More rivets. The interior aluminum is now done. Also dry-fit the pedals one last time to make sure it all fits. Propped up the Empi gas pedal as a possible dead pedal but I don't think so. The dipper switch works good.
All the bulkhead-to-frame tube plates are done now, including those in the footwells. Rivets on rivets, but they look cool. Unlike that Empi gas pedal/footrest.
Yesterday I spent time fiddling with the fuel filler.
Sits a little low so I shimmed up the whole tank. But I didn't like that so I made a 3/16th steel flange for my buddy to weld to the top of the tank over the sheet metal he spent a lot of time welding earlier.
Also test fit the headlight buckets. I'll be damned! They fit nice. 
Ordered some H4 halogens to fit in them.
Also today I got my rear latch cover plates:
One I locate those I'll be all-but-done with the drilling of the holes on this car. After these it's down to the license light, switches and emblems.
Speaking of switches...
This is next. The car's pre-wired but two of those already-wired switches are marked "lights." An adventure, this is.
Please..... No EMPI dead pedal. 
Empi dead pedals
Why don't you try one of my folding foot pegs ? It's out of the way when not needed.
I'll sort out the dead pedal later, guys. Thanks.
A dead pedal that is fabbed up by you to match what you already have is the only way to fly.
Car is looking good. Coming together nicely.
I totally agree with Gandalf. Home Brew something cool.
Bruce, that's a very clever design. Simple and totally does the job.
I see Ed doing something more in the "Steam Punk" vein - Something that will take, surprisingly, HOURS to complete. Kind of like my hand-tooled, polished Stainless Steel, driving light brackets that took about a day each:
Didn't work on her the last couple days. Power outage Friday afternoon lasted until noon today, and had to do some maintenance on the wife's DD.
Did get the fuel tank back to the welder with instructions on how to get the flange on it. Also roughed-in those rear latch covers.
Guys, I'm looking for the door striker bolts now. I don't seem to have any in my boxes of parts & still not exactly sure where the correct part is from. Seems to be a single bolt, about 1/2-inch thick, with washer. Any help appreciated.
Trying to make proper clam stay now.
Gonna do it again tomorrow out of pressboard and make the frame side mount for it too, then adjust before doing it in aluminum. If there's any interest, I may produce a scale drawing of these parts as well when I'm done.
I also knocked-out the brake cooling ducts today because, well, why not?
Somebody asked me a while back what-all my spare-tire carrier frame weighs. The answer is 8 pounds, three ounces. With fasteners we'll call it eight-and-a-half.
And that includes the bracket for the clam stand-off.
@edsnova Very cool! Thanks for sharing all these progress pics, Ed! Very informative. 
edsnova....Very good pattern and prototyping ! I appreciate the time you are taking to photo your projects and progress. Makes for interesting reading and looking at the details.....Bruce
I'll be filing today in the hope that this first try will actually work. So far it looks good.
If it does work I'll trace everything onto paper and include measurements so future builders can just cut them out or, better yet, have someone do it for them on a waterjet.
Wow! That is amazing craftsmanship!!
Drawing's available to SOC members.
Drawing's what? 
Drawings of the rear clamshell holder-opener-thingy. Not applicable to you Speedster peeps.
I definitely need to make one of those. Drawings would be awesome.
PM'd.
The speedster ones are still available commercially.
Carey makes these now as well.
I've always thought those latching hinges were pretty slick.
It's amazing, Ed, that you were able to cut out some simple shapes, put them together, and actually make them work as intended.
The thought that went into the original design is impressive. How did they come up with something like that out of thin air? How many other builders would have bothered? I guess the hinges are a tiny example of the design principles at work throughout the whole car - how to do more with less.
Keep up the good work. Your detailed progress reports are revealing parts of that design that many of us would otherwise never get to see.
Thanks, Mitch.
Here's the Beck part, which (last I checked) was a $350 option on your build, $250 out the door. It's a beefier part and a stronger design than mine (albeit not-quite-period-correct), with a couple pounds weight penalty. If I had a job I'd probably have bought it rather than spending the 13 or so hours copying the original part, enjoyable though they were. It helped too that I already had the perfect piece of 1/4-inch thick aluminum plate and a big sheet of 1/16 stainless just loitering around the scrap pile, so my material cost is only about $4 in fasteners. Your mileage may vary.
Yeah, that's the one I have on the new car. It really looks the part, and yes, it's steel. It isn't that heavy, though. It is VERY cool you made yours from aluminum. And by hand no less!
I painted mine with hammered silver, to look more vintage. I really like the way all the parts look with that finish on them.
