DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

And a week later, the tow bus is all liveried up and ready to go. well not quite. still need to fit 356 rims, a CSP front disc brake kit, CSP exhaust and dual 42 DCNF Webers to give it some low down go, but we're getting there. thanks to Niel M of Prosign for the fantastic work: all hand-painted, awesome to watch a craftsman at work....

very, very

That looks incredible !

I dont suppose you took any work in progress shots of Niel at work ?
I picked up a pinstriping brush and set of One-Shot paints when I went to Moon Eyes whilst on holiday. I also got one of their sign writing how-to guides.
Ive done a little on my 356 already- Great fun !

D

Very nice work, looks great.

Roy

surprisingly basic and manual, and he made it look so easy. But I'm sure if you've been doing something for 35 years and become a master in your trade then it will look easy....
applying the 24 carat gold leaf

chalking up the outline

all done by hand

blue tape for guidance

getting the size and location right

tools of the trade

!0 years of towing Wasp to meetings behind Stock 2.1 T25: Always single axle trailer, lighter and less drag than a twin, Wasp weighs 400kg though 750kg of Frazer Nash makes little difference to the experience, a little slower to 65mph, and a little thirstier. Generally cruise at 65-70 on motorway. I replaced my rusty Bateson trailer with one specially made for me by Woodford Trailers to my spec, 2 spare wheels, tilt bed, lightweight materials (3mm steel instead of 4mm), VERY Pleased with it. Keenly priced great product, customer service could have been better during build as they are a little disorganised, but i still highly recommend. IMHO single axle trailers are manouverable by 1 person, twin axle aren't. I've never touched the van suspension, but have fitted aggressive M+S tyres on the back as a VW with a trailer will get stuck in a flat field if its wet. Wife and son Love the whole set up and racing/hillclimbing are a fun family outing. Good luck and look forward to seeing it all in action. W

Hi All
I used to tow all sorts behind my very standard '79 1600cc bay panel van, and always with a twin axle trailer, anything was fair game mostly other vw's or 356's, I collected my '53 coupe from Liverpool, dragged things to shows to try to flog them and generally got along ok, the heaviest thing I pulled was a mk2 Granada estate, hill starts were interesting and indeed the most interesting thing was probably an alloy bodied Maserati 3500GT, a Vw van will do it but there were times when it did seem a little marginal and hills took their toll and sometimes pulling out of service stations and junctions had to be timed fairly carefully, that said I have a sneaky suspicion Mike smith used a Westy a tow car, I remember sitting in it in the paddock at Brands having a beer, he is a sociable chap, and they had a factory 911SC race car with them but I can't recall if the van actually towed it...

I've always meant to stick this in Porsche Pic of the Day, but this IS the thread for it, one of my favorite photos, a read 'one day.......'

Follow the link and scroll down a bit........

http://giddins-porsche.blogspot.com/201 ... umber.html

W

thanks for the advice on trailers and towing chaps, all good stuff. that link is the dog's bol*^cks!

steve wright wrote:surprisingly basic and manual, and he made it look so easy. But I'm sure if you've been doing something for 35 years and become a master in your trade then it will look easy....

tools of the trade

WOW! I thought they were all decals. VERY impressive

steve wright wrote:...it will look easy.... applying the 24 carat gold leaf

The Van looks good and I know this is a bit boringto mention.
If you aren't getting a braked trailer then you need to be aware of some areas of concern such as the car/trailer weigh about the same as the Van.
Unbraked the maximum is legal limit is 750kg gross trailer weight (the trailer and the 356) or half the towing vehicle's kerb weight - whichever is less.
A good reason to keep the 356 light weight huh
You need to make sure that you have correct towball weight. Too much weight can take too much weight off the steering, thus affecting the vehicle’s ability to steer safely. Too little towball weight, or even a negative load, can cause the trailer towball to swing and even reduce the grip of the vehicle’s rear wheels. A general rule of thumb is that you want around 10 percent of the overall trailer weight to rest on the towbar.
A braked trailer has a master cyl behind the towball, using the weight of the trailer to push its own brake system. Straightening you when you brake, you have a lockout when you reverse it. Maximum weight of a braked trailer is 3500kg gross (356 & trailer).

This video shows a good example of what I was describing above.
Car weighs slightly more than the car it is towing. You can see it makes things worse when he brakes which is the instinctive thing to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfLnLwFcSBc

thanks all for the advice on trailers. have gone with Woodfords - thanks Winston Teague. have paid special attention to all the points you raised Sisu so it looks like it will be a good set up (the trailer is braked). The most difficult bit was getting a decent tow bar for the Westy: I ended up getting a new one from Autocraft Engineering, who had spent a lot of time getting the design right. It was also keenly priced. thanks again, Steve

PS - shakedown testing the 356 at Goodwood on 24 Feb, so we're out the starting blocks!