Building My Speedster Again

I built and first put my FF Speedster on the road in spring of 1988 and I have been driving it every since. Made A couple of trips to the Adirondacks, trip over Sky Line Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway to Roanoke VA. About two years ago I started experiencing

Ohhhhh Rocky, I feel your pain. I'm just finishing a complete redo on my old IM.

Geez Rocky, that's a lot of work ...tell us more :)

Ah so Malcolm X Radicals
Those tYres are toast !!

Yeah, I think it's time for a new set - and maybe a new set of charging system wires as well. You gonna have it at Carlisle this year?

installing a complete Vintage harnes. I doubt it will be there.

Now would also be the time to upgrade the grounding with multiple grounding points 3 up front on on each side of front for the lights and and the 3rd coming back into the cab sharing the dash grounds..

Dido no the rear with a extra one on the engine and ALT/or /Generator.

I prefer the 90 amp alt upgrade for quicker battery recovery after long resting spells in the garage.

Over engineer it with backups and it will be harder for it to fail.. I have only had 3 hiccups in 6 years

I have a relay that vibrates lose every now and then.. Last time it got some Guerrilla tape on it..

The 84 S10 brake light switch will freeze in the off mode in cold weather. I changed the vaseline grease out for some freeze resistant phonograph grease..

The parking lamp socket fixtures On the head lamps cracked. in the bacolite.(Cheap Junk) and I remade them with copper straps and nylon inner fender liner scraps. with Stainless rivots They are very super heavy duty now.. That was a nice Upgrade..

It took about two weeks to remove windshield, roll bar, completely strip interior carpeting, scrape adhesive, cut out all the wiring. Drclock (Alan Merklin) came by to help me remove the engine. Guess I worked him to hard because he was mumbling something about

Yup, you're definitely getting well into it. So come without the car. You can hitch a ride with me if'n you want.

There you have it I've temporarily come out of Speedster build retirement status. ~Alan

Barry I agree with you on all points. Multiple good clean and solid grounds, including a braded ground from engine to trans and then trans to chassis. I have had pretty good luck in the 20 years on the road. Aside from issues in recent years, there hasn

Lane, I wouldnt miss carlisle for the world. I will be there. Thanks for the ride, I havnt been in your car since we built it at Carlisle.

That's a couple of good looking dudes! :>) Welcome back to the madness Rocky, glad you're back at it.

Hotfoot and I will also be at Carlisle this year without a ride so someone please save a couple of seats for us too.

Rocky, glad you are back on it. Please bring MIA Max with you, please!

Dan - You do realize that Max doesn

Listen, Rocky, PUT THE CRACK PIPE DOWN!

They must have some interesting "stuff" in PA, take it easy.

So that must be why Max always looks a little "different" every time I see him. I've always wondered about that......

Rocky: Glad things are working out and that you've figured out a way to get Merklin out of "retirement". He's too young to retire, anyway (and how many times have I heard THAT one??) plus, he keeps saying how much he likes the Poconos. Besides, PA 209 along the river is a nice Speedster route - I used to drive that in school buses when the speed limit was 60 with no center barrier and LOTS of trucks. Whacked mirrors with trucks lots of times.

I found a complete wiring harness in the kit I bought last Summer. It's from CMC (no idea who made it) and it has one of those silly, ceramic fuse panels attached but I'll find a better panel and use it, along with running a few extra wires here and there for "futures". Getting a complete new pan under your car must be exciting - almost as much as putting in that new wiring harness to eliminate "ghosts"!

gn

Getting the car ready for paint I need to remove gauges, seats, and wiring. Engine had already been removed. Wiring needs to be removed because I am installing a new Vintage harness. When I cut out the rear harness I found out why my rear lights didn

Ouch - wack that area with a hammer and bet you'll find twice the rust. That will slow ya down but good you found it now as it could be dangerous. Speedsters aren't meant to be 2 wheelers.

Rocky!

If it makes you feel any better, Chris and I found almost the exact same thing on our latest chassis. Bought a new headset from ebay and Chris found a new bulkhead piece somewhere, too (CIP1, I think).

I'll be getting back up there after Carlisle and will be hacking and cutting, then let him weld it all back together again to get the pan back down here (Beaufort) so I can rebuild everything else during the Summer (should be a joy in the garage W/O air conditioning).

Then, drag the pan back up North to mate the body to it and drag it all back down here to finish the body next Winter. After that, it'll be up to Chris and his friends to put the drivetrain in.

Isn't working on these little cars wonderful?????? All of the little surprises in store for us, ALL THE TIME!

Sure beats woodworking.......

gn

Reminder that all speedsters and VW based replicas that have been on the road for a good number of years should have a detailed safety inspection done, i.e. axle beam, frame head, steering components and brakes.

gn I have a 8k btu A/C unit in my 500 sf. shop that makes it cold enough to hang beef. I did add a ceiling fan to distribute the air. ~ Alan

Yeah, but then I would hafta insulate the garage and all that.

Maybe after the first real hot day I'll change my mind - ya think?

Just get a big fan. Not only will it be a cheap way to cool off the space, but it'll keep the no-see-ums and mosquitos away - sorta.

....insulate, you'll be glad you did ! ~Alan

Yea, fan blowing across a big block of ice! That will work
You don't need no stinking AC!

That's because you live in the c-c-c-cold Pocono Mountains of PA!

Yeah, that block of ice thing wouldn't work for the 6 weeks down here when it never goes below 100F - even at night!

OK, maybe I'll need TWO blocks of ice!