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So, are you a newbie when you join the site or a newbie only after you get your first car? Can you be a newbie and have a community rank under 100?

 

Regardless, you all know I started my search for the right speedster in mid December of 2013. I reached out to many members for advice. Troy, Alan, Bob G, Tom, Alb, Jane, MusbJim - etc; the list goes on and on. If I forgot any of you, it's nothing personal. You all helped me get where I am today. Each of you told me the same thing - "Be patient, you will find the right car...".  You know the rest of the story... I spent the next couple of months running around like an a**... er... lunatic. I scoured craigslist and the samba, daily - trying to find a car. I think I asked poor Troy to sell me one of his cast offs, at least 3 times.

 

Musbjim and ALB were integral players in my search. Both volunteered to go look at several cars for me. Jim kept me from buying that clapped out car from Topanga Canyon. ALB risked deportation and drove across the border to check out a car in Norther Washington. That car turned out to be a solid project, but with the tiny motor and high asking price, I kept looking.  Then there was the mystery owned white IM in Texas. Another SOC member offered to go have a look at that car for me, before we learned that it wasn't even in Texas. It was 600 miles North! This may have been my wake up call. About that time I wound up drinking a six pack of beer with Theron in his garage. All the while, trying to get him to let me drive one of his cars!  BobG kept me from throwing in the towel on more than one occasion. I think I've called and/or emailed about no less than 10 cars. Man, there were a lot of frogs out there. The first car was that complete bucket in San Francisco. Then there was the clown car (blue IM with orange empi 5's.) - It's a wonder I didn't end up with that gray 'one of a kind' speedster that's listed as 'make offer' on the samba right now.

 

This was literally the second car I called about back in December. At the time, the seller told me he was tired of being low balled so he was going to pull the ad. He finally called me back in early January. We played phone tag and for a while. We locked own a meeting where Jim could once again take time to go check it out for me. Once we had a break in the weather, the car checked out to be a real solid prospect. I worked with the owner and we struck a deal. The car was delivered to Kirk today. Kirk is going to correct a few items and then ship it up North to me.

 

Here is the original ad:

 

Here is the car behind Sir Jim's car (I'm going to put in to have Jim knighted):

 

Here is the car, unhooked and sitting at the shop. It's inside now waiting for some minor adjustments:

 

Jim - no joke, you made this possible. If it weren't for the kindness of your heart and your extreme patience I wouldn't have been able to purchase this car. I owe you a lot for making this possible.

 

/me flashes Jim's trade mark 'hang loose' sign...

 

 

Let the madness begin!

 

Ted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Originally Posted by Rich Drewek:

Way to go Ted...didn't you say you didn't want black? 

Hey Rich, I think I did! LOL!!!

 

That was my party line, right up until the second I saw a black one, then I couldn't think of anything else!  It just looks right. I think the 'Bad Speedster' out of Reno, NV was the one that turned the tide for me. That car is spot on 100% out of sight.

 

Thanks for the well wishes,
Ted

 

 

Originally Posted by art:

Ted;

 

Great news, good luck with your new speedster.  Nice pipes btw.

 

Art

Hey Art!


I think those pipes are coming off soon. I'm going to order up a set of Kadrons and an A1 Sidewinder from the Kaddie Shack.

 

I'm also going to put some wide 5 disks up front.

 

Is it spring yet?


Ted

Originally Posted by MusbJim - '95 VS SoCal:

I'm flattered by the bromance abounding here! 

 

I told Ted that there are a lot of guys on this site that would do the same if the car were in their area. That's the kind of gearheads we have on SOC!!

 

Looking forward to meeting up with Ted and his 'new' Speedster at the 2014 West Coast Cruise in San Luis Obispo!! 

Jim,  I enjoyed your post on the Sidewinder.  But I also noticed in the vid, a very smooth shifter,  who's is it?  I have an Empi and it reminds me of a 1976 Volvo I had.  Thanks,  Art

Originally Posted by Troy Sloan:

Ted.  Why are you buying an A1 Sidewinder from anyone other than directly from Tiger at A1, where they are made?

Huh?! I wasn't aware I could do that.   Great idea. I'll use the search button to find out how.

 

They aren't any cheaper going directly to Tiger are they?

 

Ted

Uh, Jim...in the last photo there looks to be an open pizza box sitting in the right seat.

Would you care to divulge the variety? Let me guess, Hawaiian?

 

Good eye, Terry! Actually, it was the 'Guamaniac Special' (pepperoni and fish heads)! 

 
Originally Posted by art:
Originally Posted by MusbJim - '95 VS SoCal:

Jim,  I enjoyed your post on the Sidewinder.  But I also noticed in the vid, a very smooth shifter,  who's is it?  I have an Empi and it reminds me of a 1976 Volvo I had.

Thanks, Art! I have only a stock VW shift stick. I just gots mad shifting skilz! 

 

 @Ted - I don't think A-1 Performance has a website. They are located on Grand Ave, Santa Ana, CA. Tiger is the owner proprietor and is very a knowledgeable & cool dude! 

Last edited by MusbJim

OMG JIM!? The mere thought of peperoni and fish heads made my skin crawl. Full body goose bumps! I know you were kidding, but DAMN dude.

 

I searched the interwebs and found the number for A1. I called Tiger directly. He set me straight. It turns out that the version being offered by the Kaddie Shack isn't an ORIGINAL A1. It's a reproduction. Apparently not always true to form. To be fair, Jeff didn't say it was an 'A1 Sidewinder', he said "Sidewinder".  I'm the one who assumed it was an A1. Shame on me. I didn't know the cost of the original until Tiger told me. The difference was a huge indicator that something was amiss. As such,  I went ahead and dropped the coin for the original.

 

I work in an industry were our work is 'knocked off' all day long. I believe in giving the original artist their due rewards. If we don't pay for the R&D that went into the original, there is no motivation for others to create new goods and services.

 

I'm still going to upgrade to dual carbs and ratio rockers.

 

The madness has officially taken hold,

 

Ted

Hey Tom!

 

Thanks again for letting me bend your ear while I was looking. Much appreciated.

 

I thought the looking was hard. The waiting is killing me!

 

 

I talked to the shipper at 6:00 when I was leaving the office. He said he was about 100 miles out.

 

I'm thinking that he'll be here before 8:30 or 9:00.  You know what's funny? Any noise outside sounds like an 18 wheeler crawling up the hill to the house. My wife thinks I've lost my mind. She may be right.


Ted

You are too funny, Ted! Many of us have been through the same thing!

 

Make sure that fridge has plenty to drink and snack on, because once the car is dropped off and in the garage (I bet a dollar you take it for a quick spin around the block first), you'll be spending the rest of the night staring and gawking at your new ride from every angle possible and probably fall asleep in the driver seat! 

It's here!  I present the Schwarz Fräulein:

 

 

 

WOW. There she is.  My face hurts from the giant SEG. l drove it around our little town and back up the hill.

 

I'll dig into it a bit more tomorrow after work. She's really dirty and has a burned out tail light. Other than that, just as Jim described her.

 

Thanks, Troy for the info on the shipper!

Thanks, Jim for the excellent brokerage!

 

I think I might sleep now. I'm exhausted from all this anticipation.

 

Ted

Originally Posted by Theron:

Ted,

Send some pictures of the interior please. I may have owned that car in the past.

Seriously!

-=theron

The guy I got it from has owned it since 1998. Al something or other. The interior is basically overstuffed speedster seats and black carpet. Kirk did a bunch of work on it in 99 and 2000.  He did a little bit more work on in 2014 too! 

