Evolution constantly begs for a better answer, whether it's a car or a mousetrap. The tube chassis is no exception. After waiting six months for wheels, diff' and gears there was time to have a hard look at the pipes and with the assistance of Bond Roll Bars of Regents Park in interpreting the CAMS rule book we were able to construct the tightest roll cage and keep it light in weight, I also didn't want it to show from the driver's seat or from the outside and largely that was accomplished except for the rear bars which couldn't be concealed due to the downwards angle necessary to meet the stressed area near the
A complete roll cage was then welded into the body making some of the chassis redundant so a quick time and motion study (with the help of VW racer Henry Spicak) showed it would be quicker to build new suspension boxes than re-do some of the existing chassis. However, the older sections won't go to waste as its new home will be under an oval window track car..
This evolutionary change brought two more ideas, besides being faster to build and reproduce, more weight savings are available. The total number of bars in the cage/chassis has gone from 64 to 32!
The big benefit from this change came while watching Group B rally cars on a video late one night (with some baroque 16th century music playing in the background).
That is to make the front and rear suspension support cages unboltable making removal of either front or rear suspension, gearbox and motor as complete units. Further, more different suspension packages can be fitted to the same basic central cage module.
Then the penny dropped!
Beam, struts or A-arms can be made to fit the front with optional rear A-arms or I.R.S. trailing arms (VW) with special coil over KYB gas shocks which are now available for Beetles and Type 3s for use without torsion bars and are fully adjustable -height wise - with endless spring rates available. Similar Super Bug struts are now in production and allow infinite height adjustability and various spring rates. Yes! Just like the latest 911s, again Porsche technology filters through.
Now the chassis, cage and suspension modules can be used for circuit, off-road or drag racing allowing the all up weight of the vehicle to go below 500kg. All this came from being game enough to put aside 12 months of work and start again. Ultimate design comes from exhausting the possibilities, the answers are inevitable, it's just time and speeding up covering all the alternatives that ultimately brings results. Porsche don't just get it right the first time, they have rooms full of designers and engineers all working on the same problems in order to arrive at the answer faster.
It's been said that there is no such thing as genius just persistence, so if you have a technical problem or any problem for that matter, concentrate on it and another wonderful phenomenon will take place; the answer doesn't arrive by chance, you can access a psychic pool of information.
We are unique in that we have innate and intuitive powers which we have not learned to fully use yet. People as well as ideas can come to you in times of need and it will seem like a coincidence but when it starts to happen regularly it's obvious that it is not chance.
As I've said before in this race car series of stories this project has become a journey, not a destination. If you want to know more of this get the book titled "The Celestine Prophecy".
I promised to list all of the people who have helped with this project and I will in the final chapter. The list is huge and varied but will show how far reaching the energy supply can be. Peter Muir at Bond Roll Bars, Porsche Cup racer Harry Witham, dyno tuner Mark Heysmand, at Yagoona Automotive, computer programmer Alex Bratovic, suspension expert Jim Hunter and Gary and Gene Berg are the people who have helped and provided solid advice for this current stage of Dak To The Future. There are lots more, believe me.
The time taken for wheels to materialise was well worth it. The centres came from blemished Porsche 6X16 inch Porsche alloys and after the rims were cut off two piece rims were fitted producing 17X8 and 17X9.5 wheels with a weight of 14 pounds, or to put it in perspective, three pounds lighter than a standard VW wheel. With a tyre mounted the weight is 34 pounds whereas a stock VW wheel with tyre weighs around 33 pounds so I've essentially doubled the width at no weight cost and increased the diameter by 50mm. Incidentally, Wurth fasteners supplied the high tensile nuts and bolts for the rims.
With wheels and tyres set up a final cut on guard arch height can be made. Surprisingly a whole 2.5 inches (about 63mm) had to be lifted on the rear guards, mainly for aesthetics to match the front guards. The rear guards are 3.5 inches wider than standard and are trimming off at the bottom for clearance. New moulds of the modified panels must now be made, and the warmer weather of spring will help. With three bodies to go there will plenty of panels needed.
The tube chassis concept has been happening elsewhere with two oval window Bugs being prepared for full A-arm tubular chassis. One of them is on its wheels already with a 2500cc Porsche fan equipped T4 engine and 17" wheels. A third Beetle is beyond sensible description.
The V-Force custom T4/T I cylinder head is happening. Aluminium prices have skyrocketed and come down again. Making reverse shape, solid ports with no head around them is different and creates a new shape problem.
The problems encountered with magnesium content in the alloy when casting throttle bodies indicates that I have some way to go before finished heads will be ready. But have no doubt, it's only perseverance and time. Meanwhile I'm fitting Chevrolet 51X41 valves in some Kombi heads to discover any problems involved so they can be cured in time.
Fuel injection has taken some interesting turns for me. Having been involved with the creation of a custom chip for the water cooler it dawned on me to use a complete wiring loom, sensors and computer from the same vehicle for the 2700cc race engine. A custom chip will be made just for this purpose.
Spark advance control will be the added benefit of using this original VW item. Another option with the fuel injection is to use one huge single throttle body instead of twin units as used on the current 3.6 and 3.8 RS and RSR Porsches. This will hopefully be cheaper and simpler but only time will tell.
Gearbox parts have taken a while to come into reality partly because they are not run of the mill items. The gears are proudly Australian made by Ivan Albins and sport some super tall ratios: 2.62, 1.67, 1.21 and 0.93. At just over 7000rpm they allow 50, 80, 114 and 142 mph. With Henry Spicaks help a modified 1800 bus 1st and 2nd was adapted to the single side plate "L" Bug gearbox. Combined with the Quaife limited slip cliff and bus drive splines fitted with Porsche 930 flanges and c/v's breakages are not expected.
Dak To The Future is on the home run and will stop expanding and hopefully narrow down to a finished car. Stay tuned!