Time to BUMP this..
1) Because Tony, you need to update everyone on this build
2) Because I've had a great opportunity to go for a quick spin in Angrrr at last.
So, I hauled my ass through to Tony's Farm early this morning to collect two sideshaft boots for the Speedy. I'm REALLY enjoying my car now, it starts right, runs great, the ride is exceptionally smooth, and, I caught myself smiling as I was cruizing through the wineleands out to Tony's farm at how smooth and comfortable the car's running.
After some coffee and chit-chats.. (I can learn shit every day from Tony, literally), he said, "let's go for a quick ride"
So I'm standing outside the garage, he gets in, and suddenly there's this SERIOUSLY loud "whirring" sound, but it's more loud than any normal piece of equipment should sound, especially coming from a car. That stops, and the starter kicks.. a few turns, nada. The WHIR starts some more. "Oh don't worry about that, it's the oil pump"!

Whir stops, Start kicks, and fookit, a loud BARK, and Angrr fires up, blowing dust and shit while Tony blips at it to get it running.
It's at this point, standing just behind Angrrr, that you start to understand this is no ordinary car or engine. I prepare, and Tony rolls out the garage. I shoe-horn in to the Recaro Seat, and belt up. Tony's moving cables out the way, and just generally carry on preparing to go for a ride. Let me explain there's at least 8 to 10 gauges\dials and LCD displays all directed at Tony! Shit's suction-cupped onto the Windscreen! it's not a GPS! It's an electronic Air Flow meter. In my head I'm expecting fast, but this just seems a little OTT in my opinion.
We finally roll reasonably smoothly down his double track driveway. You can feel it's a tight ride, there's very little suspension here. Motor's not really purring, more like growling in short bursts. At the end of the long driveway, we turn right, and start up a very bumpy tar road out of his little neighbourhood cluster. Tony talks about the slight flat spot I just felt, and what ideas he has to fix it, this was a subtle jerk as we took off, nothing too major, however, I felt it, and it would get to me as well.
This stretch of 4 to 5 Km's is a 4th gear warmup at around 70 ish. You know you're going, there's a lot of banging and knocking with the tight suspension, which apparently, is a lot more comfortable that it used to be! Really...

We get onto some main roads, a cross road, and head in the direction of Stellenbosch, Tony goes through the gears gently but firmly, and we're at 100 Km's, RPM's around 3 K I think, and I comment on the noise again.. There's a combined growl of the exhaust pipe, argueing with the Carbs which are hissing, it's a sensory overload. We're apparently warming up the oil along this 7 to 8 Km stretch of road into the winelands. I sit and listen, arms folded, keeping out of the way.
Tony demo's the "usability" of the car, the fact it's a "Street Car" and not a dedicated Drag car, he slows down to 60, maybe 55, in 4th, and just putters along. This motor, 2.3 Liter, with a LOT of Degree's on the CAM, still behaves, it's an excellent demo, there's no blubbering or spurting or anything of that nature, it just purs along, a traffic car and very drivable as well, with a usable first level\grade clutch or whatever, that still allows him to drive the car in slow moving traffic pretty well. Impressive..
Tony pulls over, and U-turns the road, checks his mirror, and mashes his right foot onto the loud pedal. If I wasn't aware of the noise, I certainly am now, and well pressed back into the seat, un-seen clenched fists under my folded arms. Angrrr kind of JUMPS up, and we're going. The Shift light comes on at 6 K (I think) and we're in 2nd, in and out on the clutch, no pussy-footing now, 3rd, the Speedo needle has gone past 80 Mph rather rapidly, and EVERYTHING is happening at a very fast rate. Your senses are struggling to keep up, the noise, the wind, the howl, the hissing, Tony shifting , It's all very purposeful. Bang into 4th, and we're seriously shifting, up and down hills, and I've managed to split my eyes, one on the road, one the Speedo. I watch the needle sail past the warning lights, past 6:00 on a clockface, and start again at 0! That's just wrong.. It goes all the way round!!! Tony say's we're at 190 and there's traffic approaching us at a RAPID rate... I'm braking hard on the passenger's floorpan. Tony climbs on the Discs and we slow at an incredible speed behind the line of cars.
Yes im grinning like a chop!, I un-clench my fists and stop braking\bending his floorpan.. He quickly demo's a 4th gear "spurt" overtaking move, and it literally just whizzes past the car, who probably also couldn't understand how the f#Ck a beetle could go past THAT fast. Now, the last sense I have still working ok detects some mechanical burning, "oh yeah, there's probably a little oil somewhere" Tony chirps. I'm still smiling, but the ride was certainly one for the memory banks. All of that, out of a Normally aspirated 4 Cylinder Flat 4! I'm mechanically blown away. I am feeling sorry for the engine, but I also understand that's what it's been built for. It seriously is an attack on the senses.
I'm pretty certain this is one of the quickest Beetle's in the Country, so is Tony, and yes, it's a Shitload of fun, it's ridiculously fast, everything about it screams wrong at you, but what a sensory overload. My ride back home in my Speedy was a lot slower, and much smoother... I'm still smiling.
Thanks Mr Z, you'll certainly have a good business following based on this mechanical experience. I'm one of your customers, and VERY happy..
Regards
Alan