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Carey was to be doing the shake down drives with my Speedster today , it is in the 10th week of being converted to Subaru Power at Special Edition. The engine threw a code and it turned out that a cam timing wheel had a fractured tooth that wasn't visible during assembly and it broke off. I am so glad this didn't happen a week after getting the car home. I live about 5 hours from Special Edition. I am hoping they get the engine back together and the car on the road tomorrow. I am watching the driving season slip away and it's killing me. The car has been without an engine all of 2018.

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Last edited by Jimmy V.
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Well the cam gear is fixed and the engine is running perfectly. Carey went to take the first shake down drive and found the new Sachs pressure plate is bad.. They are now pulling the engine to replace it. Carey said it is the first failure of a HD Sachs pressure plate they have had. I asked him why they don't use a Kennedy stage 1 or 2 pressure plate. I have used them for years with great success. I am waiting to hear back. I am glad these issues are coming up now but my I am dying to get my Speedster back and use it this year still. Regardless, I would rather have it done right than done fast. Stay tuned Bat fans.

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Jimmy V. posted:
 

FYI Just spoke with Carey. .... He told me the Kennedy Pressure plates had a large percentage failure and they don't use them any longer...

 

So it's not just me.

Had a Stage 1 literally fall apart shortly after we put the five-speed in. All of my own cars have had manual gearboxes since I started driving in 1968 and I've never before had any clutch problems at all.

I know, I know, it's hard to believe that I don't run the Speedster at the local drag strip every Saturday night, but honest, I don't.

The pressure plate pulled apart in a neat little ring that went through the rivets shown in the photo (all the way around). Kennedy asked that we send the failed plate back so they could inspect it.

Anyone else with a similar story? FWIW, we did put another Kennedy back in (about two years ago) and, so far, no further issues.

KennedyPP

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I had good experiences with at least 6 Kennedy pressure plates in the past. The Sachs brand Carey used was stuck in an open position. I would bet they are all being made in China. This is the type of thing Chinese made goods cause. My experience importing some limited items for my business from China, is a high rate of out of spec parts being shipped. This leads me to think they are incompetent and don't do a final inspection and or know the parts are bad and ship them anyway. What's worse, dealing with incompetence or dishonesty. I think it is both. I support getting away from Chinese imported goods soon as possible.

Chinese parts are built only as well as the company specifying them requires. Your cell phone or TV is a perfect example of what a Chinese factory is capable of, assuming the requirements laid on them are high enough.

I think the blame for worthless parts rests squarely on companies not holding the Asian (or Indian, or Mexican, or Eastern European, or American) factory to any acceptable standard. It's "Kennedy" or "Sachs" who sells the parts. Ultimately, the real blame rests with the end users who view the price of something as the only real standard of value, such that better quality parts cannot be found for any price.

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and those who considers price alone are that man’s lawful prey.

It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

― "The Common Law of Business Balance", John Ruskin

Last edited by Stan Galat

 

An engineer friend of mine worked for one of the giant companies of the tech industry for about 30 years.

He led a group of about 30 that was responsible for designing and having manufactured a small product about the size of a credit card. It was made in China, but my friend was responsible for the specs. All of them. He made frequent trips to China to meet with the factory to make sure everyone was on the same page. It was probably the biggest responsibility of his job.

He told me basically what Stan has said. The Chinese will build whatever you want them to, but are masters at finding the cheapest possible materials and techniques that just meet whatever spec you hold them to.

You want it not to melt when ambient temps reach 150 degrees? You want it not to bend when pressure drops to what it is in a commercial airliner at 30,000 feet? You want the alloy to be exactly the same composition as the sample you provided?

Were each of those requirements written into the spec?

If they weren't, it won't.

 

 

Stan Galat posted:

FWIW, as it pertains to VW parts-- I've bought nearly every single part on my personal transportation science project at least once, often twice, and sometimes three times... before I ended up ordering what I thought was ludicrously overpriced until that point.

I'm the very embodiment of the second paragraph.

I recently had to find a new dry sump size(5.25") pulley. The original pulley was a Bugpack, NLA.

Scat pulley: $40. OK but not the greatest construction. Cast aluminum but partly machine finished/polished. At least it has a steel sleeve on the hub where the seal rides. I got one, machinist screwed up. Tried to get another, on backorder for the foreseeable future. Guaranteed made in China and they need to order a batch.

JayCee pulley: $130. Could probably withstand a nuclear blast. Really nicely nitrided steel hub, hard anodized and milled aluminum pulley. Shoulda bought this first, but have both. One is a paperweight.

JayCee made my pushrod tubes, oil filter mount with pressure relief, and this pulley.

His parts are worth every blessed penny.

As Stan says, buy once, cry once.

