Wanted to give everyone a quick update. My mechanic, Vintage VW in Jasper, GA, pulled the engine, resolved the leak at the trans case (near the top, bolt tightening didn't get us anywhere, so resealed and returned to the engine), fixed the valve spring, and completely rebuilt the carbs. I picked it up on a Thursday morning when the temp hit a balmy 35 degrees.
Funny thing, it ran like garbage, and the mechanic stood over the car wondering why it was running on 3 cylinders. Turns out, one of the spark wires was bad. They brought the car back into the shop, swapped out a wire, and it seemed okay. Mechanic told me that if he knew I was picking up the car that morning, he would have sorted it. Tells me his front office isn't communicating well, but also that no one test drove my car.
Flash forward a couple of weeks on the first day over 65 degrees, I trotted out the Speedster and it was running fine. Drove it through the twisty roads in the local foothills and even enjoyed a trip to a local brewery. Everyone loved the car. On the drive home, everything worked great until I started up from a stop sign, and the car stalled and wouldn't restart. I drifted to the side of the road and may have used a few explicatives. Didn't help that I was parked between the town landfill and a dairy farm with a lot of cows grazing. At least I didn't smell the petrol.
Two tows later, first to the house, then to the mechanic on a workday, I told the mechanic not to get the car back to me until it was sorted. Meanwhile, mentally I was selling the car. Imagining taking artful pictures, listing it on Bring a Trailer or Cars & Bids, and delivering it to its new owner. Last week, the mechanic called to let me know I just ran out of gas, but the funny thing was the gauge still showed 3/4s full. I guess the new sender they installed failed. Still waiting on the new part to arrive, but oh, well.
So, still an owner, bought the book to keep my Volkswagen alive, and I'm going to give the car another shot. It's a beauty, so I'm not interested in selling, at least not yet. She looks very nice next to my 911, both white convertibles, first gen and the latest model, so it's a fun comparison. I hope the next series of problems remain small like the fuel gauge sender. Time will tell.