after 3 plus years and many false starts we finally have lift off!
I February 2007 or 8, I can't remember, Boris and Dave trailered up the old VVDS drag beetle to Brisbane to start its third reincarnation. Many will remember this white/blue and yelow car from the wheelies Wayne Fenech used to pull at Willowbank and Oran Park.
The car started out, I think, as a Targa Tasmania car and after a few outings in Tassie was converted to a drag car. Luckly for me it still retained some of the road racing gear, such as the fuel cell and surge tank.
The car arrived without engine or gearbox as Boris was planning to run this combo in the new VVDS black beast so after much deliberation and soul searching I decided to join Steve Carter and crossed over to the Dark Side,( or "wet side" as I recently read somewhere on this forum.)
I purchased an imported half cut about 3 months after the car arrived and have done some bits and pieces over the past 3 or so years like trial build with the engine in and out, radiator position, seat location, wiring harness work, etc etc, but now everything is coming together.
over the Xmas break I painted the body after much metal work and filling holes etc.
Next step is the electrics and gauges etc.
Here are some shots.
Jak Rizzo ·
oh wow, another one! how cool. I really like the rear parcel tray modifications u have done.
regards
Jak
lou0060 ·
Hi Jak, thanks but the rear parcel tray area was existing as Boris ran his turbo intercooler behind the ally sheets. What I have done is extended it forward so that I can get the radiator in about where the back seat used to be. New ally covers are being made and should be ready next week. we had to do some structural work to get the radiator to fit but it all fits in now with about 25mm gap to the top of the gearbox.
I'm running the original B4 liberty radiator with both thermo fans so should get plenty of air thru the two side vents.
Jak Rizzo ·
U & Stevie are going to need sunglasses when driving your cars, the bright paintwork will burn your retna's out !
Will this be a road car or circuit only?
Do u think u will be done in time for this years Nationals Supersprint?
regards
Jak
lou0060 ·
Hi Jak,
yep, pretty bright! still needs a red stipe up the middle and also need to finish the gauds and rear whale tail. We also painted my sons 2 door golf on the weekend and it needs to be have some finishing touches done this weekend so probably won't get the final paint on the beetle for another couple of weeks.
Car is being built for the track.
Plan is to be at the nationals in May. In fact April 17th is my target date as there is a meeting at Lakeside I want to do. Have already lined up the mid night candles........
Jak Rizzo ·
Is there any chance that I could try & talk u out of putting the radiator in the back?
Joel ·
Jak Rizzo wrote:Is there any chance that I could try & talk u out of putting the radiator in the back?
x2
Ask for opinions from everyone that's found out the hard way radiators in the back just dont work properly
Inane Cathode ·
Especially for a race car o_o
You know, weight distribution and cooling and all that.
Jak Rizzo ·
weight distribution was going to be my second agruement, right behind the cooling issue.
I found that the handling of my car was pretty much unchanged on the track & street going from air cooled 2275cc to WRX EJ20T. I think because the radiator for both the engine & intercooler are up front, along with my battery, swirl pot etc, although I have never done the math on it, I think I got really close to balancing out the extra weight of the conversion at both ends pretty close.
regards
Jak
vw54 ·
nice colour Louie bout time u pulled yr finger out
1303Steve ·
Jak Rizzo wrote:U & Stevie are going to need sunglasses when driving your cars, the bright paintwork will burn your retna's out !
We painted them a bright colour as we're getting old and find it hard to find the car sometimes
Good work Lou, I agree radiator in the front, hands down.
Jak Rizzo ·
We painted them a bright colour as we're getting old and find it hard to find the car sometimes
So this will be you 2 wandering around at the Nationals?
vw54 ·
yeah Louie in the Orange shirt
lou0060 ·
thanks Dave, always knew my hair would grow back!!!!
re radiator, yes I have heard it before and I generally agree with what you all say, (remember I am a gingerbeer......) anyway, I am also one to go against the trend and my car is not intended for street use so I can set it up to get enough air going past the radiator. The car has two pretty big vents in the side and I am running the original Liberty radiator with 2 big thermo fans. I have worked out the airflow direction for cooling, intercooler air and induction air requirements so I think my biggest issue is weight distribution rather than cooling.
so, just need a bigger Paella dish........
lou0060 ·
picked up my gauges tonight so now have all the gear to build the dash. Will post some pics when done.
ian.mezz ·
I think that you will have to run completely sealed ducting from the scoops to the radiator, forcing the air into the radiator.
good luck.
lou0060 ·
Hi Ian, I'll post some photos with the rad in place and the tinware soon. The idea is to draw air in thru the two side vents that were already on the car and then force it thru the rad being pulled thru by the two thermo fans as well. It is a fully sealed system so air has to pass thru the rad. There will be a whole lot more air going thru this sysem than what the original Liberty had as it is not as restricted as in the Liberty. In the original setup it is completely full of engine bits and aircon, steering pump etc etc.
I will have turbos and exhaust pipes wrapped and also have some heat guards in place as well as separate air intakes for both the intercooler and induction system. anyhow proof will be in the pudding as they say so we'll have to wait and see once we get it fired up.
1303Steve ·
Hi Lou
I think with the use your car will get it might be OK having rear radiators.
Where most other people came unstuck with rear mounts was on long freeway trips, the heat would build up and the fans and radiators could not cope, you cant rely on thermo fans at high speed, you need air pressure through the core.
Steve
lou0060 ·
time will tell...
I started on the dash this afternoon after work. I made up a cardboard template and fitted the gauges to that and then checked it in the car. Looked great! Couldn't help myself, so started cutting out the holes in the alloy dash and so far have the oil temp, oil press, water temp, boost gauges done and the start/ingintion panel done.... looks hot so far.... will post some pics after I finish it tomorrow.
got the dash and steering installed today will take some photos tomorrow.
question on wheels?? I notice the white car for sale has 17" wheels. I am planning to run 15" but this will restrict the size of rotor and caliper combination. what the general consensus out there on wheel and brake combo for track use? Remember this is not a street car so don't need to have the big flash 18"s like Steve....(which look bloody great by the way)
Any reason why you have gone with the black faced speedo, while all the other gauges are white faced?
1303Steve ·
cam070 wrote:Looks nice!
Any reason why you have gone with the black faced speedo, while all the other gauges are white faced?
He's old and colour blind. Looks the goods Lou
lou0060 ·
haha Stevie...
the black speedo is a VDO unit that came with the car from VVDS and I didn't see the need to pay $200 for a new one when the speedo is not that useful on the track. I was going to just leve it off but I was having too much fun with the holesaws on my mill......
vw54 ·
lOUIEEEEEEEEEEEE
its nearly finished better book u in for the supersprint hey
lou0060 ·
that's the plan Dave....
lou0060 ·
Radiator is now in place and surrounding alloy sheets finished except for two gromets that I need to track down.
I sealed all the major gaps with expanda-foam and the used rubber lining to seal off the edges of the alloy sheets against the body. Allis held in place with 4mm nutserts and button head crews. Very shinny! no one will be ble to pass me as they will be blinded by the shine.....
lou0060 ·
more pics
lou0060 ·
sorry pics are out of order as first lot didn't load????
cam070 ·
So shiny I reckon you'll blind yourself when you look in your rear view mirror trying to see all the guys you've passed.
itawolf ·
wow gotta wear shades----thats bright!!
nice thou!!
lou0060 ·
pulled the dash out tonight to complete some minor details and start to wire up the subi loom. I have some questions regarding the instruments and compatibility to the aftermarket gauges. The loom was done by a guy Steve referred me to 3 years ago and he did a great job. Luckily all the wires still have the tape with the marking of where they go still on them. I assume that I need to change the senders on the engine and run new wiring from the new senders to the gauges. the signals sent by the original senders thru the loom are I assume for warning lights rather than gauges?? I checked the original subi dash and it does have a water temp gauge so maybe the cable marked "temp" might run the aftermarket water temp gauge????