 

I need some SPEESTER logos and a new rear deck grill. New tail light rubbers, etc.

 

Dr Clock - what do you have in your pile o bits?

 

 

 

 

Last edited by TRP

Thanks gang for all the well wishes. I'm beat. Going to bed.

 

Jim - I received the title and the doc you shipped. I owe you a few rounds at SLO.

 

Thank you, and good night... (Elvis has left the building... you can find him in the garage sleeping in his car.)

 

P.S.

I fixed the tail light. It wasn't burned out, the connections were corroded. Just cleaned 'em up with a little emery cloth.

 

 

Last edited by TRP
Originally Posted by Lane Anderson - Mt. Pleasant, SC:

       

So I'm gonna reiterate, Ted, that you should join us in Carlisle.  I can think of no more fitting intro into the Speedster Madness than that.  Seriously consider it.


       


I'm out of state on work that weekend. Maybe I catch a flight over that way! Oh man, my wife would have my hide. Ha! I'm trying to ease her into the SLO weekend. We will see how that goes.
Originally Posted by Troy Sloan:

Glad you finally found what you are looking for.  I notice it doesn't have heat.  Is that on your list of mods?

Yeah, she has no heat. I didn't think I would need it, but the drive into the office this morning had me thinking it'd a worth while upgrade.

Speaking of the drive in, I noticed a bit more fuel smell than I was comfortable with. I opened the deck lid and found that the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump was 'sweaty'. It's sweating fuel from where it exists the body, clear down to the fuel pump.

Need to replace that tonight/tomorrow. I'm going to take it easy going home tonight. It's not so bad that it's dripping, but still - not something to mess around with. (Step 2, get a fire extinguisher put behind driver seat.)

 

The dual carbs should arrive in a week or so. Just go with a standard rubber fuel hose for now? What's the preferred long term hose?

 

Had it die twice when I had to come of the gas quickly and onto the break. Sudden stops. Goes to idle and dies. Not sure what that's about. Couple of back fires out the pipes with sudden transitions.

 

Other than that, runs like a champ. Brakes are great. I'm looking forward to stepping up to front disks.

 

Jim - thanks for picking out such a great car.

 

I'll start cleaning the body/paint this weekend.  Initial signs show it should clean up nicely.

 

Ted

Hey Ed,

 

Thanks for the kind words. I've ordered a replacement exhaust, carbs, and distributor. I may even replace the dog house shroud for a 36hp dog house without heat ducts not sure yet. As Troy asked earlier, Heat is a really nice luxury.

 

Here are some photos from the night the car arrived and over the past week:

 

 

 

Cleaning up the paint:

 

Lots of orange peel:

 

Took 'er out for a drive last night:

 

 

 


 

I really need to raise the front end up. I tried, but the avis adjusters are at the full 'up' position. The front suspension has 0 travel. If I push 'down' on the front fender there is 0 play. If I jack the car up the there is a ton of down ward travel in the arms.  I'm wondering if the PO removed some springs up front? of if maybe it was put together incorrectly?

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks for letting me share,
Ted

 

Last edited by TRP

Hey Art!

 

Thanks. The plates were one of the first things I did. The Gilroy DMV was excellent about getting them registered and on the car. In and out in 15 minutes.

 

The reservoir is Anderson Dam in Morgan Hill. About a mile from the house. Before all the talk of the drought, there were going to drain it to retrofit the dam. Looks like they are going to put that off for a year or two.

 

 

 

I can't remember the correct number of torsion bar plates in the front, but it's made up of something like 6 or 8 of them in a particular lay-up configuration to fit into the keeper in the center of the tube as well as into the notched tube in the trailing arms going to the wheel hubs.  It's an all-morning deal to check them, since you have to remove the shock, then remove the trailing arms and then count the number of flat bars you see, both top and bottom, and then decide what to do next.  You can check them by pulling the trailing arms off of just one side, but if you want to add torsion bars (if some are missing, now) you'll have to pull the other side as well.

 

If it's a ball joint front end, this is best done by popping apart ONE ball joint so then the trailing arms are independent.  Then, with the trailing arm neutral (no pressure on it) loosen the locknut and then remove the grub screw on the trailing arm (you can keep the locknut right on it) and then jiggle the trailing arm off of the torsion bar to see what you've got.

 

 

Art, I'm running 185 65/ R15. Nothing crazy.

So I put the car up on jack stands and found the right front trailing arm grub screws and lock nuts are almost falling out. Not even finger tight. I also found that the car has no front sway bar. Something tells me its been apart before.

The car will remain off the road until I figure out what's up. The suspension, as it sits, is beating the crap out of the car and driver.

The images above, where I am cleaning the paint - the right side has been cleaned. The left has not. I just used a very light cut. Followed up with a quick foam pad and swirl remover. Nothing drastic, yet. I may get it blocked to cut the orange peel. We will see.
Last edited by TRP

Ted- To expand on what Gordon said, a ball joint torsion leaf stack will have 4 large flat bars stacked together, and on the top and bottom of the stack 3 small bars (2 side by side, 1 on the outside). One stack in the top tube and one (identical) in the bottom. Before the select-a-drop and torsion adjusters were invented guys would pull some of the small leaves out to achieve that Cal Look stance.

 

What they look like (pics stolen from the Samba)

 

 

torsion leaves, ball joint front end

torsion leaves, ball joint

Attachments

Images (2)
  • torsion leaves, ball joint front end
  • torsion leaves, ball joint: what they look like close up...

And.....There is one set of those stacked-up bars for both sides of the front end.  The stack-up is inserted into one side of the torsion bar tube and pushed in to slide through a hole in the center anchor ( that moves with the adjuster ) and all the way to the opposite side.

 

The trick to getting them through the center anchor is to grease them up liberally with regular automotive grease and then put a small rubber band on one end, about an inch from the end, to hold them all in place.  Push it in, make it align with the hole in the center and then push it through.  The rubber band will just slide along the bars and then be captive in the middle and be harmless.

Thanks gents. I'll get a ball joint tool and tear into this one night this week.

I can't imagine Al drove the car much with the front end bottomed out like this.

Let's say ole crazy Al pulled a few springs. Should I buy a new beam or buy new leaves? Do they sell just the spring steel inserts?

Thanks again,
Ted

Ted- Just a thought; see if you can tighten the grub screws into their appropriate dimples in the torsion leaves and drive it. I don't know if it will help or not, but it's worth a try. Al

 

If you end up looking for torsion leaves, check Craigslist for people selling VW parts. If you can find someone close they should be really cheap. I think the leaves for a ball joint beam may be different than ones for a king & link pin front end.

Last edited by ALB

Ted: I second ALB's advice. But I modify: If the screws were loose already, first pull the arms off and see if they were on straight. I put one on whacked 30 degrees out when I pulled springs out of my car. Almost didn't notice, but the grub screw wouldn't seat.

 

So you might have just loose arms. Or you might (unlikely, but maybe) have trailing arms that are on wrong. Or you might have dropped spindles with beam adjusters that are designed to drop it further--a common error, I'm betting.

 

What you will want are either 

 

1. 2 inch drop spindles and a beam set to stock height, or

 

2. Stock spindles with a beam set to be lowerable about two inches.

 

Now a word on the torsion springs:

 

The VW comes with (as pictured) four "big" leaves and six smaller ones stacked in each tube in the beam. These were designed to be removable to adjust the spring rate, depending on the amount of weight riding over them. The Beetle is a bit on the heavy side, being made out of steel. Your car (and mine too, I know this cuz I did it) might just be about 200 pounds lighter over the front wheels than a stock Bug was/is.

