Are you going to have the dash emergency brake lever location or the Vw between the seat location. You may have mentioned this earlier.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Are you going to have the dash emergency brake lever location or the Vw between the seat location. You may have mentioned this earlier.
Erik, Henry is building the car with an under-dash Porsche 356 parking brake. The dash and interior will look almost 100% like a 1956 Speedster except for the window slots in the doors, shifter shaft diameter, and shifter rubber boot.
To get "the look" I asked to delete the door topside push button locks, the window switches are hidden, small storage pockets are in the near side kick panel carpeting like an original, no storage pockets are on the door panels, etc.
The VDO instruments are the correct size and look like Carrera instruments (except combo gauge is a matching three-gauge 904 unit) and switch placement is correct (ignition switch is a NOS Porsche 356 unit). There is also a sweep second VDO hand clock as was fitted to some Carreras except that this one is a quartz movement.
(Message Edited 6/25/2003 2:07:55 PM)
To get "the look" I asked to delete the door topside push button locks, the window switches are hidden, small storage pockets are in the near side kick panel carpeting like an original, no storage pockets are on the door panels, etc.
The VDO instruments are the correct size and look like Carrera instruments (except combo gauge is a matching three-gauge 904 unit) and switch placement is correct (ignition switch is a NOS Porsche 356 unit). There is also a sweep second VDO hand clock as was fitted to some Carreras except that this one is a quartz movement.
(Message Edited 6/25/2003 2:07:55 PM)
I am green with envy, though it would be hard for me not to go with a through-the-hood racer flip gas cap as used on some Carrera's, even at the expense of extra trunk space and potential water entry.
Your car is going to be one sweet Speedster. I hope Henry saves the build sheet in case I ever win the Lotto.
Your car is going to be one sweet Speedster. I hope Henry saves the build sheet in case I ever win the Lotto.
The problem with that filler on a street car is 1) leaks into the trunk and 2) vandalism. I don't think many Carreras were delivered to customers with that fuel tank filler.
Hi there,
I have been lurking for some time and purchased a cmc speedster with IRS VW pan that I am in the midst of converting to look like a carrera GT.
I have a couple of questions for Erik K. and George B.
1. I would like to convert my speedster to 4 wheel disc brakes. I am thinking of using parts from a 944. I did a search and found that Erik was going to do this in Oct 2002 and was wondering how difficult it was and what parts were necessary.
2. In conjunction with disc brakes, I really like the wide five look of the the original cars. I am also on the 356 registry and saw an intermecannica that has 16" wide five wheels with disc brake setup. I thought that the wide five wheels only worked with drum brakes. I know that there was a custom ATE design that was really complex and used modified drum parts. So George, is it possible to use the 944 disc brakes with a wide five adapter to fit an original wheel? Are the original wheels cost prohibitive, or is it just better to buy new (stronger) replica wheels.
3. I would also like to get the VW pan looking closer to the real thing. How difficult would it be to relocate the parking brake in a vw pan based car? Has anyone else done this? Also, I noticed that the clutch, brake and gas pedals and in fact the entire footwell area is very different than the original. Did you retrofit original pedals?
Anyway, I hope that I am not taking up too much bandwidth with these questions. I really want to congratulate Theron for having such a great site and people like George and Erik who are always helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Tenzin
I have been lurking for some time and purchased a cmc speedster with IRS VW pan that I am in the midst of converting to look like a carrera GT.
I have a couple of questions for Erik K. and George B.
1. I would like to convert my speedster to 4 wheel disc brakes. I am thinking of using parts from a 944. I did a search and found that Erik was going to do this in Oct 2002 and was wondering how difficult it was and what parts were necessary.
2. In conjunction with disc brakes, I really like the wide five look of the the original cars. I am also on the 356 registry and saw an intermecannica that has 16" wide five wheels with disc brake setup. I thought that the wide five wheels only worked with drum brakes. I know that there was a custom ATE design that was really complex and used modified drum parts. So George, is it possible to use the 944 disc brakes with a wide five adapter to fit an original wheel? Are the original wheels cost prohibitive, or is it just better to buy new (stronger) replica wheels.
3. I would also like to get the VW pan looking closer to the real thing. How difficult would it be to relocate the parking brake in a vw pan based car? Has anyone else done this? Also, I noticed that the clutch, brake and gas pedals and in fact the entire footwell area is very different than the original. Did you retrofit original pedals?
