Hey guys (and perhaps gals)

Am building up a 64 Beetle for club and targa style events in Qld. It used to belong to my late uncle and has been in storage since 68- even has the plastic on the seats and the badge on the dipstick- anyway am planning on restoring it for racing events- I want it looking nice but also want it functional as a club racer.

Body wise, was going to give it a freshen up and then lower it- is there an ideal height, or just as low as possible. To comply with the racing regs it has to be pretty standard, so I cant go changing to IRS or anything- well not that I know of.

Is there a sort of wheels that I should be chasing, I see that empis seem popular, are they good or just for street use ?

Motor wise- I am unsure of the regulations. If the car came out with a 1300 engine, but later models had say the 1641- would that mean I can put the larger in- I know that turbo's etc are out. Does anyone here compete in this class of racing or is there a thread somewhere that I can check out.

Also converting over to 12 volt, is that necessary for just racing, will it effect performance ? I would prefer to leave as is, for the moment. If and when it is finished for road events I would look at more electrical power for lighting etc.

Basically I was looking at strong motor, lowered, good set of wheels/ tyres, rollcage and seat.

Any hints or tips would be appreciated.

ta

Peter

hrrm...

First up, give CAMS's QLD head office a call. Ask them all about historic racing and question them about classes and so on. You will most likely need to buy a CAMS manual, which if the class is listed with them, it will be in there, along with every other class from memory. If it isn't in the manual, they will be able to give you the contact of the club(s) who run the events you're interested in and from there they will be able to help you out with whatever restrictions are in place.

Chances are the rules in regard to ride height and rim/tire size/type will be the same as the group 5 club racing cars. If you go lower than a certain height, which is whatever your state government allows as lowest legal height you will be put into a race car class (with beetles this is a good idea to avoid). Tires... Semi/road legal slicks are allowed, CT should be able to advise you on what is road legal from the Yokohama range here in Aus. And I believe the increase in rim size/width is roughly the same as what is permitted for road vehicles too, but double check. 15 x 5.5 or 15 x 6 should be legal, and modern tires are a definate pass (no one wants to race on crossplys). The replica EMPI from somewhere like Midland Wheel co (Volkspower are their Aus outlet) will be well and truly upto the job, plus being made of alloy now (the original EMPI wheels were steel) they're much lighter and more friendly on your suspension. If you're really brave, then check out the possibilities of doing a 60's 911 or 356C brake swap (4 wheel disks) and run the magnesium Mahle-Porsche Gas Burners

As for motor and so on, you will probably find that they have classes seperated by capacity, 1300cc, 1600cc, 2000cc, etc... And since you have a good low mileage 1300 case you can pretty much go crazy with all your big type 1 parts, since the cases are the same size as the later 1600 items, just without the dual relief oil pressure and stronger magnesium. But, as I said... See what the class allows first.
You may find an IRS conversion is also permitted, but double check. A friend of mine has a beetle book showing an auto beetle from the late 50's/early 60's that actually has IRS... Could be a loophole, I haven't been able to find any back up info on this car online though, however the VW idiot manual does make brief reference to early 40horse auto bugs.
Perhaps check out other options in regard to period superchargers, performance engine kits, etc...
For instance... Okrasa offered a 1600 twin carb, dual port head performance engine kit, there would be nothing wrong with duplicating this engine kit with later beetle parts that are very similar to the okrasa items... After all, how many GTHO falcons, Lotus-Cosworths, Capri GT's, etc, etc, etc... Are replicated for racing using modern, reliable parts? Heaps, and the historic racing clubs don't mind because no one wants to see an original car (that is one of only a handful of examples left) go into a wall and/or get thrashed to death on the race track.
Also Judson offered Superchargers for the VW engine, these were really, really popular. I was thinking a couple of years ago about replicating an okrasa 1600 engine and putting a judson on it, not the tiny little VW one though, but using the much more readily available, larger, cheaper, yet near identical looking Corvair item.

Also, split window kombis for industrial use right from the word go had a LSD option... Another loop hole perhaps?!?!

Sounds like a great project and historic racing rocks, all the best with it dude!

Cheers,
Cam

P.S. Got any photos of the car?

I think you will find a 64 bettle will fit into the Group Nb (pre 65) class F 1001 to 1300 cc. I was at Historic Winton this week end and some of teh car in this catogrty are fast real fast, not to put you off. I mean circuit racing is only one from of motor sport there are lost of other way too, but i only know this area. although I was up a in NSW and saw a 1958 bug running in NA (pre 58) he was not doing to bad.

try the Historic racing Register follow this link HRCC

I was also at Historic Winton, and always come away dreaming of a group N beetle, perhaps a early super bug with a screaming 1600?

Thanks for the replies, and I am under no illusions that speed doesnt come cheaply. I am simply just looking at doing the occasional sprint meeting, hillclimbs and other classic events- just want the car to comply and compete. Even if I did have the money to throw at it for a full blown bug- I dont have the time to justify the full on racing licence... so it will be a low key affair

Well, I think you're going down the right path dude, historic racing is heaps of fun. Even if you're not anihilating the opposition it will be a great thrill to get involved and very cost effective too.