East Coast Speedster SWAT Team

I had the pleasure of meeting Dale Schumacher this weekend. He came up to pick up a trans from me and we chatted for awhile. Anyway, he informed me that Wolfgang has had his car sitting in his garage for 17 years!? Dale also mentioned that it's pretty near completion with only the chassis and body to be connected and the engine and trans to go in.
So it got me to thinking, why don't we just gather up and head on down to his place and help him out? Kinda like what you all did with Tom Dewalts car. There seems to be enough of us around here that we could possibly get a few dates together to get him "Over the hump" and closer to the end result.
I'm experiencing some serious withdraw right now not having my car on the road for over two weeks now. I REALLY miss driving my car! I know in the end it'll have been worth the wait. But to have NEVER had the enjoyment of settling in behind the wheel, turning the key, feeling the car rumble around you, ect.... that's just criminal!
Once my car is done (hopefully in the next few weeks) I'm more than willing to head down and help out in whatever way I can. We could get Greg close enough that maybe he could finish it up over the winter and be there for Carlisle next year. It would be a great way to wrap up the season here. Who's in?

Count me in!

This is where I whine about the concentration of Speedsterphiles up there, relative to here. I'd love to participate in something like to give back for the work people put into mine.

Get on the bus, Gus
Hop on a plane, Lane
Show the wife some tail, Dale
Drive that new trick, Mick

and get Greg free.......

OK, so let's talk dates and maybe whine-y Lane and I can make the trip (don't know why you have Speedie withdrawal down here in the South - I was just working on Jody Henson's Vintage last Saturday...)

I'll drive and bring lots of tools and some Dixie VooDoo Lager beer, and Lane can buy the fuel for the truck. After all, it's only a day to DC and 24 gallons of Diesel each way....

Lane! Just like "Route 66" on TV!! Heading out, not knowing where you're going, wind in your (single) hair from the climate control, Oldies on the radio, Onion Rings and Beef Jerkey in the center console.....

"It's dark, we're wearing sunglasses, I've got a pack of cigarettes and a full tank of gas.....Let's roll!"

You guys are really cool!
Count me in for beer money. Just give me an address.
Group hug!

Man, I knew I should have not gone off with wife for weekend (to Lively, VA)-- instead of driving up with Schu (Dale) to Mickey's! Just knew he'd talk about my unfinished Speedster in the garage. I keep seeing barn/garage finds posted here for sale and have to run out to garage to see if I left the door open!

Did get a good days worth of help from Kelly Frazier sometime back (ha, we had to use the kerosene heater so guess it was a while back). He removed the rats nest of wiring under dash (guess that was step forward?) and helped me mount the front hood.

I have xcel list of "to do" items prioritized and with completion difficulty and estimated time to complete. I think the hood was a one monkey (banana?) job but Kelly and I spend over 4 hours on it and it still sits a little proud and too tight on one side.

I kid Schu that I bought it in 9/88 before son was born and he just went off for first year of college! Honestly, I'm not a lazy procrastinator nor mechanically challenged (other than 20 years older than when I started!) -- its just overwhelmed me with what to work on next so any organized help would be greatly appreciated! I mean I still have the CMC literature and it says it takes 40 hours to complete - what gives?

They'll be Bozelli subs all around! I'd sure like to see it make Carlise in '09! I'm 1/4 mile off I95 in Springfield.

Hmmmm.... G-dawg, you may have something there.

I talked to Teresa about your hangar queen, Greg. She remembered that you had said it was 17 years in the garage almost a year ago.
Sooooo. ... Maybe we need to help it celebrate its 18th birthday.
For those of you who haven't been to Greg's joint, and therefore haven't seen the VW parts bin that is his garage, he's got the only speedster I'm aware of with a wood-grain dashboard, a black body and a really nice mill sitting right there along with absolutely everything required (except willing help) to get that thing together in 48 hours or less.
Mickey, we're in. And at this point in the game, I'd say we'd probably not best leave the scheduling to him.
Let's pick a date FOR him, even if he has to leave the keys under the mat.

Well, obviously, since I know the way, I'd get behind going back into the parts bin (aka Greg's garage) again and seeing if a whole car can come out. To do so w/ so many willing hands will REQUIRE that the other space in said garage be free. Greg: is that possible?? There just ain't a lot of room in there. 48 hrs?? That would assume a lot, but hey, it could happen. Will need a wiring genius (Drake?) to get the dash sorted, and maybe an engine guru (Danny?) to know why the heck it won't start. Gonna need lots of gummout in those carbs, I bet. But, as mentioned, all the required parts are there, and then some. After that, it's all just nuts and bolts (so said the rocket scientist).

Honestly never added fuel or oil to try to start engine after rebuild back in (gulp) 1990 --- since no wiring or spark it didn't seem a priority. Actually procrastination there might be a good thing - still has heavy assembly lube on crank/cam/jugs (guess I should try to turn over using pulley nut)- plus no varnish in Dellorto carbs (might have dried seals - but that could be true for entire engine). I once figured I could finish it in about 48 hours --- but my "monkey effort" grading scale is obviously too optimistic. I did fill in dash (fiberglassed) after removing the large CMC Vintage gauges - so my smaller VDO Night Design gauges don't flop thru. They are mounted now - so next step was wiring under dash then out to lights/engine.

