Updated website on the project:
http://www.locashracing.org/projectpinks.html
And it will be on a special Net broadcast live next Sunday (1/15) at 4pm or maybe earlier…
I’ll post that link and times later this week…if anyone is interested in what I have been up lately!
Jim McNear / JM / Werksberg / GGROP
It’s probably too late now but if you had contacted me earlier I could have donated some coating work on the engine internals and some coating for the turbo and exhaust. Logistics would take a bit of time being I’m up north. If you do another project similar feel free to either PM me or shoot me an email and I’ll see what we can work out.
Yea, the engine is on a dyno this weekend and I still have to make the rear firewall, install it, Driver side inner door release system and the PC flush mounted race windows. Then Dyno Don to finish detailing, me towing it down to San Diego for engine install and chassis dyno tuning and a few speed pases down the street then off to Phx. for the race…all in too few many days!:eek:
Looking forward to hearing the broadcast/results!
FYI, the VolksBash Radio schedule and links to current, past, and
future broadcasts can be found at:
http://www.monksmedia.com/volksbash.php
If the recorded broadcast is done in the same was it has been for all
previous eposides, it can be downloaded after 1/15 at:
http://www.monksmedia.com/volksbash/011506.mp3
Good luck!
–Eric
JM:
PS: My Mozilla Firefox won’t work with their site so try Internet Explorer.
Dont Forget Sunday to listen to the event LIVE www.volksbashradio.com.
Coverage starts at 5pm Est, 4pm Central, 3pm Mountain and 2pm Pacific. Will be on till its over!!!
Can’t wait to see you guys out there.
-Ray
Ok, I’m not going to be there as I have had this flu bug on and off since Thanksgiving, I’m soooo back logged in work and behind in shipping sold Ebay items that I’m staying home and won’t be on the Pink’s show, when it aires.
I won’t be making the long drive to Phx. as I’m still trying to get over the flu. 
Bummer, but I did get my work done on the project:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/werksberg@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=a9fe&.src=ph
…we got screwed by the Pink’s producer. :mad:
We were too fast for the other team, a HONDA! We even gave them a 1/8 mile head start and still beat them! 
It was rigged, but the car will go to auction & to charity!
People sometimes forget that TV is make beleive. You being out there in “arnold land” should know that LOL.
but then again is anything real in California? LOL
Here is a link to some short videos…
http://members4.boardhost.com/crg/msg/1137456388.html
You get to see what happens when we give them 22+ car lengths and still beat them!
At the 1/8 mile lead start (they already gave them a win without even racing!) which was the rubber match as they were now 2 wins to 2 wins, we almost got them but the right axle broke during the start withont a burn out first! And Jason still almost got him!
Here’s an update:
Last night (1/17) Volks bash radio had the Pink’s producer (the bald headed cue ball guy…lol), the ACVW & Honda team leaders were on the air and now there is going be yet another Rubber match race here in Calif. sometime in the next month or two. It will also be filmed and this has turned into a special 1 hour end of the seson Pink’s special!
2x thumbs up for Speed Channel, Pink’s, the Honda team and the ACVW team to get this done!
The Speed Channel will assit in promoting the auction of these 2x cars after the filming and the show airs too!
Each side cars will be auction off for their own charity:
ACVW Hurricane Relief
Honda ADA (Americam Diabites Ass.)
What do you think of this?
I missed going to the filming last weekend in Phx., AZ. as Friday I finally made the time to see my doc and I was close to walking pneumonia!
I was not a real happy camper as Wed. I travel down to San Marcos to install the new PC windows and found someone after I last saw the car hacked off 2 to 3 days of my hard work that I was asked to do…but I went ahead and installed the windows and added my logos. And on top that, during the live net radio broadcast, they got my business name wrong, gave the guy that did the hacking off of my work credit for the work I did! I got it corrected on the air Tuesday night and on the forums, but I’m done working on that car!
Here’s a race report from the guy that came up with this idea:
Hello everyone,
I don’t know what information has made its way back to the sponsors who were not there but here’s a summary of what happened.
Short Version
We built a really bad ass turbo VW drag bug that ran really hard. It blew away the competition visually and on the track. We were accused by the show of bringing a car that was MUCH faster than we told them up front (it was little faster but that’s street racing) and that we cheated. We won the first two races even with the Honda getting a 10 length lead. The third race they were given a 1/8th mile head start but Jason Lauffer tried like hell anyway. We were accused of sandbagging (Jason shut down early on race three when he saw the Honda cross the finish line) and toying with the Honda. To penalize us for “cheating” a free win was given to the Honda team. Now it’s 2 to 2 and the last race decides it all. The Honda team asks for 440 ft. We end up agreeing to 390, they get no burnout, we get a full burnout and the nitrous back in the car. Jason launches, the wheels hop bad and break the right axle. The car heads for the right wall (we’re in the right lane) but Jason keeps it off and keeps powering down the track fighting the whole way. In third he hits the nitrous and the car gets loose. It slides around the track, but Jason gets it back under control. We end up loosing the car to the Honda team, BUT since they knew we were doing this for charity they decided to do the same thing with the American Diabetes Association as the charity they’d support.