Also I am going to run the "engine warning" cable to a warning light. Again I assume this will work????? All comments and advise welcomed.
ian.mezz ·
sounds ok to me oil light and water temp gauge. have a look at Joel's should have a picture ,I think he as a sender fitted to motor for oil pressure
Joel ·
Yup sounds like one of Al and Miles jobs
temp would be from the water temp gauge sender, if your using an aftermarket gauge you'll have to fit the sender that matches your gauge.
rest should be marked A,B,C,D etc
i think Oil pressure warning light and tach are marked seperate though.
lou0060 ·
thanks Ian and Joel, did some soldering tonight to get terminals on the gauges so I can wire them up to the fuse box etc. Won't get much done this weekend as I am helping my son Kyle to get his engine into the 2 door golf he is building. Will get back to the wiring next week but one thing I will do this weekend is hook the fans to a battery and see how much air flow I get thru the radiator....... should be interesting.
lou0060 ·
I'm very impressed with Steve's progress so thought I'd better get some more details up. Lat weekend we worked on my son's Golf and rebuilt the engine. here is a photo of what we did. (just to prove I wasn't slacking!)
anyway, back to the racecar... got the dash totally finished and bolted in, the roll cage is in and tight with foam bits around where my head will be, the seat is in, this was a mission and had to weld up an alloy frame to tke the sliders and mate it to the modified seat base.
lou0060 ·
photos
lou0060 ·
more photos, including one of the original car running at WIllowbank
lou0060 ·
So, now back to the batcave. Today is gearbox day and I need to modify the mid mount to make it match up with the bracket already welded to the forks. I also need to make up a new engine mount cross bar and change the rear wheel bering, stubs etc......
20bkombi ·
Good work. Are you going to solid mount the engine or gear box?
Aaron.
lou0060 ·
Hi Aaron, yes both box and engine will be solid. I got as far as making the top mounts for the front/mid strap and made up new brackets for the bottom mount as the one in the picture above was too short. I just need to get some things plasma cut this week and then I'll be able to cut the portion that bolts to the four studs off the bracket in the photo and weld up all the pieces and bolt it all together.
I also made some rough measurements for a kafer style bar. I really like the Craig Torrens bar but doubt I can get it to fit as I have a lot going on between the engine and radiator, I need to leave room for the two dump pipes from both turbos.....
lou0060 ·
got a fewmore things done over the past week. I didn't like the aftermarket gearbox mount as it didn't match up with the existing welded on brackets so I cut it up and made up a new one. A bit of paint and now it is in along with the shocks with new rubber boots and the Whiteline sway bar.
lou0060 ·
more pics, including the alloy 6mm plate for the Subi electrics. I had originally mounted it in the front but have decided to mount it in the back so I didn't have to extend the loom.
Took most of last Saturday driling all the holes on the mill.
a few other jobs done include relocating the cut out switch to the dash, making some shoulder bolts for the bonnet hinges, adding a Golf Mk1 bonnet release cable for the bonnet, adding the lower window net mounts to the door, and emptying about a slab of XXXX..... (weight distribution remember!!)
cam070 ·
All those bright coloured parts are over exposing your photos. You might need a welding goggles to drive this on a sunny day!
vassy66T1 ·
Looking great
That yellow lights up my room from the computer screen 👍
vw54 ·
keep going LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUIIIIIIIEEEEEEeUIEe
20bkombi ·
Mounts looking realy good, is there any more progress?
lou0060 ·
not much happening over the past few days. Spent thurs/fri night fitting the 83 golf dash to my sons 76 2 door, had to weld in four new brackets. also getting the cabrio ready for Sundays run up to dubs so that killed the weekend.
should have the new front end here this week from vvds and also all the bits for the rear brakes/brgs. once front end is in and rear end back together plan is to get the car back on the ground and fit the engine. once the engine is in place I will remove the sump and modify it along with the cooling pipes and exhaust.
should see a bit of progress over the next week or so and will get some more pics up then.
super beetle ·
lou0060 wrote:So, now back to the batcave. Today is gearbox day and I need to modify the mid mount to make it match up with the bracket already welded to the forks. I also need to make up a new engine mount cross bar and change the rear wheel bering, stubs etc......
hi, do you have some more care pic for gearbox and engine mount
i'm trying to put the subaru ej 20
ian.mezz ·
It looks ike your motor will be a tight fit.??
I have my radiator in the front as it also make it easier to work on the motor from inside the back of car
Hmmmmmmm that radiator may work , but with all that steel it will be hot inside the car, cause heat raises and steel is a good conductor of heat.
My car gets hot in the back just from the heat coming off of the Turbo🤪
lou0060 ·
hi Ian,
yep, will be tight! I fitted the rear wheel bearings today and also bolted in the cv shafts. I'll upload the photos from my work computer on monday. I need to get the the exhaust down between the swing arm/cv shaft/sway bar and chassie horn so it will be tight but I think it will be okay.
I have two turbos to worry about but most of the races I will be doing will be 5 laps or so so I think the heat will be manageable. I will have the exhaust wrapped and heat shields around the turbos etc.
Also most of our racing up here is during the winter months, but having said that Sunday out at Lakeside was really hot and standing around in the pit area was almost unbearable, even thought I should have built a race boat rather than a race car........
lou0060 ·
super beetle wrote:
lou0060 wrote:So, now back to the batcave. Today is gearbox day and I need to modify the mid mount to make it match up with the bracket already welded to the forks. I also need to make up a new engine mount cross bar and change the rear wheel bering, stubs etc......
hi, do you have some more care pic for gearbox and engine mount
i'm trying to put the subaru ej 20
I haven't made up the engine mount yet as I need to have the motor in to do this. the gearbox mounts are finished and installed. I think I have more pictures at work.
I'll post some more during the week.
lou0060 ·
Some progress over the pst few weeks.
rear brakes fitted, drive shafts with kombi cvs in and fitted,
dash all wired up and so too the ecu and various relays etc.
window net is in.
front end from VVDS now in and new ball joints, tie rod end, damper etc etc. Whiteline sway bar is in, needs to come forward a bit to clear the adjusters.
Front end was left standard width but has been shaved and also had the shock towers extended and an adjuster set welded in and had the top arms bent for increased camber, finished in POR15. Looks magic!
backing plates are getting powder coated next door and disc brakes and calipers should be here next week.
vassy66T1 ·
Looking really good 👍
Was talking to Brett Ayerst the other night and he was speaking of you. I connected the dots.
He is my neighbour and a good mate. We must catch up some time.
Cheers
Marcus
lou0060 ·
more progress....
brake fluid bottle clamp.
front discs and calipers.
temp wheels so I could get it on the ground.
This week should get the fuel lines and pump/filter/cell in place, replace a brake line I destroyed getting off, finish the wiring from the ecu to the rear end, fit the engine back in.
gettng close.....
lou0060 ·
mor pics
20bkombi ·
looking good man!! whats next?
lou0060 ·
hi Aaron,
I've been busy with Kyle's 2 door golf the past couple of weeks so not much progress. if weather permits we are re-spraying it on Friday so I should be able to get back onto the racecar next week.
I now have my brake line back and also getting some brackets made up for the window net, should have those back tomorrow from my mate who has a tig. I also have all the bits to finish the fuel tank / filter / pump so might get that done between Easter eggs this weekend....
Plan is to have the engine in next week and then finish the wiring, sort out the coolant hoses to the rad, set up the exhaust,, paint the guards and whaletail and still looking for some 6" cookie cutters for the front.......
lou0060 ·
a bit of an update. fuel system is in, door net is complete, new 5 point belts are in, turned up an extension for the gear lever on the lathe and the guys next door power coated it for me, got all the wiring bolted in, just need to finish some ecu wiring in the back.
engine is in but now need to rsie the car a bit as it is only 75mm to the sump. Am planning to shortern the sump and I have type 3 wagon torsion bars so I'll turn them 2 notches and see what effet it has.
everything is very tight! I think the second turbo actually touches the starter motor. Won't get much more done for a couple of weeks as the son's Golf is still in the way but hope to get back into it after the Nationals.
Things i am wondering about are;
1. position of expansion tank as it is lower than the raditor. thinking I might need to lift it but then what happens to the two larger hoses??
2. Have read somwhere that the return line is 8mm but I think mine is 6mm. Also there are 3 or 4 hoses from the right side of the engine that appear to be fuel lines but not sure which is what???? Also I think somewhere I read I need 2 return lines? have been on uklegacy forum and lots of good info there.
anyway some photos
lou0060 ·
try again....
lou0060 ·
some more...
vassy66T1 ·
Looking good Lou 👍
ian.mezz ·
put one of these toyota fitting in the top radiator hose so its make it easy to fill the cooling system up. As you need the filling point to be higher than the radiator and the motor.
ian.mezz ·
once you start moving the car around the rear end will drop even more .🥲
Jak Rizzo ·
Just a couple of tips for u Lou that I learnt with mine.
