AC question

About as well as the heat in an air cooled car!  If I recall you are going with a stock 1600 engine - can you spare the loss of 5-15 hp?  I could see if you were in FL or TX but not TN.  I'd put that $ into a 1776 cc engine for a bit more breeze in your hair.

When I got into this, it was an article in "Kit Car" magazine that hooked me. There was a Vintage Speedster on the cover, with A/C.

I called Kirk, who really downplayed the wisdom of doing it. I didn't end up ordering one of his cars, but when I bought my "starter" car, I began to see why he recommended against it.

Frankly, you don't want to put A/C in a Vintage Speedster for the same reason you don't air-condition your screened-in porch. They leak air. Lots and lots of air. The top acts like a scoop for air behind the side-curtains. Regardless, top-up a speedster is a miserable place to spend any time.

Wear shorts. Sweat a bit. Drive faster. It's part of the experience.  

I live in VA.  Weather a lot like yours.I know this sounds dumb but I would only get AC if I knew I was going to be driving through lots of rain and freezing weather.  AC is great for defrost.  I've never used my AC in hot dry weather.  If its warm and dry the top is down.  Besides AC would paralyze a 1600 cc engine.  If I build another car it will not have AC.

Regardless, top-up in a speedster is a miserable place to spend any time.

Except if you get a zip out rear window.  If I'm really tired of the sun beating me to death on hot days I go top up and rear window zipped out.  If I lived in the desert SW it would be a must.

I agree with all that, Phil. I would add that you have a "D". The actual usability of your side windows (as opposed to a speedster) make driving top-up significantly less like sitting in a loud canvas bunker. 

Yes, Phil's is a water cooled (VW/Audi) IM with real wind up windows and a top with am folding frame that actually seals well.  If you plan to drive it in the winter - consider VS's optional removable hardtop for about same cost as AC. Ask VS is an electric power boost fan is available to help with heater and defroster (can't see it being but $100 more). 

If I were getting a custom built Speedster - I'd go 2.5L Subbie with Subbie 5 speed along with real heat and AC.  On a 2.5L water cooled engine AC's drag would hardly be noticeable on engine performance.

My experience with "top up or top down" is this:

We never drive our long trips with the top down---the wind beats us to death, the noise is awful and in the summer, the sun is just too much.  If we have the top up and both windows out, the top flaps too much and even makes me worry about it coming loose from the bow.  We can remove one of the two windows and the top still remains tight--almost like both windows were still in.  Of course both windows are kept in whenever it's cold outside the car.

I know a lot of guys drive long trips on interstates with the top down but that's just not comfortable for us.  I'd rather be comfortable than cool!  We can be cool when we get where we're going!

And going 80 down the road the Bose noise cancelling earphones are wonderful with or without music or an audio book playing.  Earphones are illegal in some states but I'll happily take my chances using the Bose headphones.  I also have noise cancelling ear pods but they'renot even close to the great Bose earphones.

----Back to the air-conditioning or not debate and top up topic.

 

I love this group.  Thanks for all the input.  I've decided not to get the AC. Can't wait for car to get here!!!  Gonna be so fun. 

Yes, it will!

To recap for posterity: Jack loves his softop up. I hate it. Phil likes his with the rear window zipped out and the side glass down, but he's got a "D". We're united in our contention that AC is better on a car with a real top.

Your mileage may vary.

Think I'm gonna look into the local upholstery shop and see if they can put a zipper in my rear window.  

Really wish the tops were a little more substantial. Maybe the upholstery guy can make some improvements to the top. 

The issue with the top is the shape of the windshield.

That's why Porsche changed it for the Convertible D and beyond.

It works better, but something is lost in the looks. Custom made side curtains will get you as close to weather tight as possible.

I have a zip out rear window, but have never used it.

I only drive the car when the sun is shingling and the temperature is between 60 & 85 with the top down.

The only exception to that is in and out of winter storage and to and from Carlisle.

Get the car and drive it awhile before making changes. Many have tried to make a Speedster weather tight and many have failed.
>

Yeah, I don't expect weather tight.  This is a toy car for us and will only be out in good weather.  I would however like to be able to drive on the freeway with the top up and the windows out.  That's all. 

Well, I have to say my Speedster is 98% weather tight with the top up, and I actually don't mind driving it that way.  It's cool as in a 1950's chopped and channelled 'Merc - a lead sled, as it is.  With the right mirror set up, visibility is just fine.

