Providing high-performance parts for vehicles powered by Volkswagen flat-four engines is big business, with no shortage of suppliers in Europe or the USA. One company producing engine, brake and chassis components is Custom and Speed Parts (CSP).

Based in Bargteheide (near Hamburg) and founded in 1987 by Peter Köhmann, CSP is well known to the VW cognoscenti, not least for the company’s racing cars, which are used to test many of the parts made on its Haas CNC machine tools (www.haascnc.com).

CSP’s Type 34 Karmann Ghia VW-powered dragster, which sits in the showroom entrance of its production facility, holds the class record for the 1/4 mile at 8.85sec and 156mph.

Its 2,165cc engine develops 500bhp — 10-times more than a standard unit using the same size of cylinder blocks and crank case — and almost all of the tuning, brake and suspension parts are made by CSP.

Mr Köhmann says: “This is our weekend obsession. Racing takes up a lot of time and money, but it’s a great test-bed for CSP products — and it attracts a lot of attention. We’re creating and selling parts to make classic VWs and Porsches go quicker than they were ever designed to; we also have to make sure that everything we produce and sell is certified and tested to the highest standards. We want our customers to know they can take their vehicles on the autobahn and will be safe.”

Thomas Kelm, who is Mr Köhmann’s ‘right-hand man’, is in charge of CNC programming and production. “Originally, we were using a sub-contractor to make parts, but the quality and delivery were patchy, to say the least — and then the company went out of business. Peter hired the owner, and we bought a Haas VF-3 CNC machining centre.”

Fast learner

Mr Köhmann said: “Our supplier had been working for himself for around 25 years. Suddenly, he had a boss, which he didn’t enjoy, and he found the transition very hard. Moreover, the quality of the parts he was making was still not very good, so Mr Kelm began helping. Our new recruit lasted just a few days. In his absence, Mr Kelm got the machine running and making parts; he also taught himself to use SolidWorks and CAMWorks.

“I’m more of an ideas man. I sketch my ideas, and Mr Kelm turns them into CAD models and generates the code to machine them. Now we can finally make the parts that I was imagining — develop them, refine them and get them into production quickly. Parts that our sub-contractor was making as fabrications, we machine from solid billets; they now look and work so much better. For example, the mounting for a rear disc brake was originally made on two machines: first a lathe, then a vertical mill. It is now made in one set-up on the Haas.”

Mr Köhmann is also a keen mountain biker, so in the early day of having the new Haas mill, he kept it busy — and practiced his design skills by creating a range extender to fit Shimano 11-speed cassettes. As with the VW tuning parts, the Shimano ring is cut from solid billet, after which it is anodised black.

“The machinist that we hired originally specified the Haas VF-3,” said Mr Köhmann. “It’s a very useful machine, but we quickly discovered that we needed a VF-2SS, which we bought for its higher spindle speeds. We take advantage of the long table on the VF-3 and load it up with as many parts as possible, but our eventual aim is to replace it with another VF-2SS.

“We also use the Haas machines as our ‘3-D printers’. For example, we rough-cut new brake calipers, which we then use for fitment tests. Although the final product is cast, machining the first versions from solid in aluminium is quick and easy.”

Look of originality

The finished parts themselves may not be authentic, but CSP tries to maintain a look of originality wherever possible. For example, one of the company’s brake brackets allows a customer to dispose of original drum brakes and mount much more powerful disc brakes, while still keeping the traditional five-bolt wheel pattern typical of 1960s VWs.

Valve covers are another mainstay CSP product; but while the originals are pressed-steel fabrications, the CSP valve cover is machined from solid and is available anodised in a variety of colours. The enhanced product prevents leaks, improves cooling and dampens noise — and is visually appealing. In-house production is also more cost-effective. A throttle linkage previously made by the sub-contractor cost CSP 9 euros each; this is now made in-house for 5 euros.

“Many of our parts were once welded steel fabrications but are now machined from solid. We also like to scan parts and re-engineer them; it’s a very fast and effective way to get something new into production. We may eventually invest in a five-axis Haas machine, as this will allow us to port cylinder heads. Making more-complex parts is the direction in which we are headed.”

Besides CSP’s Type 34 dragster, the company’s workshop houses a variety of other VW-powered vehicles, most of which are used to test products. Adjacent to the Haas CNC machines, on what appears to be an enormous steel machine table, sits Mr Köhmann’s latest project — a split-screen VW Transporter that CSP is rebuilding. As yet unpainted, the 1960s vintage ‘Bus’ will eventually sport the same colours as the dragster and will be used as the team support vehicle, as well as serving as an additional test bed for new and prototype parts.

Showing a brake bracket, Mr Köhmann says: “One simple thing we now do that we didn’t do before is engrave part numbers on our products. It doesn’t sound much, but engraving — rather than stamping numbers manually — is far quicker, and the end result looks so much more professional. Our Haas machines have helped us to make all of our products better, find new parts to make and generally improve everything we do.”