Don't even bother with the type 3 torsion bars, they are just not stiff enough, even with my low 8psi boost setting, mine would drag the arse of the car everytime it came on boost, I solved this by going to 28mm torsion bars.
Your front brakes, I had Type 4 calipers on the front with Green EBC pads, DOT 5 brake fluid, braided lines & cross drilled rotors. Was perfectly fine for the street & on the track with a vw engine, even in the heavy Superbug, but, as soon as I went WRX powered, the brakes turned to mush after a few laps with the increased top end speed they needed to pull up.
Changed to Nissan R32 4 pot calipers & 290mm ventilated disks & the brakes have never faded since.
regards
Jak
vw54 ·
I solved this by going to 28mm torsion bars.
Jak what are they out of or did u have them made
Jak Rizzo ·
Got them off Richard at V Force, think they were sway away, that was 6 years ago now so can't quite remember
Jak
vwsteve ·
ah so this is the race car you told me about lou, wow, looks good, i will have to pop in one of these days and have a look
Aussie Dubbin ·
I bought some 28mm torsion bars from richard a few months back... great service and advise. Give him a call. I think his numbe ris on his website or vforce on ebay
Aussie Dubbin ·
What shocks are you running and what is the plan with that extension? Good idea just wanting some info if you can share?
Who did your brakes too? Rotors look good
ian.mezz ·
I think if you have to modify the twin turbos to fit. I would toss em and just go with on factory mounted single job, Heaps of power and more room in and around motor and easy to work on. 😊
lou0060 ·
thanks for the feedback guys.
Ian, yes like the idea of the Toyota filler. After some thought I am going to move the expansion tank and raise it to about level with the top of the radiator.
Jack, I had thought I would need to go with the larger torsion bars so I'll give Richard a call, we go back a long way... I bought his old 56 oval 25 years ago and a Judson I bet he wished he had now....
As for the brakes time will tell but an upgrade is probably not far away. We'll see how it handles first, and anyway the wooden block under the go-pedal should speed limit it to around 100kph....😂😂😂
Aussie Dubbin, the shocks are KYB gas shocks. the idea behind the gear lever extension was just to get the knob closer to the steering wheel. Plus I had a spare afternoon and a lathe to play with..... The throw is a little bit longer but I have a short shift kit in it so it is still pretty good and tight. The front brakes are Volks Conversion / JohnSherman from the Gold Coast. as far as I know he is the only one that uses a solid hub blank so that the holes for the wheel studs are not weakened. the calipers are type 3 single pot but again we'll see how they perform. I know lots of guys run big brakes up front and on the rear but there is a thing such as over braking a car and with hardly any weight in the front I am not sure I need to go bigger, but as Jak has said he has had good results with the larger brakes so time will tell.
IAn, twin turbo is there to stay!!
vw54 ·
Louie
the torsion bars are from Sway A Away
talk to u know who and he can arrange
lou0060 ·
Hey Steve, the gearbox for the ragtop is still sitting on the floor at the other end of the shop. Don't drop in this weekend - I'm off to Sydney for the nationals.
hellbugged ·
yeah i'm with Jako on the bars and brakes.
lou0060 ·
lots happened since May! my son and I finished his Mk1 Golf just in time for VW Action Day and then we had 3 weeks to finish the racecar for Warwick. I'll post some photos of the frantic build soon but the end result was we got the car to Warwick and despite getting a flat battery on Saturday we got it charged up over night and ran 8 runs on the Saturday and the car didn't miss a beat. 2 weeks out and I am still grinning!
there's a couple of vids on youtube but you'll need to find them yourselves.
Current plan is to finish the trailer next week and then get the car to the dyno and make sure the twins are kicking in at the right revs and see what power it produces so we have a reference point before we start playing around with settings.
stay tuned....
Jak Rizzo ·
Well done Lou!
Do u have some pics & video of your runs? (links) do u know your exact time & mph?
As a refernce, mine did a lazy off the line 8.3 seconds @ 84mph, thats with 204hp @ the wheels & the car weighs 1020kg.
Will u be at next years Nationals supersprint?
regards
Jak
lou0060 ·
hi Jak,
here are the links to the videos Ian and Rose shot.
I hope they work, otherwise just google v2 warwick 2011 and go to videos and look for the red and yellow beetle
as this was our very first run in the car, I didn't even have time to give it a blast up the road before we put it on the trailer, I was a bit cautious as I didn't want to break anything on the first couple of runs. Anyway the best I did was a 9.97 and around 67mph so the car still has more to give.
mind you this was on $100 very old (hard) second hand street tyres and the rears were at 34psi so not much grip. Also I didn't fit the 3 puck clutch and went with the stock clutch so I was getting a bit of slip as well. And the driver could probably do with some practice! (geez I got beaten by a new beetle driven by a girl.....)
and yes we will definitely be at the nationals next year and a big maybe for the February drags at Eastern Creek.
lou0060 ·
well after 1 year since my initial post I have finally finished the paint job. and Also finished the year with a squirt up the road.....
Next is to build the new airbox for the intercooler and then it is off to the dyno, hopefully before the end of the month.
Jak Rizzo ·
Well done Lou, it sounds alot more like a WRX than mine, I really like the sound. Are u coming to WSID in Feb for the VW drags?
Jak
lou0060 ·
hi Jak,
yes it sounds really mean even at idle but once you hit both turbos spooling it just howls!! can't wait to get it on the track.
Feb is looking doubtful at this stage as I am planning to run at Morgan Park that same weekend for a 3 day race meet which includes some test and tune and race driver training so will be a great kick off for the year and I can get a fair bit of track time there as opposed to 12 hours towing and then probably a dozen squirts down the quarter mile for a total track time of about 2 minutes!!
Also I can't justify 3 trips south this year as I want to do VW Nationals and also VW Spectacular so I think I'll be missing WSID.
lou0060 ·
quite day today so loaded up the entire video and some photos...
lou0060 ·
more pics
lou0060 ·
made up the airbox for the intercooler over the weekend.
lou0060 ·
had a run at Lakeside on Sunday and enjoyed the 30 minutes of track time to sort out a couple of things. The car ran well but after a few warmup laps to get some heat in the engine and tyres I found it wouldn't rev past 4100rpm before it started missing.
At 4100rpm it was doing about 140kph down the straight so it still has lots to give. another 2000 revs should see 200kph easy down the straight. after we pitted we found a hose had come of the primary turbo which feeds the secondary pre-spool. Unfortunately we had run out of time and so couldn't get back on the track to see if this was the culprit.
anyway, we found a small oil leak coming from the plastic plate behind the flywheel and so we are going to pull the engine out next week and fix the oil leak and also fit hose clamps to ALL hoses.....
I've got hold of a Gopro camera so will post some vids next time we take it out.
the below link is to a vid taken by one of the watercooled guys on Sunday, I appear around the 1 minute mark...
Jak Rizzo ·
Did u get it on the dyno Lou? I'd be interested to know what your air intake temps are like with that air to air intercooler setup on the track.
I thought u may put a big aftermaket intercooler in the rear wing?
Jak
lou0060 ·
no dyno yet Jak. I spoke to the guy up the road from my shop who has a dyno and he is keen to get my car on the rollers. First I am going to pull the engine out again and fix the oil leak and sort out my hoses. Plus I am going to change my intake / filter set up as at the moment it is not running any filter, just straight into the air meter.....
Once these mods are done it will be dyno time and hopefully make it in time to do a sprint round in Feb before heading to Morgan park on the 25th.
toey1984 ·
just a question,
what ecu are you running?, standard or aftermarket?
if ya dont mind me asking?
iwantbus ·
Could you tell me which toyota that hose with the cap is off of?
Joel ·
iwantbus wrote:Could you tell me which toyota that hose with the cap is off of?
I was checking the levels in a friends Yaris yesterday and noticed it has the same cap fitting as in Ians pic.
