Build Update

I've updated my profile as well with spec of the car.

Good choice on the seat color/piping

Nice seat color.. be sure that they carefully apply a heat gun to remove the seat wrinkles at the slots.

Looks great, is that a ball joint front suspension you are using ?

Alan Merklin posted:

Nice seat color.. be sure that they carefully apply a heat gun to remove the seat wrinkles at the slots.

Will do, thanks for your advice and keen eyes..

Danny

Bob Z posted:

Looks great, is that a ball joint front suspension you are using ?

 

 

Sorry Bob I am a novice at this. I did not inquire with VS if a ball joint is used or even its purpose/advantage/disadvantage to tell the truth.

Newbie Danny of Nipomo Ca. posted:

Bob Z posted:

Looks great, is that a ball joint front suspension you are using ?

 

 

Sorry Bob I am a novice at this. I did not inquire with VS if a ball joint is used or even its purpose/advantage/disadvantage to tell the truth.

Vintage Speedsters (when it was owned by Kirk) used ball joint front ends. Here's a picture to show the difference:

Easy way to distinguish king & link pin from ball joint beam- look at the top shock mounts. The bj beam has a horizontal piece for the vertical stud from the shock to go through while the k&l uses a horizontal bolt through the shock bushing, just like the bottom.

pix clearly shows BJ

Got it Guys, thanks for all the info, I will absorb all you have to offerlike a sponge! They don't call me a newbie for nothing...I guess you could call my speedster an "entry level" one...

Hi All,

I'm new to the site and forum. I've been looking and researching companies for a Speedster or Spyder.  Might have one built or look for a good pre-owned. I would appreciate any comments you all might have as to the better companies. 

Thanks

Mag9

Try clicking above on Resources and then Speedster Manufactures and check out their websites....I just wanted  a new built so I would not have to worry so much about the unknowns that have occurred to a used one.

Thanks I've looked at all the websites and in fact contacted some of the manufacturers by email. They all seem very helpful but I was wondering if you guys on this forum and any opinion on the better builds. Beck and VS seem quite good. Tube frame vs VW pan? Some have tops and side curtains others do but at a high cost . Both necessary for Florida

Mag9 posted:

Thanks I've looked at all the websites and in fact contacted some of the manufacturers by email. They all seem very helpful but I was wondering if you guys on this forum and any opinion on the better builds. Beck and VS seem quite good. Tube frame vs VW pan? Some have tops and side curtains others do but at a high cost . Both necessary for Florida

@Mag9

Start a new thread Mag9 and ask away. The guys here on the forum will be happy to share all they know. Post every question you can think of. Share where you live, options you desire, budget if you will and any other pertinent questions you want answered. Most of the guys here love to spend other people's money. LOL

My only advice (and what do I know?) would be that few people going into this “hobby” actually know what they want in their car at first blush.  It is usually best to find a used car that has been sorted well (they show up semi-frequently on here) with most of the options you think you’ll want and go for it.  Drive it for a year or two, get used to its’ idiosyncracies and then decide if you want to stick with it (maybe with a few upgrades) or go for another car with exactly what you’ve now found you really want.

"hobby" - uh-uh, it's more like "addiction!"

Just curious, I noticed in the chassis picture the stabilizer bar is touching the inner front bumper bracket. I was wondering if you are going to notch out a space for the stabilizer bar?

Careful, we might be sending you more suggestions than you can handle ... 

JB356SR posted:

Just curious, I noticed in the chassis picture the stabilizer bar is touching the inner front bumper bracket. I was wondering if you are going to notch out a space for the stabilizer bar?

Can you please explain the purpose of notching out a space? In the picture I don't think it is definitively touching though. It may be a mute point because I think the body has already been dropped/attached to the chassis and engine installed just recently. Again, I am a newbie here so please forgive my ignorance if something seems obvious to you and not me..

