best low-cost upgrades

Jim,

Yeah that's me. I had a 55 Studebaker President Speedster about 20 years ago. They hung every piece of stainless and chrome on those things but in a way they were kind of over the top. In the Studebaker circles they are very desirable because they only made about 2300 of them in 55. Most had wild tri color paint, including ther famous Lemon/Lime. I think I read someplace that Porsche made Studebaker stop using the name Speedster. Actually the Speedster name has been used for years as a moniker. Auburn, Duesenberg, etc. I still belong to the Studebaker club, bunch of nice guys, I doubt if I'll ever have another one but grew up with them and contrary to the jokes, were for the most part very good auto's. The Larks weren't too great but were OK for the limited budjet allotted for it. Bruce

My Dad always like Studebakers. We had a 49? (bullet nose), and then a 53 four door sedan (coral colour). I remember going with my dad and mom to look at Studes, and we had a choice between a nice two door 53 coupe, and the four sedan. My dad was always generous, and left (at least in my mind) the choice of the two cars to me (I was only about 8 at the time). I said we should get the sedan, which he probably knew we needed more than the coupe. However, I always wonder what would have happened had I said the two door coupe. I always like the 53 coupes with the Bearcat engine. Ours was a flat head six (I think).

Robert:

The bullet noses were 1950 and 1951's. For all the laughs about them they were the most succesful cars that Studebaker made, sold more of them than any other model year car. The 51 introduced the v-8 engine, first in a low cost car. It was 232 cu in. and was a very stout engine, almost bullet proof. I had them in various forms in a 52, 55, and my 63 Avanti. They had a distintive lope at idle, guess it was a cam that gave them the lope. Studebaker decided when they brought out the v-8 that high compression rather than cubic inches was the coming trend. The design didn't leave them much room for bore enlargement so they went with a super strong bottom end to take the high compression. Well, it didn't turn out that way so they were forced to use superchargers to keep in the horsepower race in the late 50's and early 60's. The Packard 352 cu inch v-8 they inherited from the Packard merger was too heavy and only showed up in the 56 Golden Hawk, went like hell straight but had a severe case of the plows in corners. Bruce

Halon will displace oxygen. No oxygen no fire. No oxygen no breathing .You require a minimum 19.5% oxygen in a confine space such as an enclosed interior of a car. We had a halon 10# system in our stock car and it worked when you needed it. Deist or Diest made our system. I believe there are smaller system out there. If you are really worried about fire this is a great fire stopper/life saver. The system is remote.

Joe

I also use a Halon extinguisher, mounted on the passenger's side kick panel. It's my understanding that Halon is a gas that displaces oxygen. This system works well in an enclosed area with very little air movement. But may be far less efficent on the side of the freeway, in a 20 mile an hour wind, trying to put out an oil fire on the underside of the car where the halon will blow away as fast as it comes out of the container. That said, there's less clean up if it works. Just a thought. Eddie
(Message Edited 10/8/2003 8:58:20 AM)

No cleanup with CO2 either...

Bruce the Halon system you had was deadly if you were crazy enough to stay in the room after it went off....the fact that the company didn't know or bother to tell you does not come as a surprise to me as it wasn't that long ago that companies had no requirement to tell you about dangerous chemicals in your work environment. The truth is it didn't occur to the manufacturers that any one would want to breath the stuff in the first place. Doubt me if you wish but if you call Raytheon Aircraft and ask to speek to the Fire Chief I suspect he would tell you the truth as the settlement for the dead guy was about two years ago. I was working for them when the accident happened

Dont get me wrong I prefer halon but you do need to know how it works and the posts above make good points on effective usage of the halon

Steven,

I do remember they said that if it goes off that you should get out the room asap. But I figured this meant that there was a fire present and you should leave the area. Guess they didn't tell us about the bad stuff because they didn't want to scare us. They did tell us that the halon snuffed the fire and didn't leave a lot of residue to clean up. This important for sensitive equipment and a quick recovery. Interesting info about halon that I wasn't aware of. Corporate respnsibility leaves a lot to be desired at times doesn't it.

Bruce

Just a quick note on CoCo mats, do any of you guys have mats with the rubber foot pad on the drivers side? Does anyone notice the pad is too far back to stop your heel from wearing a bald spot in it? I called CoCo Mats about it and they said they would move the heel pad anywhere I wanted it. Now that's service. Eddie

Well, I guess I plead Guilty. I know almost nothing about fire extinquishers, except I know plastic burns and I needed one...
probably a big one...
So I went to Pep Boys (half a block away) and bought one..
I figured if pep boys sells them they must be for a car..
Its ingredients consists of: sodium bicarbonate, Mica and
Calcium Stearate....DRY CHEMICAL POWDER.....
Am I going to put out a fire with this or cure indigestion....
I have always carried an extinguisher in all my cars, but never
paid much attention to their ingredients......

Eddie,

What a good move for all of us! I checked my mat after reading your post & sure enough there is a heel wear spot behind the pad. When I order new ones I will ensure they moved the pad per your suggestion. Thanks! That benefits all of us.

Jim

OK Eddie and Jim, for those of us that don't yet have these matts, how do we tell them where the pad needs to be? Can you give a measurement of how far from the rear of the matt or something like that? Thanks

It looks like the "heel pad" could easily move two inches up toward the pedal assembly cut-out - which would put almost anyone's heel on the pad.
On my new coco mats (see pic) my heel is right on the edge of the pad when I'm driving.