 

For this reason, taking out some or all of the small leaves might give you a better ride.

 

You don't want to do it if the car is too low already, as less springs will take it down further. But the ride on my car was dangerously stiff before I pulled all six small leaves out of both tubes. With just the four big ones, it is right.

 

So look hard at what you have. If you have drop spindles and the kind of beam that only allows you to lower the car, you should still be able to adjust it to "stock" height at the beam, which would leave you about two inches lower than stock in front. And that is just about perfect for these cars. 

 

Personally I prefer the stock spindle and the lowering adjuster, with fewer leaves. That setup works on my car.

 

Oh, and: fixing an exhaust leak is usually a matter of gaskets and washers and tightening nuts. I mentioned the carb heat tube because I had that problem too--the engine has maybe 250,000 miles on it, and this sort of thing happens. Fixed it with tape, temporarily. Pulled the engine in favor of a Subaru, but the right fix is to just replace that one part. Cheap and easy.

 

 

 

Originally Posted by edsnova - Baltimore - BCW 52 MG TD:

Ted: I second ALB's advice. But I modify: If the screws were loose already, first pull the arms off and see if they were on straight. I put one on whacked 30 degrees out when I pulled springs out of my car. Almost didn't notice, but the grub screw wouldn't seat.

 

So you might have just loose arms. Or you might (unlikely, but maybe) have trailing arms that are on wrong. Or you might have dropped spindles with beam adjusters that are designed to drop it further--a common error, I'm betting.


 

So this bit caught me and stuck in my head.  I say this because I think something is off with the grub screws in the center adjusters. They don't go in very far at all. Should there be an 'indent' or pocket in the stacked springs for the center screw to seat into? Currently, when I put the center screw in, it only goes in a tiny bit before it bottoms out on the spring pack. I bet it's put together wrong.

 

I'll dig into it in a few days and let you know what I find out.  I'm getting ready to leave town for work next week. Then I will be on vacation with the family for another week. I'm not sure I want to tear into this before I'm set to gone for two weeks.

 

On a brighter note, I did just receive a box full of badges from Sierra Madre! Unfortunately I forgot to order 3 different gaskets (hood handle front and rear gasket, new rear deck lid grill gasket). I'll call 'em up tomorrow and order 'em up.

 

Carbs should be here tomorrow! Distributor too!

True to his word, look what Tiger sent me today!

 

 

 

Not completely installed (no gaskets!?) - I only finger tightened the nuts to see how it would look. Looks like it hangs lower than the old exhaust, but the reality is that it's 1.25 / 1.5" higher than the old rusted scaly original empi 4 tip monza. Best part? No more scraping when I pull into the garage!

 

The carbs were supposed to be here in 7 days. Tiger said 10 days from order to deliver.  Tiger beat the carbs. I called them last week and they said they would ship Saturday. I think someone has some 'splaining to do.

 

Ted

Originally Posted by Rich Drewek:

Ted, just out of curiosity, what type of lead time did Tiger give you?

Tiger said 10 days from the time I ordered it, to the time it would ship. I ordered on the 4th. It arrived yesterday. Turns out to have been about two weeks, including weekends and shipping. Not too shabby. AJ Sims said 4 to 7 days on the carbs. I ordered those the same day I ordered the exhaust. I still haven't seen those suckers show up. They said they would ship them this past Saturday.

 

I'll give them a call today and see what's up.

 

Now I need to figure out what to do about the existing dog house shroud. It has heat stacks on it, but I don't have heater boxes yet. Part of me wants to get the SCAT 36hp dog house without heat tubes (and internal cooling veins)  - just to keep it clean and tidy back there. I'll get the existing shroud cleaned up for when I'm ready to install heat. I just worry about the 36hp shrouds ability to keep the motor cool.

 

Any suggestions are welcomed,

Ted

I hope you don't have any problems with AJ Sims.  He has had some problems in the past getting items to clients on time.

 

The 36 hp shroud will cool your engine fine.  The internal vanes are needed for proper air distribution and if you're going to run your car without heater boxes block off the heater box air tubes with something like this: 

 

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...uctCode=ACC-C10-5439

Originally Posted by Ron O, 1984/2010 IM, B.C. Canada:

I hope you don't have any problems with AJ Sims.  He has had some problems in the past getting items to clients on time.

 

The 36 hp shroud will cool your engine fine.  The internal vanes are needed for proper air distribution and if you're going to run your car without heater boxes block off the heater box air tubes with something like this: 

 

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...uctCode=ACC-C10-5439

Hey Ron,

 

I hope the same thing. I'm going to be grumpy if that's the case.  Regarding the freeze plugs in the shroud - I have those in the existing dog house shroud that's on the motor now. I think I'll go to the 36hp shroud without the heat tubes for a clean sanitary look. Especially if it will cool just the same.

 

I'm going to call AJ after my 9:30 call.

 

Ted

 

 

Yeah, looks like there was some truth to the warnings I received.  I ordered the carbs on the 4th and was told that they would go out in 4 to 7 days. I didn't receive them by the 14th so I called and was told they would go out the very next day. I asked TWO TIMES "Are you sure?... I can get a nice set of baby dells TODAY if you're not sure... " - their reply was "We're sure..." 

 

I called back today and was told that they shipped and that I should have them. I asked for a tracking number and was given one. Turns out that they shipped them YESTERDAY. When I asked about that I was just told "oh... yeah... I'm sorry about that."

 

Long story short - Tiger was true to his word. The guys at Low Buggit were not. Lesson learned. Won't do business with them again.


What's so hard about being honest regarding shipment dates?


Ted

 

 

 

 

Ted, I'd go with the 36 hp shroud without heater tubes too.  They look nice.

 

Tiger makes a quality product.  He screwed up my order (made my header without an 02 sensor) and I had to wait an extra couple of weeks for my exhaust system, which was no big deal, since my car has been off the road for a (long) while.  Still, he felt bad and threw in a quick release coupler/pipe so I can take my muffler offin a couple of minutes.

 

Last edited by Ron O

What disadvantages are there for the 36HP shroud, no heater tubes, (obviously no standard VW heater). And other than aesthetics, what advantages?  I have to pull my engine, to put tins in, so "while I am at it" (BTW the 5 most expensive words in house remodels) what do I gain?

 

And the more I read about  Tiger looks like he's a first cabin supplier.

Last edited by Art

The grub screws should fit in dimples. When you pull the trailing arms you will see. The arms need to fit on the springs just so. When all the springs are present and accounted-for, there is no way to get it wrong. But if you remove the small springs, and are stupid and careless (like me) you can get the arm on there wrong. Then you gotta hammer it off. I used a two pound sledge with a piece of 2x4 as a shield. Two or three whacks.

 

I am told that very hard driving can do this to the arms as well (again, if the small leaves are removed). For this reason, the smart and very careful (racer-type) people fill the space left open by the departed small torsion leaves with either A. cut off bits of torsion leaves or, B. something metal that is the same size. 

 

The good news for you: If you have a couple of wracked torsion arms, chances are good you can just put them back on right and forget about them.

 

Good luck.

 

Oh, nice pipes!

Last edited by edsnova
Originally Posted by art:

What disadvantages are there for the 36HP shroud, no heater tubes, (obviously no standard VW heater). And other than aesthetics, what advantages?  I have to pull my engine, to put tins in, so "while I am at it" (BTW the 5 most expensive words in house remodels) what do I gain?

 

And the more I read about  Tiger looks like he's a first cabin supplier.

