Oldtimer Oldspeed Club

Don't adjust your set!

2011-12-21T20:27:00.000+01:00

We are focused with a plan and are busy behind the scenes, we shall return!
In the mean time we would like to wish all our viewers HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Christmas Jingle...

2011-12-12T20:00:00.000+01:00

Rob over at Pre67vw made this short animation, not too much we can say really except Fantastic!!

Christmas came early again!

2011-11-30T22:07:00.000+01:00

We had a special delivery today, looks like we won't be getting bored over the holiday period, with some excellent reading to keep us occupied :-)

The Monte-Carlo Rally is the oldest and most famous rally in history, it should not be confused with "The Sunday driver Rallies" It takes place in the winter through some of the most mountainous treacherous conditions possible.
Over the years many teams have taken the challenge, known and unknown, anonymous and famous, amateurs and professionals, they have overcome countless obstacles to follow their dreams and participate in a Rally which is without equal, one who's very name reaches into the heart of every driver, navigator, mechanic, journalist, spectator and race steward.
All the greats have taken part and tried to win the Monte, Huschke von Hanstein, Petermax Müller and Vic Elford to name just a few.

Preview time!

2011-11-20T14:24:00.000+01:00

A glimpse of things to come...... ;-)

Car of the Year

2011-11-18T20:57:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Prototyp Museum for winning The Car of the Year at the International Historic Motoring awards,with their Typ 60k10.
This really is a beautiful car, the ultimate Oldspeed race car and where it all began......

Mmmmm......

2011-11-11T12:41:00.004+01:00

Public Holiday today, so back in the workshop thinking about one of next year's projects........

Ready for Winter Sports

2011-11-08T07:02:00.002+01:00

Winter is just around the corner and we should all be preparing our cars for some fun, back in the 50's they had the right idea....
No prizes for guessing who the winner was :-)

The Holy Grail!

2011-11-06T15:50:00.030+01:00

If you were lucky enough to attend the Porsche Race Car Classic, you would have seen two "guest stars".
For the ones that couldn't make it, here are a few pictures to enlighten you....

To some, they are the original Oldspeed race car, to other's the car that showed the way forward in the early 50's, but to most they are the "Holy Grail" of VW powered cars.
The cars in question if you didn't know is the Denzel, built by Wolfgang Denzel in Vienna, Austria.
Although their engines are highly modified the starting point was a 30hp VW case.

Denzel was a competitor to Porsche in the early 50's and with their lightness and nimble handling they achieved worldwide recognition with their stunning win in the 1954 Alpine rally.

These hand built cars were manufactured over a ten year period, from 1949 - 1959, the prototype was built in 1948 and ran a Kübel chassis, in 1960 Denzel was convinced to make one more example before they closed their doors.
There was a total of only 75 cars produced, so as you can image they are as rare as hens teeth!

Here you see Tom & Mark's cars, the restoration of Tom's car only just finished at the eleventh hour in time to make it to the show..........

Hiding away

2011-11-03T17:19:00.000+01:00

No sight or sound has been seen of "The Bachelor" of late, he has been locking himself away in the garage and we started to wonder why.
Recently acquiring some spy shots, we now know what he's been working on.
Looking good "B" hope it will be finished in time to make an appearance at Le Mans Classic next year, with the rest of us ;-)

What a mess......

2011-11-01T10:46:00.000+01:00

The Pepco motor was opened yesterday to look inside and see what had occurred.
But as you can see it wasn't a pretty sight!
The crank snapped and started to move inside the case, subsiquently the pulley has eaten into the front of the case and destroyed it. On closer inspection of the case, we believe we know why and how the problem occurred.....

As we have good "standard mains" 30hp cases lying around The Professor will use one of these as a starting point to work his alchemy and rebuild the Pepco motor ready for Le Mans next year, producing more hp and reliability ;-)

We will keep you posted.......

Yet more R&D....

2011-10-12T11:35:00.001+02:00

At last our manifolds arrived!
Belgian customs didn't really help, keeping them for nearly 5 weeks, oh the joys of bureaucracy.....
If you want to run P11's or Weber's on your Okrasa heads, then you will be needing a set of these :-)

I would also like to thank Ray, for listening to my endless whining ....

Porsche race car classic

2011-10-09T15:10:00.000+02:00

It's only a week to go to the Porsche race car classic at Quail Lodge Resort, Carmel, California.
Some of the world's finest Porsche race cars will gather in unprecedented numbers, Gmünds, Glocklers, 550's 904's and more...
There is also rumored to be a couple of "special" guest star's ;-)
If you are in the area be sure to go check it out

Can we fix it?

2011-10-08T06:39:00.001+02:00

YES we can!
Herr Blower's 30hp Pepco recently snapped it's crank and has joined the Q awaiting attention!
Soon to be rebuilt with even more hp ready for Le Mans Classic next year ;-)
We will keep you posted......

Last minute sunshine!

2011-10-05T06:21:00.003+02:00

Taking advantage of the fantastic recent weather, the '54 was out and about for some final road testing in fast driving conditions before being put into hibernation for the winter.
After some tweaking the oil temperature is down 10ºC under fast driving conditions in warm weather, perfect for Le Mans Classic next year ;-)

Camp out....

