36hp Challenge Racing

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dutchy on October 23, 2009 at 10:30am

keen to get into this...some motivational pics..

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Permalink Reply by Ash on October 23, 2009 at 10:44am

I think we need to start a Vintage Speed group at Volks Culture and load it with buckets of old school performance content.

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Permalink Reply by Dutchy on October 23, 2009 at 11:03am

yes, should i kick one off?

Everyone can get on the DLRA forum too, they have it on the website.

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Permalink Reply by Ash on October 23, 2009 at 11:06am

Go for it. All of us can contribute.

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Permalink Reply by Andy Wood on October 26, 2009 at 10:52am

Ash said:

I think we need to start a Vintage Speed group at Volks Culture and load it with buckets of old school performance content.

The only problem with Old Speed stuff is that serious performance stuff for 36hp and 40hp motors are quite expensive and difficult to acquire in Oz.
I guess you could score stuff like cams, bigger & twin carbs and other things like ratio rockers.
You could also develop your own exhausts and port heads and the like but there just isn't the access to Okrasa style stuff like there is in the USA.
But hey, if anyone has any suggestions I'm up for a go.
Me and all that mechanical knowledge I posess...... :o(

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Permalink Reply by Dutchy on October 26, 2009 at 11:47am

the $ is alsmost even, just get it from the US of A. You can buy anything you need from the US, you could even go and pick bits up in person for $1k return. I may go over in feb for a bit, octo show on etc. Time to buy a bigger suitcase. In this day and age with the WWW you have access to anything - anywhere in the world.
Thing is i think blokes in the US will spend $10k on a 36er, the Aussie market place is a little stingier.

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Permalink Reply by Burly Burlile on October 26, 2009 at 12:35pm

Dutchy & Andy, Tom Bruch has about $500-800 US in his 106 mile per hour turbocharged 36hp motor-AND lots of hours in developement. Justin and Colton McAllister spent about six months worth of earnings(they are 21 and 19 respectively) and ALSO six months of 10 to 14 hour days(and nights) developing their 103 mph dual carb 36 motor ( and car ).Go visit Blacklines site for LOTS of photo and info details on how they approached the 36hp Challenge.

http://blackline57.com/CONTACT_US.htm


Within the past two months, Wolfsburg West has just released a repro Okrasa dual port head and carb kit for only $1395.

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/

making 36hp racing again available to all of us normal folks.

You can be "stingy" and set records in the Challenge. Get me your email address and I will keep you abreast of all the Challenge happenings.

Thanx for your interest in the 36hp Challenge.............

Burly

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Permalink Reply by Andy Wood on October 29, 2009 at 9:25am

Thing is i think blokes in the US will spend $10k on a 36er, the Aussie market place is a little stingier.
You're right, Dutchy.
We're tight arses.
Too many years of being ripped off blind.

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Permalink Reply by Mick on October 31, 2009 at 12:13pm

Hi guys, great to see some support for the 36hp challenge here in SA at Speedweek. I'm currently waiting for a response from the DLRA who will review the idea of a sanctioned 36hp challenge at the next committee meeting. Hopefully we now have a few people at the DLRA onside who will support the running of some slower cars at the event. The heritage of the event is certainly helping our cause, a big thanks to Burly for helping with this.

The latest status can be seen over at http://www.vdubber.com/groups/forums/topic/36-HP-challenge-Aus-Styl... and via Burly's mailing list. If you have yet to join up, you can ask Burly to add you to the mailing list. Membership to the web group is free, it would be good to see those in support of the event drop by and say hi so we can get an idea of numbers.

The current status is looking like all 36hp entrants will run under current DLRA clases, 36hp classes will not be directly recognized, and so cars will be scrutinized according to the classes already laid out in the DLRA rules. Scrutineering for 36hp classes will therefore not be performed by the DLRA. As the focus of the 36hp challenge is on fun and affordable racing, scrutineering will likely simply be waived in favor of trust (I'm sure Burly can chime in and confirm this).

Permission for the 36hp challenge is not a necessity for entry, anyone is free to enter the event in whatever vehicle they choose. the pre-requisites are simply that all entrants must be a member of the DLRA, and all vehicles must be registered, to run at the event. Application forms for both driver membership and vehicle registration are available at the DLRA website.

The main reason for trying to 'pre-arrange' the 36hp challenge is simply to give the DLRA a heads up that there are a group of us that wish to run slower cars at the event. Unfortunately many of the other racers are not so receptive about those that run slower speeds - by many it is seen as wasting track time, and for those of us also into the rodding scene, you will already know what a frosty reception that VW's get in rodding circles, plus those that run the event are mostly hardcore rodders.

It is also worthwhile considering that the event is only one week of the year, the timing of the event is also critical to ensure that weather and track conditions are optimal. Hosting it too early means that the track will likely be too windy for high speed runs, and too late means that it will likely be raining or the track may be too soft. The event in 2008 was called off due to rain, leaving a lot of disappointed racers.

There's lots of information about Speedweek, over at the DLRA website at www.dlra.org.au You can download a copy of the rulebook, application forms for membership, look at past results, records and photos, and check out the forums for lots of info on how to get there, available facilities, conditions, etiquette, safety requirements, hints and tips etc. I urge everyone interested to go take a look. If you have any questions about speedweek, you can also join the DLRA forums.

Getting to the lake itself is the first challenge, there's about 2 hours worth of unsealed roads to get to the event, and there are limited facilities available there. Camping is possible next to the lake, where there are basic camping facilities available (a toilet and an open area to park / pitch tents etc). It is also possible to book accommodation at one of the nearby stations / homesteads, but available rooms are limited and it is also in the middle of shearing season, so the shearing quarters that are available for rent the rest of the year are unavailable.