Hey Art,

 

I don't know that there are any direct disadvantages, other than nothing cools like an original stock shroud. I will most likely buy the scat shroud, without heater ports, just to clean up the engine until I get some heater boxes. A clean engine compartment is a must have for me. What I have now is the opposite of that.

 

Ted

 

 

GREAT MOTHER OF GOD! The pile of parts that arrived today...

 

So, AJ came through. He has a 14 day guarantee that he will deliver. He delivered in 15. I'm not going to break  his balls over a day.

 

Currently sitting on my work bench:

New tuned Dual 40mm Kadron carbs

Dual carb Linkage
Compufire Electronic ignition

SVDA Distributor (some sort of custom mapping?... snake oil... whatevs!)

Complete new SCAT 36hp engine tin (all of it...)

Fuel pressure regulator

New Sierra madre rubber gaskets for the hood handle

New Sierra madre hood emblem

New Sierra madre side "Speedster" emblems

New Sierra madre front and rear PORSCHE emblems

New Sierra madre rear decklid Grill

New Sierra madre rear decklid Grill gasket

New mirror gasket

New Sierra madre rear 1600 emblem

New fuel hose

New engine tin screws

New tie rod ends (x4)

 

Some other stuff I'm forgetting...

 

Here is the punch line - I leave Monday for a week long work trip, then I return and I'm heading on vacation with the family for a week!?

 

Schwarz Frau will be all alone in the garage for 2 weeks!!?  It hardly seems right.

 

Hopefully I'll get the motor pulled this weekend so can start to tear it apart before I leave for two weeks.  

 

T

 

 

Last edited by TRP
Originally Posted by Terry Nuckels--'04 JPS Speedster NorCal:

       

Ted, I thought your speedster was a CMC? Has your rear decklid been modified to accept the grill? Every CMC I've encountered has the one-piece hibachi grill.

 


       


Yup, my car is a CMC. The deck lid has not been enlarged yet. But that's the plan. The hibachi just looks klunky to me.

I've been out of town on business so I haven't had much time to spend with the speedster lately.

 

I did manage to pull the motor last Friday, clean up the engine compartment a bit, paint the tin and start the reassembly.  Photos below.

 

 

Saturday Morning:

There was a good puddle of goo (oil? Trans oil?) in the bell housing there. I'm slightly alarmed as I don't know why it would have been there.

 

 

Sunday morning:

Engine tin's painted and the carbs starting to be mocked up for final assembly. The oil filler housing was always chrome (I'm not a fan) - I just found out it was chrome after starting to clean up the motor a bit.

 

 

 

The trans issue has me a bit bugged, but there was no sighs of dripping or oozing anyplace. The clutch looked good.  I will address it when I replace the trans with something more geared for highway speeds.


That's how she sits for now. I return home on tomorrow. I'm hoping to button it up a bit more before I fly out again on Sunday.

 

Slowly but surely,
Ted

Brother Jim!

 

Yeah, I'm not one to piss about. I'll jump in with both feet.

 

I decided I don't like the argent silver engine tin. I'm going to redo it with more of a platinum or graphite. I've never had a lot of luck with straight silver paint. Hard to get it to lay down right.

 

I think the graphite will provide enough contrast with the natural aluminum parts.

 

Ted

"Saturday Morning:

There was a good puddle of goo (oil? Trans oil?) in the bell housing there. I'm slightly alarmed as I don't know why it would have been there."

 

Ted- If you don't have it all back together yet, stick your finger in the puddle. Trans oil smells different than engine oil. Replacing the mainshaft seal (it's behind the throw-out bearing) isn't really hard; you can pull it out with a flat-blade screwdriver if you're careful. You want to slide it in along the shaft and pry it out, but not so far as to score the seal's mounting surface. Replacing the flywheel seal is a little more involved, as you need a flywheel lock and 36mm nut and breaker bar to remove the gland nut, but that can be done at home. A flywheel installer (or correctly sized socket or pipe) is a big help as well. Guys do install it with a hammer, but it's really easy to f##k it up this way. Yoda out.



Last edited by ALB
Gwan - will do.

I just wanted to report back that it's alive... ALIVE!..I just wrapped up cleaning up the tins, installing the dual carbs, linkage , etc.

I eyeballed the linkage best I could to get it to idle. I squirted some fuel in the carbs and turned er over. Once the bowls were filled up she coughed to life. A tiny bit more noodling and she now idles enouge for me to start the car, exit the vehicle and get around back to fiddle with the throttle by hand. It's idling on its own now, a little higher than I'd like, but it's alive!!!

This weekend I will get the carbs and linkageball dialed in. Then it's on to the new distributor and electron ignition. One that's wrapped up I'll turn my attention to the front suspension and install the rotor skinns and new front disk brakes.

Slowly but surely, she's getting there.

Ted
Last edited by TRP

Here is the motor back in. I changed the color of the tins from the argent silver to a graphite color. Now that it's back in, I wish I had a bit more contrast. The silver had too much contrast. This, not enough. Oh well.

 

Making a trip to the parts store today to pick up the front engine compartment seal, a set of boots for the swing and some grommets for the fire wall:

 

 

 

I still need to tidy up some wires there on the left & replace the rusted bolts on the engine decklid hinges & maybe paint that rusty chain. 

Still also need to put the final adjustments on the linkage and carbs. 

 

I'm pretty impressed with how strong it sounds already!


Ted

Last edited by TRP
Originally Posted by Ron O, 1984/2010 IM, B.C. Canada:

I know it serves a purpose, but I don't like the spiral alternator wire.  Otherwise, the engine compartment looks great.

 

Originally Posted by tomrsr:

looks awsome ted but i second ron on the altenator wire.

Yeah, I agree. It was 'there' when I bought the car. I'm not a huge fan myself.  Ideally I'd replace it when I 'tidy up the wires'. I will most likely go with something simple... like a high quality straight wire that runs up from the bottom/side. No sense it hanging it over the top of the motor. I will also run some sort of 'cover' over it so that it's not exposed.

 

I have NO IDEA what that wire 'hook' is for. It was there when I bought the car. I was going to remove it but didn't want to remove it if it served a purpose.


T

Took the ole girl out for a spin. WOW, she runs like a new car. So awesome. Sounds amazing tons of power. I'm in love. I can't wait to put the new distributor on now.  The car was back firing a tiny bit here and there. I also need to adjust the idle a bit. All in all I need to tweak the carburetors adjustments tiny bit more. It's my first time noodling with duals, so it's an earn as you learn kind of thing.

 

I doubt I'll notice the difference with the new distributor, but it'd be sure cool if I did.

 

Oh,  yeah... so... I took it out for a drive and got carried away. I loaded it up around a corner and it started to sputter and cough.... then it died.   Wouldn't start. I had a neighbor tow me home. I fiddled with the linkage. Tried to figure out the carb adjustments. etc. Pulled the air cleaners off, and flipped the throttle a bit. No fuel out of the nozzle on the left carb. Same... on the... right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out I ran it out of gas!...

 

 

BWAHHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

(come on, that's funny stuff right there!)

 

 

Last edited by TRP
Originally Posted by TRP:

 

.....Turns out I ran it out of gas!...

 

 

BWAHHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

(come on, that's funny stuff right there!)

 

 

That's a good one, Ted!

The mechanical advance is probably very similar to what's in the car now, so you probably won't see any more power with the svda (and it's mechanical advance only at full throttle). You will notice better mileage when cruising on the highway, though. The vacuum (and more advance) at part throttle will allow you to lean out the idle circuits in the carbs a step or 2 more than with with a mechanical advance distributor.

