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Fianlly...

FM Former Member
Edit: I meant Finally, just kinda wired today!

After wanting one for fifteen years, and being a lurker on this site since 2005, I finally got my Speedster this Saturday.

It's a 198? FiberFab(?), completed in 1995. It will absolutely be a "before and after" type of car but every time I drive it I can't wipe the goofy smile off my face.

The previous owner was small of stature, he was using Beetle seats which I promptly removed and remounted as far back as possible. The number one thing I need right now are some replica seats, help?

Also it suffers from droopy rear, as you can see from the door gaps. Does anyone know if it's OK to remove the roll bar? It seems pretty securely mounted to the subframe, and I don't want to weaken the car.

In the very near future it will get headlight grills, leather shift and brake boots, and a wood steering wheel. The entire interior is pretty poorly done, I would love to replace the dash and carpet. It has a short shifter which I love and a metal T-shaped knob that I hate. Also the brake and clutch pedals say VW! They really have to go. Any help getting any of these parts would be great; I browsed all of the "makers" part lists already of course.

The motor runs like a champ and was recently tuned up, but could use some more juice. It's a 1600 crate built by GEX punched out to 17?? with dual carbs; don't know much else about it yet.

Anyway, I could just scoot around town the way it is; perfectly happy.
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FM Former Member
Edit: I meant Finally, just kinda wired today!

After wanting one for fifteen years, and being a lurker on this site since 2005, I finally got my Speedster this Saturday.

It's a 198? FiberFab(?), completed in 1995. It will absolutely be a "before and after" type of car but every time I drive it I can't wipe the goofy smile off my face.

The previous owner was small of stature, he was using Beetle seats which I promptly removed and remounted as far back as possible. The number one thing I need right now are some replica seats, help?

Also it suffers from droopy rear, as you can see from the door gaps. Does anyone know if it's OK to remove the roll bar? It seems pretty securely mounted to the subframe, and I don't want to weaken the car.

In the very near future it will get headlight grills, leather shift and brake boots, and a wood steering wheel. The entire interior is pretty poorly done, I would love to replace the dash and carpet. It has a short shifter which I love and a metal T-shaped knob that I hate. Also the brake and clutch pedals say VW! They really have to go. Any help getting any of these parts would be great; I browsed all of the "makers" part lists already of course.

The motor runs like a champ and was recently tuned up, but could use some more juice. It's a 1600 crate built by GEX punched out to 17?? with dual carbs; don't know much else about it yet.

Anyway, I could just scoot around town the way it is; perfectly happy.

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  • 0422_231935
  • speedster3
WOLFGANGWOLFGANG'89 CMC FWB, FL Supporting Member
The "headache" bar (aka roll bar) should simply unbolt from the plates bolted to the chassis (see build manual in Forum Library). If it is the stock installed hoop "show" bar it adds very litle to the structure. I can't see gaps in picture. Is color coral - or is it just the lighting? I'm surprized VW seat would fit - isn't your head over the windshield frame. Porsche 914 seats are a popular inexpensive replacement seat - easy to cut off the head rest if you want vintage look.
FM Former Member
Thanks guys!

Wolfgang--The passenger door does not go in all the way at the bottom; I think this has been covered before in the forums as common to FiberFab cars. I believe I will have to jack up the rear body and use bolts+washers to keep it that way.

As for the seats, yeah at 6'1 235 pounds the VW seats are terrible. To make matters worse there were 2 inch spacers between the floor and the tracks; I had to really slouch to get home and the steering wheel was about a foot from my chest.

I ditched the spacers, drilled new holes and jammed it as far back as possible; the width of the VW seat stops it right where the transmission tunnel starts to widen. The roll bar hits the top of the seat keeping me from reclining it much.

I have heard the cut down Porsche seats are still too thick/tall for taller guys--I want the seat as low as possible.

Sorry for the cameraphone photos, it was late last night when I got the seat back in. The color is a pretty basic red gelgoat, just a little faded.
FM Former Member
Congrats! Love that color because it's so unique. Regarding the seats, get a set of used CMC seats (they come up for sale in the Classifieds section quite often) or get a hold of a set of "spyder" seats from Vintage Speedsters which closely resemble the originals. With respect to the GEX engine, I've got bad news for you; GEX is regarded as the crummiest rebuilder of VW engines. Do a search on the forums at The Samba.com and you'll see what I mean. With respect to the droopy rear there's instructions on how to repair it here (do a search); I've heard it's not that difficult. Lastly; you need to lower the rear in that car; either get the spring plates adjusted or install adjustable ones such as these:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=194572

You'll enjoy doing the upgrades as well as driving the car. Good luck!

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  • MVC-006S
FM Former Member
Thanks Ricardo, I hadn't even noticed that the rear was too high. I did find that old thread about the droopy rear, and as far as the GEX motor--oh well. It's got only 13,000 miles on it since 1995; I will be putting a LOT more on it so we'll see.

SEATS! I am pretty discouraged by what I have found so far; can't spend anywhere near what I have been quoted so far.
WOLFGANGWOLFGANG'89 CMC FWB, FL Supporting Member
The bottom of the door sticking out is probably NOT caused by a sagging rear (unless door actually hits there). The sagging rear will cause about a 1/2 " gap at the very top of the doors, To pull the bottom of the door in you'll have to mess with the door hinges and the striker plate. An if that doesn't make it better then cutting the outer door skin from the inner shell - grinding off a sliver and refiberglassing it back will smooth up the side. Faded gell coat can be restored. Ya might try color back fiberglass policsh for boats for a quick fix. A better solution is to get 1200-1500 wet/dry sand paper and sand it --- then finish up with a buffer and rubbing/polishing compound. Do a search here as it has been discussed.

Attached are photos of the 914 sets before heard rest was removed and some CMC seats that came with mine. You can get similiar seats for dune buggies at JC Whitney's.

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  • 914 Seats
  • DCP_0322
  • DCP_0324
FM Former Member
Thanks Wolfgang, the doors seem to actually hit at the bottom and have a small gap at the top. I'm not too worried about it right now since hey, the hood and engine cover don't line up either. I'll have plenty to fix before I paint it which will probably be next year. Wet sanding it, now thats a great idea since the gelcoat looks pretty darn thick.

As for the seats, I placed my order with Vintage this morning. I'm getting black replica buckets with red piping, and some leather boots for the brake and shifter.

After some heavy forum searching I ordered a wooden Porsche shift knob from Enthusiast's Specialties, only $8+shipping! I have no idea if it will fit, but for $8 I won't mind if I have to epoxy it on or something. Now if I could only find that kind of deal on a steering wheel.

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