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20 Posts
I grew up in the Monterey Bay area in California (1970-1990) and now live in Ohio, but have fond childhood memories of being around my step day, who co-owned Old Volk's Home in Santa Cruz for many years. He always had VW's and many of them were kit cars or custom creations. As an adult, I decided to look for a project and thought VW would be inexpensive to fix up and tinker with. I bought a 74 Ghia with a rusted pan and no motor and began ordering parts. I quickly realized the VW aftermarket wasn't going to work for me, so I went full custom tube chassis and double wishbone suspension. On and on it went, with no real focus until I joined autocross with my '19 Civic Si. I'm now focused on making my Ghia a track car with a license plate. I had no idea how expensive the "VW" was going to be. I started out thinking a few grand, boy was I wrong. It has the heart of a VW, but everything else is borrowed from other race car catalogs or handmade.
As a mechanical engineer, I understand concepts and can think my way through things, but never acquired the practical experience that my step dad had. I saw him build his toys, but never worked with him on tuning. This is where I am with my build now. I also have to learn how to tune the chassis for the track and keep it safe and reliable for the street. Not a daily driver for Ohio, but I should get away with fair weather miles.
I hope to contribute to this forum and maybe ask a few questions on tuning as I explore these 44mm IDF's and the use of my newly added O2 sensor. My wife is tired of the rich fuel smell coming from the cold starts in the garage, not to mention the loud exhaust. Getting this thing on the road to push the setup is a must.
Chris
As a mechanical engineer, I understand concepts and can think my way through things, but never acquired the practical experience that my step dad had. I saw him build his toys, but never worked with him on tuning. This is where I am with my build now. I also have to learn how to tune the chassis for the track and keep it safe and reliable for the street. Not a daily driver for Ohio, but I should get away with fair weather miles.
I hope to contribute to this forum and maybe ask a few questions on tuning as I explore these 44mm IDF's and the use of my newly added O2 sensor. My wife is tired of the rich fuel smell coming from the cold starts in the garage, not to mention the loud exhaust. Getting this thing on the road to push the setup is a must.
Chris
