Contining to polish - more racing in the Mk3

Photo credit: Mark Kissel

After a decidedly slow start to 2012, I managed to hit the final three Chesapeake chapter PCA events this year. It was a blast to finally get the Golf out there, and with the laid back and friendly vibe of the PCA run races, it was without any real drama or stress. Just a great group of people enjoying their cars and pushing some limits.

Photo credit: Mark Kissel

After getting lucky back in August, I had to work a little more in September and October. Higher temps in September and colder temps in October meant balance was a lot more tricky to find. I've already started planning on some changes over the winter to help with consistency and grip in 2013. (most of that has to do with me by the way, rather than the car) I'm determined to knock on the door of the 'fast' guys that are running in the series.



The course in September was fast and smooth, not all that technical, and a lot of fun. Aside from the tighter turns, the main straights and chicanes were all able to be taken flat in the Golf. This doesn't make it all that suited to a lower horsepower car on the one hand, but I managed to get within five seconds the fast time of the day.

For 2013 I may make a few nods to better functionality with the Mk3 too. Maybe even raise the ride height. Sadly all that talk about level control arms, suspension travel and geometry becomes all too real if you're really pushing it. You can still have fun, but when you're trying to hit a target time or just continue to improve, and know that there is time on the table in the set up, well. Sometimes you just have to cave. Maybe.

The final PCA Autocross of 2012, round seven, was a lot tighter and more technical. And while this should have suited the Golf I struggled with rear grip and overall grip. Partially down to set up, but a lot was thanks to the cold temps and older rear tires. They're pretty hard at this point and where I could have picked up time on the two skid pads, I was barely hanging on at pedestrian speeds. Indeed, my first run out I spun as soon as I turned into the first left hander. Things got better, but I was leaving a lot of time on the table with a few of my lines and never could crack the 60-second barrier. I defintiely have a lot I want to work on for next year.



Special thanks to Mark Kissel for the pictures. With the long winter ahead hopefully we'll also get some real progress going with the Caravan GTi. I'll have some info up soon, but it's back on the ground and ready for the fun stuff.

_WRS

Video post: PCA Autocross, getting the rust out

After a year's worth of events had nearly passed by in 2012, the planets aligned and the impossible happened: I had off from the shop, there were no car shows to work, and I didn't already have 10 different things scheduled the day of an autocross I could actually attend. Finally, I could have a little fun.



It's a little intimidating to have your first event back be a Porsche Club event, after all, it's a little like bringing a knife to a gunfight. But there is shared DNA between the Porsches and VWs, so why not? Never mind that most of the cars there would have two to three times the power, let's see what we can do!



 Turning in times in the 59 and 58 second range (the very fastest entries were down in the 52-54 range), I managed to push the little 8v and land solidly mid-pack with a best time of 58.3, finishing 31st out of 52 entered.


Given a few more RPM and some more tidy lines I think I could have easily been down into the mid 57s, maybe even better, but as is I had a blast, everyone was very friendly and with a little luck, I'll be able to get out at least one more time this year. Planets allowing of course.

_WRS

VW Sport Caravan GTI (part 6.5, chassis work continues)

Optimism can be a cruel thing to possess. I've never been some chipper, happy-go-lucky go-getter can-do maniac, but at the same time I've never been one to think I can't do (or learn) something better than before if I apply myself. Seeing the potential in what others do not. Maybe I'm crazy? Or maybe they're lazy, either way I'm sick of cleaning and painting old metal.



At any rate, so much of it has been done that it's pretty close to finished underneath. A rear beam was procured and sanded / painted and installed - along with all new bushings, bolts, nuts and polyurethane inserts. There was a natural tendency to just go all-out and press in some spherical bushings, but ultimately we did not for a few reasons. First is cost. It'd be a shame to start blowing out the budget on every trick suspension piece we can find when the car doesn't even run yet. Second is the reality that it'll take some set up and time to get the car (and ourselves) sorted behind the wheel, and quite honestly, they aren't going to be a help to us at this stage of our driving.



We did throw in some coilovers with ride and damper adjustment. Nothing fancy, single rebound adjust, but it should be enough to get us in the ballpark, if not to home plate the first lap out.



The problem with being so clean underneath and at the back end, is that I'm not compelled to be as thorough throughout the rest of the car. 



I know it'll all be worth it in the end, but for right now I'm wishing some Elves would come in and finish up all the tedious work so we can start having fun already!