 

I never mentioned this before, but I just wanted to thank Ted publicly for the reimbursement for running across the border to look at the Speedster in Bellingham for him. You're a stand up guy, Ted. Yoda out.

Ted, When you figure out what (and how) to replace that VC lid hinge latch pin with let me know!

 

It's been a topic (with multiple suggestions) on this forum before but I've misplaced my notes on the least complicated solutions!....What I'm hoping for is someone who's found junk yard 'click-up click-down' hinges off anything that can be adapted.

 

My friend and fellow SOC'er, Juan Gonzalez, found a pair of OEM 356 hinges...but those things now are as rare as hen's teeth and priced their weight in gold!...There's got to be a simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive alternative that just hasn't been recognized yet!  

Carl ,  Ted

 

I have a set of 356 hinges (click up and click down) that I'm cleaning and polishing.  I can't figure out yet how they mount.  Someone on here shows an installed pic, (Scott Hansen), but I can not figure how he attached it to the firewall.  I've made a comment on his pic post, no word yet.  My pair wasn't very expensive around $50, others on ebay have been in the $150 range.

Originally Posted by Carl Berry CT.:

Ted, When you figure out what (and how) to replace that VC lid hinge latch pin with let me know!

 

It's been a topic (with multiple suggestions) on this forum before but I've misplaced my notes on the least complicated solutions!....What I'm hoping for is someone who's found junk yard 'click-up click-down' hinges off anything that can be adapted.

 

My friend and fellow SOC'er, Juan Gonzalez, found a pair of OEM 356 hinges...but those things now are as rare as hen's teeth and priced their weight in gold!...There's got to be a simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive alternative that just hasn't been recognized yet!  

Hey Carl and Art,

 

I admit, I haven't investigated this in any stretch yet. I will say that the blue car with the orange empi's that I looked at in Santa Cruz had an interesting home grown solution on the front bonnet. I wonder if I still have a photo of the front hinge? The new owner of the car is on this site now (he's looking for a new hard top.)  He should be able to provide photo of what the previous owner engineered for that hinge. If my memory serves right, I bet it could be adapted here. 

 

The only other thing I was thinking was some sort of spring loaded button that pops into a hole in the hinge bracket when you raise the lid up. To close it, you simply push the button in and lower the boot.

 

I'll have to keep chewing on this a bit.

 

Art - provide photos of the hinges you have. Maybe we can 'engineer' something on the fly. There are a ton of really smart guys on this site.


Ted

Update!

Debugging my front end.  Why is it so low with little to no suspension travel?

 

Top spring pack = 4 large and 2 halves.

Bottom Spring pack = 5 large and 3 halves.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that like... HALF of what it should have? 

 

The fix: Just order 1 lower spring pack and put 4 large on top and 5 large, and 1 small on the bottom?

 

Might as well order a front disk brake kit, drum skins and 4 beam shims at the same time, right?

 

The curse of Al continues...

 

Ted

Originally Posted by Carl Berry CT.:

Ted, When you figure out what (and how) to replace that VC lid hinge latch pin with let me know!

 

It's been a topic (with multiple suggestions) on this forum before but I've misplaced my notes on the least complicated solutions!....What I'm hoping for is someone who's found junk yard 'click-up click-down' hinges off anything that can be adapted.

 

My friend and fellow SOC'er, Juan Gonzalez, found a pair of OEM 356 hinges...but those things now are as rare as hen's teeth and priced their weight in gold!...There's got to be a simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive alternative that just hasn't been recognized yet!  

Carl - do a 'Search' on here for hydraulic hood brace. I can't think of the name of those things (senior moment) but they are used for holding up tailgates, engine hoods & such. Several SOCers have installed them. 

Originally Posted by TRP:

       

Update!

Debugging my front end.  Why is it so low with little to no suspension travel?

 

Top spring pack = 4 large and 2 halves.

Bottom Spring pack = 5 large and 3 halves.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that like... HALF of what it should have? 

 

The fix: Just order 1 lower spring pack and put 4 large on top and 5 large, and 1 small on the bottom?

 

Might as well order a front disk brake kit, drum skins and 4 beam shims at the same time, right?

 

The curse of Al continues...

 

Ted


       


Wait, maybe I have this wrong.  How many springs (full and half) should I have on top, and how many should I have on the bottom?
Originally Posted by TRP:

Update!

Debugging my front end.  Why is it so low with little to no suspension travel?

 

Top spring pack = 4 large and 2 halves.

Bottom Spring pack = 5 large and 3 halves.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that like... HALF of what it should have? 

 

The fix: Just order 1 lower spring pack and put 4 large on top and 5 large, and 1 small on the bottom?

 

Might as well order a front disk brake kit, drum skins and 4 beam shims at the same time, right?

 

The curse of Al continues...

 

Ted

This is the problem when you lower a VW front end by modifying the beam (whether it's pulling torsion leaves out or changing the position of the center attachment point in the beam itself either by cutting, rotating and welding or installing center adjusters); you reduce suspension travel. The angle of the tie rods is also changed and this introduces some bump steer to the mix. Drop spindles (they come in drum and disc) lower the front end without changing suspension travel or ride quality. The only penalty is they add 1/2 or 5/8" to the track on each side.

 

 In a balljoint front end there should be 4 wide leaves and 6 narrow (3 on top and 3 on the bottom) of each leaf stack. So 8 wide and 12 narrow altogether. See the pic below. Put it back together and see where the ride height sits before you buy a front disc brake kit, as it may ride a little higher with the full compliment of torsion bars back in it. You may or may not want to add drop spindles to it (they lower the front 2 1/2"), so that's why I'm suggesting doing it the long way. Or, if you add them now and it rides a little too low, the fix is to add adjusters to both tubes (or turn and weld the centers). This means the beam has to come out and be completely disassembled again- would be a good winter project, and that way you're not cutting into summer driving time...

 

Now would be a great time to add caster shims to the bottom tube, and Gene Berg Ent. makes thin (1 1/2 degree- GB 681) and thick (3.4'- GB 682) versions. Note that either stacking 2 thin ones together or using the thicker shims will require longer bolts for the bottom beam, and Berg sells them. Somewhere in his writings he recommends running a tap through the bottom threads in the frame head when using the longer bolts, but there was enough junk (weld spatter?) in mine that I couldn't run the tap in far enough so I just shortened the longer bolts 4 threads (put the thread chaser on the bolt first so you can clean up the threads after filing the ends smooth, as the hacksaw job I did wasn't pretty) and that did the trick. The thin ones should be enough for freeway speeds and a little faster; buy the thicker shims if you seriously like to blast down the highway.

 

I'm really sorry Ted, there's that damn curse again!  I really don't know what to do...

 

PS- Glad you're having fun with it! The madness you have bad, I must say...Your buddy Yoda. 

 

Ah, shoot! I forgot the picture..

 

PPSS- Holding the leaf stack together with some tape or elastic and  bevelling the edges of the leaf stack (I don't know if a file will touch them but a grinder will work) will make installation a little easier. Getting them started through the center collar can be a little bit of a bear...

 

 

torsion leaves, ball joint

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Last edited by ALB

Yoda - thanks for the deep dive on the beam. I totally appreciate it. Now I understand what 'normal' should look like up front.

 

The beam already has Avis adjusters on it. They are in the 'full up' position and even with that, the car has NO suspension travel at all. It's effectively bottomed out. When I raise the car on a jack, the suspension hangs just like it should, without hanging up at all.

