Wasn't keen to run the 56' for a few reasons;
1. Motor is tired; one oily cylinder, lowish oil pressure and no power. Even with a Judson 40hp 1200.
2. Has no camber compensator; didn't want to stick on it's lid. It's a solid car, original paint and stacks of real patina.
3. Handbrake is pretty ordinary; like I couldn't even get it to do a handbrake turn on grass late last year.
Took the 56' out to leave the good car for my wife and kids. Glad I did now.
Gt3
The plan was to steal a seat in a mates khana car. Datsun 510, L18 + Weber 45s + locked diff = Great car and lots of fun. I got most of the way through the first test, but it stalled, wouldn't restart and was having clutch issues too. Because of that, I missed one test and there was a lot of mucking around. Truly, it's a good car, but a challenge to drive. I also think the owner has a knack for (brutally) holding the car all together, but every time I drove it (with mechanical sypathy I might add), it seemed to get more fragile.
I usually place well in the motorkhanas, but it was all going to hell in a handbag. Which meant I had nothing to lose. So half way through the day, I approached the event coordinator and asked could I swap cars and drive... the beetle. Got the thumbs up and it was time to go.
All numbered up and ready to race.
The first test in the beetle was a pretty pedestrian. Understeer. Handbrake not working. Asked a mate if it was rolling around much and he told me, "nah, you weren't even trying". The other thing was, VW seats are SHOCKING. I spent half the test falling out of the seat belt. :crazy:
Right. time to try again.
This time, it was a little better. Tighted the lapsash so tight I could barely breath and that helped a lot. Threw the car a little and got the back wheels to lock and slide about and 2 inchs, but something was better than nothing. All the while I was watching the oil light to make sure I didn't end up with oil surge... no dramas there.
Then I headed for the pitts to check the pressures and check the handbrake... Cables were almost loose. Right, fixed that up. Pressures; 20psi front/30psi rear. Ok, so that explained the understeer too. Pump both ends up 10psi to 30/40psi. The next test was a wide open test with lots of big circles and I could feel the back end just beginning to let go. The test after, I got the rear end to slide about a foot.
I was beginning to get the feel for the car and having no dramas. People were egging me on and enjoying watching an old car being driven properly.
Some other competition. The lambo spend most of the day point the wrong way, but he had a great time.
The last run of the day was a shootout slalom. 2 cars line up side by side, do the same slalom and race for the stop garage. I made it through the first round against a falcon ute that spun out. I was creamed by a Mazda 121 that had it all over me power wise. The car was turning well, but didn't have enough juice to take off again properly in 2nd gear. Still a great day I reckon.
It's also given me a better idea of the order in which I need to do upgrades on the car. I'm planning to do more khanas and some lapdashs with our club, but the car needs some upgrades.
1. Camber compensator - to keep me upright and stiffen the rear end.
2. Better seat - the stock seat is crap (putting it politely)
3. More power - specifically, more torque. I've got plans for that this year. This means better front brakes too for rego.
So who wants to come do a khana with me?