_WRS

VW Sport Caravan GTI (Part 6, chassis resto in progress )

It's been a busy past six months. Moving, getting back into the grind of a daily commute and taking on a much larger roll at work has meant very little spare time for much of anything. Whatever there is I've been trying to spend on the Caravan GTI, and little by little, it's getting there. A lot of the tedious and filthy dirty work involving undercoat and paint is 98% there, and so I think we're finally to a point where progress will really start to get to get rolling.



So what have we been up to? Follow and all will be revealed...

Video Post: Speechless

Really, really quite speechless. One of the most hilarious and impressive things I've seen in a while. I just want to know how many oil pans they went through.

_WRS

24 hours, 16 valves, 1837 miles, and one Mk3 GTI - The Britcar 24 2011

Photo copyright / courtesy of John Brooks

As human beings we all share at least one similarity: We dream. As car automotive enthusiasts, and more specifically motorsport anoraks, we've all likely shared the same little day dream: Take a modest budget, a group of friends, a cheap car and go giant-killing at a proper endurance race with something akin to David's sling-shot in a battle of the Goliaths - if you allow me to use that well-worn cliche.

VW Sport Caravan GTI (Part 5.75, work to be done)

There is work to be done. Lots of work. The trail on new information has gone a little cold,  but we're forging ahead as planned, and after a hectic couple of months of moving, working, adjusting, and everything else you can manage to cram into a 2 month period, things are finally heading forward on our VW Sport Caravan GTI. Tools are in hand, parts are beginning to arrive. With this, we'll have more frequent updates and new content as we rebuild (but not restore) the GTI for track time in 2012. It's a bit of a mountain, but the beauty of these cars is their simplicity, so once the primary chassis work is completed, things will start to come together quickly. Or So I hope.

So this will be the first of many new post on the GTI - it's already on jack-stands and underbody prep is under way...

More soon...

_WRS

A brief report: Waterfest 2011

Waterfest. Most people know of it, many love it, and it seems every year more and more turn their backs on it, claiming it to be too much of this, that or the other to be a 'real' show. I guess the cool kids decided it wasn't cool anymore, and while I get that, I have to say that Waterfest has done nothing except get more and more enjoyable to work and attend since the 'cool kids' deemed it uncool.

Allow me to explain it from a vendor's point of view...

From Cult Classic 6

Red Mk1 Lysholm, a photo by DUKEDLF on Flickr.

My old Mk1 is looking good this year, and it looks like the current owner has been busy over the winter. Black accents replace the chrome, and the white-walls are gone. Looking very nice indeed.

_WRS

Via Flickr:
Red Mk1 Lysholm

CTSCC - APR pulls amazing 1-2 finish at Watkins Glen

Against all odds APR Motorsport pulled out a fantastic 1-2 finish at Watkins Glen this past weekend. Considering how things were at the start, this seems almost impossible to believe. APR has always seemed to do well at Watkins, with their first Continental Tire victory coming at the track in 2009. All three APR VW GTIs started from the back of the pack. The #171 championship car of Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis had an engine let go in qualifying which meant they started at the back of the pack.



The 181 and new 161 Mk5 GTI (replacing the now-retired / written-off GS class S4) were moved to the back of the pack for a technical infraction of some sort, which was doubly disappointing as the Gleason brothers in the 181 and Nate Norenberg in the 161 (along with Josh Hurley) were set to start 3rd in ST.

Despite all that, the team regrouped and passed the entire ST field and ended up at the front of the pack. That's 55 cars! The equivalent of starting from the back and passing the entire field for victory at Le Mans from a number of cars passed standpoint.



The final finish was the 181 in first, 161 in second, and 171 in 31st. Ian lost the driver's championship points lead after suspension problems set them back in the field.



Although it's unfortunate for Ian to get bumped from the lead of the driver's championship, APR and VW remain in very strong positions, with VW retaining the manufacturer lead by one point over Mazda, and APR sitting fourth in team points. Ryan Ellis remains in the top five in the driver's championship.

With four events remaining it's crucial for APR to keep it together and finish strong in every event.

For more: www.grand-am.com / www.aprmotorsport.com

_WRS

Pic Post: (vintage) Momo 935J and Rabbit Pickup Pit Vehicle

I referenced the Momo 935 pit truck in another post about a year ago, and here we have another shot with Dr. Moretti aka Mr. Momo, and the Momo Rabbit Pickup. I snagged this the the Pelican Parts forums, where there is a vast supply of vintage photos thanks to a few key members. Obviously this is a cutout of an ad for something, maybe Bosch?

