Report on 400 mile Vintage Speedster trip

Hello all---I just got home after buying my new Vintage Speedstaer in Monroe, LA. Beautiful cream car with so many wonderful extras---it's still on Ebay as "besutiful Speedster recreation" as of a few minutes ago.

It truly is beautiful with kids, grown ups and almost all bikers waving enthusiastically. Good lookiing to the max with only 650 miles on it.

BUT:

The ride up to 65 was ok---and under 50 was smmoth. I had a long trip to make home so I was pushing it to 70 beut at 70 the ride was pretty poor. Not anything like a shilly, but I would describe it as a hopping feeling---bumpy ride ---very shakey ride at anything over 63. Pretty disappointing. I'll have the wheels balanced tomorrow and hope that sorts it out. Any ideas from any of you folks? Do these cars just have a crappy ride? VWs I have owned never demonstrated such a ride.

Next:

There is a pretty loud rattle at the passenger's door----the seller pointed this out to me---although it was quite obvious without the seller having to show it to me!!. It seemed to get louder as my trip progressed---like all rattles---right? I couldn't make the door noise stop by recaching over and pulling or pushing on the door. It was just the same. Then I opened the door while goung 40 mph and the rattle was clearly NOT in the door---it was below the door in the body of the car. Maybe just below the door or maybe inboard some. It seemed like fiberglass parts bumping together.I'll see what I can locate tomorrow but would appreciate any comments before I start poking around.

Thanks to all of you on this great site willing to help the rest of us!


Jack Crosby---Hot Springs, AR

Jack:

Start with getting your wheels balanced and see what happens. These cars are so light that even a little imbalance can seemed magnified, especially if you're running oversized wheels and tires (anything larger than 185R16 is "oversized"). John Hallstrand had the same problem last Summer - Rode sort-of OK up to about 70, then all hell broke loose. He got the wheels balanced and I remember that it improved a lot.

I have a similar "creak" between two pieces of fiberglass in my CMC body. There seems to be a place about mid-door-opening, but just below the sill, where a couple of glass pieces seem to be rubbing togther. Not all the time, but in certain weather and if I haven't driven it in a while. I got desperate once and blasted everything under there with Silicon spray to no avail, but shortly thereafter it went away so I got complacent. You might try getting it up on jacks or a lift and looking under there for something obvious, and then see if you can either slip something between the pieces (a thin piece of Teflon might work) or shoot some grease in where it'll do some good.

Good luck!!

Gordon

Make sure that your tires aren't inflated too high. 32psi is too much for these light weight cars. Better around 20/23psi in the front and 23-28psi in the rear.

Jack -

Glad to hear you had a fairly uneventful trip home with your new toy - was that FUN or WHAT?!

BTW - bad shocks (worn-out) also magnify the shimmy/hopping of a tire out of balance.

Have fun with the car - did I already say "Welcome to the Madness"?!

Peace - Out!

Congrats on the new purchase Jack; my VS has that same rattling sound ever since I got it new and just like Gord's it seems to be coming from the passenger side door area. I've tried looking for loose stuff but to no avail so I don't mind it any more and just enjoy it for what it is. With respect to the car's ride; get the car aligned and the wheels balanced. Also, make sure you have your front anti-sway bar on. My car didn't have any as it came new from VS's shop and the front end felt like it wanted to take flight whenever the car gained speed. I installed a heavy duty aftermarket unit from Bugpack and that feeling went away; maybe there's some of that going on in your car. Also, as Terry so rightly said; the tire pressure should be quite low as compared to other cars; 22 psi is the recommended pressure in the VS Owner's Manual.

Om My VS I added the (p) door sills that have a rubber seal across the bottom, I also added a rubber seal up the jam. No rattles

I also have but did not use the U shaped rubbers and stops like (p) puts on the doors. But sence its fine I never added them (from Tweeks)

Worry about Your tires for flat spots from setting and front beam .

The door rattle can be fixed one way or another and pretty cheaply.


If your beam is to stiff or frozen that could be a problem.


But at least you got home with it. Congrats!

Grease the front end and drive it. If it frees up youll know it. Oh and yes lower the tire pressure.

