Chris’ Beck Speedster Build

That's a beautiful Speedster.

Well done.

The car arrived in December.  Fantastic job by Carey and the team at Special Editions.

Some pictures after the arrival:

So far I have gotten the transaxle mounts assembled, throw out bearing installed, etc.

Taillights and rear grille installed, as well as the oil cooler.

Now working on the headlights.   Any suggestions on how this rubber seal attaches?

Loop the headlight seal between the mounting screw and let it hang, after you  tighten the headlight rim mounting screw just slip the rubber seal over the chrome ring and it will seat itself against the ring and fiberglass.

... so many parts.  And all new and shiny!!  Looks like you have made some excellent choices, and the satisfaction of putting this puzzle together ... cant be beat.

IIRC, as I heard once, original Beetle T/O bearings were not bearings at all but just a graphite disk.  Graphite is slippery, and I'm supposing cheap, so ...  The first beetles had to be cheap, as the people (volks) had to be able to buy them.

@Three Pedals (Chris),  Alan's advice is spot on, but if you want a demo I can show you on my car.  Super easy.

I'm looking forward to helping you get the drivetrain in.  Do you have a motorcycle jack?  We're going to need one.  If you don't have access to one I know where we can borrow one.

https://www.speedsterowners.co...5#704035977974384105

Hi Alan, thanks for this, I will try that!

Chris

Another question for all of you.  The engine I'm installing has heater boxes.  I need to figure out the plumbing from the front of the rocker behind the front kick panels up to the defroster.  My question is around heat registers, any suggestions on what to use for splitters and registers in the front kick panels?    Keep in mind I don't have high expectations when it comes to heat, I owned and fixed more than a few beetles, busses and type 3s long ago.  Just trying to get some basic functionality in place.

Heater boxes . . . Some here have plumbed them directly in to the rear jump seat space, so the much shorter run gives better, hotter air, but maybe presents a real problem if you want to have air directly at your feet and/or up through defroster vents.  My car has defroster vents, and the air runs in  tubes under both rocker panels, feeds standard looking Porsche floor vents, and the defroster vents too.   My approach is to insulate these tubes under the car with rigid Styrofoam, contoured over the pipes and then sprayed with undercoating. Fitting the Styrofoam is a bit of a pain, but it should help. The system at its finest is only an approximation to heat. l do rather little driving in cold weather.

With great assistance from Lane Anderson, the engine was installed this weekend.  Unfortunately the A1 Sidewinder muffler has an interference issue, so the headers and muffler were sent off to Carey at Beck to be cut and rewelded to fit correctly.

Lots of progress since my last post.  Engine is in.

Front fuel lines, filter and pump installed:

Modified Exhaust back from Carey at Special Editions.  Did a great job.

Making and installing oil cooler lines:

Headlamps and front horn grill installed.  Thanks @Alan Merklin for the tip for the headlamp seal installation.

My brother is flying in from California this coming Friday to see if we can get it started!

Three Pedals (Chris)Wow! Carey's got some pretty impressive builds on the go. Love your car! Keep the pictures coming.

Looking good, Chris!  I may need to swing by after C&C this weekend and take a look at it in the flesh.

Hi Lane, you are always welcome!

Love it. Excellent chassis/suspension and aircooled! I'm not even a Speedster guy and I LIKE it!

@DannyP, even though you are not a Speedster guy, it's nice you hang out with those of us who are.

I like coupes too.

@DannyP, I'm working on Chris to join us for this year's Tour de Smo'.  Sorry you won't be able to make it.

I've been coming on the even-numbered years, so...