Dropping off at Vintage in the morning

beautiful!

i am pea-green with envy.

where do I get one of those!?!?!?

Have your wallet open when you talk to Kevin and he'll give you one too..

..... with the risk of having a lotta improved handling and safety per dollar

Hey Kev - THAT is F'ing beyond awesome! Nice work! If I had the budget......

Dammit!  Now I gotta get a new keyboard. Don't think I can get all the drool out of this one.

Wow. That is simply awesome. What does something like that run?

Ted

Drool!!??  that's easy to clean off.

Try cleaning this sticky stuff off mine!

Ewwwwwwwwwww.....

 

There's something about Ma..., er, that chassis.

All that lovely work, and the emergency break is still in the 'Volkswagen' location. 

 

I've searched around and I haven't found a 'kit' to convert the location to up under the dash.I'm pretty ignorant in that space. Is that something which isn't easily remedied?

Ted

 

 

Thank you gentlemen and ladies. We really strive to do great work.

 

As far as where to get it and cost, We manufacture these in kit form or complete chassis, and even complete cars when required.

 

Cost for kits start out at $3295 for the front spindle to spindle, and $2395 for the rear kit. As complete rolling chassis like the one in the pictures minus transaxle $10,500.

 

 

As far as parking brake relocation, I know we can do that type of thing, the only thing holding us back is liability insurance would be out of this world expensive.

 

By the way sorry about all the key boards and computer screens.....

 

Here is another one to get excited about.....

 

 

Kevin,

Looking top notch as usual! Those 356 seats you sold me are going to look great in mine. Been cutting the VW runners off VERY carefully!

As for the non-tunnel e-brake, it isn't too hard to do. I've been designing one in AutoCAD for my future Beck. If anyone can get a real pull handle (I could make repops of those pretty easily), I bet you could hook one up to a late model bus pull mechanism with a cable relay out through the front bulkhead and then back down through the tunnel. Just open thinking...

Jeff

Insurance precludes it, Kevin? How is that an issue?

I think that it needs to be a working e-brake. Since the latch and release mechanism is on the body of the car and not mounted on the tunnel, there is no safe way to test, OR secure the chassis from movement during shipping. With the e-brake on the tunnel, he can say that the e-brake was fully functional when it left his shop, otherwise it is up to the client or other builder to install/ design it.

I'm sure he could sell a chassis without an e-brake installed as long as it is in writing that the customer requested it as such and would take responsibility for it's actions. But this would be just one more headache. I'm sure Kevin has enough (i.e. up to his eyeballs) liability insurance covering his business, suspension designs etc... Am I anywhere close Kevin?

Jeff

Easy, change out the E cables for longer ones and mount the unbrella E handle under the dash as the speedy is assembled.

Hold on a minute.  Don't forget that the tunnel e-brake gives you leverage that you won't have with a direct cable pull from a simple handle under the dash.  It has to be a lever under the dash or it has to have a lever incorporated somewhere between the dash and the brakes.  I've seen how Vintage does it and they use a lever mounted to the bulkhead.  I asked if the body would have to come off to install it and Kirk said it would.

Those are just amazing. I can't imagine how well they handle. I bet it's a pure joy to drive.

Regarding the e-brake. I think Troy is spot on with his assessment. I feel like routing a pulley and a few bell cranks are really the simple part of a complex equation. It's the leverage and a strong bulkhead/base to mount everything too which would cause the most headaches. Alan and Troy both said what I was afraid of "mount it as the speedy is assembled". 

 

Didn't Mango do one for his speedster? I thought I saw several shots of him welding up some sort of bracket.

 

Anyway, I hope I didn't detract from the awesome display of chassis porn being posted by coolryde.

 

Ted

The lever mechanism; you can buy those on ebay. It's a very simple part to make. It's all about leverage. Parking brake cables don't move very far but they do need a bit of force to do so. i.e. you parking brake lever is long for a reason. The under dash mechanism would probably pull out about 6" to work effectively, depending how "easy" you want the lever to pull. Want it easier? Make the forward lever mechanism longer but the pull on the handle will need to go further.