Jack--Congratulations on the new car! I hope you love yours as much as I do. I have the same creak on the right side of my '02 Vintage wide body. Can't really find it to fix it, so I am learning to live with it for now. Ditto on the tire pressure recommendations. I drove mine from Chicago to Detroit when I bought it--not the greatest ride in world above 70 mph.

Congrats on the new ride Jack - Enjoy it!
I'm a new owner myself and I took my car into NYC this past weekend,talk about dodging pot holes! Some of them could have swallowed my car whole.
I have the same feeling once I get over 70mph. Definately makes you sit up and focus on the driving :)
I'm gonna look into a front sway bar from Bugpack and check my tire pressure.

i'll just jump in here on the tire pressure, since i'm a VW guy, and played alot with bugs (have one now) i've come to realize over the years that the tire, actually plays half of the role of the suspension. The stock bug tire pressures reccommended are 16psi front, 26psi rear for the city, and 18psi front, and 28psi(i think) rear for highway/loaded conditions. And on a speedster which is much lighter, you could eaisly run 16psi in the front on the highway. For years i ran 30psi all round, and allways wondered why my bug was killing my kidney's!!! Then i actually read the owners manual (amazing how much you learn from that!!!) and tried the reccommended tire pressures and the difference was night and day. Most of ride harshness can be attributed to worn suspension, espically shocks, and inbalanced tires. Actually 9 out of 10 vibrations are caused by tires, sometimes you can have your tires balanced and they still shake, most likely a bum tire, you can sometimes resolve even a bum tire by flipping it 180 DEG on the rim and re-balance.

Another thing to look at for creaks, and moans in the body's, alot of builders use urethane rubber parts instead of the original rubber ones that are OE for VW, but those urethane parts need a special synthetic lubricant so they stop creaking, and the sound they make; you would not ever think it is comming from them!!!! The ones that are most noisy are the rear spring plate bushings, and sway bar mounts/bushings made from urethane (usually red). If WD-40 spells temporary relif of the noise then synthetic grease is in order. The only issue is the rear spring plate ones, you have to take off the spring plate to get at it, and they typically present the noise when going very slow (as in going up your driveway) and hitting a bump on an angle, twisting the car and usually where i've noticed the most pronounced noises.

Jack; your speedy should ride smooth at all speeds or there is an issue. I've gone 100mph in my stock bug, and other than being past red line on the tach rpm's the car was very smooth and stable (but it is lowered, 5.5" porsche 914 2.0L alloy's, 185/65/15's) and even with my stock tires/rims the ride was the same. My speedy is super smooth at any speed the motor is able to push it at!!! Check your balljoints, tierods, steering box (for play) and the steering damper for good tight operation.

martin

Jack - Martin knows of what he speaks. I'm sure many SOC'ers will agree with his suggestions (particularly of the rough ride on wrong tire pressures).

Either way, remember that in these cars - the journey IS the adventure! Once you get it all sorted out - you'll have more fun than humans are allowed to have!

Peace - Out!

Martin---good info and thanks to all who chimed in with some very smart thoughts.

This car has just 700 miles on it so it is brand new. Wouldn't it be damned near perfect or is it still an unfinished kit until I myself get it sorted out?


Jack---Hot Springs

At 700 miles you have barely enough to uncover the sorting issues, much less solve them. I've had mine a year now, and have close to 5000 miles, and there are still a couple of things I want to address. Don't let this dishearten you. Every time you fix something, the drive gets better and better. You find yourself looking for things to tweak just to get the feeling of satisfaction you experience when you fix something and then drive an improved car.

Jack,

i got my speedster (cmc built in 97') in dec 2006, and i spent the winter sorting the entire car out. It had 1700mi on the clock and was sitting in a guys living room all this time when the next owner bought it, but it would die after 5 mins of running, so he barley put any miles on it. Long story short, i STOLE the car, i could'nt pass the deal up, and it really only needed a set of points, a float in the one carb (dual dellorto's 36's), and a coil (to replace the domestic one installed when trying to diagnose the engine which had a cracked float!!!!; oh and there was no balast resistor!!)
Also the PO had no idea on the engine spec, so i ripped it apart, turned out to be a 1835cc, with 40mm SS intake valves, nice motor, and no damage was done even though fuel was dumping into one carb. So then i turned my attention to the rest of the car, suspension, brakes, body allignment, and basically adjusting the entire car to my likeing (just cause i'm anal and like things right). Basically i had to re-assemble the brakes, they were dry, and needed adjustment, found a bad inner wheel bearing in the front, and a bad tie rod end. Every nut/bolt had a wrench put on it to check for tightness, and nothing was left un-inspected. After adjusting the doors, trunk, hood, tightening everything up, ect....(which i might add was alot of work) the car drove totally different, truly like a NEW car which is the way it should be. You've got enough miles to do what i did, it's "settled" in. Leave nothing untouched, inspect everything and replace anything that is questionable.

martin.

