House of Karmann

[greg356a]

That KG is very pink

Couple of weeks ago I had a long drive up North to see Mike Bainbridge. I had some difficulting selecting gears on the 901 and I was not happy with the gearbox mounting. We had a long chat and 2 weeks later picked this up;
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Fits great in the back of my Golf R.

Now I have 5 gears and a much better rear mounting system
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There are also some special bits inside, will explain soon

[KS]

Looking good. My one comment would be about how massively heavy all the suspension kit, gearbox mounts etc, must be. I remember being shocked by the weight of one of the similar Redline IFS kits when I went to pick it up. Be interesting to see what the finished all-up weight is.

[greg356a]

How to add lightness has a difficult answer.

When fitting the front suspension it seemed lighter to lift into place than the VW double beam, but the rear double A arm must be heavier than a box and two flappy drive tubes. Just about everything I do will add weight over the original design. Roll cage, adjustable bucket seats may weigh more than KG seats, Fuel cell likely to be the same issue, even the wiring loom. A set of 7 inch Fuchs maybe slightly lighter than 4 1/2 steel rims. IVA will force using glass.

Plan was always to spec/ build the car with modern handling characteristics and get the power to rear wheels. I have avoided adding a 3.2 flat 6 lump. I don't think there are any light weight composite panels, doors etc available for the KG. My only thinking is to be obsessive about the weight of every component, but given the amount of work to achieve limited weight savings, it maybe to far for me.

So lets go American and add more power than can be used

[KS]

A twin-turbo LS6 should do it...

[greg356a]

Managed to get 4 hours in the garage today. Target was to dry fit the RHD pedal assembly. I wanted to fit a hydraulic clutch system same as speedster. In the end fitted original cable option

The outer clutch tube runs down the inside of the tunnel and is welded as it comes out, but in the wrong place for the gearbox. Very carefully cut the weld back so now its loose and I can tac back into new lower location

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I have ordered the correct reinforcement plate for RHD, but carried on with the dry fit until it arrives
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To help with foot control looks like it would be possible to cut the clutch pedal weld and weld back closer to the brake pedal or angle the pedal so that its closer. Will give it some thought.

[greg356a]

The reinforcement plate arrived mid week, so was eager to get this job crossed off the very long list

The vw pan pressing does not allow for the plate to sit flat so modified the steel to accommodate.
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Assembly is straightforward just making sure you get everything assembled in the right order, makes you think. Much easier without the body in the way.

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Need to find a accelerator pedal next.

[greg356a]

I have re-positioned the clutch cable tube to the bottom of the tunnel inline with the gearbox shaft and the accelerator cable tube back to the top. To fit the gearbox some clearancing is required. Plated over the ends of the torsion tubes and with CAD (cardboard-aid-design) made a simple section to blank off the hole. I have left an inspection hatch on top and underneath. Should allow access to everything.

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[greg356a]

Very enjoyable day in the garage yesterday, lots of work but nothing massive to see;

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Also bought some fun for the engine, should be here next week;
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[greg356a]

Mike at MB Engineering helped solve my transmission mounting issues whilst completing a full rebuild and upgrade;

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The original box was stripped back which showed some obvious and common 1st gear wear issues. The gear set and crown wheel was removed to convert to an original stronger mag 914 case with the better rear mounting brackets same as VW original. 1st gear dog teeth was replaced and brake band/stops to work as a standard syncro. Correct size stub axles fitted to match the original drive shaft CV joints. Fitted a 911 gearbox billet ally 7 bolt bearing plate with the later input-shaft bearing and a beautiful Guard Transmission LSD. Lot of discussion about gear ratio but in the end used the original 901/07 gears;
1st 11:34 A
2nd 18:34 F
3rd 22:29 M
4th 25:26 S
5th 29:23 Z
The combination should take some punishment on both track and street at up to 5500 rpm. Some time away from being able to play, but the whole box is fitted including gear selection.

[RobFrost]

Also bought some fun for the engine, should be here next week;

That's my kind of fun. I'd strongly recommend a modern unit if you still have the choice, that spins up early and boosts at low revs. Laggy turbos are a curse.



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[greg356a]

So its a complete CB performance EFI gen 4 and turbo kit. I will need to drop the CR down to around 7.5:1 but the 1776 should give excellent power and torque.

Started to permanently weld some of the previous tack welds into place. Constantly chasing the weld down the leg as the steel is very thin in places.

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Leaves me with clutch cable, fuel and brake lines to fit, which will be easier before the body is fitted. The rear hubs have been painted so hope to fit them up and install next week.

[greg356a]

Working on prep for the 2 x 10mm fuel lines and new brake line. Very difficult to run these down the tunnel and make fixings at 200mm centres. Going to run them down the outside. I welded in some T nuts, which were very easy to use. Neither are in the way of the seats and are an IVA requirements

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Gives it a bit of a race car vibe.

[greg356a]

Exciting update on the rear 356 grills. Pete at Californian Classics has got the metal work repair and modifications finished.

Starting with 50+ year old original engine lid with tin worm and the repairs:

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Now the fun part. I found a damaged 356C rear lid on the interweb actually for a very low price which was going to be made into a coffee table by the previous owner. Pete's team grafted the centre section into the repaired KG lid, that's an understatement.

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The finished rear engine lid should look OEM to most people

[hot66]

I like that

[greg356a]

Thanks James, always great to get feedback. Not seen the engine cover yet in the flesh but hopefully in a couple of weeks time.