It looks to be small dimater hose though about 28-30mm.
lou0060 ·
toey1984 wrote:just a question,
what ecu are you running?, standard or aftermarket?
if ya dont mind me asking?
sorry, been off line for a while. I'm running dead stock engine and ecu. The only change I have made is the air intake and I am still playing with this but due to finish third layout this week.
lou0060 ·
thanks for covering for me Joel. Ian will know what car the cap assembly came of. I didn't go with it as my set up moved the standard Subi expansion tank up higher than normal.
CAr is currently on blocks and waiting for the engine to come out to replace the oil plate behind the flywheel which has developed a slight oil weep. However, things are busy at work so not much time to play.... Aiming to be at Lakeside mid April and Wakefield in MAy so need to get back to it soon. Currently working on an engine trolley similar to what Joel made to make engine removal easier...
tar76 ·
Let us know when you guys are hitting Lakeside, luved to come down and watch the beetle cut some laps
NTsuperbug ·
Thanks for the reply Lou..... just came on to check for the uploaded pics????? nearly there we will be back on the track in no time...
lou0060 ·
finally got some time together to replace the oil splash bracket on the back of the block. So much pain for such a small job, but now done and back in the car.
the first photo is the old plastic plate and the new one is metal. Seems might have been a common problem with Subaru as the old plastic one used counter sunk screws which eventuallu split the plastic and caused the oil to weep. the new plate comes with new flat head screws and no gasket so used plenty of Permatex sealant.
Lakeside sprints are on this weekend coming 14th and 15th I think so at this stage planning to be there on the Sunday.
lou0060 ·
Also while it was out I fitted a turbo blanket to try and keep the heat of the starter motor....
lou0060 ·
Just an update, things didn't go as planned for last weekend as the car is still in the garage. anyway got the engineback in and everything is bolted back together now just need to sort out a fuel leak in the return line which leaks when I start the car after its been sitting for a while and once the pressure builds up it stops???
While the engine was out I redid the air intake and here is what it looks like now.
lou0060 ·
and with the tail on...
vw54 ·
louieeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Jak Rizzo ·
I still think u should put the intercooler in the wing, not only would it function better but would look friggin cool ala Porsche 930 turbo.
Are u definantly coming down for the Nationals? I want to see u smack me with that twin turbo setup!
Jak
lou0060 ·
Hi Jak,
semi slicks for the front arrived this week.
downloaded the paperwork last night and all filled out. Will be posting tomorrow with the cheque attached....
can't wait; 38 sleeps to go..............
ian.mezz ·
best to travel past Sydney on friday morning , because the arvo traffic is a bitch. 🥲
lou0060 ·
after the overheating problems in Goulburn, despite the near blizzard conditions, I have made some refinments to the intercooler and also the expansion tank.
After I got back from Wakefield I made up a radiator pressure filler to get the air out of the system as I felt this was where my main problems were at. After 2 laps the car was running at 120 deg and jumping into limp mode. I was surprised at how much air I was able to get out of the system. Anyway I then decided to take jak's advice and move the intercooler.
So now after moving all the bits out of the way and extending the rear bracket I now have the intercooler under the vents on the back wing and the coolant expansion / filler tank up higher than the radiator. All is back together and I plan to run the engine tomorrow before taking the car to the dyno. Next outing is July 22nd at lakeside sprints so plan to have dyno completed by early next week and hopefully I have cured my limp mode issue.
lou0060 ·
a few more.... including a view from inside the parcel shelf area.
Jak Rizzo ·
Cool dyno time!
My guess is 245 rear wheel hp on 16psi boost!
vassy66T1 ·
Well done Lou
Always some troubleshooting to do once you stray from a stock car 😁
lou0060 ·
started the engine tonight and spent about a hour bleeding the cooling system and pretty happy with the result. Ran it up to temp and cycled through the fans a couple of times with temps settling down nicely. Water ranged between 90 and 100 and oil got to around 80 and maintained. Amazing how much air bubbled out using my home made bleeder. I reckon at least an extra 750ml of coolant went into the system which means 750ml of air came out. Anyway pretty much ready to go back on the trailer and off to the dyno on the weekend. Will post results next week all going well.
20bkombi ·
Nice work! Can't wait for the weekend.😀
Jak Rizzo ·
I also found that once it's cooled down, take off the radiator/coolant cap & let it sit over night, next day it needed more coolant
1303Steve ·
Hi Lou
Once you start driving the car air will work its way out again.
Steve
Joel ·
Jak Rizzo wrote:I also found that once it's cooled down, take off the radiator/coolant cap & let it sit over night, next day it needed more coolant
also a good idea to retighten all the hose clamps after a couple heat/cool cycles, the hoses always seem to move around abit, probably why most modern cars come with spring loaded clamps now.
ian.mezz ·
did you get rid of that charcoal canister.
tweety ·
A great project and write up Lou.
thanks for all the pics.
I also had heaps of issues with air bleed with my Alfa radiator at the front of my trike. I used as Hyundai i30 diesel expansion tank and hooked it up to the heater hose to the water pump. The tanks outlet is heater hose size and there are two very small outlets also on the tank that can be hooked up together with transperant hose to make it easy to sight the level (one outlet high one low) Also a bleed at the radiator, air pockets still exist for a while.
Me thinks a bleed on the ea81 opposite the thermostat housing at the small hose used to heat the manifold is another one needed. So several wont hurt and could save some heart ache. Bleeds were purchased at ENZED of the brass type that lock hard so they wont accidentally open.
lou0060 ·
I almost feel embarrassed to post this but got my car off the dyno today after a week of hell and best we managed was 116hp at the wheels at about 9 psi boost. Sooooo, something is not working!
Possible causes that we are going to check are the wastegate seats to ensure there is no leakage past them, hoses to the blow-off valves, and hoping not to have to go there but check the turbos for wear.... When we pulled the hoses off the vacuum actuators the boost didn't change so must have a leak somewhere.
We had to fit a new airflow meter and at least the car did not overheat and ran pretty constant over the 4 hour session. Just not getting the power I was expecting.
The engine now revs well above 4000rpm and does not have the limp mode/miss fire issue at 4000rpm we had before so some good news there I guess.
back to the drawing board......
toey1984 ·
what exact motor are you running ? (g, r or h.......) or ecu model / code?
are all the vacume lines clean?, no cracks or leakes in lines?
the twins made a min of 150kw ( as to what i know) with the ej20g ( 183- 190 with the non gtb motors then 190 - 206kw with the gtb yellow injectors eith the h's)
all the solinoids are working?
The love hate relationship of the tt.
hope you get it sorted out mate, all the best. keep us posted!
Joel ·
Hi Lou, you may be losing boost with that valve setup that brings the 2nd turbo in not opening properly, you know if the gauge is reading spot on?
Where abouts is the gauge connected?
Other issue you may be having is on the dyno the intercooler wouldn't be getting much air flow through it.
toey1984 ·
("Hi Lou, you may be losing boost with that valve setup that brings the 2nd turbo in not opening properly, you know if the gauge is reading spot on?
Where abouts is the gauge connected?
Other issue you may be having is on the dyno the intercooler wouldn't be getting much air flow through it.")
The second motor i have here nearly out of the donor car has the boost gauge linked into line 10 if that helps
If you are not sure if your vaccume lines are connect to the right portal, i could cross reference them with mine?
are you running the standard vaccume tank? as they do use more vaccume than i thought and may not be pulling the valves open in the correct manor or hard enough?
just looking at a tt dyno graph it makes 110bhp at 3000 rpm and 155 - 160 at 4000 just before the gate fully opens ( on a standard jap spec 280ps motor)
vw54 ·
LG
i know a good VW engine bulider
1303Steve ·
vw54 wrote:LG
i know a good VW engine bulider
just need a good VW engine then
Jak Rizzo ·
1303Steve wrote:
vw54 wrote:LG
i know a good VW engine bulider
just need a good VW engine then
LMFAO😂😂😂😂😂
vw54 ·
yeah it might just put out MORE power
toey1984 ·
how did you go sorting it out lou?
lou0060 ·
vw54 wrote:yeah it might just put out MORE power
yea and put struts in as well.......
lou0060 ·
hi Nathan, ran at QR on saturday with the vw watercooled guys and the dreaded 4500rpm cut out happened again from the word go. NOT HAPPY!
will be visiting the dyno guy this afternoon and ripping him a new AH!!
When I got home I hooked up a "check engine light" to see if I could get a code but it just flashed constantly so not sure what that means....