Everyone has a preference, and everyone is correct as to how they enjoy their car.

But top down is the berries...

 

The few times that I've driven in the freeway with the top up and side curtains out, I never felt the need to remove the rear window.
>

Yeah, but IM Speedster's have a rubber trim piece glued to the windshield which I also am not a fan of.
>

Haha- I'm already having fun and my cars not even here yet.  

Well, I'll take a little bit of rubber to keep dry (I used to when I was a teenager, too). 

You hardly notice the rubber glued on the windshield frame, and it really helps for weather tightness.

 

Yeah, I always notice the rubber and I don't mind getting a little wet considering the rest of the thrill ;-)
>

Naughty boys!

 

I think any Speedster owner will be happier in the long run admitting up front that creature comforts aren't the car's long suit.

If you want to be comfy in the heat and the cold and the rain, life will be easier in a Boxster.

The Speedster will bring you great joy when conditions are right for it. But it will likely disappoint if you insist on driving when they're not.

Some of us have gone to great lengths and expense making our rides habitable at all times, but I've chosen to just seek out weather that suits my clothes.

Try to think of the Speedster as a lifestyle choice. Learn from what it can teach you about pacing yourself and timing. It's taught me to better appreciate those perfect mornings when the sun and the breeze and the light are just right. And to savor them while I can.

Make hay when the sun shines. Drink beer when it doesn't.

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

 

If you want to be comfy in the heat and the cold and the rain, life will be easier in a Boxster.

 

Mitch, if you ever meet my other half.  Mums the word on this statement.

"Make hay when the sun shines. Drink beer when it doesn't." 

Made easier by the two Growlers of Stout I got from Santa.

(Thank you, Santa!)

 

 

 

Marty, I think our other halves put up with us for the same reason we put up with our Speedsters.

We may cause them grief on a regular basis, but they're hopelessly convinced they can fix whatever's wrong with us.

Gordon, cheers!

 

Questions .........Does zipping out the rear window stop that "buffeting" of the top when you don't have the side curtains in place ?

Also... Water from a morning mist or slight sprinkle just runs under my windshield and down on my left knee. In a real rain I think I'll get totally wet. Does this mean that I need to remove the windshield completely and caulk the crap out of the mating surface between the windshield and the body ?.......Bruce

Lotsa good Speedster Philosophy here, from some of the great Speedster Philosophers. If you drive your Speedster any amount in a place other than Phoenix or So Cal, sooner or later, you're gonna get rained on.  So you're gonna want that top up.  I find it works quite well at highway speed on a too hot sunny day with side curtains out.  Plenty of ventilation, and its a decent sunshade.  Now that I have side curtains that actually fit with the top properly, riding in cold weather with the side curtains in (or alternately, in the rain) works well enough.  I have heater boxes, and I get heat out of the vents, enough to keep things reasonable.  The wind will beat you up on the ineterstate with the top down after a while.  Some here (and me one of these days) have invented and installed wind breaks that sit behind you and block that top-down recirculation. The few that have done this claim it works quite well.  Believe it is a Miata  wind screen and frame, etc. mounted up as best you can.

As to A/C: not for me.  Added with a Soobie mill might be OK. Added to the air cooled VW mill is iffy in my book, espy w a small-ish engine.  Now if I was Lane Anderson and lived in South Carolina, or Florida, or Phoenix where the summer sun and air can indeed be hellish, I think I'd do most of my summer touring near dawn or dusk, or after dark, and  maybe would consider the A/C.  Lane has given in, and has decided to get a coupe so equipped.  He must be getting old, and can't take it any more. Wants to be cool and dry -- go figure . . .  Once he goes over to the other side, I'm not even sure we'll be able to talk to him anymore.

@aircooled, yes. On long trips, like to Carlisle, I drive with the top up and rear window unzipped - no buffeting. It also means there is less stress on the top and windshield frame.

I don't remember if a zipper rear window is a standard option on a VS Speedster.  It also helps with letting the  Engine and transmission sounds out of the cabin with the top up.  

"We may cause them grief on a regular basis, but they're hopelessly convinced they can fix whatever's wrong with us."

Mitch, that's priceless!  (and mostly true!)