2011-10-03T06:13:00.005+02:00

Herr blower recently attended the Splits at the Lake meeting in Holland in his other ride "The Melvan" :-)

Vintage VW's @ REME Museum

2011-10-02T11:58:00.000+02:00

Last weekend was the 2nd Ivan Hurst Historic meeting at the Reme Museum, so we went along to see who was there and what was happening.
As before some beautiful vintage VW's attended and all the usual suspects were there :-)

We know it's a little late posting, but we have all been busy this week with normal work and brain storming 30hp performance stuff ready for Le Mans Classic next year....

In good company

2011-09-22T18:39:00.000+02:00

The '46 has been in the workshop, the gearbox apart and back together again.
It was taken for a road test to a local VW show and just for company Geoff brought along his '42 Kübelwagen for it's maiden outing.
Hard to imagine that 2 years ago the Kübel was a pile of scrap on a trailer.......

The '46 passed it's road test with flying colours, ready for the Major Ivan Hurst REME Memorial meeting this weekend :-)

Kab at the Vintage Treffen....

2011-09-15T21:42:00.001+02:00

After a long drive south in his Denzel powered Kab, Herr Specializer was last seen at the So Cal Vintage Treffen :-)
As you see his Kab is looking fantastic.......

photo's © Greg Banfill

Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV

2011-09-13T20:59:00.002+02:00

If you can't make the Le Mans Classic next year and your in the neighborhood, the Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV October 14th - 16th at Laguna Seca is well worth a visit.

Last days of summer .....

2011-09-07T08:34:00.000+02:00

Due to some fantastic weather at the weekend, "Mr Godwin" decided to attend the hot-heads-east Hotrod meeting in the east of Germany.

700 kms in two days on traffic free B roads at fast driving speeds in his P wagon :-)

An imposter......

2011-09-05T20:59:00.001+02:00

At the Porsche club GB 50th Anniversary meeting yesterday, an imposter was spotted!
We at the OOC know who the original Jägermeister is :P

also of interest was a Porsche tractor, not your usual Junior or Master ........

Recollections of summer....

2011-08-28T19:01:00.001+02:00

Just looking through some of the photo's from the Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen, what a fantastic time we had at B.C. with friends old and new.
We look forward to meeting up again with you all at the Le Mans Classic next summer ;-)

Ray and Tom lead the way in the Kübel to the Ferry over the Rhine and the start of the race, you can see in the background the sort of terrain the race crossed.

Vegard is already practicing slipstreaming behind Øystein at the lunch stop :-D

Meanwhile...........Øystein and Rune are thinking, we will be straight passed that plastic kitcar :-P

Waiting for the ferry to the start, Øystein is already applying his physchological warfare on the other competitors, while Rune is thinking Mmmmmmm.......... we'll soon be passed this one too!

Hans "Besserwisser" is busy checking out Herr Blowers Pepco

Another of our favourites

2011-08-25T14:05:00.000+02:00

Most of you have already seen this one on YouTube, but here are a few more pictures.
This is just how we love them, battered, bruised, used and abused, a true race car in every sense.....

Holidays are over!

2011-08-21T13:29:00.000+02:00

The holidays are finished for us now, we have all had time with our families and some time to reflect and think about modifications for putting our cars into Le Mans mode ready for the Classic next year.

The Jägermeister didn't make the start of the Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen, due to some slight motor problems. The Jägermeister motor is stripped down and ready to be rebuilt (with a few slight modifications) and then on the dyno for some numbers, although we are now thinking about the new 'Interceptor' motor for Le Mans, the Jägermeister will run this motor at Le Mans, to hunt down the competition :P
The Jägermeister himself had been abandoned in the workshop just before we left for B.C. and was looking very sad for himself, but he is now being stripped down to be rebuilt in Le Mans mode, running the 'Interceptor' motor we are thinking we will reach our goal of +200km/h down the Mulsanne, with a period correct transmission ;)

The '54 is finished now, apart from a few small things and it is running perfectly now it's minor 'chesty cough' has been cured :)

The transmission has the new 3rd and 4th gears fitted and is performing 'tip top' on road test's, it is also expected to be pushing 200km/h down the Mulsanne.....

It looks like the '46's sick transmission can now be looked at (yes we have stock cars too) It limped home from H.O. a couple of years ago and was left unattended to finish the '54.

The plan is for it to be fixed in time for the Major Ivan Hirst meeting at the R.E.M.E. museum in a months time

There have also been a couple of additions to the OOC over the summer. An addition to the OOC Juniors, congratulations to Matt & Jenny on the birth of their daughter Elsa.
The second addition is a new Oldspeed race car that will be joining the OOC stable :) plans are already in hand for a new motor for Le Mans, more info to come.........

More R&D....