Anyway, I hope that I am not taking up too much bandwidth with these questions. I really want to congratulate Theron for having such a great site and people like George and Erik who are always helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Tenzin
Tenzin, early 356 16" diameter wide-five wheels were only 4.5" wide which would severely limit your tire selection, not to mention handling. The later 15" diameter wheels are 5.5" wide. The Mangel Brazilian repro wide-five wheels are not the best quality but they are cheap; Alex Bivens makes beautiful aluminum wide-five repro (actually Spyder RS repro) 10 lb. wheels for $550 to $600 each plus shipping.
SoCal and CB Performance both make wide-five disk brake kits. The Socals are all steel (heavy), do not have replaceable rotors, and have screw-in studs. The CB kits have aluminum/steel hubs (lighter), replaceable rotors you can by at a NAPA auto store (ditto the caliper units), and pressed-in studs (safer). CB makes them for IRS or swing axle rears, and dropped spindle or stock spindle fronts.
I would not recommend using adapters as most of them are not very good quality (strength and out-of-round issues) and increase the front and rear tread by about 3/8" on each side which may cause clearance problems.
I'm sure you can adapt almost anything if you have the time and money but it would probably be less expensive and a lot easier in the long run to buy good kits from a reliable source.
(Message Edited 6/25/2003 5:33:39 PM)
SoCal and CB Performance both make wide-five disk brake kits. The Socals are all steel (heavy), do not have replaceable rotors, and have screw-in studs. The CB kits have aluminum/steel hubs (lighter), replaceable rotors you can by at a NAPA auto store (ditto the caliper units), and pressed-in studs (safer). CB makes them for IRS or swing axle rears, and dropped spindle or stock spindle fronts.
I would not recommend using adapters as most of them are not very good quality (strength and out-of-round issues) and increase the front and rear tread by about 3/8" on each side which may cause clearance problems.
I'm sure you can adapt almost anything if you have the time and money but it would probably be less expensive and a lot easier in the long run to buy good kits from a reliable source.
(Message Edited 6/25/2003 5:33:39 PM)
I will butt in just to add that you can use the 944 Turbo rear disc setup, and even use the aluminum trailing arms. Now you will have a problem, but probably could redrill those to the wide five pattern. That or say with the wide 5 porsche and put a late model wheel on it. It has been estimated to add about a half inch to each side. But, you get 944 turbo brakes and aluminum control arms. One trick set up. Is your CMC a flare or classic?
I never got around to the 944 brake conversion, but it is on my list at some point. My car has many other issues that take priority. Lots of guys have made the conversion and there are people that sell the key parts already modified. Check at shoptalkforums.com for a motherlode of info re 944 brake conversions. I added CB Performance "rotohub" rear brakes -- until I have a larger engine built I am not sure I need the 944's.
George, I hear what you are saying about water and vandalism with a through the hood racer gas cap, however, I love that retro racer look and will take my chances, in fact, I bought a oversized gas tank from JPS with the flip gas cap that I will be installing.
George, I hear what you are saying about water and vandalism with a through the hood racer gas cap, however, I love that retro racer look and will take my chances, in fact, I bought a oversized gas tank from JPS with the flip gas cap that I will be installing.
Hi George,
Yes, I see that CB performance now also has rear wide five disc brakes. I am going to get the CB front and rear kits. I am going to get the Mangels for the time being and save up to buy the Bivens wheels. I have contacted Rich Downing, who is on the 356 registry, about his 16" custom wheels on his intermechanica, but so far no response.
Tenzin
Yes, I see that CB performance now also has rear wide five disc brakes. I am going to get the CB front and rear kits. I am going to get the Mangels for the time being and save up to buy the Bivens wheels. I have contacted Rich Downing, who is on the 356 registry, about his 16" custom wheels on his intermechanica, but so far no response.
Tenzin
Jack Moore: On my seemingly "spare no expense" new IM Speedster I was going to use a pair of the turbo aluminum trailing arms modified as necessary; then I found out that the aluminum ones are not that much lighter than the stock steel units (maybe 2 1/2 or 3 lbs. each).
Save your money for something more effective...
Save your money for something more effective...