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I guess my overly dry German humor was lost on this post.

I've spent at least the cost of that shroud on Whitecloud's 3 engines and am thoroughly satisfied with her/him as she/he is. 

Pat and Jim (Ansite) have worked miracles on her/his current engine and Yoda's right, the only thing missing is another gear but as far over-budget as I am, that will wait until pigs fly or our president stops tweeting, whichever comes first.

Will Hesch posted:

I guess my overly dry German humor was lost on this post.

I've spent at least the cost of that shroud on Whitecloud's 3 engines and am thoroughly satisfied with her/him as she/he is. 

Pat and Jim (Ansite) have worked miracles on her/his current engine and Yoda's right, the only thing missing is another gear but as far over-budget as I am, that will wait until pigs fly or our president stops tweeting, whichever comes first.

Just tell your lovely, very understanding wife that the transaxle is acting up and the only real fix is the extra gear...

Al, I would, but she's been through more than I can possibly describe with this vintage..er...fake car. To add a Berg 5 speed, though I'd love one, could, after 45 years of marital bliss, could be the proverbial straw...

I'll settle for one of Mitch's clown-car decals, I can sneak that in through PayPal without the missus noticing.

Will Hesch posted:

Pat and Jim (Ansite) have worked miracles on her/his current engine and Yoda's right, the only thing missing is another gear but as far over-budget as I am, that will wait until pigs fly or our president stops tweeting, whichever comes first.

Hailing as I do from Buttscratch, Nowhere USA, I know something of how swine transport themselves. I worked one summer on a hog farm, which was enough to beat any latent desire for the agrarian life right out of me. Pigs can do a lot of things, but flying is not in the repertoire.

... but as our President is nearly 73 years old, somewhat to definitely overweight, and not given to clean living-- I'd suspect that his tweeting days may be limited. Certainly, he lives as if he'll be on this earth forever, but his likelihood of making it out alive hovers just south of <.0000000000000000000000000001%, just like every other human.

I'd start laying out the gear selection now, and get a jump on it, Will.

 

Will, you might not recall that for me, too, the first few years of ownership were fraught with peril.

The prospect of having to drop substantial chunks of money into a brand new car just to make it drivable was not well received at home.

But we got past that. Patience and a good mechanic eventually rendered a reliable driver. Good times on the road, in the wine country, and on the coast had an ameliorative effect.

I knew from day one that the car would benefit mightily from an extra gear, but it was always a question of balancing driving tranquility with domestic tranquility. Eventually though, time passed, the stars aligned, and for just a few dollars more, the deed was done.

When you are writing checks, it's impossible to imagine that you will ever forget about those dollars. But you do.

I think it's all a question of how much and how often you drive the thing. No one needs a five-speed. It's an extravagance that makes life a little nicer. I've done nothing to upgrade the cosmetics. I'm still running eight-slot wheels, cardboard carpeting, and a fake Nardi wheel. This was my one indulgence.

When - and if - the time's right, you'll know.

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

 

... I knew from day one that the car would benefit mightily from an extra gear, but it was always a question of balancing driving tranquility with domestic tranquility. Eventually though, time passed, the stars aligned, and for just a few dollars more, the deed was done...

I think it's all a question of how much and how often you drive the thing. No one needs a five-speed. It's an extravagance that makes life a little nicer. I've done nothing to upgrade the cosmetics. I'm still running eight-slot wheels, cardboard carpeting, and a fake Nardi wheel. This was my one indulgence.

When - and if - the time's right, you'll know.

 

Yeah, it all depends on what you're looking for. If your car is truly a driver, though, and you do more than just go get ice cream, cruise down to the beach or area car shows a 5 speed can be a very worthwhile addition. Close gears and a 5th have to be driven to be really appreciated! Al

PS- Do you remember the gearset you ended up with?

Another PS- " I'm still running eight-slot wheels, cardboard carpeting, and a fake Nardi wheel."

I got a good laugh out of that! Very fitting for a replicar. 

Last edited by ALB

amelioritive, that word right there's worth half of a Berg 5'er!

I once won a spelling bee with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and antidisestablishmentarism but none of those words would impress Kathy enough to let me spend our hard-earned cash on another transaxle.

Another transaxle, why would I need that? Because in my infinitive wisdom when ordering Whitecloud, and against all counsel received here on the SOC, I chose the 4:11 final drive ratio.

Having just put 1500 kilometers on Whitecloud in the past two weeks, she/he is a definite "daily driver" including many trips over the Cuesta Grade on 101, the only option from Atascadero without driving 41 to Morro Bay then 1 to SLO.

I guess you could also drive the High Mountain dirt/forest road from Pozo to Lopez Lake and then frontage roads to SLO but that's best left to my friend MIke in his fully restored '56 (real) Speedster. Yes, he did that and his car is black!

The nice thing about the rear axle ratio is that I can reliably time  my speed in 4th gear by multiplying by two. 3200 rpm is 65mph which is more rpm than I like running for long stretches, Whitecloud likes 2500-2900.

 

Pedelachser posted:
Hello, I'm looking for a Porsche Carrera fan for my Speedster with a VW Beetle Type1 engine. Visually like the Porsche 550 Spyder. Where can I buy something like that? Does anyone have such a one? Example picture below.

Thank you in advance!

Sir, the fan shroud you seek is something of a Holy Grail here in Fake-Plastic-Clown- Carnia; basically unobtainium—at least for now. Arjani's Kuzu shroud is, indeed, $15k plus 30-odd hours of fitment work by a seasoned pro (figure $3,000 more to be fair). 

The Samba ad (linked above) is tempting but Bic Green has been promising to deliver that shroud for literally years and it hasn't happened yet. Email him and let us know if you hear back.

Some guys on the Spyder board have made variants in a DIY fashion such as

 and —something I may yet attempt if my Raby DTM shroud turns out not to fit.

As I explain here, the way forward involves modding the piss-poor (and sporatically available) CB "Centermount" shroud and alternator mount with an outer jacket (to bulk it up), a velocity ring, a bullet nose for the fan, maybe some kind of peace-sign-shaped surround for the alternator/generator and—most important—a set of air vanes to direct the cooling air where it might do the engine some actual good.

The vane set was engineered by a Ghia racer (and, allegedly, his NASA-employed friend) a few years ago but he never sold enough of them to make manufacture cost effective. I have one and may at some point try to figure out something with it and maybe license the design from him. 

As I said in the above-linked blog post, all of this is on the back burner while I attempt to make a running/driving car out of the bloody mess I've got in my garage. 

Good luck to you and please post here what you learn in your quest.

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