2011-07-09T17:41:00.000+02:00

The R&D Dept. always likes to be busy....
Here we have 5 Denzel pulleys and an OT one, the Denzel pulleys really are a nice piece of equipment and we will soon be testing them :)

We also received a set of these 30hp aluminum valve covers, they're just perfect for ratio rockers.
Arriving just as we left for Camberg, we had no time to give them the once over.....
But now we have had a good look at them and they really are nicely machined and fit perfectly, Rob did a fantastic job on these although he was quite a while getting them the way he wanted!
Some of you will have followed the thread on The Samba

Bad Camberg 2011

2011-07-06T13:28:00.000+02:00

The Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen winners

2011-06-29T08:56:00.003+02:00

Vegard Foseid and Are Sletta (Sechs Volt Garage) receive their trophy from Markus Lottermann for winning the 1300 class.

Ray Schubert (Speedwell USA) and his protégé receiving the trophy from Markus for winning the 1500 class.
Normally Tom Niedernhofer should have been on the stage too, but we think he was still recovering from the "white knucle ride" in the Kübel ;)

Øystein Asphjell and Rune Weea (Screwdrivers) receive their unlimited class winners trophy from Markus Lottermann.

Vegard Foseid and Are Sletta receive the Petermax Müller trophy from Markus for the overall win in the race.

They will need to hand the trophy back in 2 years at the next event and as defending champions wear the race number 51. We hope next time the Sechs Volts Garage will bring two cars to help defend the title ;)

Once again we would like to thank all involved, also a big thank you to the Lottermann family, Bob (BBT) for sponsoring the trophies and Rob Amos (pre67VW) for talking the photo's.

The Norwegians rule the day in the Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen!

2011-06-28T16:07:00.005+02:00

We are just back from Bad Camberg and what a fantastic time we had. Our friends "up north" really did kick our buts in the Petermax Müller race, although a few of the OOC cars never made the start line....

Here you see Herr Blowers Pepco powered Oval parked next to Vegards Abarth Zwitter, on the ferry across the Rhine just before the start of the race.

The race was not just about raw horsepower, you needed a good navigator to read the map and direct you, also some luck on the slippery winding country roads.

The unlimited class was won by Øystein Asphjell in his HPD Special and he probably would have won the overall trophy if his navigator Rune Weea hadn't have taken them on a slight de tour, although they blamed the road book, we know they really stopped off for a spot of lunch :P

Only joking guys, you did a fantastic job and we were honored that you supported our event in so many ways.

The 1500 class was won by the legendary speed demon Ray Schubert driving a Kübelwagon!

Yes that's right he was driving a Kübel although the motor is running Porsche internals.

We followed behind Ray for a while in a support vehicle and it really was something to see him sliding the Kübel around corners and descending the steep roads like a man inspired, all with cable brakes and off roads tyres, if only he'd had his Pepco Zwitter....

There was a good chance that Ray and his navigator Tom Niedernhofer would have won the overall trophy, but they ran out of fuel, luckily we were close by and only needed to push them 400 meters to a petrol station, but still, all lost time!

The 1300 class and the overall Petermax Müller trophy was won by Vegard Foseid and his navigator Are Sletta, they really drove their little 30hp to the limit, towards the end of the race the motor was losing power on the steep uphill climbs and the brakes were overheating on the descents, but against the odds they pulled it off. Well done guys :)

The winning motor of the Abarth Zwitter, shows sometimes David does beat Goliath...

The next edition will be in 2 years time to Hessisch Oldendorf, where the defending champion will be wearing the race number 51. The OOC will attend in full force and the Jägermeister Zwitter will return. Hopefully we can put Ray Schubert and also Larry McKenzie in some real race cars, then we really will have some fun. I also heard that Magne Bævere will be attending to strengthen the Norwegian charge to the flag.

For all who attended the race and supported us in any way we are truly grateful, we would also like to thank Markus Lottermann for presenting the trophies to the winners.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Hessisch Oldendorf edition of the Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen .....

The Paints out........

2011-06-15T21:25:00.001+02:00

With only just over a week to go to the big event, our friends "up North" have already began applying "War Paint" to their race cars ;)
We still need to build engines for two of our cars before we start thinking about War Paint.....

PMGR parcours preview

2011-06-11T09:29:00.000+02:00

Only 2 weeks to go, so here is a peek at what you can expect, if you are entered in this years PMGR.
The full course is 120kms, so this is just a sample to wet your appetite
if you've not entered this time, guess you need to wait a couple of years for the next edition ;)

Free Online magazine

2011-06-08T06:54:00.008+02:00

Aircooled Classics - Online VW Porsche magazine

who needs sleep?

2011-06-07T17:33:00.000+02:00

The big day is getting closer and it looks like someone has not been getting too much sleep in order to make the start line of the PMGR :)

Parcours

2011-05-28T20:19:00.000+02:00

The maps for the big day are ready!
So if you have entered the "PMGR" your navigator will be needing one of these .....

Lightening the load!

2011-05-17T16:04:00.000+02:00

The R&D department are always thinking about ways to improve the power to weight ratio on our

cars, here is the latest offering they just produced.

A balsa wood gear knob, we haven't weighed it yet, but were sure it must weight a super heavy 5 grams.

Every little helps....

Yet more progress......

2011-05-15T22:25:00.004+02:00

The Master of Metal has been busy this weekend too

Looks like he found some time to make his front hood instead of working on the Pantera's arches...

6 weeks to go.....

2011-05-14T01:23:00.000+02:00

Normally we should be at "The Champagne Vintage Weekend" with all the other vintage boys, but we are burning the midnight oil in the workshop as it is only 6 weeks before the PMGR...

