We are all waiting for the show/strip season to begin so we can bring out the fruits of our labor. Some of them may be a little bruised, or pitted, but they will all run like bats out of hell, some faster than others.
Well, like I said before, the shop fell through. It's probably a good thing though. Darius is no longer the half since he has sold his Bug to Fred. The rest of us, except for Bill of course, are doing engine work partly because I showed everyone some of what my engine could do. I have the smallest engine out of everyone in the club with my 1641, so nobody thought that I would be any competition...until I gave them a little taste while leaving a stop light. Then, Ted tried to run me while leaving another stop light, only to find that he could not pull away from me at all. Ted's engine is also significantly larger than mine (just under a 2-liter), and he also has a race tranny compared to my stock swingaxle. After that happened, everyone went back to the books, except for Bill, who isn't in any danger of being beat...yet. The only reason I went back to the books is because both Ted and Fred are going to run the same cam as I have in my 1641, so I have to find another means of making my engine a competitor. Fred has offered to sell me the crank, pistons, and case for an 1835 for only $350, so I'm going to try to jump on that deal while I can. Even though everyone else will be well into the 2-liter range by April, I have some tricks up my sleeve that will hopefully make that 1835 run with them. I refuse to be left behind.
The biggest factor that we are facing is time. For some reason, we always get started on our projects late, and end up rushing just to get them finished on time. April is right around the corner, and the only one that is ready is Bill, who is definitely coming home with a trophy for something from the first show. Reggie won't be ready any time soon, since his project changed from stable to serious condition. Ted and Fred are building big 2-liter engines. And I might have a new engine to put together, but if it's not done by the first show, I won't stress it.
Everyone is making progress on their Bugs, except me. Ted and Fred should be getting their fresh
2-liter engines back by next week, Reggie has begun piecing together his engine, Bill already has
the fastest engine, but he's working on a 5 speed tranny with a close first through fourth, and
then there's me. Nada, zip, zero has been done as far as my engine goes. My 1641 may be quick,
but it's NOT going to run with a 2 liter that was built with the tricks that were up my sleeve.
I figure that I will bust a CV joint in my '74 by mid April while trying to keep up with everyone,
then who knows what life has in store for my Bug.
Bill launched his Bug hard for the first time last night and pulled the front wheels off of the
ground, with street tires. There is no way that I can come close to messing with that Bug in any
was, shape, or form. The good thing is that neither Ted or Fred can either, but I figure that by
July, I should be able to. I'm also going to do a body off resto on the '66, and maybe, just
maybe, I can have a Bug that looks as good as Bill's too.
Well, it finally happened. Bill lost his second gear last week after a few hard launches, so he's
down with the rest of us. We were all wondering how long it would take that tranny to break under
all that power. Don't worry, a fresh transmission is already in the works. Ted got his fresh
2-liter engine back recently, but he hasn't put it in the car yet. Fred is still waiting on his
2-liter engine. Reggie just scored a 2-liter longblock out of a Porsche 914. See the trend yet?
Still no big engine for me though.