 

Photos of what I'm up against:

Okay, so clearly I didn't count very well last night:

 

For the top: I count, 4 wide, and 3 skinny. (missing 3 narrow)

 

The bottom: I count, 4 wide and 2 narrow. (missing 4 narrow) 

 

This gives me a grand total of minus 7 narrow. I would have to order 2 spring packs to make up for all of the missing items. I was hoping to get away with ordering just one. </me raises a greasy fist at the sky and yells out "Al!!!....">

 

I will take your suggestion of rebuilding the springs to the stock set up. If that means ordering two complete sets, so be it. From there, I will reassemble everything and see how she sits. At this point I can determine if drop spindles will work for my application.

 

Once all that is done, then I will investigate which disk brake kit to order. I will also get the shims and longer bolts for the lower beam mount. Though, doing this will also cause me to have to adjust the front bumper bracket a bit. Not a big deal, just a mental note (made out loud...)

 

What are these beam stiffeners I saw someone asking about? Snake oil?

 

Oh, then I need to figure out the front sway bar issue. Then onto the rear.

 

At some point, it'd be really nice to drive it....

 

Something just struck me, with the way the top beam was set up, it's effectively riding on just the 4 wide springs and the two narrow. That third narrow isn't doing anything. As I understand how it's set up, the final narrow leaf should key into a narrow slot in the beam and trailing arms. Without the full set of narrow leaves on each side, there is nothing to hold that leaf into place. 


Do I have that right?

 

Ted

If you're going to go out and by 2 new torsion leaf packs, then (I would think) using the  new pieces and discarding the old ones would be best; what that will cost, I don't know. However, if you go on Craigslist (or to a local wrecker, it there are still any around) you should be able to find what you want relatively cheap. First, take out the leaves that are in there and make sure none of what you have isn't broken and the depressions the grub screws anchor into are good so you know exactly what you need. Re your comment about the small leaves not being held in place in your last post- I think you're right and wonder if any of the small leaves are contributing anything since the ones that are there are not being held in place. I think it will ride much different when you get it back together.

 

The beam stiffeners (the ones that go from near the shock tower to the pan are supposed to work well, although I've never used them. They aren't essential, but if you're ever going to drive your car hard I can see them being useful.

 

What's with your front sway bar- are there just no clamps on the ends? They look like this-

 

 

sway bar clamps

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Regarding the sway bar - it's just not there! I think because of the front bumper brackets, Al removed the sway bar.

 

I'll poke around CL this weekend and see if I can find any parts. It looks like new spring packs run about 50-75.00 a set. It would sure be cool to not have to spend that much to correct this issue.

 

I think you're correct. If I do buy new ones, I would replace all of the existing items with new. No reason not to.

 

What's the purpose of this 'Kaffer' bar I keep hearing about?


Ted

Phew. All back together. All the springs are back in place. 4 new tie rod ends, a new steering dampner, and a new 3/4" sway bar. Now with the beam adjusters in full up, it sits level. I dropped the front a tiny bit so it has a tiny rake.

I also picked up the lower beam shims. I will install those tomorrow morning when I can get loud with the grinder and drill press to elongate the bumper bracket holes a tiny bit.

Can't wait to get an alignment so I can drive it!

Next up, front disks and drum skins.

It's coming along!

Thanks for letting me share.

Ted

Thanks for the encouragement gang!


I adjusted the front end alignment and put in the shims. Now I can take it to get an alignment tomorrow.

 

With all the work I've done up front, she handles so much better. I can actually drive it without cringing!

 

I need to figure out how to get the carbs right. It was backfiring a bit today and loading up if I coasted a bit. I also found that if I let it idle in the garage, it will leave a nice black/grey soot circle on the garage floor. Sounds like its still rich.

 

Anyway - I'm pleased as hell that the front end is all back together and that it rides so much better. A lot less 'floaty' the the steering wheel and the ride is completely different. The alignment should make it just perfect.

 

Which disk brake kit works best with the drum skins?


Ted

Last edited by TRP

 

I wondered if anyone would notice that. I actually used Photoshop to manipulate the numbers. My street address is 2835.

 

Thanks, Carl for the kinds words. The rake is with the rear of the aluminum side spear at 9.5" above the ground and the front is 8.5. Before I 'fixed' the front end, the front of the spear was 7.0".

 

Can't wait to get the front end aligned.


Art - I bid on those hinges. I doubt I'll win them, but it's worth a shot.


Ted

Originally Posted by Rich Drewek:

       

Lookin' good, Ted...you know what'll make that thing sing? Put your new badge on :-)

 


       


I'm waiting until I install the grill from SMC on the car before I install my SOC badge. My original CMC grill had odd bar spacing and I can't in stall the badge exactly where I want it without it bending the mounting hardware. Damn wonky CMC habachi grills!  I'd need to mount it to one side or the other and I'm all about semitry.

Ted
Thanks for the kind words.

Today I installed a new starter and cleaned/reundercoated the bottom of the pan.  I was going to install a rear sway bar but the shop didn't get it in.

Next up, I'm looking forward to installing the front (and possibly rear) disks.

Oh, I also ditched the ugly chrome oil filler and went with a 912 style. I had to paint it, but I think it looks better.

Last thing I did was replace the ugly red wire to the alternator (no pics of that).

TedTed

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Originally Posted by Ron O, 1984/2010 IM, B.C. Canada:

       
Originally Posted by TRP:
Last thing I did was replace the ugly red wire to the alternator (no pics of that).

 

If I had a speedster with that coiled red wire it would be the FIRST thing I'd change.


       


This one is for you Ron!

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So now the "Ugly Betty" wire is gone. BTW what service did it perform? And is that corkscrew wire a  "VS signature"?

 

Let me know how the Sierra Madre grill works out.  Side note: At the university I grilled a mean Hibachi steak.

 

And finally how come your engine compartment  is sooooo clean?

The red wire was legacy "Al". It connects the starter to the alternator. I ran it through the appropriate lower front engine tin. Now it's out of sight.

The engine compartment is clean because I've been cleaning, tweaking, tuning, obsessing, and fawning all over it for the past 3 months.

Oh, that reminds me! I just turned 610 miles on the car today! Can't believe I've driven it so much already.

Sure is so much more enjoyable with the front suspension all rebuilt and corrected.

Maybe I'll put the new distributor in tomorrow!

Then it's on to the new Sierra Madre grill and my SOC badge!

Ted
Originally Posted by Frank C.:

       

I like the engine picture with the gunk and the oil.  Keeps everything from rusting underneath.  No better coating than a film of oil.  Mine is the same.


       

Oh, thanks for reminding me!  What's that bar that under the transmission? I have no idea what it's for. I wonder if it should come out.

I picked up the rear sway bar today. I will try to start the install this week.


I also ordered up the disk brake kit. That should be here Friday.

I was going to buy a tow bar and try to get it converted to be able to tow the car to the SLO event. We'll see if I get everything done in time.


Can I use the stock bug tow bar and just lengthen then 'arms' to reach under the speedy? I will also need to increase the 'reach' of the tongue to mate up to our Pilot.  What about the width of the arms? Do they need to be adjust at all?  I know Jim's bar will work on my car. I just need to recreate that bar.

 

(I did a search and found Jim's thread, just wasn't clear on the width adjustment.)

 

Thanks

Ted

Ted - the standard EMPI VW tow bar is too wide for towing our Speedster. Basically, here are the mods I made to tow my VS;

 

1. Cut & narrowed standard VW tow bar width by 8 inches (to fit between front torsion braces).

2. Extended tow bar by 24" to allow more space between towing vehicle and Speedster.

3. Modified hitch with a 10" rise to allow for ride height of tow hitch and ease entry/exit angles on driveways.

4. Added cross-member brace to stiffen the tow bar and minimize flex. Not shown in pic is perpendicular brace welded forward of torsion bar attachments and at rear base of x-member.