Another common mistake people make is not knowing how the extinguisher will work on different types of fires....for example using one with water in the formula should only be used on something like paper or wood ,,,,if you try to use this on a fuel fire it would only spread the fire and if you used it on a brake fire it may make it worse. Im not going to go into all the examples but you should research the exting. and know exactly how and when to use it.

It may make a nice article if anyone here is an expert and wants to cover all the different types usage and results to expect.....of course a little web surfing will probably give you a site that has all this information

Hey John,
Great looking interior. Are you running an e-brake? I don't se it in the pic. Also, was it difficult utilizing a Porsche shifter in the VW pan? What type of mods are needed?

Glen,
It's a OEM Porsche 356 shift KNOB and rubber boot, but the rest is stock VW, including the "bent" shift lever. I was going for the authentic look.

Front Anti-sway (a must) ~$50.00
Rear Camber Compensator (also a must) ~$50.00
Short Shifter (many to choose from) $30.00 - $75.00
Full Tonneau cover ~$100.00
Cocoa floor mats ~$100.00
Pertronix Ignitor pointless ignition ~$75.00
These are the inexpensive choices.
I still want the more expesive choices such as:

2 liter engine ~$5,000.00
Killer stereo with sub ~$800.00
Alarm with two stage motion detector ~400.00
4 Wheel Disc Brakes ~1,000.00
Hard Top ~2,000.00
Matching 356A Coupe ~15,000

Assuming an IRS transaxle car and tube frame car:

large displacement engine
Porsche 901 5-speed transaxle with selected gear ratios
custom engine/trans mount (with VW type 2 mounts)
24mm rear torsion bars
19mm front and rear anti-sway bars
Bilstein (gas) or Koni adjustable shocks
rack and pinion steering
large gas tank
full sized spare in the correct trunk location
electric fuel pump
cannister fuel filter
adjustable front camber
adjustable front and rear ride height
front suspension central jack point/towing eye combo
jack pads on the frame at all four corners
4 wheel disk brakes
Euro bumper guards
leather interior
correct badging and trim
both tonneau covers (German fabric, match top)
two speed windshield wipers with intermittent feature
under dash parking brake
inside locking front and rear deck lid releases
3-point or 5-point belts
OEM square weave carpeting
dual outside rearview mirrors
OEM windshield washer "squirters"
original style carpeting "pockets" in kick panels
fire extinguisher
roll bar (preferabley easy to removed)
roll up or electric windows
gas heater
large gas tank
custom correct looking gauges and clock
US size cigarette lighter (for 12V power outlet)
Nardi wood-rimmed steering wheel
Porsche horn button
OEM Porsche ignition switch/keys

Flipped front steering arm/bushings (all our cars are lowered aren/t they?)
Cast aluminum foot pedals (Real Source)
Cast Aluminum left foot dead pedal
interior light
Front rubber air dam (for you outlaw types)
Headlight grilles
Remote breather box
Convex rear view mirror (to compliment the unuseable side mounts)
Rear wind deflector screen (sized to the roll bar)
Defroster shutoff to prevent the windshield from fogging on damp nights when the top is down.

David, do you have a convex rear view mirror now? If so did you use the stock fixture, and just change the glass? Thanks, Eddie

Edie,
re:convex mirror. Being an ex-water ski junkie, I ordered the best quality one I could find in my desired size range from Overton's Ski Catalog, about $15. The optics seem first rate (some of those ski tournament boats are getting very sophisticated). This mirror (available black, white or chrome) came with a clamp-on boat windshield mount, which I immediately discarded. I just kept the adapter between their mount and the mirror shaft itself. I bolted the adapter directly to the speedsteer two piece clamp using a longer screw. Fits perfect. Lines up nicely just below the top windshield frame. The optics takes some getting used to for distance (depth perception).

My neighbor who does serious autocross came by later with a sports racing convex mirror which was a better shape but no obvious way to mount it. Got it from Dick Turner Motorsports (San Diego, CA). Quality seemed first rate, the price I can only imaagine.

Three panel Wink mirrors are just too big, and too long for me.

If you drive fast enough you won't need a rear view mirror. The scary part is when granny (or more likely her grandson)in a new Hyundai or Kia goes screaming by at 90+. Sorta like being passed in the swimming pool by a pregnant mother.

Follow-up: I should have mentioned that I don't give a rats butt about authenticity. Mine was a flared outlaw from the get-go.

David, thanks for the tip! Eddie

Did anyone mention Dropped Spindles.
If your Speedster is lowered, the dropped spindles will allow you get back some front suspension travel (by the amount of drop of the spindles... usually 2 to 21/2 inches) and also get back the ride that isn't so harsh as using the adjustable front beam as the only means of lowering.
And the other upgrade I consider a MUST is Teflon Rear sway bar bushings (the ones that sandwich the Spring plates. I think I got mine from CB Performance.
Don't forget to do a rear wheel alignent after you've changed the bushing or altered the front suspension.

Greg B.

I agree with Greg. Dropped spindles are my next buy. To get the proper front height, I dropped the adjusters pretty far. I have lost a lot of travel.

Dropped spindles ~$170.00

Cell phone, AA card and a paid up Visa. That

Dropped spindles would be nice. I'd like them on my single cab too.
Ron