Mitch wrote : "We may cause them grief on a regular basis, but they're hopelessly convinced they can fix whatever's wrong with us."

.....I am on speedster 42, my wife Connie  who is always willing come out to the shop when I need help, that's a Blessing ~

Aircooled---just use some clear silicone and caulk the windshield between the windshield and the car body.  Use a thin bead so it doesn't show.  Also get under the dash above where your knees and a passengers knees go and caulk the rivets that are holding the bottom metal strip below the windshield to the car body.   Worked for me 100%.

Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.  I invite you to drive from Carlisle to Charleston with me sometime.    It starts out pleasant, but by the time you pass Statesville, NC, it starts to get toasty.  By Charleston you're swearing that you'll never make that drive again without A/C, particularly if it's been raining and you've had to put in the side windows.  And this is only May.  Temps won't be mild again until October.

Lane---I can relate.   I have cold weather and winter driving figured out pretty well  with my Espar gas heater but the hot summer isn't really much fun.  In the hottest part we don't take the party barge out onto  the lake and don't drive the Speedster  in daytime and sometimes not in the evening hardly at all---I'm talking mostly the last half of July and all of August.   Coming home from Carlisle hasn't ever been uncomfortable though.

 

 

Mitch wrote : "We may cause them grief on a regular basis, but they're hopelessly convinced they can fix whatever's wrong with us."

Classic statement.  

My wife always thought she could change me.  He'll mature as he ages.  Success will make him more sophisticated.  Grown men don't need toys.  

After 30 years of marriage I think she's finally given up.

Bruce, I had this same thing on my CMC and caulked the gap between the windshield bottom bracket and the body with clear silicon caulk as Jack mentioned.  Worked like a charm.  After a while, years, the caulk discolored to brown.  A brown bead between a silver trim piece and a white body looked like.....You know.... So I carefully removed what I could.  I have a theory that if you could get a real fine caulking nozzle in there and shoot a really small bead along that gap so it went in there a bit and then expanded, that would be OK.  If you have a car color that could tolerate a black bead, they make silicon caulk in black (also white, silver and a few other colors).

The REAL answer is to remove the windshield, then remove the trim piece, run a small (3/16"?)  bead of caulk along the line of the rivets, just skirting around the forward side of each rivet hole and put everything back together.  that should seal it.  

Alternatively, you can do what Dr. Clock taught me to do:  Get some Fender Welting (it comes in several colors, too) and run THAT under the trim piece between the trim and body, then run the bead around the corner posts to finish everything off.  Looks great and seals everything up like Factory.  I'm thinking of re-doing mine with the welting, but use a thin piece and glue it in, more as additional trim, but it should seal well, too.

We'll see - it's a long winter.

The fender bead I do on a new installs if you just want to caulk the windshield this the easy short cut :   Run two strips of 1/4" masking tape along the aluminum base trim leaving a 1/8" gap between both strips where the base meets the cowl. Run a light bead of Ace Home Center brand "Alex" flat black latex caulk ( Not Silicone) then run your finger over the caulk to smooth it out and immediately remove the masking tape.

 For under the windshield posts:   Loosen the mirror center rod and both windshield posts leaving about a 1/4" gap. Force a small amount of caulk around under the post bases , when you snug the posts and mirror rod back down just wipe away the excess caulk with your finger. Be sure that you have dabbed caulk on the rivets or screws under the dash that hold the aluminum base through the cowl....If your over 50 you'll need a Helper to grab your ankles and yank you out from under the dash ~

Every time I think I've caught up with Al's technique, he's already moved on to something better.....   

Stop down for a week I'll give you all my  speedster tricks' and a beer or three:~)

Hi guys.

if you are chasing a really good quality windscreen sealer that stays soft ( it's for screens set in a rubber, not a bonding glue,) Wurth do a product called Dab Off. It kind of works like Blu Tac ( the stuff for sticking posters on a wall,) where after you have caulked it in, you just make a small ball of it in your fingers and dab it on the parts you want to clean up. It cleans up really easily and lasts for years.

Mitch wrote : "We may cause them grief on a regular basis, but they're hopelessly convinced they can fix whatever's wrong with us."

Phil wrote:  My wife always thought she could change me.  He'll mature as he ages.  Success will make him more sophisticated.  Grown men don't need toys.  After 30 years of marriage I think she's finally given up.

Albert Einstein wrote:

“Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.”