When I did the Suby conversion in Bridget the car was out for the season. I almost had it running in late August, but turns out the head gaskets were NG all along, so I had to pull the engine and replace them. 

I can't remember if I got a Kennedy or a Sachs pressure plate. Think it's a Kennedy, because I think it came with the KEP adaptor. They ship their Stage 1 kit, as I recall, standard when you buy the Suby swap pack. 

But I didn't use their disc, opting instead for a custom made one from a Canadian outfit called Bully Clutch. I did it this way because Stroud recommended; I think he said his regular Beetle disc wore out in weeks and his Stage 1 disc chattered like hell no matter what he did.

The Bully disc is semi-metallic on one side and standard material on the other. The springs are larger than the HD Beetle stuff, but it's a full round disk instead of a starfish with pucks like most Stage X "race" clutches.

Works perfect.

The Bully disc was about $120 shipped, as opposed to maybe $35-$40 for a regular clutch disc. No regrets.

Let me try this again.

 Carey got the new HD Sachs Pressure plate installed and the engine back in the car. He was able to do the first shake down drive. He said the engine ran great and the coolant temp. stayed dead on 195F, The outside temp. was 90 plus deg. with 80 percent humidity. It stayed at 195 running or in traffic the fans came on as they should. He has a few little things he wants to address to make the car worthy to put his name on . I love his attention to detail and passion for this work. I am glad I had Special Edition to do this job. He sent a pic of my car when it returned from the drive. He wants to drive it up to 70 plus more miles before he will be happy. That is truly going the extra mile (sorry). Thanks Carey Mike and gang, you guys rock. It looks like I will be driving the up to get my baby  sometime next week. Hooray!

speedster conversion 76

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Last edited by Jimmy V.

In regard to what Stan covered in his post. I agree.

 Years back I was a sales rep. to the largest publishing company in the world. The purchasing agent asked me a question I had never been asked. He said, "Jimmy are you making enough money on the blades you supply me ? " At first I didn't know how to reply, I thought it was some type of trick question. He elaborated by saying. We need quality parts to keep our printing plants running smoothly, we also need our suppliers to stay in business to continue to supply these quality parts year after year. Hmmm... It changed the way I thought about everything in sales and in business. He actually cared about the success of our business. Sad thing is within the next 5 years the computer CD disc ended almost all printing of law books and encyclopedia's etc..  This one time world's largest printer of books is now in the computer software business...Anyway, You usually get what you pay for and there is no free ride.  What happened to business ethics? What would our country and our world be like if we practiced some basic moral ethical behavior in all we do.. Oh yea.. I saw a Unicorn this morning..

edsnova posted:

 

But I didn't use their disc, opting instead for a custom made one from a Canadian outfit called Bully Clutch. I did it this way because Stroud recommended; I think he said his regular Beetle disc wore out in weeks and his Stage 1 disc chattered like hell no matter what he did.

The Bully disc is semi-metallic on one side and standard material on the other. The springs are larger than the HD Beetle stuff, but it's a full round disk instead of a starfish with pucks like most Stage X "race" clutches.

Works perfect.

The Bully disc was about $120 shipped, as opposed to maybe $35-$40 for a regular clutch disc. No regrets.

10-4 on the clutch info, Ed. Mine still runs perfectly. Smooth and straight. I still run the Kennedy pressure plate and it seems fine with the Bully disc. Custom made for me, they called it a stage 1.5 for my application. The beetle disc didn't last at all while the beetle tranny did fine till I got all of that made HD later for the Frankenmotor. 

I stand by what you say about the Bully Clutch for a Soob conversion. Works very well in all conditions. ottawaclutch.ca . I was very surprised to see some of the range of stuff they do. Elevator brakes, old tractor clutch discs etc. They re-shooed a set of old Piper Cub brake shoes  for me ( 4 ea. ) for $80. It's a kind of a ...hey no surprise here, we're a can do it all shop and at nice prices with quick turnaround. 

An older gent came in with a huge clutch disc and stood beside me while I paid. I asked what it was off and he said some kind of old Allis Chalmers tractor that gave out right in haying season.  Haying season, the shop owner said and told the Farmer to wait one hour and take it rebuilt back with him. 

Carey just sent me a new Video of my conversion in its very near state of completion. He is thinking it will be finished this week. I am dog gone excited. They have done an amazing amount of work to accomplish this custom conversion. He has not converted a Fiberfab/CMC style Speedster before this, much of what he thought might work out the same as installing a SUBY engine in a Beck turned out to be different. They engineered it as they went and never once did I hear a bit of frustration or worry. Carey tells me he still has a few things to sort out and finish, but we sure are darn close. Thanks for all the well wishes and positive comments from my fellow Speedster owners. Enjoy the video.

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Speedster Subaru Conversion finished walk around
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