Not much Blogging can only mean 1 thing. Ive been busy building the Burner..
Once Mark was done with the welding stick, I took the car up to Bruce at WRP Paint and Resto, who hit the bodywork with his paint stick.
Here are the various stages of the Paint process and the amazing outcome….. Enjoy.
Not much Blogging can only mean 1 thing. Ive been busy building the Burner..
Once Mark was done with the welding stick, I took the car up to Bruce at WRP Paint and Resto, who hit the bodywork with his paint stick.
Here are the various stages of the Paint process and the amazing outcome….. Enjoy.
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F.I.W.S has been busy and Mark Devenport has repaced a left heater channel, made good the rear crossmembers and body mounts both sides, and custom made a trick removable rear valence.
Mean time the pan has been cleaned back, a new set of brake hoses and a drive boot fitted and the chassis made ready to accept the repaired shell.
Here is a photo of the pan. All original metal, no repairs needed which I am really happy with.
I had initially planned to replace only the closing panel on the left side heater channel as the main portion of the channel inside the car is in very good condition. The complication came along the running board edge where holes meant that repairs would be needed to fit the closing plate. Time is money, and the most effective course of action for the best repair was a whole heater channel replacement. Here is the result.
Round at the back end of the car, inner arch repairs were needed and the body mounts had corrosion cut out and new metal let in.
In this photo (to the left side) you can see the new method of retaining the rear valence. This makes it removable by undoing 2 flange nuts and 2 wing bolts each side. Its a sturdy job, excellent work by Mark, and I look forward to seeing how it works with the body back on and the engine in place.
The next tasks are to repair the front end and get the body re-united with the chassis. Then he new bonnet will be fitted, wings too, and a replacement passenger door.
Paint is booked for 2 weeks time. Watch this space!
The VWDRC is 25 this year and the Burner will be stepping up to plate to stand proud with some very special race cars.
This weekend the work started to put a couple of niggles to bed, to sort some MOT-welding, all in preparation for finishing the Burner off in the special 2012 25th year anniversary paint job.
So this is how it started. I had a rust issue on the framehead and a couple on the rear crossmembers. Both of these are common, both are very awkward to get to and I want to know to what extent the rust taken hold. Its a 2 hour job to take the body off the chassis on a Beetle and with some good friends to help here is how it was done.
At Burner HQ I pulled the engine and fuel tank and separated the front brake reservoir. Once at the Welder unit the first job was to split the stitch weld on the closing plate. This was a ‘temporary’ job a couple years back.
Once that job was out of the way and all the bolts out, each man grab a corner and lift.
Raise up above the gearstick (dont forget the battery cable – the only wiring that I didnt disconnet!) and lift away to some sturdy trestles.
The result is very pleasing. The ‘pan is in tip top condition and worries about the framehead completely unfounded.
The body requires a little more work around the rear crossmembers than I hoped, but overall its good news with the rust areas looking at initial investigation that they can be dealt with by local cutting and small repairs.
I have sourced some wings and a Gasser style bonnet, to replace the damaged parts after colliding with a Deer. Here is a quick photo of the front as it stands now.
This week I will be making ready for taking the body off of the chassis, which is scheduled for next Saturday. Its coming off to repair a couple of difficult to access areas ( the channel closing plate and the framehead).
I have also spoken to Bruce at WRP Paint about the respray. Things are getting busy at Burner HQ now, and everyone in the club is looking forward to 2012 – the clubs’ 25th Anniversary year.
The final points table has been now been posted on the club website (http://vwdrc.com/points)
Beetle Burner finished 5th with 1700 points. I managed to push Dennis Cox into 6th position (1550 points) and this move made me the highest finishing Aircooled car in Sportsman. Dennis drives a 1641cc turbo swb buggy, though for the last couple of rounds had dropped back to his spare car a mk4 Golf.
I was unable to make the leap up the table any further, Paul Jackson finishing in 4th on 1840 points in his mk1 Golf.
This really was a very strong finish to the season for me as I only managed 5 rounds this season so I missed out on the 100 point bonus for competing 6 or more events. These numbers have really made me feel positive for 2012.
The car is sat waiting for the mods to begin. The damaged front quarter will be cut off and countless small rust repairs made good. Replacement wings are loosely held in position and a new bonnet has been sourced and will soon be collected. At some point in the New Year after the metalwork is completed, the Burner will be off to a fellow racer; WRP paint & body to finish the whole thing off in fresh paint. A set of wheels have been collected, bigger rubber bought for the back and trial fitting of that will happen in the next month or so to fix the clearance issues that were affecting the launch.
As we approach the clocks changing, those dark cold winter nights in the workshop are calling …..
Beetle Burner took first place this weekend at the National Finals and finished 5th in the 2011 VW Sportsman Championship. To put the icing on the cake, (thats www.bakey-cakey.co.uk) , Burner is the highest placed Aircooled VW in Sportsman too.
Photo courtesy of ‘The Mad Welshman’
In elimination round 1, I chased down Matt Bennett-Sime, caught him by half track and just kept my nose in front to the line to prevent a break out.
The semi final was against seasoned racer Martin Ayrton and I had the head start this time. A double break out, Martin passing the finish post first but loosing the race by a small margin of 0.04 seconds. For the first time I had made the final.
So, I had a 2 second wait on the line in the final against the auto Golf of James London. A chase which I had under control by 3/4 track and then just blipped the throttle to victory, running a 16.50 on a 16.48 dial.
This has been a good season, and has ended the best possible way. Many thanks must go out to AJ who helped countless times, not least when the 1200cc engine was needed for BugJam. Thanks to Jodie and to Imogen the best support crew in the world. Thanks to Nick for the cup of tea, wise words and BIG bbq’s. Thanks to Koen from Belgium. And thank you to all in the VWDRC.
Time for a little break. See you all in a month or two.
Dean Clatworthy, Owner, Builder, Racer > Beetle Burner.