Moretti had a certain fondness for Joest-built Porsche 935s, this one being an earlier model based on the standard 935 chassis, and the one pictured in the previous post being an aluminum tube-frame Joest Moby Dick copy. Yes. Aluminum tube-frame. You'll note that the car is sporting Penthouse Magazine co-sponsorship, and Moretti is accompanied by Dominique Maure who was the official spokeswoman of the Penthouse / Momo team. 


DeNarvaez Enterprises is a sponsor on the car as well, and some time after this picture was taken this Joest 935J was repainted in the traditional DeNarvaez racing colors of blue with a tri-color band of yellow, orange and red, while retaining less extensive Momo and Penthouse sponsorship. Based on the car and the paint-scheme, this picture was likely taken between in early 1981. DeNarvaez first ran with the Momo team in 1980 at the Daytona Finale.  Beginning in 1981 Mauricio DeNarvaez started driving full-time with Momo, so based on that and the settting I would bet this was taken at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1981 where they finished 6th (DNF'd) with Charles Mendez.


_WRS

VW Sport Caravan GTI (Part 5, The supposed truth is revealed and what do we do now)

The VW Sport Caravan GTI. Ever since it popped up onto Bring a Trailer it has been shrouded in mystery. Or perhaps more accurately, it wasn't as mysterious as it was that barely anyone knew anything about it. All that we had to go on was the following:

1. The GTI was used on the 1985 VW Sport Caravan, a traveling example of sporting VWs put on display at motorsport events.
2. It was painted in VW Sport graphics, along with logos (and a build tag) for a company named Portland Racing. Google revealed absolutely nothing about Portland Racing.
3. It may or may not have been built from a spare IMSA ProFormance shell that Portland Racing ran in 1985, for a driver named Eric Randoph.
4. Eric's name also adorned the roof of the GTI. Google turns up nothing on Eric Randolph.
5. The car had big, wide fenders similar to what a GTU class car would have been allowed, but VW did not run GTU in 1985. It may have been a GTU concept.
6. The GTI had never seen the track.
7. The GTI came from VW and was gifted to a rally driver in 1991, Mark Molner.
8. Mark never used the car as he retired from driving after a bad accident, and it sat on a trailer in Ohio until it was sold off in 2002.
9. The current owner had plans to restore it at various times, but decided to sell it as he has too many other projects and not enough time.
10. Literally no other pictures, information or memories could be found, discovered or dislodged about the car, Portland Racing, Eric Randolph, or the 1985 VW Sport Caravan itself. Not a shred.

After Mark Windecker came up with another Portland Racing GTI picture, and a new name to search, we scored. David Rugh emailed us back, and he confirmed he built the Caravan GTI. Paydirt. But what he had to say makes this GTI both more significant and less useful all at the same time. Time to share.

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 4, so what about that paint)

After initial inspection of the VW Sport Caravan GTI we were left with a pretty clear picture of what the car was (very clean) and what it wasn't (track ready). It has all the appearances of a race car, but without a fuel cell, fire system or ignition kills it was obvious that some fairly significant changes would need to happen to get it close to that level, and that's before we're talking about mechanical bits like the engine or suspension.

But before all that could even be thought about, we had to figure out whether or not any body or paint work would need to happen. So with this in mind, Alan, Josh and I all took a good look at it and tried to figure out what to do.

Video Post: The Kamei Golf at the Nurburgring

Mike, Chris and the guys over at Clubgti are a never-ending treasure-trove of rare bits of information on all things VW Motorsport, especially the famous Kamei Golf. Chris just posted this video from 1977, which shows, among other things such as a GELO Porsche 935, a few fleeting seconds of the world's most-famous sporting Golf.

_WRS

Pic Post: (vintage) David Rugh / Portland Racing GTI

David Rugh, Columbus Ohio 1985. Picture copyright / used with permission Mark Windecker.

The best yet. We've been searching high and low for additional pictures of the other Portland Racing VWs from 1985. Our buddy Mark Windecker, an amazing photographer with amazing archives, has come through for us once again. He went back through his catalog of the 1985 Columbus Ohio IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge race, and came up with this shot of the #04 Portland Racing entered GTI, driven by David Rugh. David finished 5th, and in this shot we can clearly see a number of similarities between our VW Sport Caravan GTI and those they ran on the track. It has the same paint scheme and windshield retainers, and from what we can see a very similar cage. Standard fenders of course, and what looks like a Kamei front spoiler, but its an encouraging shot.