The car rans really strong up to about 4400rpm in all gears and pulls strong up to there. If I drive it at 4400rpm it is fine and was good for about 160 down the main straight. But as soon as you push above that in any gear it just starts to miss. When this ahppens boost drops right off to zero. Up to 4400 in 3rd it's boosting to 10 psi so I know the primary turbo is working so something is happening with the prespooling of the secondary turbo.
My next plan of attack is to check all the vacuum hoses, again, check the secondary turbo actuators and clean all the soleniod terminals, again.
I think I have my temperatures working fine now as I stayed out for the 30minute session and temps were about 110 for water and 60 for oil. I am going to play around with the airflow over the engine with some panels to direct the air flow down away from the intecooler and inlet hose and wrapping the exhaust to reduce the temps a bit more as well.
vw54 ·
remove the 2nd turbo and ECU fit after market
lou0060 ·
well we took the car up to Mt Mee on Saturday to a mates place and ran up and down his dead end street. took a while but we got the 4500rpm jitters to happen again. then I hooked up an led light to the CEL lead and finally got a code. 33! that is the speed sensor.
well we checked around and sure enough the speed sensor lead from the ecu is not hooked up! so, what has been happening is that the car runs okay in the first 3 gears but once you shift to 4th it sends the ecu into meltdown mode and won't let it rev above 4500. When you cut the engine out it restores the ecu and then it revs okay until you get to 4th again and the cycle continues.
Okay, stop laughing! why wasn't the speed sensor connected. Well you might recall that in the initial build I lost my wiring legend and we were trying to get the car ready for Warwick last year and got the wiring done at midnight the Tuesday befoer Warwick and then had to finish putting the car together. Well my electrician didn't know we needed a speed sensor and tucked that cable away out of sight.....
So the car ran alright at Warwick cause it didn't go thru enough cycles in each run. It was only when we ran at Lakeside and Wakefield that we discovered we had an issue.
Anyway, today I ran 2 wires from the ecu to the front and mounted a permanent LED for the CEL and also a cable from the speed sensor pin to the speedo cable ready to adapt to the VDO 412.009 sensor which I'll arrange this week. Cross fingers but I am sure this will sort out our problem and we should be ready to hit LS on the 18th.....
If we get a chance we'll dyno the car again before then to see what it really makes....
vw54 ·
go to dyno first
ian.mezz ·
NO speed sensor don't normally cause a problem .🥲
lou0060 ·
hi Ian, my dyno guy thinks the same as you but I am convinced this is my problem. Joel has eluded to it before in other threads and from what we can find on the subi forums the speed sensor problem is associated with not reving past 4000 rpm or so. I've ordered the VDO sensor that fits into the back of the speedo rather than make up one like Joel did with a set of magnets and hall effect sensor, in fact the delivery driver has just walked in with my sensor...
got to go.....
1303Steve ·
Hi Lou
Only problem with the VDO sensor being driven off the speedo cable is how will you turn it while the car is on the dyno? Electric drill on the speedo cable.
Steve
lou0060 ·
Hi Steve, yes I did think about that but the speedo sensor was the easy way out. I fitted it last night and wired it all up now just need to get onto the track, or lonely road somewhere...
here are some pictures.
if the car runs okay now then I can close the book on the 4500rpm and then start looking at why the power is down. My guess is that it was not spooling the second turbo on the dyno due to the sensor not picking up any movement. I have printed out a technical manual on the Subi twin turbo and am going to study it tonight to see just what effect the speed sensor has on the system.
When we run the car up to the point that the ecu starts to limit the revs to 4500 it has plenty of power right through the rev range 7000 plus so the ecu must work for a period and then must register that it is reving and loading up but no vehicle movement and then shuts down to the 4500 limit.
anyway, the earliest I can get it on the dyno is late next week and the next LS meet is the 18th so will post results once these things happen.
1303Steve ·
Hi Lou
I have the same VDO sensor in my bug and I also drive my digital speedo with it.
Did you notice the car stalling at all, no speed sensor can cause that.
Steve
lou0060 ·
sooooo Steve, if you disconnect the speed senor wire from the speedo adaptor what does your engine do? I realsie yours is a later model and might use the speed senor signal in a different way but this 4500rpm limit is mentioned on subi forums regardless of vehicle age, even late model STI WRX's have posted a similar problem.
i wonder how many vw swaps have their speed sensor hooked up and how many don't. Also do we know if the speed sensor is only required on turbo EJ's as oppossed to NA engines??
Anyway plan today is to take the car down some back streets behind work and see what happens.
1303Steve ·
Hi Lou
I've never run mine without the speed sensor.
Something that I will need to look into is if the VDO sensor will give too many pulses and the ECU will think I'm going much faster than I am and cause a shutdown.
Steve
ian.mezz ·
I DO NOT have a speed sensor in my bug and i also had a na with NO speed sensor either. both run fine.😵💫
i don't think any of the 4 subaru powered vw at our dyno had speed sensors and we didn't use a drill😂
When I worked at Holden the bomadore use to do the similar thing , so to make sure that we had a faulty crank or cam sensor , we would have to drive the car around in 2nd gear to get the heat into it and when it played up , we just had a bottle of water that we would tip over the sensor then it normally would run fine again, then back to the shop to replace the faulty part . Good old factory traind Holden Technicians.🤪
lou0060 ·
happy days!
just spent 1 hour hooning up and down some back streets and car has performed brilliantly! I did at least 20 runs up and down a quarter mile run running up to 7000 rpm thru most gears and no problems. car easily revved pasted 4500 in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and pulled away well in 4th without the dreaded 4500rpm limiter kicking in. temp was up around the 100 degrees and fans had kicked in a couple of times so I think everything was pretty much the same as the last time we ran it and had issues so I am pretty sure the problem is solved.
this means we are ready for the 18th at Lakeside. we'll run VW watercooled happy laps in the morning to dial car in and make sure all is well and then have practice till noon followed by the open sprints in the afternoon. I'll post some results next weekend.
lou0060 ·
great video by the way Ian. Your's is a real sleeper hey!
what engine are you running, year and ecu? I am keen to figure out why my speed sensor needs to be connected and others don't. There must be some logical and technical reasons why this has happened.
1303Steve ·
Great news Lou
toey1984 ·
Happy to see it all came together mate.
toey1984 ·
How does the vally of death go with the 4 speed?
Joel ·
lou0060 wrote:I am keen to figure out why my speed sensor needs to be connected and others don't. There must be some logical and technical reasons why this has happened.
Every fuel injected EJ engine needs a speed sensor, just some don;t present the symptoms as much as others.
Early ones like mine and Ians don't have limp mode so no rev limiting but they still run better with one.
I've been in the passengers seat of Ians and seen the check engine light coming on every time we were rolling down a hill.
I can disconnect mine and it's still drivable.
As I mentioned it doenst have a limp mode but every time I coast over 35km/h my check engine light comes on with the Idle valve code and as I come to a stop the revs drop right down.
Not enough to stall but the charge light does start to glow then clears itself, others will stall, it depends on the idle valve setting and how gummed up it is which make them lazy.
The reason all that happens is when you are coasting along like downhill the engine is spinning say 2000rpm but your foot is off the throttle.
The computer sees there is no throttle and thinks the car's not moving as no speed signal but sees the revs are at 2000rpm and says faaaarrrrrk I'm idling at 2000rpm with no throttle and not moving, somethings wrong.
That's why they usually spit code 24 (idle valve) when the VSS isn't working.
the later stuff also uses the speed sensor to dictate what speed it runs the cooling fans at.
lou0060 ·
soooo, been a while since I added to this thread. Suffice to say the problems I have been having with the twin setup have persisted and in fact still casued some issues at Wakefield this year, although it did run a bit harder than last year. Still 1.21 was not were I thought I would be so we limped home once again and deleted all the go-pro footage......
However, I have had a major breakthrough and will be at QR on Friday this week for what I think will be a huge turn-around in peformance. Stay tuned and maybe this time I won't feel the need to delete the go-pro footage......
vw54 ·
lets see it LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOuieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
vassy66T1 ·
Hope it goes well Mate!
You deserve it 👍
lou0060 ·
yes I know it has been nearly 3 years and I have struggled with my twin turbo set up BUT today at QR general practice, in the rain, we finally got both turbos boosting and holy shite, it is a weapon!