"If your done sorting things out" you missed a few items ..speedsters are a rolling hobby that are never quite done.

If Mr Crosby is this dis satified At the begining He may as well take it back to Kirk . and get a IM but even they have to be tweeked a little.

Remember this is not a production (p) . They are hand built. and so were the early (p) cars.

BUT!!

It goes back to who built the car and the attencion to detail. when its started by one fella in the shop and finished by another, they miss things.and don't go the extra mile to make it as perfect as possible.

I have always had resevations about VS's quality control.

Im not the best or the worst. But I do trust my own work. And thats why I built my own car.

ANd Alan , I don't like lickin a calf over and over. I did go way overboard on my build. with all the extras refinements.

BUT! I have had very very little to complain about.Only 3 major probems 2 of my own doing the spacers on the front end that caused my bearing failures. and the alt that I had to replace, I used a old one.

The poor heat is truly a VS failing. and I have all the parts I needed to correct that now.

But they should have inproved that by now on the newer cars.

MR Crosby how is your heater working?

Well, Mr. Hudson, I haven't tried the heater so I don't know how it works. All the lines are in place and look perfect so it's likely ok.

Did I ever say I was dissatisfied with my car? Nope.

I do have a couple of things that I want improved--as I'm sure every Speedie owner here has as well---and I have received some super help form the generous folks on this site.

I really like this car. So much that today I'm swapping out the Chinese tires for good Michelins for a better ride. I'm far from dissatisfied and know that with a little time and patience I'll have
it the way it should be.


Issues so far:

1. Smelly vinyl--turned out to be odor coming from the raw fiberglass under the seats. All vinyl cleaned and the fiberglass deodorized.
2. Backfiring-I believe it's a vacuum leak or carb mixture. I'll have this fixed tomorrow.
3. "Bumpy" ride over 65 mph--the Michelins will fix this.

Certainly nothing tragic and in no way do these things amount to "disssatisfaction". This is a great car, well put together and knockout beautiful. ---Jack Crosby, HOt Springs

Jack, I think you should join the Southeastern caravan to Carlisle next May. Since you are already have a 400 mile trip under your belt, perhaps this could be a worthy goal. If you are interested, EM me and we can discuss the logistics. I realize this is a ways off, but the Carlisle veterans start making our plans early, usually the day after we get home....;-)

Thats more like it/ I wanted to see if you would be loyal to your speedy.

Kirk at VS , Did treat me well Before, During, and After, my Build .

But you do need to see if the heat has been inproved and Please let me know what you find. and I realy hope you have fun safe driving with your new car. and it all works out for you.

I have a pretty full plate for the next 5 weeks . A motor is being built a more parts will have to be got and made and I have a new rear apron to put on my bug while its down for the engine tranny swap. I'll have to use my vaction time to do this.

The wider beam on the Speedster D will have to wait a while But its almost ready as well Plus some other stuff that i got to get done be fore.

No vaction at the beach or montains his year. I have work to do.

Alan I will take more pics when the beam does get swaped I think you might need a little more info.

Congratulations, Jack! Hope you get some little bit of enjoyment fixing the little things. I get a really good puff to the ego when I figure something out ... Kinda makes me feel good about myself.
Ten to one odds, it's almost always something the chorus here can opine on! And it's always good to report back in when you've got the squeaks, pops and pings licked. You're sure to get a solid pat on the back for being a do-it-yourselfer.
WOO-HOO!

I was looking at a Speedster that showed similar issues at approx 65mphs too. It made me shy away from that very speedster, but please me know if you were able to fix that issue. I'm not trying to be speedy racer, but 65+ is normal in most major city highways and anything less can be dangerous. Cheers.