Just think. Twenty six years ago the car would have seemed rather cheap and disposable compared to the big IMSA GTP cars which were the main event, and few photographers would have bothered to waste the film. Film isn't cheap; not now, not then. Thankfully Mark was there, documenting more than just the big show, and providing us with the chance to take a look back in time at what the more grassroots guys were doing back in 1985.

We're in the process of tracking down more information, and this particular pic has come up with the most promising leads thus far. More soon. Hopefully.

_WRS

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 3, Inspection of a factory racer)

When we last left off with our VW Sport IMSA GTI Bring a Trailer score, we had just gotten back from picking it up from the previous owner, and narrowly missed possible (near?) disaster thanks to a rather intense lake-effect snow storm. Although we had certainly inspected the car before signing off on the bill of sale and loading up, it wasn't exactly the best situation for rumination on the finer points of the car.



I mean sure it all checked out. The car was clearly a one-of-a-kind. But what exactly did we get? The ad on BaT as well as any other information we've scrounged has said that it was a spare car built into an IMSA GTU class car, or perhaps was more a concept than race car. One thing's for sure: It's an odd and completely original piece of the Volkswagen motorsport history in the United States. Let's take a look inside to what Portland Racing has done shall we?

Spotted in NYC: Mk2 Golf on Porsche 928 wheels

Our buddy Tony sent this pic of a very clean and very nice looking 1985 Mk2 Golf small-window car with European bumpers and polished Porsche 928 wheels, which he spotted on the Upper East Side earlier today. Proof positive that the K.I.S.S. theory of VW styling is almost always the best.

_WRS

12 Hours of Sebring 2011, Wed-->Thurs

 

For the second time in as many years, the crew (myself and Josh) have made the trek 1200 miles south from NYC to sunny Florida for the most important and exciting endurance race that takes place on United States soil: the 12 Hours of Sebring. So far we know one thing for certain, it's a hell of an adventure no matter how you slice it.

VW Sport IMSA GTI (Part 2: The pick-up, near death experiences)

I generally find myself to be a decisive person...except of course when I'm not. Generally though once I put my mind to do something, or am already in motion, I will keep plowing ahead like the bull that I am. This is usually how I 'get things done,' but when it came time to pick up the VW Sport IMSA GTI, it was what could have very nearly put us off the road, or worse.

Observe: A beautiful winter day. Nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit and warm sun beaming down from overhead as I began to unpack the show-displays from trailer which I was borrowing from work, and got things sorted out for an early start on Saturday morning. My friend and co-worker (and very occasional contributor here) Jason had agreed to come along, and although it was going to be a marathon day, both of us were really looking forward to the road trip. Sure it was expected to be about a 13 hour drive round trip, but it was exciting! We were on our way to pick up the GTI...



At approximately 4:45 AM I received a text messsage from Steve, who rather ironically (or is it coincidentally) would be heading to Baltimore for the weekend, which concluded with 'A little snow this morning tapering off this afternoon. Safe trip!'" Hmm. I had forgotten that the region of New York State where we were heading was in fact quite far north compared to New York City, where I live, and the weather could indeed be different there. However I couldn't recall any mention of snow on any forecasts mentioning snow out west, so I got in my car and headed up to NGP's shop.

CTSCC - APR Motorsport victory in ST!

APR Motorsport's Ian Bass and Ryan Ellis earned their second victory in as many races, piloting their Mk6 VW GTI (sponsored by Driver's Gear, Motul, BBS) to the winner's circle in this weekend's Kia 200 at Homestead Miami. With APR edging out the iMoto Mazdaspeed 3 and RSR Motorsport's MINI Cooper S for the win, and locking down fourth position with the #181 GTI of the Gleason brothers, APR and Volkswagen are now in firm command of the championships, both with 70 points over nearest competitor Kia who has 56. Likewise Baas and Ellis are tied for first place in the driver's championship, at 70 points each, with Kinetic Motorsports / Kia driver Nic Jonsson in third with 56 points.



Round three will see the GS and ST class cars running at APR's home track of Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on April 7-9th.

For more see grand-am.com / goapr.com

_WRS