decal kit

These guys can produce them -

http://www.westcoastairdesign.com/stickers.html

Replica currently on eBay for $35k.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-...oAhanfAD&vxp=mtr

Good price and I love, love, love the finned-aluminum Porsche brake drums!

That car is dry-sumped. Somebody is taking a beating on his pride and joy. I wish I was in the market-- I'd buy it, take the ridiculous stickers off, and never look back.

Agreed. That's a lot of Spyder for the asking price. I'd also move the battery to the nose and the oil tank to the firewall on the passenger side, where it belongs.

The stickers are cool, I think, but would be way cooler if the body were a closer match to the earliest prototypes. The first two (the actual Carrara Panamericana cars) had very swept tails with two tail lights per side, arranged horizontally. The clam was not hinged, there was a lift lid over the engine. And of course they had those gorgeous detachable hard tops.

The next dozen or so Spyders looked very different.

If or when I do another Spyder, I'm considering what it would take to make one like the second prototypes. The "too high" rear fender arches on the early Beck cars are pretty close to what the second few Spyders were. Those cars had two tail lights per side, stacked up. As with numbers 1 and 2, the nose was more upright too. 

The more I get into my project the more of these subtle and not-so-subtle differences I see, and I wonder why the Spyder replicas are so fixated on the last few 550s and those louvered carb doors found on the 550A (which was also notably different in shape from the 550 model). 

Will Hesch posted:

Good price and I love, love, love the finned-aluminum Porsche brake drums!

I agree Will! Porsche designed the drums with the biggest friction surface (shoes) and most heat sink/fin area that would fit under 15" wheels. Using aluminum with steel liners and the cooling fins cast right into drums was brilliant. And they held onto the technology the longest, as their drum brakes performed as well as the first discs and it it wasn't until the cars got even more powerful and faster that the disc brake's superiority became apparent. It's too bad VW, being more of a low budget, 'basic transportation' car company, never borrowed the technology (I'm just about drooling at the thought of aluminum type 3 drums with fins!). And I love how you can see those fins right there behind the vent holes on the wheels!

In the late '60's, '70's and even into the very early '80s, early VW owners looking to increase braking power would hunt down the later 356 drum brakes for their cars. A lot of Cal Look bugs built at this time had them as the guys recognized the need for more stopping power with bigger engines and most of the disc brake kits available now had yet to be developed. Guys with 4x130mm wheels could run Karmann Ghia discs on the front and type 3 drums (or 914 rear discs if you could afford a set), but if you were running 5x205mm wheels it was the only way up braking performance. Al

PS- @Will Hesch- it's too bad, Will, that Porsche wants so much for their new 5x205 brake sets. But it would be such a cool addition to the back of your car (I'm not kidding here- if you did it people would notice!). Just the thought of it makes me think of switching from the alloys I have ( oem Fuchs- 6's front and 6's widened to 7's a la 911R on the insides) to the Vintage 190 aluminum wheels! Afterall, those 5 1/2" 5x205's could be widened the same way...

Al, I agree, Whitecloud would be that much cooler with Porsche B brake drums in the rear.

The problem is the cost. I've noticed in the 3 years I've had this dementia, that items I purchased for Whitecloud like the oil canister and lid, have tripled in price. B brake drums are at least $300 each and at that need re-lining ($300 ea), bead-blasting and a clear coat of something. Then you need backing plates, shoes, slave cylinders, adjusters...it becomes unobtanium very quickly!

Kathy just finished getting our tax information in order so we could meet with our CPA and at one point asked me: "Do you want to know how much you spent on that car last year?"

I do not.

I recall that the early 550 had 500/525-16" Dunlop C18 Blackwalls and skinny 3.25x16" rims. They always looked under shod.

This year's extravagance could be brand new rear brakes straight from Porsche! (what were they- only $4,000?) And you have such a keeper if you let your wife see what you spend on your car! Come on, Will, they would be sooo coooolll!

WOLFGANG posted:

I recall that the early 550 had 500/525-16" Dunlop C18 Blackwalls and skinny 3.25x16" rims. They always looked under shod.

You are absolutely right in the looks department. But since they were so light, they could go an entire race without changing tires. Way ahead of their time.

@ALB there's a set for sale in Hawaii ($500. I think it was)

Bill Prout posted:

@ALB there's a set for sale in Hawaii ($500. I think it was)

As tempting as it is, Bill, I'm going to stay with what I have. I did think about it a number of years ago but there was never a really affordable light 5x205 wheel until recently (the Vintage 190) and I already have everything- 6 and 7" (6's widened to 7's on the insides) oe alloys and Karmann Ghia discs and type 3 rear drums. As I said before, though, it would be cool. I've always liked the look of B drums... Al

https://honolulu.craigslist.or...rums/6516488701.html

in the 1950's all the livery would have been hand painted.

I can make the decals.

My Spyder ran the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana. I replaced the decals last year. The cost was about $1,000. Yours would be less expensive; maybe $750. Multi colored decals must be assembled. It will take a pro to put them on correctly. Fender striped are not included.

Kinda late to the party.....

Any good vinyl sign shop can make everything you need. I know mine is not as ornate, but I don't think I even have 300 into the graphics. Most of the corporate logos can be found at I Say Ding Dong (https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/) Great folks - and will pretty much make any changes you ask them too.

Here is my car, as well as an MG I have in the collection. I Say Ding Dong did everything less the roundels, numbers and Telefunken stuff. On the MG, I emailed them the attached pic and we spent 20 minutes going through everything.

The font for the numbers can be re-created at https://doityourselflettering.com/

MCG. Very nice. We had one in the family since 1969. Trojan Red.  Great car.

I had a '69 MGC Convertible back in '71 - same red.  Traded it in on a '72 Porsche 914. Drove 70 miles RT to work and home - Prince of Darkness made just too many visits.

Nice job on the graphics! I had gumballs/roundels on my old car. They should be carefully applied, thankfully a friend of mine has a sign shop.....