I drilled an extra hole in mine for a lock pin I keep in the driver's door. I worry that one day at a car show the wind will hit it just right and lift it up enough then SLAM down it goes. Or somebody will lean on the clam and mistakenly push it up, then SLAM! So now I don't worry at all, just slip the hitch pin in and lock the bail.
Interesting, given the pic shows a bolt through it. He must've added that after you got yours.
I had the same concern; added the lock pin to mine the other day. Re-used the chains that came on the door handles Carey sent me. I'll probably rivet the chain end in next to the clam stay, and drop the pin in one of the spare tire mount lightening holes for storage. Then it's right there when I pop the clam open.
BTW, here's what's next:
Nice, I have some of that too but never installed it. I think I have 6 feet or so, but it's used so not all pretty like yours. I was going to attach it to my trailer hitch for when I flat tow the Spyder, but never did.
Good luck installing that around the suspension, it looked like too much of a PIA to me. Are you doing the full engine undertray as well????
I plan to make an undertray but that job really is for after the wiring and plumbing and painting is done. Brush guards are installed. Clam latches and cable remote too, but the passenger side is sticking open. Could you (Danny) send me that pic of your double-spring rig again?
Clam lid now latches tight and unlatches with the flip of a lever. We're getting down to brass tacks.
Looking good Ed.
Been away from the project for a few days. Itching to get back into it. Updates soon...
Back at it today. I made the throttle linkage that goes on the firewall (changes direction of the cable-pull and makes it a "push," per the original). Also put a throttle stop in my gas pedal rig. And I cut out a set of seatbelt mounting tabs to weld in to the chassis.
Got my seat belt anchors welded in today.
Also roughed-in the two main hard fuel lines, including (of course!) the period-correct Italian-made glass bowl fuel filter/pressure regulator (apologies to Stan).
Wow Ed, "U Da Man" some awesome work you've been doing.
Pete
Thanks, Pete.
Oh yeah, we're into the fun stuff now.
...apparently the above is wrong because there is no "bubble adaptor" on the clutch mater cylinder. Two such adaptors were supposed to be supplied "with the kit," according to the build manual, but none were.
Anyway, I am enjoying learning the finer points of SAE/NPT vs Metric flare standards...Anyone wanting to accelerate my learning curve, I'm all ears.
No matter what you have , how much you have .....you never ever have the right fitting...It's called Ed's Law :~)
Wilwood uses 1/8" -27 for all their stuff. So you need a metric female(10mm x 1.0 I think) to male 1/8 pipe thread adapter.
If you do the AN flex hoses, they are AN-3 usually and they have adapters on the ends. Some guys will tell you that they must be done with no adapters but they work fine. You can get hoses in any length you need, I used Pegasus Racing. They also have any adapter you could possibly want. Pipe thread, male/female, bubble, 45s, 90s, banjo ends, all of it.
I cheated. I used a guy in town that had all of the stuff needed to make any connection you had and he did it for a living. Same guy that did "Tubes and Hoses". Ask the NAPA guys - they'll probably know of a shop near you.
Thanks, all. I flared a bunch myself today and roughed-in all the hydraulics. 
I found one adaptor in the coffee can fulla brass junk I bought from Merklin last year, and maybe that was all I needed.
Then again...we'll see when I fill the clutch reservoir and try to bleed it, I guess.
Just make sure your brake pressure switch for the brake lights is screwed into the proper port, and that one of the front wheel lines ISN'T in the switch port!
Oh yeah, and install two switches(and make the wires long enough to reach either), because it isn't a matter of if it will fail, it's when.
Ah... Good point. TR Manuel says block the front top port but of course that's the second front brake line port, isn't it? And the two midline ones are for two brake light senders.
Keep those advisories coming, gentlemen.
The brake line ports are larger, the pressure switch ones are tiny. Look at it, you'll see what I mean. Been there, done it wrong, went back and fixed it!
As a man, I seldom consult the instruction manual, and here's Exhibit A as to why!
Whelp, the ports in this MC all appear identical. Mine has the number 113611015BD cast into it and the words "USE THIS" sharpied on the other side. Looks like this one, which is a 20.6mm 4-wheel disc conversion MC.
Think I'll move that left front wheel line to the top port, screw signal switches in the middle ports and call it good for testing.
UPDATE: on closer inspection, three of the five ports appear to be restricted: down inside the small hole you can see there's a smaller hole.
So the bottom ports, front and back, are "large" (unrestricted) while both middle ports and the front top port have the smaller holes.