Long Version
As most of you know, we approached this project very seriously. I had three goals in mind when we set out to do this car:
So, when Rich Christensen the host of PINKS agreed to bring the car on the show they wanted to know how fast we’d be. I said mid 10’s (I was hoping for high 9’s) and he said “No way. To fast. We won’t have anyone for you to race” so I agreed to slow the car down. So we went with different heads and a smaller turbo.
Several weeks into the project, Nate Pritchett, one of the Technical Directors (a Mustang drag racer himself) called me and asked if we could ditch the turbo. I said that we’d have to find some 48mm Webber or Dellorto carbs and that was money and time we did not have. We really couldn’t afford to loose the turbo since we had it and the carb lined up. He said ’ Okay. Well, the guy I want to match you up with runs low 12’s normally aspirated, but we’ll ask him to add nitrous to level the playing field’. I figured this car would be capable of low 11’s or high 10’s so I told Nate that was no problem at all and we’d run a big block, small block, rotary, Honda VTEC, Yamaha, Kawasaki, it didn’t matter. I made this very clear.
Later into the project, around early December, Rich Christensen calls me and says they want to change who we race. He says the other guy was a jerk and now they have a mid 11 second drag car from Texas ready to come run. Can we hang with it he asks. I told Rich “No problem as all”. So, we keep working away getting ready, figuring on racing a V8 that probably runs quicker than wait he claims.
Once the car was ready late Friday night/Saturday morning, Jason Lauffer decided to go make some test passes at Barona (1/8th mile) at the test and tune on Saturday morning. We went and made three shakedown runs trying to get the rear suspension dialed in.
When Jason got to the track on Sunday the car only had 3 1/8th mile passes on it. We kept the car in the enclosed trailer while DynoDon id some final waxing and we applied the last of the stickers. Nate Pritchett the Tech Director for PINKS came by the trailer and I offered to let him see the car. He was very impressed with the finished product and admitted it looked like a fast car.
As I was walking around the pits area a 2 guys came up and asked me if I was Lo Cash John (screen name). I said yes, and so they identified themselves as our competition, Brian and Keith Gillespie from HASport Performance. Turns out Brian did a little snooping around on the Internet (I was afraid this would happen) on Thursday night and found our build page at www.LoCashRacing.Org and then he found the Cal-Look Forum. Once he read all 18 pages (at the time) on the forum he knew he was out gunned, but he also knew our goal of wining, selling the cars and giving the money to charity. Brian was so impressed with our efforts and idea he decided to covertly do the same thing, making the American Diabetes Association his charity of choice. He kept all this information away from the PINKS crew for fear they wouldn’t let him race us and risking us loosing to a faster car that had no ties to charity. When Ray Iddings from VolksBash Radio interviewed Brian along with Jason Lauffer, he revealed he too would sell/raffle the cars if he won and send the money to charity. The PINKS crew was floored to say the least. We should be very thankful that Brian found us early and is such a good guy.
When it was time to film, Jason drove our car to the line and took the right lane. The car looked and sounded like to be ready for a fight. Moments later, the HASport Performance car came to the line and took the left lane. Their car is a late 80’s Honda CRX with HASport Performance logos on the sides, open exhaust and drag slicks on front. Probably fast but we don’t know how fast.
Rich Christensen comes out and gathers the two teams up. We are asked if we want to look each others cars over so we agree. On the Honda we find a motor swap has been done. The car now sports what looks to be stock H-22 VTEC motor with header, big intake pipe and a 2 stage “dry” nitrous system. Since the dry system is computer controlled, we can’t judge how much hp gain we’re looking at here.
Rich then asked me to explain the story of our car, so I did and pointed out that if we win we’ll send money to Hurricane Relief. Brian Gillespie was then given the chance to talk about his car and he said he’d do the same for the ADA.