The '53's case is now ready for full flow, although we had to again give the case a full clean afterwards.

We also installed some longer oil pump studs, although were not 100% sure what pump we will run at the moment.

We already cleaned all the oil galleries on this case and then refitted aluminum plugs so it looked original, we got side tracked and it was just left laying around, then the plans changed and we went back to work on it.....

The case was put together dry with the Mahle Nicasil cylinders and heads to check everything fits OK. We searched for a set of NOS pushrods, but couldn't find them.
What we did come across was another set we had for another project. So, as we had them laying around we thought we'd use them and after a little machine work they were now the correct size for this application.

Never enough time.....

2011-05-10T21:18:00.001+02:00

The "Master of Metal" has been busy working away on his project :)
Although we are hoping it will be finished in time for the "Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen" as he seems to be far too busy working on someone else's race car ;)

Lift off...

2011-05-08T10:01:00.013+02:00

Or should that be "lifters off"

More work on the '53's motor today, the NOS lifters were removed from the pushrods and then the inserts fitted into the lifters.

Next up was some machine work to make the lifter ends fit into the cut to length pushrods, we decided to use chromoly ones as they are going to suffer some 'Torture" and don't want them to bend.

Now they are all ready for their final clean...

People ask us how we remove the lifters from the pushrods without damaging them.

We do it how we have always done it, quite simply really, we don't use any fancy slid hammers, pullers or heat on them.

First we spray dismantling lubricant (plus gas or something similar) between the lifter and the push rod, stand them up vertically and let them soak for a few hours.

Then take an old 11mm spanner and slide it over the pushrod to seat against the lifter, clamp everything into a vice, that accepts a pipe, so not to damage the pushrods.

Then with a gentle but sharp tap on the spanner the lifter easily comes away from the pushrod with no damage.

Automuseum Prototyp...

2011-05-07T14:16:00.016+02:00

Back on track...

2011-05-06T14:41:00.004+02:00

Home early and there has been an special delivery, looks like we can finish the rear brakes on the '53 now we got the wheel cylinders...

Big thanks to Jules over at KK for top Express service as usual ;)

Four little soldiers standing in a row........

2011-05-06T06:37:00.002+02:00

In the workshop early before going to the "9-5 work", so just enough time to give the rods their last clean, before attention turns to the '53's motor.

We could have used 912 rods we have laying around, but decided to go for normal 356 ones.

They've been magnafluxed, shot peened, end to end balanced, weight matched and new bushings installed.

People say these rods won't stand up to full race "torture" and you should only use 912 ones, well we will see.

If they survive the Petermax Müller gedächtnis Rennen, lets see how they look after going down the Mulsanne straight flat out a few times.....

A roll in the nettles!

2011-05-02T17:32:00.010+02:00

We had the full flow oil lines made today and thought we would see how things would look and what we would need to change.....

Yes we know people are going to say "We would rather roll naked in nettles than fit those restrictive banjo fittings to our full flow application."

Well regular visitors will know we only do what was available in the day and therefore period correct for our cars.

If it was good enough for Wolfgang Denzel and also Porsche to run on their Le Mans cars in the '50's then it's good for us.

Maybe we all just like nettles ;)

Go with the flow......

2011-05-01T19:55:00.008+02:00

Full flow that is....

We took a look at the full flow filter that we were thinking to use on the '53 today, Imperial and metric, Hmmm

We had a look around the workshop to see what fittings we had lying around that could work and came to the conclusion that maybe we should take a trip to Hansa Flex.......

More progress......

2011-04-25T20:01:00.003+02:00

The gearbox is back in the '53, as we made some changes at the back we thought we should check everything fits Ok before installing the brakes....

A solution....

2011-04-23T08:20:00.000+02:00

A lot of head scratching has been going on, as it was becoming impossible to find piston rings to run with our original Mahle Nicasil cylinders.

But after a few emails to LN engineering they guided us to Total Seal, where they found us the correct rings for our application.

We must say a big thanks to Charles at LN and Keith over at Total Seal for all their help.

The beginnings.....

2011-04-22T07:00:00.000+02:00

The type 64 K 10 is where it all began and one of the "archetypen" on display at the prototyp museum

Happy Faces!

2011-04-21T09:16:00.004+02:00

We had a recent trip over the see Seppe "The master of metal" and what a nice sight it was when entering his workshop.

All those happy smiling faces looking at you every morning when you start work......

Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen

2011-04-13T16:55:00.011+02:00

The Oldspeed Cannonball Challenge is DEAD!

Long live the "Petermax Müller Gedächtnis Rennen"

we thought the original name was not in the spirit of the event, so we have re-named it after the one and only original Oldspeed Maestro.......

Heart transplant

2011-04-12T15:46:00.005+02:00

The gearbox is nearly ready to go back in the '53, so focus has turned to the motor

We know our friends up North are busy with Ferdinand's finest, so we thought we too should use a zuffenhausen heart for the '53....

We know they have some tricks up their sleeves, but so do we, only the big day will tell if they get to take the trophy back up north with them ;)

Wired !