I am trying to post a vid but it's taking ages. We had a ball this morning and can't wait for a dry run.
I'll post the vid on the circuit forum. thanks to everyone who tried to help and for sure won't be going single turbo!
hellbugged ·
So what was the fix ?
ian.mezz ·
sounds like the hose came off and you got max boost 😂🤪
great news
lou0060 ·
Hi Damian, its almost too embarrasing to say!
we have done a lot of behind the scene and off the air "fixes" to try and solve this twin turbo issue over the past 2 years and spent a lot of time on the uk legacy forum as they have a heap of twin turbos over there and some pretty knowledgable people.
But anyway we tracked it down to the secondary exhaust gas actuator which is a double acting actuator that uses both vacuum and boost pressure to function. And we had the hoses on back-to-front.....
so instead of sucking we were blowing and instead of blowing we were sucking......
hellbugged ·
Bugger.... Good it's solved now tho.....nothing like having engine sorted so you can concentrate on driving and dialing in the rest of the car
Look forward to some footage!
Sides ·
Great news Lou !!!
Now matter how frustrating or embarrassing, gotta be happy that it was a simple and cheap fix once identified.
Now you just have 6-12 months of the "you seem to have it sorted, what was the problem ?" type conversations at every track...
😉
SebastienPeek ·
Now I just need to join the TT club.
lou0060 ·
been a while since I last posted so thought an update was in order.
We spun a conrod bearing at Wakefield at the nationals so the car is pulled apart for major heart surgery at the moment. Race is on to get it done before Valla.
List of things to do include;
relocate radiator
relocate intercooler
relocate oil cooler and filter
fit oil catch cans
new water pump
new high volume oil pump
new belt and tensioners
upgrade sump baffle plate
shorten sump
re-route heater lines
relocate inlet air collection pod
I purchased another twin turbo motor so will leave the bottom end as is for now otherwiseno way we will make Valla.
Will ppost photos along the build.
Jak Rizzo ·
what weight oil do you use Lou?
1303Steve ·
Shit Louie. how did that happen?
ian.mezz ·
I always put 5 litres in my Subaru . I would try a few different things with the radiator , like getting rid of all the squares and corners in you ducting , I would also put a divider in the centre in front of the radiator .
I wouldn't change the sump .
A new high volume oil pump will just empty the sump quicker 😊
hope you sort it out 👍
vlad01 ·
i would look more closely at the tune as a possible cause . even mild detonation can play havoc on bearings.
have also heard suby having problems with oil pickup tube cracking letting air in.
1303Steve ·
I did 2 360 spins a few months ago at Wakefield with a shortened Westside sump and the motor still had oil pressure.
I've often wondered about the affects of the running motor back to front
Jak Rizzo ·
1303Steve wrote:I've often wondered about the affects of the running motor back to front
I originally thought my little engine may get car sick from running backwards.
Turns out, it doesn't.
DO a search on Rexnet Lou, there's quite a few does & don'ts regarding the wrx sump/oil capacity.
Under no circumstances should you over fill the stock sump, it doesn't help. The stock sump only takes 4.5L of oil which for a modern turbo motor is drastically under oiled. Any more & the crank & rods just start sloshing it around, then that can lead to crankcase breather problems. I know, I tried it back in 2004.
Just make yourself a bigger sump like mine & Stevies, mine takes 6L of oil, you may not need it to be any shorter since it's not a daily driver/street car. Even with 265'000Ks on the engine I have lot's oil pressure, never under 75psi at idle.
Don't fall into the trap of running really thin oil just because it's a modern motor, as soon as mine was run in, way back in 2005 I have used nothing less than Penrite 15/60 weight oil.
I am by no means an oil/motor/turbo/engineering expert, I can only tell you what has worked for me Lou Hope you get it sorted once & for all, for me, the whole idea of the conversion was to provide modern trouble free (relatively) motoring/motorsport. I'm a bit devastated that you keep having dramas.
Jak Rizzo ·
& yes, the oil pick up tube is very fragile , it may as well be a plastic straw!, when I shortened mine I also had extra welds put on all the factory joins, just in case.
vlad01 ·
4.5L is tons for a 4cly !
I don't know about suby, but I dropped the weight of oil in my cars so its can survive at high rpm in conjunction with bumped up oil relief spring pressure.
thinner oil at higher pressure forces it to the bearings that thick oil wouldn't supply fast enough otherwise. Proven to work in my cars, UOA and inspection of the bearing show its definitely helped not spin any bearings 👍
I imagined that would be even more true with suby engine since they run extremely tight tolerances.
I know running 20w50 in a 4L Turd stuffs the engine when its suppose to run 10W40.
lou0060 ·
sorry guys, I've been working on the car!
so lets answer some questions;
yep probably running too thin an oil in hindsight using synthetic 5w40 so with elevated temps proabbaly a bit on the thin side.
I've done abit of research on the sumps and baffles and am going to do some mods to mine. you are right Jak, I don't need to cut too much out as even on my car with less than 100mm clearance I have only had a couple of very small scrapes. I'll take photos of what we plan to do and post them.
Ian, the twin turbos don't like having overfill on the oil, it plays havoc with the intercooler and the vacuum hoses.
Vlad, I ruan a 94 engine which has a non programable ecu, although I am running a Mines No 2 but it is essentially a modified factory tune.
lou0060 ·
I'll add a few photos;
lou0060 ·
a couple of items turned up today;
and I know Ian will like the last photo on here....
And I don't want to hear any "I told you so..."
1303Steve ·
Were's the like button?
ian.mezz ·
Just make sure all the cover etc around the radiator are curved and not boxes and plastic and not steel or tin , just think of the out side shape of your bug and how the air flow over its curved rounded shaped body 😊😊
don't use that old fan , get a new fin/narrow type they work heaps better and get a suck one not a blow 😊
lou0060 ·
a bit of progress tonight. modified the heat circuit, got rid of some coolant lines of the idle air control valve and throttle body and some excess vacuum lines. Inlet manifold looks a lot simpler now. Will also remove the fuel canister and associated hoses making it a bit cleaner in the engine bay.
The oilrelocation kit arrived today so will start on the front of the engine tomorrow afterI buy a few gaskets etc.
lou0060 ·
and the IM..
ian, currently having teh radiator modified to move the outlet position as it hits the front bulkhead so moving a coupleof inches to the left and that will give us straight access between the beams. Will probably make the whole front area out of 1.5mm ally and it will be scooped and shut off so that all the air flows thru the rad. Going to have the hot air come out a backwards looking scoop in the top of the bonnet so that I have clear air under the car.
Joel ·
Lou, do you have room to fit the fan on the back side of the rad?
They work a lot more efficiently pulling rather than pushing and they obstruct the air flow a bit on the front side as well.
lou0060 ·
I had a heap of photos of the rad with fans in front and at the back probably posted the wrong photo. Yes intention is to put the fan behind the rad.
ian.mezz ·
yes maybe a smaller radiator and a sucker type fan /not blower😊
radiator should also be rubber mounted .
with a air bleed in the top
lou0060 ·
The radiator is an RX7 alloy unit and as I mentioned above is being modified to move the outlet point. Also adding a bleed point at the top to allow the system to be filled and get rid of the air at the front. I am gong to increase the capacity of the filler tank at the back and it will be at the same height as before so will be the highest point by far. I am using the small radiator fan from the subi set up on the back of the radiator and then the bigger fan will be used in the back of the car for the intercooler.
This weekend will be making up the radiator mounts and the frame for the new fuel cell.
Today the 12mm oil pump arrived which will give more flow and better pressure. I installed it and the new water pump and started putting the idlers and timing belt on. Will post pictures over the weekend.
ian.mezz ·
you need to get the radiator down low
mine sits 35mn below front guard .
ian.mezz ·
😊
lou0060 ·
thanks Ian, mine will sit pretty low!
the third picture is a bit too low but won't be much higher than 20 mm or so.
lou0060 ·
The grinder is my friend!
I have moved the fuel tank bracket back so will now need to make a new tank as well....
Also in the process of eliminating all emmission crap hoses,
new sumpbaffle plate and shortern sump,
new oil pump and water pump are in...
1303Steve ·
Looking good, careful of the angle grinder
lou0060 ·
some progress shots. have been busy and now have the radiator in place all bolted in. Next are the water pipes plus need to weld in a bleed point on the top of the radiator. I had the bottom outlet moved to the right 50mm so it lines up with the gap between the front torsion bars.