Jeff

Here's a picture of how VS rigs the under dash hand brake.  I'd rather stick with the brake on the tunnel - there's probably a reason that Porsche moved the hand brake to that location on their later models.

 

That was exactly how I was thinking it could be done!

Jeff

You are right Ted, I heard VS can move the handle under the dash. But, the stability of the mechanism is in question. VW had the tunnel mounting b-4 porsche and it worked well for years.

I've got the "umbrella" hand-brake-- I optioned it on my car when it was built (which is the preferred time to do it).

 

I wouldn't do it again. It's expensive, heavy, and chews up valuable real estate under the dash. The stock location handbrake is a "tell" that it's a replica, but stuff like that stopped bothering me 10 years ago. The stock handbrake location is just more functional, light, and inexpensive.

 

... plus, if you want to pretend you are Ken Block, there's no other way to roll. 

 

For me, it's not about the 'tell', it was there on my coupe and I just liked it. The VW location is clunky and ugly to me.

 

What sorts of items do you have under the dash? To me? that right hand area, up under the dash is like Florida swamp land. What else is that real estate useful for?

Ted

 

I love Ken Block reference.

I'll be putting real roadster seats in mine so it will be almost too tight of a fit between the seats. I want it to look as real as I can. If I could get a hold of a umbrella handle I could easily make replicas of it!

Jeff

P.S. I told Ken Block, while I was teaching him those tricks, that when he starts getting better at the easy stuff I'd show him the advanced stuff.

Jeff

Do the advanced maneuvers involve using an under dash mounted umbrella handled e-brake?

 

T

Yes. Blindfolded too!

If the stock handbrake is undesirable (as a replica tell), and the umbrella handbrake is complex (mechanism, cost & available space) what about a hydro-lock e-brake with the actuator located out of sight just in front of the driver seat?

 

The only other question would be if hydro-lock e-brakes are legal in your state of registry (I know they aren't in PA).

 

Kelly Fraser, our resident rocket scientist, has one in his Beck Speedster and I think it was installed by Carey at Special Edition.

 

I'm just saying...

That is illegal in most states. It's called an emergency brake for a reason.

Jeff

Kelly has a JPS, just saying.....

If anyone out there has one of these and could give me the dimensions across the top or the diameter of the collar, I can do the math from there and maybe make a nice replica. (Maybe the handle thickness too!)

Jeff

Jeff-

 

How about I just sell you one? I have an original, which I over-payed for many years ago. I'll never use it. Perhaps we can come to terms.

I've got a lot going on under there-- power window switches, remote locking module, RPM switch for the shift-light, switch for the electric muffler bypass valve, throttle cable pull (for the hillbilly cruise control), etc.

 

You know, the stuff everybody's got.  

 

(but seriously, I do have all that stuff-- right there. It's a busy spot in my car)

Drop me an e-mail mode4eng AT yahoo. COM

When I read your reply, I had to look and make sure I was still on speedsterowners.com and not thehamb.com. 

 

T

JiI 

 

What the heck is that you're standing next to in your avatar?  Or do I not want to know?!?!?!  

That is the red arrow down at the Antique Archeology (American Pickers) shop in Nashville. I wanted to buy it but Mike had a NFS tag on it! I remember the episode where he found it too! My wife and I are flea market/ antique fans. Been to both of his shops. The one in Iowa is small but not a lot of people so I got to talk to one of the ladies there. She is on the show every so often. Mike is a big VW guy and has, at last count, 4 of them. (Single cab, 2 busses and a split window) I'd love to meet him and talk VW.

I'm wearing my volksrods.com T-shirt too!

Jeff

Jeff, thanks for de-mystifying that. Troy, good question.

HA! The second I saw that in your avatar I knew what it was! That's so cool.

 

Ted