2011-04-10T08:30:00.002+02:00

Work continues on the '54 and the wiring loom is nearly finished...

Gripping stuff

2011-04-08T06:53:00.004+02:00

Herr Blower has got himslef some new XZX rubber upfront ready for the big day.......

Nearly together again!

2011-04-07T13:33:00.012+02:00

All the gears and the bearings are back on the pinion for the '53's gearbox.

Just checking all the gears select OK and then the two halves can be joined again.

Although it wasn't without drama, the box was on the bench and something fell off the shelf and landed on the reverse selector !

The end snapped off, but luckily well known vintage parts guru Filip Garsbeke is only 10mins away. A phone call was made and soon enough we were back with a NOS reverse shifter.

Thanks again Filip for saving the day ;)

Guess the lesson to be learned here is "less haste more speed"

Just in time!

2011-04-06T14:58:00.002+02:00

The pinion bearing arrived this morning, so work can carry on

Big thanks to Shawn over at Vintage Parts inc for sending the bearing super express....

'53's box!

2011-04-05T21:15:00.005+02:00

We started reasembeling the '53's box today, although the clock is ticking and work is behind, guess it's time we pulled our finger out!

We are still waiting on a bearing for the pinion and then we can reassemble it with the new gears and get the box back together.

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.......

Holly Molly!

2011-03-30T11:00:00.000+02:00

The '53's modified torsion arms are back from powder coating and ready to be installed, although we had to modify the spindles for the new backing plates we made......

4 Wheels on your wagon!

2011-03-26T10:54:00.000+01:00

The gearbox is back in the '54 and all the wheels are at last back on!

Just need some new boots!

2011-03-23T10:47:00.001+01:00

The '53's rims came back from the powder coater today, now we just need to get some new boots and a set of racing inner tubes and they'll be ready to go..............

1 down 1 to go.......

2011-03-20T10:40:00.000+01:00

The Oldspeed gearbox of the '54 is nearly back together with the new 3rd & 4th gears installed, some slight modification was required on the case to accept the taller 4th gear.

Now just the '53 one to assemble.......

Spindles

2011-03-18T16:31:00.000+01:00

We tidied up the workshop today and found the box of NOS King & Link pins we had misplaced, so a few hours were spent fitting them into the dropped spindles that the '53 will run.

Nice surprise !

2011-03-17T10:24:00.004+01:00

Some outstanding German engineering for the '53 just arrived at OOC headquarters ;)

We've been neglecting the Blog lately, but now things are moving again..........

Already testing!

2011-01-30T15:55:00.003+01:00

The snow has gone and Herr Blower, with an eye already on The Cannonball, is out road testing and fine tuning his Pepco ready for the big day ;)

Holidays over!

2011-01-22T11:31:00.005+01:00

The temperatures are warmer in the workshop now, so work has started on the cars again, soon the Cannonball will be upon us !

The '54 sunroof now has a new inner and outer cover. It was alot of work to make it it all from scratch, but it does look cool :-)

Christmas is Early

2010-12-24T12:39:00.003+01:00

We just got a "special Delivery" in time for Christmas, our new 3rd & 4th gears for the '53 & '54 Plan B gearboxes.

Although not too much has been happening in the workshop lately due to the -8ºC weather conditions, maybe that will change now ;-)

These gears were really made with the Le Mans Classic in mind, for going down the Mulsanne .......... at 5500 rpm we will pushing more than 200km/h

We are looking forward to seeing how the perform in the Cannonball.....

The Devil is Back

2010-12-19T13:09:00.003+01:00

Yes it's true, he's back and rumoured to be making a guest appearance in the Cannonball........

Just like the originals !

2010-11-22T10:26:00.000+01:00

Another part of the jigsaw just arrived......

Lifter inserts, nitrited and with circlips just like the originals as used in PreA and Denzel motors :-)

Cannonball Brakes Pt 2

2010-11-21T20:21:00.010+01:00

The second stage of the "Cannonball" brakes is complete....

If you want to brake late no good using those skinny original brake shoes.

Today we machined the front drums, ready for some bigger ones :-)

Cooking on Gas!

2010-11-18T10:14:00.006+01:00

Things are moving along now at a rate of knots, it's all hands on deck with the Cannonball on the horizon!

Our OOCrasa heads are now machined to accept 80mm Nicasil cylinders, If the original Nicasil's were good enough for Porsche to use on the 917's, then they are for sure good enough for us ;-)

Next step will be to put the heads on a flow meter to get some numbers, that is after we finish the manifold modifications.......

What a dilemma!

It's looking like the most Cannonball fun will be in the smaller displacement class, so we are thinking...................

Which Porker crank?

Run the 74mm crank and enter the 1500 class or 64mm crank and the 1300 class..... Mmmmmmm

A pinch of this and a dash of that.....

2010-11-16T17:59:00.007+01:00

Here's a very cool Blog we've been following for a while now, Shinya Kimura, formally of zero engineering.

He's now started Chabott engineering and still doing his stuff, mixing a little of this with some of that to fabricate some amazing creations.

He's very much like us .......... who wants to go to a shop to buy all your parts when you can think outside the box and make them yourself.......

Shinya we take our hat's off to you!