I have seen photos of VW MCs rigged up all over the internet and I don't think I've ever seen a T fitting on front brakes. Always two ports. But if my MC is typical, always one of those ports would be flowing about 1/3 what the other flows.
UNLESS the large ports on the bottom are exclusively for the switch?
Man, I'm dumb.
Here are some crappy shots of my MC.
you mounted it sideways! I didn't even know you could do that.
Thanks.
Next order of business: Those with the Fibersteel (or similar) original 550-style E-brake: how do you route your cables and/or through what and/or what is the cable pn?
Just got out the cables from the kit and I believe they are standard swing axle bug cables. They fit the brakes neatly but appear on the short side. Do you-all have extenders? What's the end hardware that interfaces with the stick?
More significant: most of the cable is unsheathed. There's no way to get from the brakes to the firewall with the sheathed part, so the cables would tend to saw through whatever you routed them through.
Looks like the way forward is to get a 1/2-inch steel pipe or tube (conduit, maybe?), Y it into the firewall and extend it to the flexible sheath in such a way that it won't interfere with the engine/exhaust, etc.
But before I start, I'd love to see how some of you have yours routed. This is particularly true if I'm thinking wrong.
I didn't mount anything, it came like that. But, it does make it easier to replace the brake light switch when it does fail. I didn't have to rebleed the system when I replaced mine. I did add a few drops of fluid to the hole and I prewet the business end of the switch before I installed it though.
My E-brake cables run through two steel tubes from the cockpit, through the firewall then left and right along the firewall, then they turn down the frame towards the brakes. I can send pictures, but If your trying to duplicate what they did back in the day, it might be better to find some vintage shots.
"Looks like the way forward is to get a 1/2-inch steel pipe or tube"
Maybe 3/8" steel brake line from NAPA? Easy to bend and easy to weld.
Thanks Carlos and Gordon. Def would like to see pics.
So I found the threaded rod that came with the e-brake handle; shortness of cables is not longer an issue.
In the box was also a piece of steel pipe that just fits over the flange ends of the cable sheathes. I already cut a little off to make something or other, but it looks like easy to find stuff. Harder to bend than 3/8 brake line though; hoping I won't have to bend much.
I've used 3/8" steel tube from Lowe's etc. when I needed to replace cable tubes
You know........Every day is like Christmas at Ed's shop with all of the stuff he keeps finding.
This is what my car looks like. It's a coil spring instead of a torsion spring like yours, so I have a little more room in that area. You also have more of a fiberglass shelf than I do. My rear hydro brake lines also "T" at the firewall, which I think is typical.
I would like to redo my fuel line situation in the near future. Lessen some of the rubber hose. I also prefer the spring clamp versus the worm drive clamps. I also need to shield my clutch hydro line in a spot where it gets pretty close to the exhaust.
Where the two tubes come through the firewall, I would've liked them to have been stacked vertically instead of side by side, and a little closer to the center of the car. This would make for a little more clearance with my passenger seat.
When I bolted the rear of my seats to the floor, and tilted them back, I had to make a metal shield so the turnbuckle on the cable adjusters wouldn't tear up the leather on the seat. This might be a point of interest for you since you have the opportunity to correct this, if it applies to your seating situation.
I think your seats will be farther off of the floor than mine are, so you might not even have an issue.
HUGELY HELPFUL! Thanks. This is just about what I was thinking, but getting confirmation makes it a lot easier to proceed.
Ed, I believe the ports you want to use are lined up with the fluid input ports and 90 degrees to them. The ones at a 45 degree angle are for the brake switch or switches. I think one of mine is plugged and I only have one switch.
With respect to the rear e brake tubes, mild steel is fine. You can bend it quite easily if you heat it to a warm red with a MAPP torch and bend very slowly along as you move the heat. Heat the inside of the curve more than the out. MAPP gets hotter than straight propane. I hope these pics help, I don't have a good one of my MC.
Fuel lines are on the bottom, then the clutch line, the ebrake tubes, then the brake T on top above the shifter cables. You can see the metal fuel lines going up the firewall with my backwards Ford filters(with nitrile condoms!). Like Carlos, I prefer minimal hose(German woven cloth) and I used the spring clamps. Not a single worm clamp in the fuel system.
I made a T from aluminum for the Ebrake and welded some 1/4-20 nuts to the tube on both ends. It works well, keeps it low and away from the seat.
In the last picture you can see the aluminum angle I used to lift the front of the seats up.
Also very helpful, thanks. I can see your seat belt anchors are about like what I made too.
Again, I say: seeing these details on other cars—cars I know are done well and that work—means the world to me.
