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Al,

Chicago is a no-nonsense town with a bar on every corner, and often 3 or 4 in-between. It's got some of the best blues in the country. It's got pizza that weighs about 3 lbs a slice. The citizens take beer very, very seriously. It's a world-class city with a feel unlike anywhere else. There's not a lot of pretense there-- Chicago is legit.

Love it or hate it, you gotta spend a bit of time there. If you do-- go up to Wrigleyville to the Kingston Mines blues club. Prepare to be blown away.

Stan Galat posted:

Al,

Chicago is a no-nonsense town with a bar on every corner, and often 3 or 4 in-between. It's got some of the best blues in the country. It's got pizza that weighs about 3 lbs a slice. The citizens take beer very, very seriously. It's a world-class city with a feel unlike anywhere else. There's not a lot of pretense there-- Chicago is legit.

Love it or hate it, you gotta spend a bit of time there. If you do-- go up to Wrigleyville to the Kingston Mines blues club. Prepare to be blown away.

Charlie Musselwhite.

After a two month or so hiatus, Scott Hansen has caught up with his own work as is getting ready to start on my engine. Last night we had an un-packing part, no beers were harmed in the process, looks like we forgot to order a oil cooler. Here’s a few photos. BTW, Scott brought home top honors at our local VW SHOW. Two years in a row...Best in Show and best in his category.E35DA135-B418-4FA9-85E7-9C7DA6790E027319AB03-6F3E-450D-B648-9764020DB402A5AEE3FD-FA69-4701-B064-3F28AED1D7E1C6A28B62-45D0-4933-95D6-1DC00F7EB2BAD89D2D14-2205-453E-AC56-9CD4E38B44620054C614-10CC-4D43-A868-E225CA0C378FF80753F2-F2D2-456C-B5D9-D2A1E53DE29B0633F2B5-11AB-4918-891C-56EE42651551 

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Way back in March he rolled the chassis out of his shop and the vision was starting to look like reality. Shortly after that he had the body back united with the new chassis by early April. It was already agreed upon that once he got to that point, a hiatus would be necessary for Scott to catch up on some of his own personal work.

So April and May has come and gone, Scott took home a best of show and a best in class for his Speedster, well deserved awards and not surprising, the second year in a row for him and those honors.

Now that we are halfway into June, the attention on my Ghia is back on again. A couple of weeks ago the two of us had an un-boxing party of the 2276 CB Performance engine kit. Scott is now wading into the waters, we are collecting a few items that we have over- looked in the ordering process, but some of the case is now on the stand and real assembly will start ramping up soon.

in addition to all of Scott’s work, I managed to get the 911 seats reupholstered and retreated back into the wheel choice. First, I vapor blasted the EMPI wheels that came with the car, getting rid of the ugly paint job. Those were going to be the wheels for the initial ride, but then common sense kicked in and I found a set of staggered 16” Fuchs in 6” and 7” widths. They were purchased in New Hampshire, delivered back here to Wisconsin by a friend who just happened to be out there saving at least one shipping leg. 

Speaking of shipping, I found a good vendor; https://www.shipnex.com/Intern...0EAAYASAAEgK3N_D_BwE

Half the price of FEDEX and the odd thing, you can drop your boxes off at FEDEX, UPS and I think USPS with your preprinted labels from NEX. Why these other shippers can’t deliver at this half-price is a mystery to me. My wheels got out to Anaheim, Al Reed Polishing in 5-6 days. Check them out, I think you can even arrange  for them to pick your package up at your home...I took mine to FEDEX.

So, here’s some photos of the progress, with good luck, it should be on the road sometime this summer yet.

 

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Oooh, I just realized I did post the un-boxing party already. Good, I don’t have to repeat that.

so, here’s some fresher stuff. Yesterday  I managed to sell the ‘69 Beetle, which will help freeing up some funds for this project. It obviously isn’t cheap.

The Fuchs pictured here are not my actual wheels but similar. They currently are with Al Reed Polishing. I found out about him and his well respected services through Scott. Al runs a pretty good shop as I am told by him. You can actually talk to a guy who seems to really enjoy doing the work he does, revinishing wheels from around the world and at a fair price. No flashy web page, just a phone call away. And he really knows Fuchs and pumps up there quality. He found on of the 6” wheels had a “bump” on it. For $85 it’ll be fixed.