 

Hopefully these pics will demonstrate these mods for you.

 

...Tow bar narrowed by 8" and extended by 24". Increased rise for hitch up 10"...

DSCN3070

 

...fabricated tow lights on 36" aluminum stock tubing, and attach to my luggage rack...

DSCN3072

 

...and run the wiring under the convertible top (or tonneau), up through the opening for the trunk hinges, and out the front of the trunk lid...

DSCN3071

 

...I cannot see the VS behind us when towing so I fabricated antennae for that purpose. 

DSCN2995

 

...another shot of modified height of tow hitch. I also use a 4" drop hitch) to compensate for height difference between the two vehicles.

DSCN2997

Last edited by MusbJim

Jimmmaay!


That's the exact info I needed. Thanks for putting it all in one place (again).  The riser is the only section where I have a question (or two). Are we extending the riser up 10" or up to 10", so that when the bar is on the ground, the ball socket hitch part is 10" off the ground?

 

Oh, and I assume the 10" riser is predicated really on the height of the tow vehicle and the amount of 'drop' to the hitch on said vehicle? The end 'goal' is to have a flat (level) ball receiver when towing the speedster. Don't want it too put too much of angle on the ball hitch, etc.

 

Did you start with the EMPI bar and just make these mods? or did you start from scratch?

 

I wonder if the muffler shop in town would be willing to make these mods without too much grief? I really need to learn to weld, it would make my life a whole lot easier.

 

I'll add this to the list of 'to do' items before SLO.  I still need to book a room! (ha!)  Alexis (My lovely bride) said 'sounds like fun, so long as we can go wine tasting.'  I will have to make that happen or I"ll be in trouble.

 

Thanks again for the info,

Ted

 

Last edited by TRP

Great mods Jim! Very purpose built for your needs.

And great work on the car, Ted. The dual activity weekend will be a winner for both of you! I'm sure it will be easy to convince a few people to duck out for a drive and a little wine tasting; a good reason to go for a drive it I've ever heard one.    Al

Ted-meister, Ted-O-Rama, Tedenheimer, Tedinsky...

 

I bought an Empi tow bar from the local VW shop, cost was $75. Used this as the base for my modified tow bar.

 

The 10" rise I mentioned is the application I used to mate the lowered Speedster to my Range Rover. As you mentioned, use the riser dimension that best suits your tow vehicle. 

 

I will post a pic of the tow set-up tomorrow and label with dimensions!

 

Show your wife this attached video of last year's West Coast Cruise to allay her Jonesing for a wine tour. Be sure to adjust video quality to 720HD by clicking on the 'gear' icon when video starts playing. 

 

 

Last edited by MusbJim

Jim, love your tow bar! I made one from 2 bars, a regular Bug bar and a Super Beetle bar(which is narrower to start and the right width for my Vintage Spyder). Mine got lengthened about 18-24 inches also and got lowered about 1.5" to clear the bodywork.

 

Ted, get the bar made up first, then hold it level to get your hitch height, then buy a riser or drop piece for your receiver(I use an 1.25" receiver, Class I, this is all I need) to get the correct height.

 

I ended up running a trailer wiring extension through the car permanently, and use the car's taillights when towing. Back plugs into tail when needed, front is coiled up and comes out the hood to plug into tow vehicle. I know I should put a "car in tow" sign on but I always forget. Besides, it's registered and insured so.....

Last night I didn't find the time to work on installing the rear sway bar. I was side tracked by a different project:

 

This is how it arrived. Complete, from Canada even had the oil filter and oil still inside. ^^^

 

About an hour or so later ^^^

 

High temp primer ^^^

 

High temp paint, also resistant to chemicals. Should hold up okay. I ordered the 'Fram' decals for it, even though it's actually a H Filter unit.  The H Filter decals are boooooooring. It's just going to be decoration.

 

It seemed like a quick and fun little project. I got all the parts at a good price and it's complete... so why not?

 

I'm not sure when I'll mount 'er up.

 

Ted

 

Originally Posted by ALB:


       

Ted- I can only see your first pic.


Doh! I think I know why. Let my try it this way...

 

 

From top to bottom...

  • The previous post is how 'it' arrived.
  • Then I cleaned it up and stripped the paint. The unit was originally that silver-ish gold color.
  • After it was cleaned up I decreased it and primed it.
  • Finished it up with a sort of stock 'two tone' job.
  • I picked up a bracket and strap for $25.00. Those are all cleaned up and ready to go as well.

 

Sorry for the photo flub,
Ted

 

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Another weekend, another project or two...

This weekend it was a rear sway bar and front disks. All items went on sight issue. The kit had the wrong inner wheel bearings. I used my originals, they were German and in great shape.

Three bucks came out to see what I was up to.

Thanks for letting me share my progress.

Ted

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The tires are just run of the mill Perelli 185/60's. Square set up (all the same size). They work well for the kind of driving I do. No complaints.

 

The brakes work great so far. The pads are a little louder than what I'm used to. I'd like to source some better ones. I used a vacuum system to suck all the old brake fluid out of the system. Complete flush also allowed me to get all the air out of the lines. Everything is pretty solid. I was going to replace the rear rubber lines with new stainless ones, but I figured I would wait until I decide what I'm going to do about the rear drums. I may upgrade to rear disks. I can't decide. If I do that, I think I have to upgrade the master cyl as well. I'm not really in the mood to make that commitment yet.

 

Next weekend I think I'll tackle the distributor and possibly the Sierra Madre engine grill. I started some work on that this weekend. The paint on the rain tray under the CMC grill was peeling really badly. So I remove the CMC grill and went in there with some sandpaper and a sharp paint scraper.  Most of the paint just flaked off. I will get in there and clean the area up and re-shoot the area while the grill is off.

 

OH! I wanted to ask - what's the best way to shorten / adjust the rod that is attached to the inside door handle? My passenger side handle doesn't work because the rod is too long. I need to shorten it. Right now it has a silly z bend in it to try and shorten it. Ideally I'd replace the rod with one that is the correct size. Anyone know where I can get a new inner door actuator rod?

 

Thanks!

Ted

 

Ted,

 

Your car is looking great!  You can make the door release rods from a coat hanger.  Use one of the thicker hangers and bend the "z" shape on the ends at the appropriate location.

 

In an earlier post you asked about the trans mid mount.  It is an extra support for the transmission to take some of the reaction forces off the nose of the trans housing.  Here is a link.  http://vwparts.aircooled.net/E...yeball-mid-mount.htm

I would not remove it.

 

Also, what width wheels do you have?  Are they 4.5 or 5.5?  They look really good with the 185 tires!

 

 

Originally Posted by Alan Merklin - Drclock. Chambersburg PA:

 inline residual valve will keep pressure up

I was just coming here to ask that question.

 

So, with the dual master cylinder that's in the car right now (stock 67 cylinder) - do I need a residual valve for the rear drums, if so how big (how much pressure) and where does it go inline? Do I need to shorten any of the hardlines? (because that sounds like a PITA).

 

Thanks!

Ted

Originally Posted by James:

Ted,

 

Your car is looking great!  You can make the door release rods from a coat hanger.  Use one of the thicker hangers and bend the "z" shape on the ends at the appropriate location.

 

In an earlier post you asked about the trans mid mount.  It is an extra support for the transmission to take some of the reaction forces off the nose of the trans housing.  Here is a link.  http://vwparts.aircooled.net/E...yeball-mid-mount.htm

I would not remove it.