If you have any questions, I can be contacted direct at 36hpchallenge@vdubber.com or preferably via the group forum at http://www.vdubber.com/groups/entry/Saltflat-Racers

Hopefully we can all pull together and make this happen.

Mick Percy.

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Permalink Reply by Burly Burlile on October 31, 2009 at 3:07pm

Hi Mick and friends

Yes, the 36hp Challenge is based on good old fashioned trust, we call it "the spirit of the Challenge". All rules and safety regulations are governed by the sanctioning body that oversees the event, in your case the DRLA. No one ever "checks" a 36 racers legality by dissassembling the engine or by other means, other than photos showing the engine, top and bottom, and photos of the car from different views at the race track. Also a copy of the timing slip or published speed in the event result sheets is needed.

I know this may seem quite naive, but there is no money or other rewards involved except recognition for your efforts in making a 36hp Volkswagen go fast. So I do not think there is any incentive to "fudge" to reach your goal. It is good to hear the DRLA is considering letting 36hp Challenge cars run. Since the cars have to meet their regular racing safety rules, this also means, at some later date, you can slip a bigger VW engine into your Volskwagen and race in other DRLA categories.

Good luck on your efforts at gaining recognition. I will continue to read the posts here on Vdubber to keep in tune with whats happening.

May the Speed be with you......................

Burly

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Permalink Reply by stephen muller on November 1, 2009 at 7:17am

Hi Guys, just got back on deck from a great honeymoon in New Zealand.....I must say we have generated a lot of interest and at this stage have about 6 cars wanting to compete...this includes a split bus [57].About 8 years ago a mate and myself had achallenge and built a twin carb 36er each and raced them down the 1/8 mile at our major VW Nationals Drags event Oran Park. I am currently trying to source the follow up article post up times and a description of the engine specs. Both these engines still exist today...my mate Andrew has since fitted it into a ghia and is another potential starter. One thing I must say Mick that I have never recieved a frosty reception from V8/rodders guys and according to Mark [last years speed week competitor vw] he was very warmly recieved and I will be catching up with him next week to chew the fat so to speak.Just to set the record staight re the '36hp challenge ' and your work thus far ,..I take my hat off and a huge thanks...hope you see our network and efforts as a bonus to this light hearted challenge. Our plans are well down the track and have also secured some sponsership and wont be hi jacking your role through Burly.We intend to spread the word and interest through this and other mediums. Both the DLRA president and head stewart[techy] have expressed a very warm welcome to the vw's on the salt....currently am talking directly with the chief tech to see if we can have a speacial cluase allowing the under 100mph 36ers to run without a rollcage this will greatly benefit all parties who are competing...not too sure if this will come off by the sounds of things though.To date we have some very cool support vechiles also attending and these include 3x 1950's clipper buses which will serve as VW head quarters..we are yet to announce the team name and am awaiting our major sponers commitment but this should be exciting news .All I need to learn now is to transfer some photos and a log of our progress ..keep everyone informed...cheers steve

Burly Burlile said:

Hi Mick and friends

Yes, the 36hp Challenge is based on good old fashioned trust, we call it "the spirit of the Challenge". All rules and safety regulations are governed by the sanctioning body that oversees the event, in your case the DRLA. No one ever "checks" a 36 racers legality by dissassembling the engine or by other means, other than photos showing the engine, top and bottom, and photos of the car from different views at the race track. Also a copy of the timing slip or published speed in the event result sheets is needed.

I know this may seem quite naive, but there is no money or other rewards involved except recognition for your efforts in making a 36hp Volkswagen go fast. So I do not think there is any incentive to "fudge" to reach your goal. It is good to hear the DRLA is considering letting 36hp Challenge cars run. Since the cars have to meet their regular racing safety rules, this also means, at some later date, you can slip a bigger VW engine into your Volskwagen and race in other DRLA categories.

Good luck on your efforts at gaining recognition. I will continue to read the posts here on Vdubber to keep in tune with whats happening.

May the Speed be with you......................

Burly

x 1950's clipper buses

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Permalink Reply by Mick on November 1, 2009 at 9:27am

Hi Steve, Congrats on the wedding.

The 36hp challenge has been warmly received by those that I've spoken to at the DLRA, and the additional interest can only help to persuade the DLRA that this is a worthy cause. I've previously been speaking with Norm Hardinge, who is a committee member, Greg Wapling and Rod Hadfield, and our proposal is to be presented at the next committee meeting (which is in January). Perhaps you could let the guys you have been speaking to, know that the others are also aware of our plans, it might add some weight to getting the ball rolling. Additionally, the chairman Rob Caroll is a truly nice bloke, and I cannot imagine that he would be anything other than supportive.

I mention the perception of slower cars as I work with several guys who race at the salt, and whilst many would probably not publicly say so, this is (unfortunately) a common perception. As far as VW's and V8's are concerned, 5 mins at somewhere like the HAMB will demonstrate exactly what I mean.

It would be great to get an exception from the roll cage rule, when I spoke to Norm he said that they had got rid of the street class (130mph / no cage) due to people being irresponsible (probably the hoon crowd). I guess the key here is to show that the 36hp challenge is a serious competition by responsible racers. The exception would however need to be 110 mph as most of the current class records are above 100mph, and some are nearly 110mph already.

I met Mark at the salt this year, and did try getting in contact with him after the event, but to no avail. When you speak to him, let him know that I have some photos for him.

Mick.

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