E-brake tubes are bent and welded in with brackets. Wrecked my new clutch line with the big drill whilst doing this but I have another long line to pop in there.
Are you getting better than me at welding yet?
Of course, Marty Feldman in "Young Frankenstein" was a better welder than me, too.
I'm just giving you encouragement, here.........
I don't know if I'm better than you, Gordon, but I'm def. better than me a year ago.
My buddy-who-welds-all-day-for-a-living's due in the shop in the next few weeks to use the lift and I'm going to show him my seat belt anchors first. I'll let you all know if he laughs and redoes them. 
Looks good Ed, but your tube bends would look nice and smooth with some heat....
edsnova posted:I don't know if I'm better than you, Gordon, but I'm def. better than me a year ago.
My buddy-who-welds-all-day-for-a-living's due in the shop in the next few weeks to use the lift and I'm going to show him my seat belt anchors first. I'll let you all know if he laughs and redoes them.
That's why the "grinder" was invented!
Even better than the grinder is to massage MIG welds afterwards with an Oxy-Acetylene torch to smooth the welds out. You can tell the difference between smoothed and well-done welds in the first place, but they definitely look nicer!
Truth be told, I'm not really as bad a welder as I make myself out to be.
I'M WORSE! 
E-brake is in with cables and tested. It pulls 'em. Will need a little fettling still but it's basically ready for grease and final install.
Throttle cable comes in a few days. Also battery cable. I'm going to try and tighten up all my fluid lines and test my flares and stuff ahead of that.
From there we're into wiring and final body prep and paint.
Still awaiting delivery of the upholstery material, however.
DannyP posted:Looks good Ed, but your tube bends would look nice and smooth with some heat....
Agreed. I'm hoping those dented tubes aren't a deal breaker when the for-sale sign goes up.
"Agreed. I'm hoping those dented tubes aren't a deal breaker when the for-sale sign goes up. "
WHAT?!
Top of page 10 Lane....
edsnova posted:DannyP posted:Looks good Ed, but your tube bends would look nice and smooth with some heat....
Agreed. I'm hoping those dented tubes aren't a deal breaker when the for-sale sign goes up.
Taking a lesson from Dr Clock et al...
DannyP posted:Top of page 10 Lane....
Danny: I don't Lane was referring to the bent tubes, rather the 'for sale' comment.
Ed's reason for building this has been to sell it. That and gain some knowledge along the way about building Spyders.
Aw hell. 😡
i figured this work of art was going to be a permanent fixture.
As much as I would love to own a Spyder AND Bridget, this car was bought to build and sell. It's a beta test for a Merklin-like side business I conceived when I still had a regular job (and when Alan was about to be "retired" and we know how that turned out).
It's also a beta test for a lot of my own personal theories about how true-to-Wendler a Beck-design Spyder replica can be made to look and feel (by a guy who doesn't actually know what he's doing).
Turns out, these two beta tests are in conflict, as Alan warned me they'd be.
If I were smart, and had followed Alan's advice, I'd have done a simple, clean build, finished by mid November or early December, titled, registered and sorted it, and have it listed already at a decent price that would net me a decent profit for my hours. But no.
I wanted to make a special car.
And so here we are. You can call me "Special Ed."
At this point I think (pending upholstery) it will be done in late spring and listed after that, after peak season, at a somewhat-higher price than would have been possible without all the detail work and rivets. And at that point we'll probably see how right Alan was.
Meantime, though, I'm enjoying myself quite well.
Today I finished off the E-brakes, then took them apart. Then I finished (again) the clutch line, tightened-up the fittings, filled the MC, bled and tested. And it works.
Which means my flaring skills might just be OK after all. (Just like my flux-core welding skills).
Checked the shifter and managed to get all 4 gears and reverse, so after I drill just a couple more mounting holes to keep it all solid (and fiddle a bit with the reverse lock-out), that's coming out as well for prep and paint.
In non-Spyder news, I also arranged today an editing gig for Friday—$250 for six hours—and applied for (yet another) tech writing job.
Rest of today will be on little stuff. Like, the front brake hoses need a wider groove at the inside fitting in order to work with the stock retaining clips. It's either that or grind off the powder coat off the frame under there, and I ain't doing that anywhere I don't need to.
Little stuff like that eats up a lot of hours. I mean, I could skip it, probably, and get away with that. But nah.
And that's why I'm serious when I say "dented tubes...hopefully not a deal breaker." I've made a lot of little mistakes on this car. Just like any builder on any car. And after a while on a build you can lose sight of whether a given glitch is a super important, glaring blunder that will make people point and laugh,* or is something that literally no one will ever notice.