Once we start the negotiations, the Honda team point out we have a turbo AND nitrous, after market trans, probably 2200-2400cc and so on and are probably a 9 second car. We point out the 16 valve VTEC, EFI, 5 speed and computer controlled variable nitrous and say that car might be a low 10 second car. Brian says the Honda is good for low 12’s PERIOD. Rich Christensen (admittedly not a car guy) looks at the 2 cars and ours screams FAST!! and theirs doesn’t. He then says we’ve brought WAY more car than I said we would. I admit I might have been a little off, but the last time we spoke in early December we didn’t have much that resembled a car and that I figured if we had no dial in/launch practice we’d baby it out and run as hard as possible 2-4th.
Rich then asks the Honda guys what they want and they say “22 car lengths”. Keeping in mind that we don’t know how fast that car really is we laugh that off. After haggling back and forth AJ Sims (our designated negotiator) end up agreeing to 10 lengths. Both cars get setup and do burnouts. Rich starts the race and Jason gets it out of the whole and starts running the Honda down. At the finish Jason wins by 2 length.
When Jason comes back around Rich gathers us up for the next negotiation. Rich is now pretty mad, saying that car is WAY faster than I represented and he even went so far as to say “You guys cheated!” This didn’t help the situation at all. Rich took it back, but continued to insist we lied about the car’s performance.
For the second negotiation AJ agreed to pull the nitrous from our car if they’d take the same 10 length lead again. They agreed reluctantly and so we set up to run. Rich started the race and Jason came out hard. It was apparent the Honda was sandbagging in a effort to make us look even faster than the first race. Jason took him by 1 length and came back around.
Now Rich is really mad. He thinks we’ve got an 8 second VW or something. He says that he’s going to give the Honda team ANYTHING they ask for. Brian then asks for half track and Rich says “okay” without a moments hesitation. I tried to explain that if that Honda is a 12 second car, it should be good for a high 7 or low 8 in the 1/8th and that is IMPOSSIBLE for us to do in the quarter. Rich didn’t want to hear it and he cut me and AJ Sims off cold. We told Jason to go for it and just do the best he can. Rich was so far down track to start the race, he had to hold two T-shirts like flags so we could see his hands. When the race started, Jason came out hard grabbing gears. He ran it hard until he saw the Honda cross the finish line then he threw it in neutral and coasted the last 200-300 feet across the line. The PINKS film crew at the finish line (also not car guys) saw this as MAJOR sandbagging so they radioed Rich at the starting line and told him.
When Jason rolled up, Rich tells us we’re sandbagging and toying with the Honda. Jason was so upset by all the confrontation in the negotiations he didn’t even want to get out of the car anymore. He just wanted to do his thing and race. Rich says the Honda won that one and asks us if we’ll concede one other race to the Honda. We’re utterly baffled and I didn’t understand what he wanted. Before we know it Rich declares " I’m calling it 2 wins to 2 wins. This will be your last race. Start negotiating…" Now I’m lost. I trying to figure out what just happened while AJ starts the negotiations with Brian. Brian asks for a 440 foot lead. AJ offers 330. It goes back and forth until we finally agreed on them getting 390 feet with no burnout while we get a full burnout, and the nitrous.
Everyone gets ready. When Rich starts the race, Jason comes out with lots of tire hop then the car goes hard right for the concrete wall. Jason kept it off the wall and kept powering down the track. I don’t know that he lifted much or at all. When he got to 3rd gear he hit the nitrous and the car went for the wall again. As he fought it off the wall the car got loose and nearly crashed. At this point the Honda had already crossed the finish line.
When Jason got back around, we conceded the loss to Brian and the Honda team. Rich then asks both teams to quit playing games and see what the cars can really do. He asks for the timing gear to be turned on so we can see some real number. The Honda does a burnout and gets ready. As Jason does his, Marty Staggs waves Jason off and tells him to shut down. Marty observed no tire spin on the right/passenger side of the car and figures the axle is broken from all the wheel hop on the last pass. The Honda takes off solo and runs a 12.7. I listened very closely and never heard the car wind out past perhaps 6000 rpms and the driver made very slow shifts. Having driven Hondas with a VTEC motor I can tell you they make quit a buzz when the cam lobes change over and the motor keeps pulling to 8000rpm.
So afterwards I told Brian I would assist in anyway with auctioning or raffling the bug. He thanked me and said we’d sort that out in a few days.
The Aftermath
On Monday night I had just sat in front of my computer to post some comments on the forums when my phone rang. It was Rich Christensen from PINKS. First thing he said "We have to film this all over again. The film I have looks terrible any way we edit it “. I said I agree and I said I thought Brian from HASport would too. So we talked a while. The next important thing Rich said was “I never took the VW seriously. That thing is a &^@*!” rocket!!” I told Rich that’s where he messed up(I used stronger language). VWs haven’t been taken seriously in racing for years and so we wanted to come out strong to make a point. I then reminded him about the conversations we had concerning how fast we’d need to run to keep up with the competition. He then went on to say that car is the best thing ever built to come on the show and had the Honda guys been prepared it would have been the best episode ever. So we agree I’ll call Brian about this.
