Speedster build now finished

Nice!

Beautifully finished Speedster. Congratulations and enjoy the drive.

Very nice.  How long did it take you from start to finish?

Impressive.

That is a very nice, classy build.

Kudos to you!

Great job. You made some good choices!

Loving that steering wheel.

Nicely done, as are the pictures.

Spectacular car - love the attention to detail, and beautifully photographed!

Looks great!  And 36mm Del's- great fit for a 1641.

Looking forward to seeing the hardtop, tell me about it

@pkdfw posted:

Very nice.  How long did it take you from start to finish?

Thanks, my build took me 18 months, but I had a day job then, now retired, so more time to tinker and enjoy, cheers

@WNGD posted:

Looking forward to seeing the hardtop, tell me about it

The gelcoated fiberglass hardtop came from Speedster Clinic, same kit supplier as the body, but unfortunately it didnt fit too well , so had to do a bit of cutting and glassing to get the fit and shape better. It now fits great and has been painted, so that let me finally fit and latch it to the car. I'm now working on the side pop out windows, hinges and playing about with different seals to see what works best. The rear screen is also finished ready to install after i fit the headiner. I still have the door windows to make, but hopefully in three or four weeks it should be done, cheers.

Thanks everyone for all the great comments they're much appreciated. I've looked at all your cars over the last two years and that's kept me going and given me some good ideas 💡,  cheers

Love the hardtop, cheers

I didn't think it was possible to like your speedster anymore, until I saw your hard top pics.  Very impressive.  I'm in love.

@Spadders Nicely done! The hard top you are putting together will be the cherry on top! Thanks for sharing these cool pics.

The quarter windows really add to outward visibility and safety - more so than the soft top.

I managed a couple of hours on the hardtop pop out windows today, and got seals to try and replicate the original as much as possible. I've still to trim them once I make the door windows, but I think they'll look OK and still hopefully seal, cheers

Beautiful build; aligns with my taste. Dells are great carbs by the way.

Hi everyone,

• Wee update on my hardtop. I got my headliner material and listings stitched up to my sizes by my local trimmer and she did a great job, so onto making the bows and holders. The bows are from 4mm stainless rod bent to shape, and the holders are small aluminium blocks with 5mm holes drilled partway into them glued to the inside edge of the hardtop. I glued these, one bow at a time to ensure the headlining was tight front to back. I also wanted something to help fix the headliner at the front, to give me a return edge so to speak. So I used 10mm×10mm plastic angle bent to shape using a heat gun and glued across the front. This also helps hold the rubber seal to the windscreen frame in place. I wasn't looking forward to stretching and glueing the headliner in place, but it went well, so now it's just the windows to refit and she's done. Well nearly, I've the door windows still to make,  but have everything here for them, cheers

Brilliant!

That looks totally pro!

Nice build. Well done.

Hi guy's, I've finished off the hardtop now. Side windows all done and it's all bolted and latched to the body. The only thing is, I don't want to take her out in the rain to check for leaks 🤣🤣🤣 I'll hopefully get a run this week to see what it's like compared to the softop 😃

Wow!  Very, very nice.

Beautiful. Very nice work!

That is so nicely done!  Very clean work.

Very nicely done and good attention to finish and detail. You'll enjoy the extra headroom but it will be a bit noisier. I did one, not as nice as yours and really enjoyed it.

Now all that’s left is putting the steering wheel on the correct side.

I joke.

Amazing work!  

Dang.

You sir, are the man.

Thanks everyone for the likes and great comments 😀 it's  much appreciated. I really enjoyed the extra challenge of building the hardtop, and I managed out today for the first run with the hardtop fitted and I have to say, it totally transforms the car, with it now being snug and cozy, but alas devoid of the sounds and smells you get with open top motoring. So I suppose the question is, was it worth the extra cost and effort? For me totally yes, as here, in sometimes sunny 🤣 Scotland it'll allow me to use the car more as there's now even a good storage space behind the seats with not having a softop and frame fitted. But I think the hardtop will always be second choice 😃😃 as a Speedster should be topless. Here's a few photo's today from sunny Scotland 😂😂😂 cheers

That looks brilliant!

There are a few different Speedster hard tops out there.  I see one once in a great while at local car shows and such, but again, very few and some of them look like they were adapted from some other car in that the lines don't quite seem to match.

Your top looks damn near perfect.  Plenty of glass area, minimal blind spots and the lines just flow as they should.  I attribute that to your attention to details because you haven't missed a trick.  VERY well done @Spadders !

@Gordon Nichols posted:

There are a few different Speedster hard tops out there.  I see one once in a great while at local car shows and such, but again, very few and some of them look like they were adapted from some other car in that the lines don't quite seem to match.

Your top looks damn near perfect.  Plenty of glass area, minimal blind spots and the lines just flow as they should.  I attribute that to your attention to details because you haven't missed a trick.  VERY well done @Spadders !

Thank you Gordon for taking the time to pen these kind words 🫡 My attention to detail is sometimes (mostly) a curse. It started in my early teens building and flying RC Scale aircraft which I still do. It was then compounded by employment in the aviation industry, gaining my pilots license, moving onto quality, engineering, tooling and finally being a specialist, so I am what I am and have learned to live with the illness 🤣 I'm just a guy working in his garage with an overbearing compulsion to measure 30 times and cut once, then cut it again because its still too big 😂 Things probably take me longer than most people as there's a lot of thinking beforehand 🤔 but I get there, and it's just my time. This is actually my fifth kit car build, but it will be my last kit. I also have a restored 1974 Porsche 914, and a 1969 Lotus Elan DHC which is next in line for restoration by myself, so plenty to still keep me busy. Now hoping for a great summer and a few car shows to visit and enjoy, cheers.

Let's just say it plainly: Mr. Spadders here is a consummate car guy. And if he's all about building and flying airplanes, I'd say attention to detail is just the guy I want on the team.  As others have said here many a time, this guy has Mad Skilz!!. Fit and finish often spells the difference between a good car and a great one; this one is superb.  Just awesome.  If I could mirror image the photos, then I'd have a car I could drive.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

There are a few different Speedster hard tops out there.  I see one once in a great while at local car shows and such, but again, very few and some of them look like they were adapted from some other car in that the lines don't quite seem to match.

Your top looks damn near perfect.  Plenty of glass area, minimal blind spots and the lines just flow as they should.  I attribute that to your attention to details because you haven't missed a trick.  VERY well done @Spadders !

Totally agreed. It looks PERFECT!

First- looking good!

I'm not a hard top fan on Speedsters, but yours looks right (too many of them look like a bubble plopped on top) and fits the lines of the car.  Have you thought of detailing the wheels so they look more Porsche-like?  They'll go from this-

to this-

Thanks @MusbJim for the pics.

Master Spadders: Thank you for the pictures.  As peviously posted, the hardtop is well done, but so is the rest of the car!  The pictures are a testament to your craftsmanship and attention to detail.  Good on you.  You've raised the bar a bunch of levels.