I looked at my stats and saw that I had made three posts and I remembered what each of them was so I realized that I hadn't obeyed protocol and introduced myself. I'm a VW lover from way back. I've owned three new ones starting in 1965 and would love to get another for a daily driver. My primary interest for being here is to learn as much about Volkswagens as I can, especially from the performance standpoint.
I was a racer and street rodder and I have developed an interest in land speed racing in the last year or so and I would like to build a VW powered Lakester to take to the salt. The 36hp Challenge has been run at Bonneville every year for the last four or five years with this year being a record setter with a turbocharged beetle breaking a 1961 record of 101.296 in a 1956 bug with a pass of 103.497. I've posted a link to the LSR forum with postings and pictures on my "Bonneville" posting in the lounge.
Here's a paragraph from the 36hp site about the record run:
The 36 HP Top Dog:On Sep 17,2008, Tom Bruch broke the all time LSR 36 HP sedan record of Dick Beith at Bonneville with Gaylen Anderson's 66 sedan and Tom Bruch's small 1378 cc single port 36 HP turbo motor at 103.497 MPH. Tom made three passes over the old record at 6,000 RPM with 12 to 14 lb. boost. The second run turned 86.4 MPH in the 1/4 mile and 103.056 at the 1/2 mile mark and held 6,000 RPM for the rest of the mile. The motor lived through all three runs which is a testament to the strength of the 36 HP motors. The 1956 engine is entirely vintage parts including the 50 year old ISKY 2-J cam that can still set records.I don't know if a VW powered vehicle could break 200 mph or not but I think it is within the realm of possibility with the engine and transaxle technology I've read about here and on other VW forums that has been developed over the years. The current record for a "36hp" Lakester was set in 1963 at 129.100 mph. Is 200 possible? Engine mods are pretty much unrestricted and are only limited by what can be done with the 36hp case and single port heads. Here's a link to the 36hp page at saltflats.com
http://www.saltflats.com/36_HP.html That's me and my motivation.....Steve