 

Also, what width wheels do you have?  Are they 4.5 or 5.5?  They look really good with the 185 tires!

 

 

All - Thanks for the kind words. It's been a great journey so far. Fun little toy to work on. Once the weather heats up around here I will slow down. Mostly because it will be too hot to work in the garage.

 

James - Thanks for the info on the trans mount & the door actuator.

 

The rims are just run of the mill 5.5" chrome knock offs. I keep thinking about getting silver knock offs from CPI.

 

Ted

Last edited by TRP
Took the day off work today. Worked on the speedster.

Installed new H4 headlights.
Installed Dynamat in the doors.
Installed new weatherstriping for the doors.
Installed Dynamat in the front trunk
Fixed the passenger inner door handle.

Car is sooooo much quieter on the road now. The doors don't rattle and the car just sounds so much more solid.

Now I need carpet for the front trunk.

Ted

Hello Ted:

 

I'm impressed by the improvements that you've made so far on your car.  I am getting ready to replace by front brakes with wide 5 disc brakes and was wondering what kit you went with.  To me it looks like either an EMPI kit or an AC Industries kit.  I would be interested in knowing what you used and your impression of its performance.

 

Also, regarding the Dynamat, I would be interested in how you tackled the door pannels and whether you also considered installing dynamat in the rear of the passanger compartment to quite down the engine noise.  I know doing this is a big job as it pretty much means peeling off the existing carpet when may or may not be able to be reused.  However, I'd have to thing doing so would make on heck of a difference considering what you noticed just with the doors and noise and solidity.

 

Your input and observations would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks, Grant

Grant- Instead of mounting the soundproofing on the inside (under the carpet), how about putting it on the outside of the rear cabin wall? It would probably mean that the engine would have to come out, but you wouldn't be pulling (and possibly ruinning) the back wall carpet. Sounds like a good winter project...Al

Hey Guys,

 

With the Dynamat, I removed the door panels and the interior hardware and installed the Dynamat on interior of the door skin. For some loony reason I wanted to do it in one piece. I rolled it up like a big taquito (or for Vince... like a doobie). I peeled 2" of the backing off one end and rolled it down. Then I removed a little of the backing as I unrolled and the taquito (doobie) - rolling it down as I went. I could have saved a lot of headache if I had just did it in three or four small pieces. However, now I have one neat piece on each door, hidden forever behind the door panel. The doors no longer sound like a drum.  My next trick will be to do the engine compartment. Next time I pull the motor I'm going to build an aluminum firewall similar to Mango's but I'll lay down some dynamat first. Coating the inside of the rear seat would be much more difficult and would require pulling the carpet (and likely ruining it.) When it comes time to replace my carpet I will go ahead and do the entire cabin area. No reason not to.

 

The weatherstrip was the standard 5/8 x 1/2 D profile shaped stuff from McMaster-Carr. I used the D shaped stuff and backed it up with a strip or two of 1/2 x 1/8" rectangle stock. I will try to attach some photos in a bit. I basically used the rectangle strips to 'build up' the thickness of the D stock on the vertical seams. I took care to cut the corners in nice 45 degree angles to they would look tidy.

 

I also took on a bigger challenge this weekend. I replaced the CMC grill with one from Sierra Madre.

 

 

Last edited by TRP

Ted:

 

Thanks for getting back.  I am planning on running the AC Industries kit as well.  I know Andy at So Cal Imports (the "A" in AC), and he is a good guy making quality products.  In fact, these are the parts that Vintage Speedsters uses when they run 5 wide options on its cars.

 

Glad to hear the install went well.  Mine will be alittle more involved as I'm already running stock VW 4 lug discs up front.  So going to the AC kit I will have to change out my disc spindles for drum spindles.  At that point is also makes sence to change out the ball joints as I know both lowers are bad.  But I am looking forward to the conversion as it will allow me to get rid of the 4 lug wheels and run the Mangels 5 wides with drum skins that I've been wanting to do since I bought the car over a year ago.

 

I'm now looking at black 12x1.5 studs to run all around with open lug nuts to finish off the look.

 

It's a work in progress.

 

Thanks, Grant

 

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First I started by masking off the existing hole. I traced the shape of the new grill onto the tape.

 

 

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It appeared that I would be trimming off most of the inner molded lip of the existing decklid.  It was going to be messy.

 

 

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So I masked off the car with drop cloths.

 

 

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And some news paper..

 

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After a bit of cutting and fitting and cutting and sanding and fitting.. it was pretty close.

 

 

 

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The inner tray was cracked and peeling a bit, so I primed it with some hight temp primer.

 

 

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And then some high temp black. In hindsight, I should have used matte black or dark grey.

 

 

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About this time a buck showed up...

 

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He came across the street and ate my wife's roses.

 

 


After I removed the masking tape and the paper, it looked pretty good.

 

 

 

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The decklid was a bit flimsy so I epoxied some L channel aluminum to the inside of the lid.  I predrilled the mounting screws.

 

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A quick shot of the mostly finished product.

 

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And another...

 

 

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A few more. I installed the grill and a new gasket as well. Looks good. I may have to go back in enlarge the hole a tiny bit more. The grill is hanging up on something so it wants to 'teeter totter' a bit.

 

All in all, not a bad quick project.


Thanks for letting me share,
TEd

 

 

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  • IMAG0327: Then a buck came by...
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Originally Posted by GTman:

Ted:

I'm now looking at black 12x1.5 studs to run all around with open lug nuts to finish off the look.

 

It's a work in progress.

 

Thanks, Grant

 

Hey Grant,

 

If you find those black lug studs and bolts that thread in, please let me know. The 'correct' ones have to be pressed in and unfortunately we can't do that with the AC kit.

 

I want to do the same upgrade.


Which skins are you going to go with? I think the Fibersteel ones are what I will be going with. I just need to sort out a tow bar for the West Coast meet before I can focus on any other updates / modifications.

 

Looking forward to seeing how your work in progress... progresses.

 

Take care,
Ted

Originally Posted by Lane Anderson - Mt. Pleasant, SC:

Guys, I used B-quiet in the engine compartment and a thicker product (whose name I forget) under the carpet in the interior.  It was quite a job and while it's a bit quieter, it's hard to say if it is enough to justify the work.

How is the B-Quiet holding up to the heat in the engine compartment?

 

Any concerns with it falling down or slipping?

 

T

Originally Posted by GTman:

       

Ted - also I ended up buying the drum skinz from CB performance I believe.  They were less expensive, and I ended up painting the wheel bearing cap black myself.  About a 30 minute project.

 

Thanks, Grant


       

Drum skins on back order.

Thanks for the info on the black lugs.

Ted
Originally Posted by GTman:

Ted - I found the black studs and will send you the contact info.  The are the type that needs to be pressed in.  However, I am going to cut that end off, screw/locktite into the drums and discs.  Then the issue is what color for the open lug nuts.  Black or zinc ?

 

Originally Posted by TRP:

Hey Grant,

 

Thanks for the info on the skins. CB has the drum skins on back order.

 

With the lugs, will that work? Cutting off the end and then using loctite to secure them? Could be a great idea it it works out!

 

Ted

If you're buying wheel studs that are meant to be pressed in from the inside, why not have the drums/discs drilled for the proper interference fit (and the insides spot faced) and press them in the way they're supposed to be done? I know it's a little more work, but I don't know if I'd trust a threaded piece that's loctited in place, especially with no interference fit. Doesn't sound too safe to me....

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