Been MIA on the AVD for a while. Had a negative experience with a few bozos and gave it a miss for a few years.

Anyhow, this is old TIN-KDF oval beetle. I've been working on the car in the mean time. Everything mechanical and electrical has been rebuilt/replaced on the car. Hans Klaack built me a healthy 1600 and Dangerous put together a nice late 1300 SA box with the right bits. I've been trying to get back to club racing but a few persistent issues have stopped me. Frustration got the better of me on thursday arvo and I entered a club khanacross. I spend most of thursday and friday nights putting sump guard/bash plates/sheilds etc on the car. Some still need a little fettling. I was particular paranoid because I've got a deep sump, oil filter and coolers under the car and didn't want to rip fittings off. The front plate is an old speed hump sign.





Cataract is just out of Appin, so an hour's drive for me. That went well enough beyond the smell of old oil burning off headers and the like. When I got there I was the third RWD in a field of 30 cars. The next youngest car was a datto 1600. A few people were wincing at the thought of me thrashing 61yo VW around. Made me smile. No doubt a few VW people will be equally horrified.

The fastest thing there was a Mitsubishi Mirage with an FTO V6 and EVO brakes/suspension. It's a crazy rocket and probably won. The Datto was next fastest but had issues all day... which is what happens when you forget to refuel (seriously).



I was a bit concerned about how rough it was. Turned out we were racing on the smoothest parts of the property. Having said that, the recce run showed me there were fist sized rocks everywhere. My front beam with adjusters wound right up still only leaves me with about 4" of front clearance.

Unfortunately, as the day progressed, the track got worse and worse. I really had to pick my way around. However, I had no dramas with racing at all. The car was a great to drive and I drove it harder than I ever have. Even on the recce run I found I could throw it around easily enough. By the end of the day, I was Scandinavian flicking into lots of corners and powering out quite sideways. In some spots I could throw it around in the 3rd gear. I was pretty awesome. Keep in mind, the suspension is stock aside of spax adjustables on the back and a camber compensator. Heck, the rear wheels have about 1deg of POSITIVE camber! Here's a few pics that another club member took on his phone.







I've got some rally tyres that fit the back of the car, but I raced on my street tyres to try and avoid issues with understeer or not enough front ground clearance. I was actually running 30/40psi front rear! I figured it was more important get the hang of the car and keep it out of the trees. The only real issue I had was the front end washing out in the tightest sections of the track. We had hairpins stacked on hairpins in soft, chopped up, sandy soil. I also spent the whole day working on handbrake adjustment before it started to work properly. I need to look at that.

So anyway, I'm really stoked. I have some more tuning and repairs to do, but I'm really keen now to sort the front end out. It's narrowed about 2" and that creates headaches beyond the lack of ground clearance. So a stock beam is going back in. What I'd really like to do is build a rose joint front end something like Happyday's old track car. Love to get some specs on that.

Then it's more khanas!

This is so awesome! This is the inspiration I'm aiming for with Frank, my 66. I don't like the slammed on the ground Bugs. Plenty of red gravel roads around Kalgoorlie that I'm going to explore once Frank is ready.

Good one. :-)

Good to see you back Pete.
Looks and sounds like you had a good comeback to racing.
I'm hoping to set up our topless Superbug so that we can do a bit of racing and fun driving. Khanacross sound like my kind of day out as I've always preferred dirt.
Good luck with the remodifications.

Good to see you back Pete

That bug is TOO good for the dirt save it please

Quote:

Originally posted by wombatventures Good to see you back Pete. Looks and sounds like you had a good comeback to racing. I'm hoping to set up our topless Superbug so that we can do a bit of racing and fun driving. Khanacross sound like my kind of day out as I've always preferred dirt. Good luck with the remodifications.

Quote:

I reckon 12 minutes (total) of me on a dirt road will be fine. Can't be any worse that someone driving the car 3500km with the suspension bottoming out on the chassis.

Good stuff Pete

Drive to enjoy

Great stuff pete! Car looks great!

Just got the results today...

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/16ad950019a13a835e30e7f94/_compresseds/bf90ba53...

Third last.

The second run was where I was fastest. After that it got rough and I had to be more careful. Also goes to show I need more grip, more spine and more suspension. Which is pretty much what I already thought.

that is so awesome Pete, well done