BIGGIES -
wiring - 12 hrs
windshield - 4 hours (sitting where it should be - not bolted down or sealed)
mount body to pan and weather seal (y'all have been there!)- 6 hours
Weather protection - top, tonneaus (snaps & frame) - 4 hours
bucket seat - need to be glued up too - 3 hours

so that leaves ~20 hours for got-ya's, debugging or do-overs.

It's been in garage all these years - so not sure if any rust got into brakes (again never any fluid after rebuild) or engine. I recently replaced CV joint bellows as the India rubber had totally disintegrated - bet front ball joints are same.

Well, that doesn't sound like too much to do. If we can get the wiring in, the body connected and the engine and trans in it's practially done!
I'll be out of town the 3rd week in Oct. Other than that I'm usually pretty good on the weekends, with a little notice. I'm hoping to have my car done, well, back in running order, in the next couple weeks which puts us at the beginning of Oct. So, if we can get a date in the first few weeks on Oct and then maybe another in early Nov we could make some progress.
I'm not quite sure I can offer any technical input, but I'm hoping to gain some knowledge with my car. Maybe I won't have to ask which end of the wrench to hold.
Let's start throwing some dates out. Greg, what's looking good for you?

Man I wish I could make it. Count on me for some beer money or something, Need any parts . . . Mirrors, nerf bars, anything I have is yours.

Only bad dates for me - 10-12 Oct and Turkey Weekend and mid to end Dec. I have 2 car garage - will start cleaning it out in anticipation!

I'm in.

Paul

Greg:

Remember to not overlap with the Dragon Run (Oct. 10-12 weekend).

Regarding your hit list:
BIGGIES -
wiring - 12 hrs - If you already have a complete harness (CMC, Vintage, Painless), several hours could be saved. Well worth $150 bucks.

windshield - 4 hours (sitting where it should be - not bolted down or sealed) - I think that should include bolting down of the corner posts, sealing and screwing down the lower trim and then mounting and securing everything else. 4 hours sounds right for all that, with two people. Once it's mounted, removal is easy - remove the four screws in the corner posts to frame and it all slips right out. See if you can buy some rubber gaskets for the bottom of the corner posts - they were not included in CMC kits.

mount body to pan and weather seal (y'all have been there!)- 6 hours
Naaaah...get yourself a beetle sedan body-to-pan seal from any decent parts house and four big tubes of clear or black silicon caulk. Run a bead along the pan, position the seal and squash it down, run another bead along the top of the seal, pick up the body and rough position then measure the four corners and fine position and walk away overnight. Takes 4 - 6 people and a couple of hours, tops.

Weather protection - top, tonneaus (snaps & frame) - 4 hours I would measure and position all of the snaps in the body first, and use them as your reference for the corresponding snaps in the tonneau and top (then they both fit). That's an hour. Putting snaps in the tonneau - another hour IF you have a calibrated snap installer/crimper. Otherwise, 2 hours. Installing the top just to get it in there: 3-4 hours. Getting it to fit right and sealing both the side windows and top properly - another 4 hours, but this also requires mods to the top material. Read my top installation article first: http://speedstershop.com/viewtopic.php?t=381

bucket seat - need to be glued up too - 3 hours I've never used CMC supplied seats and have no time reference for them. Used 914 seats instead. I'm currently looking for a pair of Miata seats for the new build.

YUP 10-12 Oct is conflict for the "PA get together too"

Wiring - I have the Painless 12 circuit "fuse panel" but not their wiring kit which was just to generic for the extra $300. I have spools of individual different color/gauge wire to run (and crimp/solder on end connectors and heat shrink tubing). Guages are majority of wiring.

Windshield - I do have the corner post rubber from Klassee356 - have to put snaps on dash before permanently mount it.

Mount body to pan and weather seal - have OEM VW seal. So just need tubes of silicon plus guess some foam filler in a can. Plus it calls for fiberglassing all around edges.

Weather protection - Have a press looking vice-like thing with jaw and long handle to crimp down on top of them. I have your top install instructions printed off - excellent reference. Side curtain are still raw pieces and guess later project.

Bucket seat - I have the CMC "buckets" --- make that "pail" seats plus a set of cut down back 914. The CMC will be quicker at this point and match the CMC carpet set --- a bright, bright red. I'll go tan interior down the road.

I'll take some before pictures this weekend and post. Confirmation of the 48 hour estimate then is encouraging.

Game on, Wayne! (Y'all remember Wayne's World, right?)

It's "Party on, Wayne!"

So are we looking at early November? As I mentioned, I'll be out of town the 3rd week of October. Let's get a couple dates to pick from; Nov 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 15th 16th??? That should give Greg enough time to make room for us and get things together for the build.

Where are we with this? October is a little tight but I've got time in November. Greg, did you start that garage cleaning project yet?