Hi,
My Speedster is nearly finished. I just need to fit the parts sourounding the engine. Does anyone has some photos how it should look or how to make the parts? It's a classic beetle chassis based Replica.
Any advice would help.
Thank you.
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Just be sure to ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY seal up the engine compartment such that the ONLY air getting in there comes thru the rear deck lid grill...........Bruce
I always leave a 1" opening across the bottom of the engine firewall to allow fresh air in for both the carbs and fan. Be sure to seal all areas above the exhaust.
I follow two VW guys on YouTube and they had some videos on installing the engine seals and tin that I saved. Here they are for reference:
Chris Vallone's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX64PrQImkw
Slades VW Beetle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiB6FvxB-Bc
What you use for heat shields and how they are installed greatly depends on what Speedster body you have and how the rear body support is made. If you have a Chesil it may be a bit different getting shields to fit than for a Vintage or CMC car, but they are all basically the same.
There is a section on installing heat shields in the Fiberfab manual (1984 Ver 2 page V-11) up under Resources/Library for supporting members (top of this page). If you can't see it, PM me and I'll copy the page from my manual for you and send it over.
https://www.speedsterowners.co.../CMC_Manual_1984.pdf
Maybe I can help a bit more, though. I made up a set of shields for my CMC and then documented it a long time ago, along with making full-size paper templates for others to build them. They have been very effective and were easy to make from HVAC sheetmetal. Lots of people with CMC, Vintage and early IM cars have used them successfully.
Here are some photos of mine, and I have attached a set of instructions to install them down below. I send the paper templates to people just for the price of postage but I would have to find out how much that would be from the USA to the UK. I'm sure it would be under £10 or so as I fold them up and stuff them in an el Cheapo postal envelope.
Photos:
This is where my firewall pad meets the front ends of the lower shield to hold both pieces together.
Below is the lower shield, car rear to the top, car front to the bottom and you're looking at the underside. It is designed so that the engine tins fit up against the underside of the lower shield. The notches here and there are to get around bumper mounts, oil filter mount, a weld or two in the frame, etc. and may be different for you. The shield overlaps the engine tins by an inch or so and have an sealing strip between the two parts.
This shot shows how the shield avoids the bumper mounting bracket so the shield is more easily removed and how I notched it to avoid a weld bump on the frame. Although not shown, I attach both upper and lower shield to the rear frame tube using 10-32 screws after tapping the holes for them
What is not shown is that there is a Kip-Up "wing" on each end (left/right) of the upper shield to seal off those big air gaps on the ends. I also use some weatherstrip sealing tape along the edges of the shields where necessary to seal the shield against the inner side of the body (that's also mentioned in the install instructions).
You can also make a set of custom shields using thin cardboard or heavy paper stock to get the fit just right following the same ideas that I used.
Hi Guys,
thank you everyone for the useful advice. The engine with its tinware is already fitted. I just need to make up the panels surrounding the engine. It is a Martin & Walker kit.
I think I got the idea.
Thanks again for your help.
Using CAD, or Cardboard Aided Design, is the easiest way to make a template before cutting out the actual pieces using a suitable stiff material such as fiberboard. then cover that with spray in bedliner or other waterproof durable material.
@Robert M posted:Using CAD, or Cardboard Aided Design, is the easiest way to make a template before cutting out the actual pieces using a suitable stiff material such as fiberboard. then cover that with spray in bedliner or other waterproof durable material.
Make sure it is oil-proof too. These things don't leak, he he he...
You also have your choice of several different materials - Which ever makes the most sense to you.
CMC used 1/8” thick fiberglass sheet cut to shape because fiberglass was their business. I used sheet metal used for HVAC ducts because it was cheap (an HVAC shop gave me the sheets after seeing the car) and I could easily work it. I have also seen flat plastic sheets used as roofing material for sheds from a DIY, cut to shape and then painted Satin black.
As some already mentioned, I also used light cardboard and heavy paper sheets, like a roll of hardwood floor underlayment paper, to make up shield models to use as templates for the metal versions.
I make mine in 3 pieces, so that the side pieces (without a curve) can be removed individually to get better access to the spark-plugs.
Above, @aircooled and @Alan Merklin differ about the need for some air through the firewall. My current project is closing up the firewall of my 2017 VS build, blocking off the ugly screened air hole and the huge gap below it through which you could see the tops of the heater box flapper valves. My question is how do Vintage Motorcars builds address this issue. Do they rely 100% on air through the engine lid grill, or supplement it some way?
