rally bug

[Mal evolent]

[DonM]

Sorry if I did something wrong.
I don't spend much time on forums and they all say look it up before posting so I tacked onto an existing thread.
I'll look up class 11
The question remains the same....
Would a BJ/swingarm suspension that is tied into a strong chassis perform OK in a fire road car?

[Mal evolent]

swing arm cars essentially roll on the outside edge of the tire. they get twitchy at not especially high speeds, and have a higher chance of needing a roll bar.

[dustymojave]

DonM, I think the idea is pretty cool. But I grew up in a home with lots of rally trophies on the shelves.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, there was off-road racing held on a 1 mile course in the dirt oval track at Ascot Speedway in SoCal. They raced 2 classes, one for Bugs, and one for tube-frame buggies. It was called "Sprint Sedan" or "Sprint Buggy". The buggy class provided the name for my old desert race buggy "Hi Jumper Ascot". That frame was one of the most successful and popular frames, used by Champions including Rick and Roger Mears.

My brother's father-in-law, Ernie, "Elmer" Waring (aka Santa Claus) was Chief of Tech for the organization. He was also Chief of Tech for NORRA for the Baja races.

Sprint Bug cars had most of the stock body, some cut to the rear firewall. Radiused stock steel fenders, roll cages single fiberglass seat. Swing axle mostly, like desert offroad racers were at the time. Some ball joint front, mostly link pin. The course had bulldozer jumps and some whoops with left and right turns + used about 1/2 of the 1/2 mile oval that sprint cars used on other nights.

In the early 80s, there was a Bug that I used to often see while commuting across LA in the 405 Freeway "Parking Lot". It had a bug-eye Baja kit with Baja bumper cages. But it was lowered with low profile wide tires. I always liked that Baja, even though I was racing desert with my buggy and had a Baja of my own plus my dad's Baja (now my '58 Baja seen elsewhere on here) that I often used.

But back in the early 70s, that same '58 Baja was my nearly all stock DD, with it's original 36hp engine and stock suspension and body. I drove a great many miles of forest roads in the SoCal mountains with it, sport driving like special stages of gravel rallies. There was an SCCA Pro Rally called "The Rim Of The World" that used a lot of the same roads I played on. Keeping the exhaust from dragging was probably the biggest problem I had with it. For full body, building it like a Class 11 with skidplates would help that a lot.

For tires with a low ride height, some 60-series profile tires like a 215-225 front and a 235-255 rear would be good. I wouldn't recommend going lower profile than that on dirt. For pavement, as low as you want.

Class 11 Fox or King shocks would take all that forest trails could throw at you and would mount on the stock mounts. Even KYB Gas-A-Just shocks would do quite well. A beefier front sway bar, and if swingaxle, an EMPI Camber-Compensator would make for good handling. Since ball joint front ends are used to good effect on Class 11 Bugs and Class 9 race buggies for desert offroad races with all the big whoops and other bumps that Trophy Trucks have already gone over and made bigger, I see no problem using a ball joint for a forest rally Bug.

Hell, if the bumps on your forest roads aren't too bad, even a ( OMG!!!! ) Super Beetle would work.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7539302

That link used in the 12 year old early part of this thread about Rally Bugs is still working.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[andygrow]

Link

[L5wolvesf]

[TDCTDI]

[mr_bill]

I think an 11 car, COULD make a GOOD rallye car....

_________________
see ya' on the trail........

"Mr Bill"
Dos Perros Motorsports
Orange, CA
1972 Class 11x/Stock Bug
'60's era "vintage" Tunnell-Buggy

"...no one here....get's out ALIVE...."

Motor = electric
Engine = internal combustion

www.facebook.com/groups/DosPerrosMotorsports
www.alrchapter132.org
www.DAV.org

[TDCTDI]

That's where I plan to use my class 11-ish Ghia.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[L5wolvesf]