I'm using the smaller fan from the subi set up and will run the pipes under the heater channels on either side.
lou0060 ·
Also have the new fuel cell being cut out and bent up so we can weld it next week. Jim at Race Clutch has my flywheel and is fitting a new pressure plate and re-doing the 3 puck clutch.
Also working on the shortened sump, here are a couple of shots of the mock up.
lou0060 ·
And finally the new 2into1 intercooler has arrived......
will be making up a bracket to hold it in place tomorrow and closing in all the air flows. It weighs a tonne though which suprised me. I need to modify it slightly as it doesn't have a blow off valve mounting.
I am also going to mount the larger subi radiator fan to it so it is constantly running.
vw54 ·
keep going Louie only 2 weeks to Valla
ian.mezz ·
that radiator looks solid mounted ???
if it gets a bump you may break it ??
the hot air should go down under the car , not sure what that tin doing behind the radiator.???
Get rid of that stupid old fan, 😂
cheap exhaust pipe makes good water piping for under the car.
mactaylor ·
ian.mezz wrote:that radiator looks solid mounted ???
if it gets a bump you may break it ??
the hot air should go down under the car ,
I dont Agree I think the hot air should be vented just before the wind screen. Not picking on you Ian, just its a negative pressure area so why not "BLOW" it. It should help with down force and "CD"
lou0060 ·
Ian, radiator is sitting on two rubber grommets and will be secured at the top but be a bit flexible.
the hot air will be expelled upwards and exit the bonnet about half way thru a reverse style scoop. I have a splitter on the front of the car that goes all the way back to the chassie and at Wakefield felt really good at high speed so I don't want to introduce hot air under the car. As Mactaylor says this will help down force and I can always use it to warm my hands on the windscreen next time at Wakefield......
ian.mezz ·
Holden V8 Tarana's use the reverse scoops to get air in.
yer blow hot air at the windscreen like every other car making in the world does .😂
you will have very hot hands and it will be very uncomfortable to drive with 110 deg heat blowing at you.
hot air goes out under the car .
you have to even make a go air gap between cooling pipes and the floor as the heat comes up.
Ask Joel about when he went for a drive in my bug
the hot air that comes in from just a poor bonnet seal just blowing the hot air from above the radiator 😂 it was ok because it was winter at Sawtell 😂
lou0060 ·
planning on putting a 5mm spacer between the pipes and the chassis so hope that gives a bit of better heat transfer. Will probably go with 32mm exhaust tube and hope to have that done sometime this week.
I've got my sump sandwich plate ready for tigging tomorrow plus some modifications to the new intercooler, and also having the sump base and wall plate profile cut tomorrow so should have the sump ready before the weekend. Should have the flywheel, clutch and PPlate back by Friday as well so hoping to fire it up on Sunday..
cutting it very tight.
ian.mezz ·
so we will see you at Valla 😊
lou0060 ·
looks like the car wont be making it to Valla this year. We have made good progress but with 4 days left the amount of work to do means it is really inpractical to get it finished on time and then run it without testing first.
We had a bit of a set back with the clutch that cost us a couple of days and the sump is taking a bit longer than I thought.
anyway, here are some progress shots;
the sandwich plate is done and the intercooler has been modified to suit my twin turbo setup and the new fuel cell is all cut and bent now being welded...
lou0060 ·
the sump is looking good and I just need to get the bottom plate done along with some gated baffles around the pick up tube.
lou0060 ·
and here is the new upgraded clutch.
jim at Race Clutches fitted an Alfa pressure plate which has the smae bolt batten is VW to the flywheel along with the three button plate. Only problem was that I needed to find a suitable throw out bearing with a radial face rather than the standard flat face used by VW.
It was a bit panicky but we managed to find an Alfa bearing that we cut out of its housing and once we dissassembled the VW unit they were a perfect fit.
lou0060 ·
The new bearing sits a bit higher so will take up some adjustment but should work fine. Fingers crossed!
lou0060 ·
got back to doing some more work on the car today as have been busy travelling for work last couple of weeks.
I've got the intercooler mounted now and also just about finished the sump, just needs to have the oil temp sender adaptor brazed on and then sandbalsted and painted.
Here is the IC mounted.
lou0060 ·
got the sump sorted and finished the shortern pick up tube and brazed in the temp sender adaptor etc etc.
The new sump takes 4.5 l to fill to the dip stick full mark so pretty happy with that as the standard sump only took 4 litres.
Now for a good clean of the splash plate, tube and sump and ready to bolt onto the engine and then i can get the flywheel and clutch on and back into the car.
vw54 ·
Does the PLUMBER do a good job on welding
1303Steve ·
Good on you Louieee
lou0060 ·
James is a gun at oxy welding, so he reckons.....
we'll see how she goes at Warwick...
today got the sump on and all bolted up.
tomorrow the flywheel and clutch..
lou0060 ·
and a couple more, pretty happy how it turned out.
lou0060 ·
Was hoping to get the car to Lakeside this weekend but not going to happen. Pushing hard to get it ready for Warwick.
Question regarding the water lines from engine to the radiator in the front. has anyone used 1" or 1-1/8" high pressure hose instead of steel pipe? The fact that the path from front to back is so complicated means having to take the car to the exhaust shop to bend up the tube whereas with the hose I can do it in situ and have it done in a night. Any suggestions????
vlad01 ·
I am not sure about the size, seem pretty small, and for the distance very small due to frictional losses and flow would suffer. 35mm I imagine should be suffice.
My only concern about using that much hose is pressure loss when the coolant expands and that much hose would probably just expand with it, you want to maintain pressure to keep the boiling point in check.
It might work ok, but I would opt for hard pipes.
1303Steve ·
Hi Louie
I used 1.5 inch steel tube, its acts as part of the cooling system, rubber hose wouldn't radiate heat as well.
I had a tube bent up that follows the heater channel bolts and then tubes made to go between the ends to the motor and radiator and joined them with straight 1.5 inch rubber hose.
See if you can borrow a floor pan 1/2 and take it to an exhaust shop so they can bend it to suit.
1.5 inch is close to the stock radiator hose size.
Maybe use long rubber hose at the very ends. Rubber hose the whole length would make your ground clearance lower
Steve
ian.mezz ·
cheaper to just get exhaust pipe bent up at shop, mine cost about $90 for pipe and the guy to shape them.😊
ian.mezz ·
😊
lou0060 ·
Fitted up the oil cooler and filter and lines today as well as finished all the turbo / IC hoses and made up the rear IC gaurd to keep the hot air away from the back of the intercooler.
Will have a re-think on the coolant lines till Monday.
lou0060 ·
Also made up a panel for the radiator..
and added some functional bling....
lou0060 ·
well finally got the car on a dyno and had a proper run. I did go to Leon's dyno day and made the mistake of driving it myself as Leon was worried about getting his body into the tight fit of my car. Unfortunately I didn't drive it as I should have and we got some dodgy results.
Anyway I am waiting on my graphs which I'll post over the weekend but here is a link to the video and it ran a best of 279.8HP at the wheels so got to be happy with that.🙄🙄🙄😁😁
Good result Lou, mines in for a E85 tune now, fingers crossed
vw54 ·
Louie
Si that .8 is very important
lou0060 ·
hahah Birch, yep close enough to 280 hey! painted the trailer today and it came up very nice. Getting ready for leyburn and will be out at Lakeside on the 19th testing the 105 fuel.
vw54 ·
Might as well have been 280 easy
Hry i anm in Mexico and i see a town call Tampico hondel hondelay yeah har
1303Steve ·
lou0060 wrote:hahah Birch, yep close enough to 280 hey! painted the trailer today and it came up very nice. Getting ready for leyburn and will be out at Lakeside on the 19th testing the 105 fuel.
are you putting curtains on my bedroom windows?
lou0060 ·
hahah, Tampico yep actually Ronald Reagan was born there.
Steve, yep curtains will go in after the interior is painted. so you want the top bunk do you????
vw54 ·
i want the bottom bunk so i dont fall out in the middle of the night when having a leak
lou0060 ·
dyno graphs running on 98 fuel..