My usual motto, "good enough for who it's for," is not applicable. Which is why I want everyone here to mix in a little vicious honesty with your applause.
Thank you.
*Some may recall a surly dude who bragged all over the site about his Speedster build and engine building prowess, who shimmed his windshield in with I-can't-even-remember-what, and then showed-off his handiwork to all of us.
Update:
Ed, I’ve heard Carey complain about how hard it is to find skilled folks with a good work ethic. Ever thought about moving to northern Indiana? 😬
I consider that a mighty nice compliment, Lane, but no. My wife and I already live a bit too far from her job, and Indiana is way the wrong way for her commute to work.
Special Ed wrote " And after a while on a build you can lose sight of whether a given glitch is a super important, glaring blunder that will make people point and laugh,* or is something that literally no one will ever notice."
That must have been the philosophy of "Horst" and "Gunter" at the Porsche factory when building the Pre-A 356s. Especially how the front fenders aren't exactly mirror images (neither are the doors) and how the hood handle is 1/4" off-center on a large percentage of the cars. Maybe Horst and Gunter had eyes like Marty Feldman...
* You're 'special', Ed, because when you do something you do it as if someone cared. "Texas George"? He didn't have a clue about anything like that.
"Horst and Gunter" had liberal access to beer during breaks and lunch..... Some of those breaks went 30 min. , and lunch often went 2 hrs. German National Standard.??
Little stuff today: Tapped another hole in the floor to make the e-brake handle stay put, re-routed the shifter cables a bit to make room for the engine, dry-fit the accelerator cable, made brackets and stuff for the brake and clutch lines and mounted the Accusump. I also made a plate to mount the seat heater switches behind the shifter.
It's all starting to look pretty tidy and reasonable on the firewall and on the floor of the tub. I still have to make a few tabs for the wiring harness and the fuel line, plus some reservoir mounts in the frunk, but this is all fun stuff.
The bad news: The lift is leaking at the main seal. Dang.
Somehow, I don't think James Dean would approve......
But then again, he just might!
Great stuff again Ed. It could be a challenge to get your motor in/out with the clamshell seats you made. I have taken mine out twice now and there’s really only about a 1/4” clearance from the top of the fire wall if like me you take it out separate from the trans.
Pete
Gordon Nichols posted:"Seat Heater Switches"?!?!?!?!?
Somehow, I don't think James Dean would approve......
But then again, he just might!
He would be 87 years old and whole heartedly agree that seat heaters make the back feel a little better at that age.
-=theron
@Theron I had them installed and love it. Nice addition. Next would be the wind breaker behind the seats 👍. I think James Dean won’t like that either not a good match with the hair style 😎
Speaking of wind breakers. Who has one attached to their roll bar in a Speedster ? I'm working on a roll bar now and am thinking about welding on tabs for one before I get it powder coated. Photo's would be nice..............Bruce
I have one. I'll try to find photos. Mine is a CMC rollbar that was already painted and installed so and I used the window channel used in a car door to let the glass ride in it going up and down. It is notched and flexible enough to bend around the top corners of the roll bar/glass and gives it a finished look. Used the same stuff on the bottom and simply drilled and tapped the rollbar for screws to hold everything together. Got it at a glass place that does auto glass. Works great.
calmotion posted:@Theron I had them installed and love it. Nice addition. Next would be the wind breaker behind the seats 👍. I think James Dean won’t like that either not a good match with the hair style 😎
I have them too. I don't give a whit what Dean would have thought. Unlike some Spyder guys, I dislike the association.
Ed, keep on trucking.
I hear you on the engine-in/out, Pete. Plan to do initial install with the transaxle attached, but I may swing the lump over the back of the car first just to see if it's possible to put it in alone with those clam pin receivers there.
Well here's another pointless thing I'm making which is ruining expensive tools.
Anyone recognize this part?
Ed:
Winston Churchill once visited a manufacturing plant entrusted with producing war goods during the start of WWII, and seeing the ability of the workers, wryly commented, (in opposition to the normal phrase):
'Give us the job, and we will finish the tools'.
If I'm not mistaken, Ed, that's the drilled aluminum bracket that was used on the 550 to support the 'For Sale' sign.
Hood hinge?
Bruce! I sent you a PM with DIY instructions for fitting a rear windblocker in a rollbar.
Oh.....It's the Great Big "V" thingie!
I shoulda reconized it right off.....
I know, right? Who on Planet Earth is unfamiliar with this iconic component?