I call Brian and tell him what Rich said. He agrees, but says they are very busy right now. He’s probably going to need help from other Honda shops and time is a big factor. We set it up for Jason to get the car back on the 21st so he can start repairs and we can sort out the chassis tuning.
Tuesday night, Ray Iddings the host of VolksBash Radio has Brian, Rich and me call in for some on the radio interviews and recap of what happened. We talked and made sure everyone understood what happened on Sunday. Rich then formally asks both teams for a grudge race rematch. The rematch will be edited in with the film from Sunday to make a PINKS 1 hour finale. Brian says he’s up for it and we make a gentleman’s agreement to dial both cars in to run a 10.50 This will keep the lengths super close and make for a suspension tuning/driver’s race. I then went on to say I’d have to talk with the team and driver first before committing. That’s when Jason Lauffer called in to the show and said he was in. Seconds later several of our sponsors/build team members who were listening started calling my phone saying to do it. So now there will be round 2 with the time and place not set in stone yet but we should have that locked down pretty soon.
I’ll keep everyone posted as things develop,
John Hunt
Well, the rematch of the ACVW Hurricane Relief vs Honda ADA went off last Friday in Phx. and I didn’t make it out there as my van’s engine died a week or so ago while towing a customers race car down here from Santa Barbara…:o
I’m don’t going to ruin it for anyone, but you have got to see this episode of Pink’s when it does air!
I’ll post when it will air on Speed Channel!
Ok, the ACVW Community Hurricane Relief Bug vs Honda ADA PINK’s show aire date is May 17th on Speed Channel!
Both cars will be raffled off (details on how & where to buy the $20.oo tickets soon) with only 3000 tickets each and all the money will go to the charities…each charities (the ACVW Hurricane relief % $'s will go directly to towns that need it the most and not into a % taking assocation) will bennifit but the Pink’s 2nd race winner’s (the first race was farts…) gets a bigger % more…
The ACVW car raffle draw will be at the Oct. 1st Bug-O-Rama in Vegas and we are working on getting volksbashradio.com to cover it live on the internet!
The Honda team is reportally working on the raffle being held at the NOPI finals…when and where I don’t know yet!
Stay tuned!
Ok, here’s the site to buy your raffle tickets to win this ACVW Community Hurricane relief race car and ALL the proceeds will be going DIRECTLY to towns that FEMA have dropped the ball on as many townships still have cars on roofs, boats on roads a 1/4 mile from the nearest water way and more…(just tell them you read about it on here from “JM” @ Werksberg Products):
That’s right VW fans!!
Starting today you can purchase your Project Pinks Raffle tickets on-line at www.LoCashRacing.Org
There are only 3,000 tickets total and we expect them to go fast so don’t delay.
Tickets will be $20 each or $100 for 6.
Also we have full color 12.5 X 18.5 posters available. These will be $5 each or FREE with the $100 ticket purchase!
We can accept Visa, MasterCard American Express and Discover.
Tickets and posters are also available at these (mostly Calif.) locations:
VW Paradise
AJ Sims/Lowbugget
Bugformance Motorsports
Blimp
Vintage Performance
Mohr Performance
Davis Racing
Volksbash Radio (FOR FREE!!! Listen in to win!!) www.monksmedia.com or www.volksbashradio.com on Tuesday nights
The winner will get the car deliver to them anywhere in the USA for free too! They will also be more PR shots and magazine / news coverage too
Thanks,
Lo Cash John
PS: We are trying to get sponsers to pay and get Ray from Volks Bash Radio there to Vegas for the Live 'net broadcast picking of the winninig ticket (or tickets as there maybe some other things in store too, but I can’t comment on it right now…wink, wink…)!
Here’s a pictiure of the ACVW (the Honda is up for raffle too for the American Diabities Assoc. too but I’m not sure where but maybe check out www.lowcashracing.com as the funny thing these two site owners never knew about each other until we were racing at the first race…on on www.honda-tech.com too):
Or also visit my online photo bok at (I do need to update it some more too, but…): http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/werksberg@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=a9fe&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3A//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
Btt…
Get those raffle tickets while you can!
Well, the cat’s out of the bag… Our episode will be the one hour season ender!! As I understand it, the episode will actually be 2 half hour episodes running back to back.
The air date has been pushed back to May 31st also. This was due to a schedule conflict with another show.
This was just announced…DANG it! OH well, then you get to see both race dates then!