritedly'. A Ghia racer I know has been campaigning successfully for years with them on his car.

If you're not interested in cutting the car other than removing some small brackets and such, look at maybe a Porsche 915 gearbox install. Less work than the Scooby I believe, and they're available and stronger than your IRS boxes.
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To err is human, but if the eraser wears out before the pencil does you're a major screw-up.

[OTO X58]

I've been out putting miles on the Rag. Even organized a few drives in the mountains prior to some local car shows. I love to get out early before much traffic or cyclists are out on the mountain roads.

Got some Konis on the bug. They're surprisingly much softer than the white KYB Gas-Adjusts that came off the front. But they really do handle better- It just feels more planted and less springy than it used to.

Also, got out to a friend's front yard Car-be-que. I couldn't believe the cars that showed up, or that they let me park near them! haha

HUGE BUMMER
I got my whole family of 4 loaded into the car for the first time for a little drive, and promptly broke 2nd gear. UGH.
Luckily the other gears still worked so I was able to drive the last 2 miles to get home, but now I need to deal with the transaxle.

I've been wanting to pull it all apart and build rubber tranny mounts (it's solid mounted now). I also want to ditch the welded diff, so now is the time.
I'd love to upgrade to a subaru transmission, but I don't know if the budget will allow it right now. I'm actually thinking of just putting a good used stock IRS trans in it for now, so the car will at least drive around while I save up for the subaru trans. I'll just have to try my best not to abuse it!

So for now, it's going to sit in the driveway collecting patina.

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

New plates! I've been wanting to get these for years.

_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

Couple of small updates:

I wanted to add a nod to the stock motor, so I added a couple of OEM style stickers:

Stock bug air cleaner

Valve adjustment

Also added some ratty fog lights that I got off the classifieds:

With some drop-in HID kits that I have, these will make night driving a lot safer.

Cool shot of the LED tail lights, as my wife drove up the driveway.
Chip Birks sells these in the classifieds, and I love them because they're so visible: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=892796
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RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

Some random pictures from an article about a past rally.
Article:
https://www.drivingwhileawesome.com/blog/2020/10/11/5qsy2f0l9bp6zy9bsqns0lofc3ik21

"No matter who you asked, there seemed to be a rally favorite vehicle among us… From the gravel lot in San Juan to the Dunes, everybody was enamored by Thomas in his 1958 Beetle. The car sits on a set of 911 Fuchs and sports a weathered light green coat of paint with hints of patina and plenty of the “Thomas Illick” design touches."



The pair of pants was there because the Kirkey seat was absolutely killing me. Even some folded up jeans offered some much appreciated padding! I took the seat out soon after, and actually now have a full set of sets in the car. I'll post an updated pic.
_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
1958 Ragtop Bug Build - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find