Looks pretty quiet here, but I'm going to join anyway

[boroko]

Hi all,

Stumbled here looking for anyone that is playing with E85.  Looks like things have kind of gotten quiet.  That's unfortunate, but I'll poke around anyway. 
Near Holland,
Used to race a '69 beetle on circle tracks in Onaway and Elmira: 4 cylinder Street stock: 2 season championships, and a lot of victory beer.
have owned more VW's than I care to admit,
Currently resurrecting a '87 Syncro Westy
Thinking about getting another Super Beetle.
Kids are getting older, and now I want to play again.

I'll be looking to refresh my familiarity and get to know who's still in the game. 

Mark

[vw1s]

Hi Mark!
Glad to have you! We have a few racers in the group, and, although the forums are quite, we can be quite loud at times. 😏 Check us out on Facebook also. Patrick

[Ruffuss]

Welcome! Kenn

[boroko]

I will look up the group on FB, but I have to admit, I try not to spend too much time there. It turns into a giant time black hole and when your done, I don't feel like I've accomplished much. Just have to stick to my favorite groups and stay off the main area.

glad to hear this isn't completely dead.

bo

[vanapplebomb]

Facebook is nice, but I much prefer the forum format. Things just get buried on Facebook. It's nice to have the organization of the fourums. Nice to see some action around here again.

[boroko]

Agreed on things getting buried on FB too. I was attracted to this group because of seeing people local and the possibility of face to face time instead of facebook time. We live plenty in the virtual world and it seems that there can be so much more synergy by actually meeting people. Getting together you can cover so much more ground in real life. Seeing things brings up subjects that other wise don't get covered. I figure if I get a friend or two by being here it's worth the effort. Don't get me wrong, I have gained much virtually by being online, like at theSamba, but actually catching up with humans in the flesh has its advantages.
Mark

[vanapplebomb]

The human aspect of it is very nice. The people from here that I have met are very nice and always helpful.

[clintonddk]

I played with E85 back when it hit the market and may play with it in the future when I figure out my current project. What kind of things are you wondering about?

[boroko]

Considering building a race only beetle for stage rally. Exclusively E85. Trying to figure just how much static compression I can get away with. So far, I have heard of 12:1-12.5:1. Would really like to talk to someone who has experience directly on an A/C motor. I know head design and cam play into it a lot, but trying to get some sort of feedback. Seems that the only guys giving feedback are forced induction, and that's not quite the same.

[clintonddk]

The article I read back then stated to run at least 10 to 1. I myself was running 12.5 to 1. The only trouble with E85 is getting it consistently. Most pumps say that it could be anywhere from E50 to E85. At least now it can be found just about everywhere. Back when I played with it it was hard to find. Other recommendations were forged pistons crank and rods with stainless steel piston rings.

[boroko]

I know that the consistency can be an issue. If I saw that much, my plan is to buy it by the drum from a distributor. I know it is available with constant grade as some of the rally guys I hang with get it here in MI. I imagine it will be a batch by batch thing. The drums of E85 aren't much cheaper than regular racing fuel, but it should run cooler. Still working through the details to see if that's the way I want to go.

[vanapplebomb]

A high compression engine would be a fun build.

The 1600cc (actually 1588cc) Type 4 based Formula Super Vee engines VW produced through their industrial engine were cranking out stupid power. They had compression upwards of 11:1, some as high as 13:1 and pushing 150hp at 7k rpm. They ran dual Solex 40pii carbs on 1700 heads with the larger 1800 valves. Crank was stock 66mm stroke. Rods were stock forgings, but lightened by shaving the rod cap and removing the balancing pad. The cylinders were stock 1700 cylinders with a pressed in steel liner to reduce it from 90mm to 87.5 to meet early 1600cc displacement restrictions. Apparently they were so hopped up and cammed that they didn't pull worth squat below 4K rpm had a difficult time idling.

Guys running F production Porsche 914s are pushing 180hp out of high compression 1800 engines. Pretty wild stuff.

[clintonddk]

I guess if I ever consider buying ethanol by the drum I'd probably just buy 100% ethanol.
I have always wanted to build a 66mm stroke engine, I have always heard that they will crank some crazy RPMs.

[vanapplebomb]

Yeah, the 66mm cranks are so stiff that Super Vee guys running them flat out at 7k-8k didn't need to add counterweights to keep flexing under control. The big mains and bearing saddles help too.