Absence makes the heart grow fonder…

Absence of course, being posts here.

But an absence of posts doesn’t mean we are idle! There’s been a lot going on and we simply didn’t post it. I suppose an update is in order after months (!) of ignoring this site. Apologies for that, by the way. And it must be said – we really miss giving you guys race updates, and most certainly being in the races of said updates.

Do you remember our February post about the newly acquired VW Thing? We did indeed POR-15 that new pan and do a little more work on it, like custom-fitting the bus transmission. Funny thing, we used the pan after we fit the transmission to it to start Kenyon Whetsell’s #1147 (Optimized Motorsports Group) engine, which you can read about here. This weekend the link-pin race suspension and rear trailing arms came out of the retired racing 5/1600 Baja, and installing the new torsion bars we’ve collected. It’s a slow project. So here are some pictures to bring you up to date.

Seeing as the theme is simply just this weekend’s work, here is a photo of Charles Knight’s engine we are almost finished with. This is going into a 1961 Ragtop Bug. You may recognize Charles from Ruffhaus Hotdog Co. and his gorgeous black and white split window bus turned hot dog van.

1835cc
1835cc

Then there’s this 1982 Diesel Vanagon that we thought deserved a new life, on the road. It has served us well as a hay barn since we bought it a couple of years ago (seriously, vans are great hay barns and even have lights) but it really is time for it to find its voice again. It last ran in 1999 until it blew the engine with the previous owner. So with the procurement of a donor diesel Jetta, you can expect to see a running, driving, professionally upgraded Vanagon soon. One that, you know, will go faster than 35mph on a grade and is water-cooled.

It was used for a time as a hay barns. Vans make great hay barns.
It was used for a time as a hay barns. Vans make great hay barns.
Diesel Jetta donor car.
Diesel Jetta donor car.
This lovely van had its radiator and fan removed today too.
This lovely van had its radiator and fan removed today too.

Of course these updates by no means are the only thing we have done. It’s simply what I have photos of, or is any kind of substantial update. No one wants mundane pictures of a 1973 Suburban fuel tank drop to replace cracked fuel lines and update to an electric fuel pump, radiator replacement on a 2003 VW Jetta wagon, upholstery cleaning on a 1998 Jetta Wolfsberg, a 1993 VW Fox radiator installed into a 1964 Case 310 Backhoe, replacing a keyway on the slider of a transmission, etc. etc.

And I leave you with this jewel.

Bus on the lift. It hasn't moved in almost 15 years. We moved it with two jacks and both of us pushing/pulling.
Bus on the lift. It hasn’t moved in almost 15 years. We moved it with two jacks and both of us pushing/pulling.
Swing axle transmission installed, among other things. It finally rolls on its own again.
Swing axle transmission installed, among other things. It finally rolls on its own again.
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Author: admin