Most have an issue with the sway bar hitting the bumper bracket. Some installers have remedied it by installing it upside down. That causes the sway bar to hit the ground while driving. The modification to the bracket allows the sway bar to clear the bracket. 

https://www.speedsterowners.co...0#449833773601483720

The noise from the anti-sway bar hitting the bumper support as the suspension moves will probably drive you nuts, so notching it now is just an investment in your sanity.        Like this- 

Not only that a pair of Hella twin trumpets for $20 will be a way better horn setup

Gee I said we would be adding to the build

I modified mine like above but in the latest CMC build manual there is an alternative version of the bumper bracket.

@Newbie Danny

For visual reference, here are a few pics displaying the proper installment of the sway bar. Also see the bumper bracket with the notch modification to allow sway bar to function without obstruction.

Hope this helps clarify the bracket modification! 

Thanks, I am going to quiz Justin at VS Arizona to get his two cents to see what he does in this scenario (to my car being built) if any..

In distance past VS avoided the issue by not installing any front anti-sway bar - not even the skinny VW one,  I think both a front and rear one (or camber compensator of Swing Axle) are worth the small extra cost.

It seems they have a build model offering, made for volume from what I have read here.

I said before if the builder just spends a few minutes making a jig to make the brackets to compensate for the sway bar it won’t add any time to the build time. 

Newbie Danny of Nipomo Ca. posted:

Thanks, I am going to quiz Justin at VS Arizona to get his two cents to see what he does in this scenario (to my car being built) if any..

Danny, I optioned a front bar from VS on my 2013 build and ended up with what looks like the same bar you have (EMPI) - installed exactly the same way.

Note that when the car is sitting on its wheels, there's about two inches of clearance between the bar and the bumper bracket, but that clearance goes to zero when the car is on stands and the front wheels hanging.

The result is that when you hit a bump, the bar bangs into the bracket on the rebound. This, in effect, limits your front suspension travel. It looks like Justin may be copying one of Kirk's build techniques, maybe unaware of the problem it causes.

A good thing to get sorted before you take delivery.

I don't understand your post, Robert. 

“brackets to compensate for the sway bar” ?

My sway bar on my VS was plug and play with no mod needed.  It has worked perfectly for 52,000 miles.  I posted all about it here with brand and stock number.

I wouldn't feel safe without both a front sway bar and rear camber compensator installed.  I'll bet a lot of VS are running around without either.  I am always amazed at the low number of wrecks of Speedster replicas that have occured.  I drive mine like it was my BMW bike---knowing that every other vehicle is out to get me!  Which they are.

“brackets CLEARANCED for the sway bar” ?

........and don't ignore the reduction in weight from cutting out part of the bracket!!!

Just as good as drilling some more holes!

Gordon Nichols posted:

I don't understand your post, Robert. 

“brackets to compensate for the sway bar” ?

I was on my phone so not as complete a post as I should have made. 

I'm sure Kirk, and now Justin, use a jig to make the bumper bracket that mounts to the beam. They should redesign their jig so when they build the bumper bracket it'll be in the configuration that it needs to be in so the anti-sway bar doesn't hit the bottom of the bracket.

Well you know how it is you have to train the vendor on how to do the work.  RIght Robert

Panhandle Bob posted:

........and don't ignore the reduction in weight from cutting out part of the bracket!!!

Just as good as drilling some more holes!

Now there's a man who's thinking...

My Fiberfab Speedster came with the sway bar not only touching the bumper bracket but it was acting like a torsion bar and holding the entire weight of the front of the car. I removed the sway bar and the front end dropped over an inch in ride height. The front end would actually bounce when a bump was hit. I removed the sway bar right before I sent the car to have the Suby conversion done. The front radiator air intake scoop is now in the way. I may plan to have something custom made.

Carey could have done that one for you while it was there

 Agreed, but I need something to mess with. Carey did so many things to my car while he had it I finally had to reign myself in. Winter work I suppose.