BTW, I’ll probably put these EMPIs will probably go up for sale once all the dust settles on the project. Let me know if you might have any interest. 15” x 5.5”

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Well you could go with a 3:44 final ratio and get away with 4 speed and 70mph at 3K rpm.  I had that in my IM 2110cc and it was a good tranny.  In any case with a typeI engine you cannot go below 3K rpms at 70mph so 5 speed is only 4 close gears and 5th overdrive but it has to be done so the rpm stays around 3K for highway cruising. 

In my new DDriver, it turns below 2K at 70mph.  that would kill an aircooled engine. 

As far as the Fuchs, I came very close to going with the RSR look and finish. But I got a call from Al Reed on Wednesday to confirm my decision. It got me thinking real hard again and finally decided to go with my favorite finish; the simple satin, anodized rim and all black painted centers. I sent that photo of the 4 wheels above and Al gave me even more confidence pointing out the black in the photo was too glossy (I had already recognized that before his call) and he would be using the Porsche satin spec.

BTW, he turns around a set in two weeks, no prolonged wait.

I have also started to concentrate on the engine and bay look. I want to keep it simple and here is a little rough Photoshop study. I’ll be using that third wheel belt, this ohoto I found is the general direction I’ll be shooting for. Scott can do a very clean job of engine bays as his Speedster shows. He cleaned and painted mine and I’d like to show that off.6E338B19-6002-417B-9DD5-3CA70BFC6004D6A561BC-4EE0-41B0-A88D-DBAF3A5C303DB815B70A-5844-4959-8A24-5945D8C5A99B

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Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Here's another engine option to consider, Rich.

It may be a tight squeeze, but dropping the carbs and going to FI helps to maintain that clean look you're going for.

Power and low-end grunt will be better, too. With a 4.9 liter 12, you shouldn't need a five-speed.

 

Ghia02

 

I regret that I have but one "like" give that comment.

Rich Drewek posted:

As far as the Fuchs, I came very close to going with the RSR look and finish. 

BTW, he turns around a set in two weeks, no prolonged wait.

I was on the fence with the RSR finish too. I decided to go with an OEM factory anodized finish and black paint.

When did Al start turning around wheels that quick? I'm going to have to give him a call because I have another set of flat fuchs than need to be restored. 

Nice looking Ghia!

 

Last edited by ZFNHSN

ZFNHSN, when I first contacted him about 2-3weeks ago, he was right up front about the price and the immediately said it would be 14 days...from the time he gets them. I guess I didn’t push him any further, I don’t think he meant work days. But I did deal with another CA guy that was taking 6 weeks. Al also seems to have a little cheat sheet to quote from. These 16” will be $225 a wheel. As I recall he wanted like $243  for the frost RSR look (I think).

MusbJim posted:

I was browsing through a neighborhood yard sale the other day and came across this K-5 Twin Turbo. Didn't have the proper size waste-gates, so I passed on it. 

Sorry pic is so small, it's only 20kb. 

Twin Turbo 911

Those horizontal fans make the most awesome sound. Don’t stand too close though, could suck away all your guaponess.

IaM-Ray posted:

Tarboards  @Rich Drewek hey I saw this site that has Tarboards for the original look in the engine and they also sell floor insulation pads that are pretty awesome looking you might want to look at their store.  Enjoy

I wonder what you guys think of these Tarboards, @Alan Merklin @Gordon Nichols I have been in contact with the guy and he is willing to cut them larger4 so that we could use them in our cars. It looks like a black tar / rubber insulation or sound deadening. 

I did something similar but with different materials.  The first material was essentially shop floor 3/8" rubber cushion 3-M glued to the inside of the engine compartment.  That lasted a few (maybe 7?) years and then the glue let go.  It was a great sound deadener, though.

The next stuff was more like Dynamat, black, but thinner.  It's still in there, isn't as good as a sound deadener but the glue on it ain't lettin' go for nuthin.

Those tar boards would be pretty slick in a Speedster IF you intend the engine compartment to be black and IF they really stick - i can just imagine ingesting one into the fan at 3,000 rpm.  

If you're doing something like Rich is doing with a detailed and color-matched engine, then a color-matched compartment is the way to go, but the noise level will be higher (Vanity, they name is "car shows")...

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