Cannonball Brakes

2010-11-15T21:25:00.013+01:00

2 are better than 1 !

The first stage of the "Cannonball" front brake modifications for the '53 are just about complete .......

Plan B

2010-11-03T09:04:00.000+01:00

We've spent a lot of time thinking about the gearboxes of the '53 & '54.

Many hours of calculations, working out ratio's and various scenario's, in the quest the get the maximum out of these boxes.

We came up with what we thought was the ideal solution......

Then it was a hunt for someone who could actually make what we wanted, a Spiral bevel to Klingelnberg Palloid system, or to put it in plain English, a new R&P.

We eventually found someone who could make it, but before we went ahead and had these made we did more calculations and realised that for the R&P we wanted it would require us to machine the inside of the gearbox to make everything fit snugly.

This wasn't really an option, as we thought it would weaken the gearbox and we plan to push these little boxes to their limits.....

Luckily we had a contingency plan................... PLAN B.

We can still achieve the same overall outcome, Maybe Plan B should have been our first choice.

Stay tuned to see the outcome of PLAN B................

Gentlemen, start your engines!

2010-10-30T20:34:00.009+02:00

Registration is open.....

OOC 54 Commented

"Bring it on, there is only one place to be next summer.....the race of the century...........OLDSPEED CANNONBALL CHALLENGE........ They built the cars in Germany.........and they are coming home...........but we have made a few changes!"

Denzel powered '52 Kab

2010-10-24T17:38:00.008+02:00

Herr Specializer's '52 Kab is finished :-)

We received this video, shot after it had just made it's maiden voyage. For those of you that don't know it is running under Denzel power and doesn't it sound amazing ;-)

It's a shame it's on the other side of the pond and won't be able to attend the Oldspeed Cannonball Challenge to help fly the flag for the OOC.

We aren't going to say too much more about it as it will be at a photo shoot in the next couple of days for a magazine feature. Be sure to lookout for it........

Nice job Rich and all involved :-)

Loaded.....

2010-10-21T07:14:00.019+02:00

All the big cannon's up north are loaded and primed ready for the Oldspeed Cannonball Challenge and we know you have some secret one's still under wraps ;-)

Our friends over at the Sechs Volt Garage already have The Abarth Zwitter in race trim, ready to have some breakfast in the smaller displacement class.

We also know you Northern boyz wear your colours with pride and will try to fly your flag the highest in all the classes, we can't wait............... for "The Clash of the Titans"

There's a few renegades within the OOC, so all we'll say is

It's not the loaded Cannon's you need to look out for, but "The Loose Ones" ;-)

Wait for it !

2010-10-20T20:17:00.006+02:00

Fingers are twitching and feet are tapping, Just over a week to go before registration opens.....

They're at it again!

2010-10-19T12:19:00.005+02:00

Look what our friends up north have found now.....

A March '52 Panel van

Not even they can get this ready in time for the Cannonball, or can they.........

Tick Tock.....

2010-10-04T07:20:00.003+02:00

The clock is ticking and it's not too long now until June and the Oldspeeed Challenge.....

We're still busy with the gearboxes on the '53 & '54, now we have bearings there is just one last 'special' piece missing.

Hopefully we'll have it soon and then the boxes can be reassembled

Our Norwegian friends are also busy getting ready, the HPD special is in the garage to be put into race trim in preparation for the big day, they are also working on some secret fast projects :-)

In their words, B.C. Oldspeed Challenge - 'man against man, machine against machine, the mother of all Cannonball runs Belgium to Bad Camberg', this is one not to miss.

It will probably never happen again that's why all the lightest fastest Oldspeed Vw's from Europe will be taking part......

Nuts!....

2010-09-13T07:39:00.006+02:00

In our quest to make the '53 as light a possible the wheel nuts are now ready :-)

Once again a big thanks goes to 'The professor' for his ingenuity.....

I spy....

2010-09-13T01:17:00.005+02:00

Herr Blower was recently spotted at VW Action, looks like he was in need of a little extra motor cooling ;-)

OOC Juniors

2010-09-12T01:10:00.001+02:00

As the winter is coming and in the quest for more speed, it looks like the OOC juniors will be burning the midnight oil too, modifying some of their toy's ;-)

'54 sunroof reunited

2010-09-09T09:58:00.003+02:00

The summer is nearly over, so it's time to get back on our projects.

The '54's body has been reunited with the pan so the build up can continue, although there is no gearbox in there yet as we are still working on that one ;-)

'53's brake drums

2010-08-15T03:44:00.001+02:00

The brake drums for the'53 are finally finished.

They have been machined and the cooling rings sweated on, machined on the inside for a better braking surface and studs have been added too.

We could have used "A" or even "B" brakes, but we wanted to do something different with the '53 and have something "in the werks" for the backing plates....

And anyhow we don't plan on having too much weight to stop :-)

A big thanks goes to R.K. a friend of the O.O.C. for many years...

An Invitation

We are not people of many words, we are men of action and don't get into wars of words with keyboard warriors..

It has been said, on forums, that our '53 won't ever see a race track, well to put the record straight, in 2011 it will be at the B.C. Oldspeed Challenge, in the 1500 class and also at Spa Francorchamps for 1 hour of racing the track.