Jak Rizzo ·
Hi Lou
Have you driven it yet? it must be insane! that's 80+hp more than mine, holy dooly
lou0060 ·
been a while since I posted so thought it about time for an update. Following the major rebuild in 2014 the car performed really well though out 2015 with outings at lakeside, Leyburn Sprints Noosa Hillclimb and off course Warwick drags. Had to do almost no maintenance on it all year which was the reason for going with the Subi to start with. Seems we have sorted out most of the power plant issues. Now to chase handling....
So, some baselines worth posting;
my very first outing in the car was Warwick drags in 2011 so will start here;
2011 ET 9.94 64.2mph twin turbo issues
2012 ET 9.836 66.6 mph still chasing second turbo
2013 ET 8.995 81.4mph finally sorted second turbo!
2014 ET 8.544 84.96mph after major rebuild
2015 8.464 88.67mph change to 105octane fuel
so continuous improvement...
next was lakeside times
2011 - 2012 we were chasing the twin turbo problems so didn't post any times
2013 Jan 1.16.2
2013 Apr 1.14.1
2013 Sept 1.10.36
2014 Mar 1.10.4 and then in May at Wakefield spun a bearing
2014 nov 1.07.48
2015 feb 1.07.01
2015 jul 1.06.2
2015 Leyburn sprints 2nd in 3.5 to 5l class 56.271sec
2015 Noosa Hill 4th in sport sedan class 70.62sec
now it is worth mentioning that for all this time I have run tyres purchased second hand at time of building the car in 2011! 205 60 15 on the rear and 195 50 15 on the front.
Needless to say the tyres are well past due by dates!!!🙅
🙅🙅🙅
So what is in store for 2016??
Chasing a sub minute lap at lakeside, 1.14 at Wakefield, 0.53 Leyburn, noosa 0.65 and warwick break the 90mph mark
So there you have it, goals for 2016!!
Currently I am doing the following upgrades;
front steering arms bent for more caber aiming for -4deg
rear suspension arms changing to 944 alloy arms with camber and toe adjustment aiming for 2 deg neg camber
front brakes Porsche 996 rear calipers Boxter vent discs
rear brakes porsche 964 calipers and 944 vent discs
front wheels will now be 16" x 8' running 215 50 16
rears are 16" x 9" running 245 50 16, and yes they will be brand new!!
while we are at it we are also doing a timing belt and idler change.
Hope to have it all done by end of Feb so we can do some tests at Lakeside before the trip to Wakefield.
1303Steve ·
good one Lou, are the wheels going to fit under the guards with those wider arms?
lou0060 ·
progress update.
Front:
top arms are at Vintage getting bent as my 12 tonne press wasn't up to the job and I didn't want to take my jig to the local engineering shop. These should be back soon so I can get the front end back together.
The 944 alloy hubs are being machined to my specs to suit the Beetle bearings and seal. I ended up using a nissan patrol front disc and it is an almost perfect fit. I will post photos soon. The front hubs will give me plus 13mm extra width each side and with the new 8" wheels that should be just about right for the 4 deg camber I will run.
Rear.
the 944 alloy hubs are now completely apart and new bearings about to go in. Once that is done I'll fit it to the car and see where the hub finishes up to determine what wheel spacer I am going to need to fit the 9" rims.....
photos coming soon...
1303Steve ·
HI Lou
Why didnt you want use the 944 wheel bearings?
lou0060 ·
Porsche use Lm67048/010 and LM11949/10 which is same as holden set but the VW is L45449/10 and LM11749 which are smaller in the ID so the Porsche bearing would be loose on the spindle. It's not practical to make a new spindle so best option is to make up cup spacers. Did you use the 944 spindle? I think they are an easy swap on McP fronts but not on BJ fronts.
We machined the front hubs yesterday and they came up really good. Now to finish drilling and threading the discs and make up the spacers. Should be ready by the weekend and right to go back on the car....
lou0060 wrote:next was lakeside times
2011 - 2012 we were chasing the twin turbo problems so didn't post any times
2013 Jan 1.16.2
2013 Apr 1.14.1
2013 Sept 1.10.36
2014 Mar 1.10.4 and then in May at Wakefield spun a bearing
2014 nov 1.07.48
2015 feb 1.07.01
2015 jul 1.06.2
2015 Leyburn sprints 2nd in 3.5 to 5l class 56.271sec
2015 Noosa Hill 4th in sport sedan class 70.62sec
now it is worth mentioning that for all this time I have run tyres purchased second hand at time of building the car in 2011! 205 60 15 on the rear and 195 50 15 on the front.
Needless to say the tyres are well past due by dates!!!🙅
🙅🙅🙅
So what is in store for 2016??
Chasing a sub minute lap at lakeside, 1.14 at Wakefield, 0.53 Leyburn, noosa 0.65 and warwick break the 90mph mark
So there you have it, goals for 2016!!
Currently I am doing the following upgrades;
front steering arms bent for more caber aiming for -4deg
rear suspension arms changing to 944 alloy arms with camber and toe adjustment aiming for 2 deg neg camber
front brakes Porsche 996 rear calipers Boxter vent discs
rear brakes porsche 964 calipers and 944 vent discs
front wheels will now be 16" x 8' running 215 50 16
rears are 16" x 9" running 245 50 16, and yes they will be brand new!!
Hope to have it all done by end of Feb so we can do some tests at Lakeside before the trip to Wakefield.
Very interested in this.
Those tires should be your first port of call. I shaved almost 7 seconds off my lakeside time with decent semi slicks ( not a volksie, but the point stil stands) and even they go off after 12 months. tires tires tires before any of the rest. in saying that you are a long way off sub 60sec at lakeside, that next 12 is going to be hell and the speed difference in the car will be awesome! good luck
lou0060 ·
hi Boozo, yep I know tires will give me a big hit. I'm not that far off sub 60 as I am doing 66's now so even with what you say tires alone will put me in the 60 sec bracket. Problem I have at lakeside, and QR for that matter is that generally sprints are 5 or 6 laps. lap 1 is warm up 2 and 3 are my hot laps and then 4 and 5 and 6 are scary as the brakes are faded and I need to break way early into carousel and hungry.
last time I was at lakeside I was almost running up the back of people at carousel as I just couldn't pull it up after lap 4.... Bit like Ken Bartlett in the old Camaro at bathurst back in the day....
lou0060 ·
okay so here are some photos of the front brake set up.
The first is the 944 hub which has had the back face spigot machined down from the 107mm to 103mm to suit the Nissan patrol disc.
I did this so that I can change discs if need be without having to modify the disc more than necessary.
the second shot is the dog bone adaptor to fit the Porsche brakes and the third photo is the porsche 4 pot caliper.
lou0060 ·
here are the Nissan discs. They are a near perfect fit for this application. I think from memory they are 294mm OD and 22mm thick. They are ventilated and I went solid rather than drilled etc cause I am after braking not looks!
As can be seen in the third photo the dummy fit looks really good and I made up a scaled drawing to work out the spacer sizes etc. I know a few VW suppliers around the world do spacer sets for the 944 to VW spindle bearings but I wanted to approach it a slightly different way.
lou0060 ·
more photos!
these show the bolt holes in the discs filled as they are 6 hole were as the 944 hub is 5 hole so we needed to drill and tap into one of the 6 holes. These have now ben done but I didn't have any photos at time of posting.
The last 3 photos are the spacers we made for the hubs and then press fitted to the hubs.
My time at Timken really helped work out the sizes and ensure a good fit.
We machined the first hub on monday evening and it went together like a clock!
I'll post some more pictures next week as we start to put the hubs and discs / calipers together.
lou0060 ·
last photo for this session, spacers fitted to the hub...
vw54 ·
Lou don't go too big on the brakes otherwise the wall may jump out in front of you
lou0060 ·
nah, it's okay Dave, I've got a beam front end....... 😂😂😂😂😂
1303Steve ·
lou0060 wrote:nah, it's okay Dave, I've got a beam front end....... 😂😂😂😂😂
thats your 1st mistake
dont worry Dave you will never go fast enough to need good brakes
1303Steve ·
looks good Lou, are you going to come to QR to say hi this weekend?
vw54 ·
Cruzine is best cause no rattling front end
lou0060 ·
vw54 wrote:Cruzine is best cause no rattling front end
Hi Steve, no I'm in Adelaide atm and will be here till Sunday. I think Trent was talking about popping out??