Update--howdy all--well after owning ny Speedster for 3 weeks I finally got the wheels balanced today---it took two weeks to find a wheel adaptor, which I did for $69. The wheels were indeed ut of balance--imagine--just 700 miles on the car and wheels ewere out of bakance. Hard to comprehend.

Also I had the front end alignment checked and yep--it needed alignment. Same 7700 miles---same incomprehension. You wonder if PR is any part at all intergal to the replica business like it must be where conpetition exists or bye bye.

The car is incredably smooth now. I was just shocked at the difference---oh yes 22# of air too, which I learned right here on this great site.

I got it on our bypass on the trip home and got it up past 75 and it was silky smooth. I felt it could have easily gone up 86 - 90. At 76 I was doing 3400 rpm---I have the 3.88 and wonder if the rpms at this speed seems normal to you folks--if you know.

I drove it hard for :15 and the oil temp was 190 when I checked it after the ride.

I are happy!---Jack, Hot Springs

76 mph at 3400 rpm seems a bit higher than expected. I've been told that, with a 3.88 gearset, I can take my tach reading (which is in 100 rpm numbering) and double it to get pretty close to my speed. That would make 3400 rpm = 68 mph. Since my speedo is in kph, I find that much easier than doing the kph->mph calculation - but it only works in 4th gear. When I DO the conversion, the tach method seems awfully close. Of course that all depends on just how acurate my gauges are.

Lets say you're running a 205/60/15 tire with a .89 4th gear and a 3.88 ring and pinion. 3,400 RPM's equals 72 MPH

Assuming the same gearing, what would that be for a 185/60 15?

69 MPH

Excellent! So the "tach times two" method actually works?

Yes, it does work provided you have the correct gears and tire combination another method is to have a small KPH to MPH card sealed in plastic at Kinko's

k/ph MPH
10.00 6.20
15.00 9.30
20.00 12.40
25.00 15.50
30.00 18.60
35.00 21.70
40.00 24.80
45.00 27.90
50.00 31.00
55.00 34.10
60.00 37.20
65.00 40.30
70.00 43.40
75.00 46.50
80.00 49.60
85.00 52.70
90.00 55.80
95.00 58.90
100.00 62.00
105.00 65.10
110.00 68.20
115.00 71.30
120.00 74.40
125.00 77.50
130.00 80.60
135.00 83.70
140.00 86.80
145.00 89.90
150.00 93.00
155.00 96.10
160.00 99.20
165.00 102.30
170.00 105.40
175.00 108.50
180.00 111.60
185.00 114.70
180.00 111.60
195.00 120.90
200.00 124.00

.... or just send your speedometer to Palo Alto Speedometer, and have them recalibrate it for MPH.

Or just take your KPH speedo reading, multiply by 6 in your head to get MPH. (I know, there's a decimal point in there to deal with, but you'll figure it out, trust me....)

Not perfect, but it's about as close as you need to be for normal traffic.

Besides, maybe that frequent mental exercise might stave off Early Onset Alzheimer's for you by another few months ;>)

Used to do the latter, but found the Triple-T (Tach Times Two) method much easier. What can I say - I'm a lazy barstid.

Two questions:

Do the lower tire pressures apply to low sidewall tires? I'm running 225/40R17.
Does the triple T calculation work for any size engine?

I was taling to a guy at a car show last weekend who was thinking about getting a Speedster. I told him to visit this sight. The people there know everything. This string prooves it!

Even with those big tires, your tire pressures will be lower than if they were on a much heavier car.

The gearing within your transaxle, (4th gear and final drive ratio) and tire size determine what speed you'll be traveling at any prescribed RPM, while in 4th gear

Thanks for the pearls, Larry. Occasionally, I write this stuff down -- this one's a keeper!

Cory,
Which one is a keeper????


Regarding the 225/40/17 tires and speed

If you have a 3.88 Ring and Pinion and a .89 4th gear, your speed at 3,500 RPM's will be 72 MPH

I've got 205/15s, but the whole thread with all the metrics is what I plan to keep. That's the kind of 'general knowledge' I tend to screw up in my head.
Remember how Tim Allen (Home Improvement) would get kernels of wisdom from his neighbor Wilson, then turn around and bungle them into nonsense that was way off the mark?
That's me, from time to time. That's why I have my little notebook.