In 2012 it will be at Le Mans Classic, where we can organise a 3 lap race of the full track.

So to put it in your own words, will you be joining us racing, or in the bar "drinking beer and chasing women"

You know where to find us..... ;-)

1/2 a day off !

2010-08-05T17:15:00.009+02:00

what do you do when you have half a day off work?

you machine some of these of course!

These are the set for the '53, no prizes for guessing what they are ;-)

As it was nasty weather yesterday and today the sun is shinning, there was even time to go for a ride

with a passenger :-o

'54's Brakes

2010-08-02T08:17:00.000+02:00

The rebuilt beam and front brakes are now installed on the '54 pan, just need to install the master cylinder fluid reservoir and the rear brakes of course, but before we can do that, some gearbox modifications are needed..........

Lavenham 2012

2010-07-26T06:48:00.005+02:00

Following a review meeting with representatives of the Lavenham Parish Council at the weekend,we are pleased to be able to let you all know that the second Lavenham Vintage VW meet will be happening as planned in the summer of 2012.

They hope to be able to start the registration process next summer, so please keep an eye on the Pre67 website for full details in due course.

'54 Beam

2010-07-22T11:57:00.006+02:00

The beam adjuster is now welded into the front beam, it has been welded in the "middle" position so both up and down adjustment is possible.

As those of you who have done this know, with the adjusters in place it is no longer possible to fit the cover for the tunnel. This not being an option for us, the cover was modified so it will fit properly and can also be removed without too much trouble.

Some New Rubber !

2010-07-22T11:27:00.008+02:00

Things are back to normal now after LMC and even though it's holiday season we have still managed to do some work on the cars.

The '54 sunroof has got some new rubber on the freshly painted rims, a set of Michelin XZX 165SR-15's. :-)

We are also at present testing a set of Vredestein 165HR-15 Sprint Classics and plan to test a set of Dunlop 500-15 R5's soon....

Le Mans Classic 2010

2010-07-13T09:56:00.003+02:00

Here are a selection of the photo's from LMC, the rest we will upload to our Facebook Page over the next couple of days.

908/2 flat 8, this is the actual car that was driven in the 1970 24 Heures du Mans with the camera attached. The car was driven in the race by Herbert Linge.

Herbert Linge gets behind the wheel again, happy memories.......

The 1970 24 Heures du Mans winning duo of Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood

The winning car of the 1970 24 Heures du Mans with the two drivers Herrmann and Attwood.

Vic Elford gets in on the action too :-)

2010-07-13T09:55:00.003+02:00

The legend himself Vic Elford

René Metge has 3 Paris Dakar wins, a 24 Heures du Mans win plus much more...

2010-07-13T09:55:00.002+02:00

1971 winning 917 of Marko/Lennep

The 1971 917 of Larrousse/Elford that was clocked at 386 km/h

Richard Attwood was actually talking part in the Le Mans Classic, driving a 917 with Vern Schuppan , here they can be seen changing drivers during racing.

Ex Jim Clark 356A was also racing

Oldspeed Legends

2010-07-12T09:38:00.005+02:00

What can we say.......

We are back after four days of watching some of the greatest classic race cars on the planet and meeting some of the most famous Porsche werks drivers to ever drive the marque.

Although it was 35deg and we need some sleep, it was fantastic to see some of those drivers once again get behind the wheel of the cars they drove back in the day and take to the track. Believe us, they still drive with passion, way too fast for people on a pension :-)

We got to chat to Vic Elford and ask him how it really was to drive the 917 down the Mulsanne at over 386km/h, he replied " it was a joy to drive and I loved that car, although you had to be 100% committed as it was very unforgiving, you needed the whole road on the Mulsanne straight as it would tend to wander around a little".

Wander around! in a fiberglass car, cm's from the ground at 386km/h, only two words come to mind when describing these Porsche drivers, Balls & Steel.....

We also asked Herbert Linge, is it true about the 1954 Mille Miglia when you were Hans Hermann's co driver driving a 550, he laughed "yes but we were much younger then"

As they approached a rail crossing in the race the barrier came down as the train was approaching, they both ducked and drove under the barrier.

We also managed to get a few new members ;-)

1 René Metge

2 Richard Attwood

3 Herbert Linge

4 Gérard Larrousse

5 Vic Elford

6 Hans Hermann

Lift off........

2010-07-08T01:29:00.000+02:00

Gone to Le Mans..........

1

2010-07-07T01:27:00.000+02:00

24 Heures du Mans 1971 - The end of an era

During the '71 season the FIA decided to change the sports cars rules, this mean't it would be the last year that the Porsche 917's and Ferrari 512's would dominate the racing.

Ferrari would bring their 512 M spec and in reply Porsche would bring two new versions of the 917, the K spec would have the short tail modified and now ran a magnesium chassis and the LH (longtail) version would receive aerodynamic improvements.

The race started with the new Indianapolis rolling start and the No 18 917 of Rodriguez/Oliver was straight into the lead.

The No 21 917LH of Elford/Larrousse was clocked at over 386 km/h (240 mph) something that couldn't be matched by the 512M, its top speed was only 320 km/h.

