James Dore's 62 Beetle

The car

When James first purchased the car, we lowered the front and fitted the BRM replica wheels he had. James had the headlining redone as it had the usual faded/stained cotton original. The seats, carpets and rubber mats were left, as they were in very good order. James drove the car like this for about a year.

He wanted a stroker motor for the car and this coincided with Paul at VW SpeedShop selling the 2109cc engine and close ratio gearbox that was previously in one of his race cars.

James also wanted to improve the other areas of the car, so a CB Performance wide 5-stud disc brake kit and front and rear anti roll bars were supplied by VW SpeedShop.

In addition, he wanted a narrowed front beam so we narrowed his beam by 4" in total, modifying the shock absorber towers and tunnelling the inner wings to accomodate the beam. We replaced the king and link pins, fitted a dual circuit brake master cylinder and replaced the rear brakes with later 4-stud backing plates fitted with German front wheel brake cylinders, 4-stud wide brake shoes and '67 five-stud drums. The larger bore front brake cylinders and later 4-stud brake shoes provide more braking power at the rear.

The engine and gearbox were fitted - the gearbox was mounted on heavy duty grey mounts from VW Heritage. A VW SpeedShop intermediate mount with rubber blocks was also fitted along with a Gene Berg traction bar.

A Gene Berg shifter and Autometer oil temperature and pressure guages were fitted.

The engine bay sound proofing was removed, the firewall cleaned, 36hp fan housing and other new tinware were powder coated black. A BugPack breather box was fitted along with a MicroDynamics adjustable soft-cut rev limiter.

Dual Weber 40mm carburettors were originally fitted to the engine, as well as a mild steel exhaust system and box. We have since replaced the exhaust with a VW SpeedShop full stainless header and box. We have also fitted Weber 48 IDAs on tall Skat-Trak manifolds to complete James' Cal-Look wish list.

Shortly James will be bringing the car in for us to fit a Hurst line lock and a new steering box.

Before

After

Engine specification (2109cc)

Case	CB Performance supplied AS41, bored 94mm, drilled and tapped for full-flow oiling.
Crank	CB Performance 76mm stroke Chromoly, counter-weight, 8 dowel.
Flywheel	Scat Chromoly 12lb.
Clutch	Kennedy stage-1 pressure plate, Daiken heavy duty friction disc.
Rods	Scat I-Beam.
Cylinders/Pistons	Mahle 94mm, Total Seal rings, Tru-Arc clips.
Heads	CB Performance 044, 40x35.5 valves, Scat dual springs.
Compression	9:1
Cam	Scat C55
Followers	Scat.
Pushrods	BugPack.
Rockers	VW 1.25:1 swivel foot adjusters, bold up rocker shafts.
Oil pump	Berg 26mm, Berg full-flow cover.
Oil system	Full flow with thermostat and Mesa fan assisted remote cooler. Berg "wide" deep sump.
Carbs	Weber 48IDAs, 37mm venturis, tall Skat-Trak manifolds.
Fuel system	CB Performance pump, 0.375" fuel line, enlarged fuel tank outlet.
Exhaust	VW SpeedShop stainless 1 5/8" merged header, 2.5" stainless box.
Ignition	009 distributor, Pertronix Ignitor, Pertronix coil, Taylor Spiro-Pro leads, MicroDynamics adjustable soft-cut rev limiter.
Other	BugPack breather system.

Gearbox specifications (Rancho Pro-Comp)

Case	Stock welded and gussetted.
Ring & pinion	4.125:1, Bugpack Super Diff.
1st	3.78:1
2nd	2.06:1
3rd	1.48:1
4th	1.04:1
Axles	Swayaway short race axles.
Other	Steel shift forks.