The race would eventually be won by a 917k magnesium chassis, No 22 of Marko/van Lennep and the No 19 917K of Attwood/Müller would be second.

The winning 917K completed 397 laps a record distance of 5335 kms, the record would stand for another 39 years, until 2010 when it was bettered by the 3 Audi R15 TDI +'s.

In the 1970/71 season the 917's entered 21 races and won 14 of them.........

2

2010-07-06T01:26:00.001+02:00

24 Heures du Mans 1970 - Battle of the Titans

Porsche returned with their 917's , five factory cars were entered and another nine of these flat 12 aircooled beasts by privateers. Not to be outdone, 11 Ferrari V12 512's were also entered.

This was the first time the 917 appeared in Gulf livery of the John Wyer team, it would later become famous in the Steve McQueen movie Le Mans. Much of the racing footage in the movie is actually from the race, shot from the No 29 Porsche 908.

McQueen actually tried to enter the race with Jackie Stewart as co-driver in No26, a John Wyer 917K chassis 917-013, but the entry was declined.

Porsche also entered their new low drag 917L (or Longtall) the fastest lap and pole position went to 917L No 25 driven by Elford/Ahrens, but unfortunately would retire with cooling problems.

The race was eventually won by the 917K No 23 of Attwood/Herrmann, second was the 917L No 3 of Larrousse/Kauhsen and third overall was also a Porsche, the 908 No 27 of Lins/Marko.

Porsche had achieved what they set out to do 19 years earlier, overall victory at 24 Heures du Mans.

3

2010-07-05T01:25:00.003+02:00

24 Heures du Mans 1969

Porsche return with one of the greatest race cars ever built, the 917.

2 factory cars are entered driven by Elford/Attwood No 12 and Lins/Kauhsen No 22, a third privateer 917 was entered by gentleman driver John Woolfe.

Both the Factory 917's retired from the race with clutch problems, it was left to the 908 driven by Herrmann/Larrousse No 64 to fly the Porsche Flag.

They didn't disappoint, it was a dramatic finish to the race with the 908 and GT40 of Jacky Ickx repeatedly overtaking each other. The GT40 eventually won by 100 meters due to the 908's brake problems.

The class win and second overall was once again overshadowed by a fatal accident. The 917 of John Woolfe crashed on the first lap at Maison Blanche and he was killed, it was possibly due to the fact that he had not bothered to use his safety belt.

At the start of the race the drivers were required to run across the track, climb in and get it started as quickly as possible to pull away form the grid. Woolfe probably didn't bother with the belt to gain a better start.

This was the last year of the traditional start, in future it would be the rolling start that we know today.

4 Days....

2010-07-04T01:21:00.000+02:00

24 Heures du Mans 1958

Porsche debut their new Spyder 1500 RSK

The team of Behra/Herrmann No 29 finished 1st in class (1600) and 3rd overall. The second factory team of Barth/Frère No 31 finished 1st in class (1500) and 4th overall. 5th overall also went to a Porsche, a privately entered 550A driven by Godin de Beaufort/Linge.

5 Days....

2010-07-03T01:20:00.003+02:00

24 Heures du Man 1955

Porsche enter half a dozen Spyders.

The team of Polensky/Frankenberg No37 won the 1.5 liter class and Porsche placed 4th, 5th and 6th overall.

This win was overshadowed by the horrific crash of French driver Pierre Levegh driving a Mercedes 300 SLR, due to the fact the car is made partly from Magnesium alloy it erupted into a fireball. Levegh was killed instantly and also more than 80 spectators lost their lives.

The race continued and Fangio/Moss were leading the race in a sister 300 SLR but 8 hours after the crash the official orders came from Mercedes to withdrawn out of respect for the victims.

6 Days....

2010-07-02T01:00:00.004+02:00

24 Heures du Mans 1954

Porsche entered 4 spyders in the 1.5 liter class, they were now running the 110hp four cam engine.

The teams of Glöckler/Frankenberg No 40 and Herrmann/Polensky No 41 had bad luck, they both suffered engine failure.

The Belgian team of Claes/Stasse, No 39 managed to limp across the finish line on three cylinders to take the class win.

7 Days....

2010-07-01T01:36:00.001+02:00

It's only 7 days before we leave for Le Mans Classic.

For those who are going, something to get you in the mood.........

24 Heures du Mans 1953

The coupes were still fitted with 78hp pushrod engines.

Here you see No44 the team of Glöckler/Herrmann ahead of No45 Frère/Frankenberg.

The team of Glöckler/Herrmann went on to win the class and 14th overall.

Minor improvements

2010-06-29T11:15:00.006+02:00

The warmer months are upon us and "Herr Blower" thought it was time for some minor improvements to aid his summer driving.

He's added a Bosch 010 distributor, black coil, a different air filter, a 6000 rpm tacho and he even did a little paintwork too ;-)

Guess he's ready for Spa........

He's Back

2010-06-27T20:18:00.008+02:00

D.K. is back from his intelligence gathering.

He was seen entering the workshop mumbling something about werks Carrera's, before locking himself in.

We managed to sneak in today, while he was taking a break. Here's a spy shot of what he's working on :-)