Hello from Surrey UK

This is my Speedster Clinic 356a, four years in the making. I am now getting close to completion. I still have the seats to trim, plus carpets and door cards, then it will be ready for a coat of Black paint. It is based on a 1973 chassis with Disk brakes, 1641 new engine from VWHeritage. Black leather interior with red carpets. It would be nice to hear from anyone else close to me in the UK.

I'm posting a link to our "Members Search" using the map feature. Find Europe and as you zoom in on the map it begins to show the different cities members can be found. You can see there screen names and if you click on their name you can see when the last time they were on the site. If it has been years since their last visit they may not be active anymore. If you find someone who has visited the site recently then send them a PM and see if you can meet up.

https://www.speedsterowners.com...ers?sort=VIEW_AS_MAP

BTW, the car looks real nice and seems to have come a long way from where it started.

Welcome, to the Madness! Your car is going to look great when finished. Black Speedsters do look awesome _{(but so do red Speedsters, and blue Speedsters, and silver...)}. Will we call you Mr P for all eternity or can we be on a first name basis? And since I don't see any side trim mounted yet, I think it looks better/cleaner with it off (just in case you might be wondering) . Al

PS- I'm not close (Vancouver, British Columbia) but good to have you aboard.

Excellent job so far, Mr. P!  Been there, done all of that, too.  Is the rear fog light a requirement of the MOT?  I like it a lot - reminds me of similar lights on 356's when I was a kid in America.

There are a few other UK owners on here.  Richard Maxwell is way up in Burton on Trent, mail code de143gx.  His usernams is @RichardMaxwell.  There is also a guy with a Speedster with with an air bag suspension and hardtop making it look like a slammed coupe......near Manchester??  

Me?  I'm in Massachusetts but used to get to Hounslow and Feltham quite a bit years ago.  I have a mid-90's CMC that started black and ended up white - go figure.  

Welcome aboard and "Welcome to the Madness!"

Hi guys, you summoned me. 

Mr P, it's looking good so far. Are you IVA'ing it?? Either way your not far of by the looks of things. I'm based in the midlands if that's not to far away. Keep us posted.

Morning Mr P and all,

Speedster looks great even in white! I think I have been working for about 4 years on mine, unbelievable how long things take. Do you have a finish date?

From sunny Norfolk - England

Looks great so far!  It will look great in black!   Congrats on a very nice build!  Are you going to dress it up with all the trim, or go for an outlaw look?

Welcome to the madness!

Don't feel too bad, you guys - I bought my CMC "kit" in 1993 and got it on the road in 2001.  Greg (Wolfgang) bought his CMC in 1988 and it's STILL not on the road!   They might get assembled faster if the various parts actually fit together without messing with them to make them fit......   

Gordon Nichols posted:

Excellent job so far, Mr. P!  Been there, done all of that, too.  Is the rear fog light a requirement of the MOT?  I like it a lot - reminds me of similar lights on 356's when I was a kid in America.

There are a few other UK owners on here.  Richard Maxwell is way up in Burton on Trent, mail code de143gx.  His usernams is @RichardMaxwell.  There is also a guy with a Speedster with with an air bag suspension and hardtop making it look like a slammed coupe......near Manchester??  

Me?  I'm in Massachusetts but used to get to Hounslow and Feltham quite a bit years ago.  I have a mid-90's CMC that started black and ended up white - go figure.  

Welcome aboard and "Welcome to the Madness!"

Hi Gordon. The rear fog light is a requirement for IVA, although this one will fail as it is not approved.  Regards Paul

RichardMaxwell posted:

Hi guys, you summoned me. 

Mr P, it's looking good so far. Are you IVA'ing it?? Either way your not far of by the looks of things. I'm based in the midlands if that's not to far away. Keep us posted.

Hello Richard, yes going for the IVA so will have to de-build it to how I want it to look. I think we met at Ian's when you supplied me with my heated screen?  Regards  Paul

Greg356a posted:

Morning Mr P and all,

Speedster looks great even in white! I think I have been working for about 4 years on mine, unbelievable how long things take. Do you have a finish date?

From sunny Norfolk - England

Hi Greg, probably around summer next year. It is down to funds not time. I have just been quoted £1000 to trim the seats and £2500 for paint. Think I am up to a spend of around £13000 by the time I will be finished!

Hi Paul, I believe we met as well at Ian's. I see you got the glass fitted. I am struggling to get everything together. The frame seems to be a different profile to the glass, and for obvious reasons don't want to squease and push the gaskets and frame together and then crack it! Any tips?

I seem to have over complicated my build by trying to use the majority of Porsche components, engine, suspension, gauges etc, etc and as you say building for the IVA regulations. Trim and paint seems a good  rate. My seats are away with Gary at FX Classic hopefully get them back in the next couple of weeks.

Hi Greg, my glass fitted the frame well but I gave up using the rubbers supplied by Speedster clinic. In the end I just bonded them in place with Sikaflex, carefully masking off the frame and the glass with electrical tape. The only tool I used was a wet finger!

Greg356a posted:

Hi Paul, I believe we met as well at Ian's. I see you got the glass fitted. I am struggling to get everything together. The frame seems to be a different profile to the glass, and for obvious reasons don't want to squease and push the gaskets and frame together and then crack it! Any tips?

I seem to have over complicated my build by trying to use the majority of Porsche components, engine, suspension, gauges etc, etc and as you say building for the IVA regulations. Trim and paint seems a good  rate. My seats are away with Gary at FX Classic hopefully get them back in the next couple of weeks.

 

 

Garry had my seats and material for around six months, he couldn't find anyone to do them so I took them back and found someone myself.

I love that we are all one big global family!

I learned that wet finger on silicon caulk (or Sikaflex) from a South Africa guy when I lived in South Carolina.  Didn't believe it at first, but it works.

£13,000 actually sounds about right over here, too.  I've heard of a few done cheaper, but if you want the look and the good parts then £13K - £15K is what it takes.

On the original (real) 356's, since the cowls were all hand made and no two are precisely alike, the windscreen had to be ground to match the shape of the cowl.  THAT's why original owners are terrified of having to replace their windscreen.  I do not know what type of glass grinder they used, back then, and kind-of wonder if many (any) modern glass shops can still do that.  On here, I've mostly heard of re-shaping the cowl to fit the windscreen (before paint, of course) with fiberglass and/or Bondo.  The problem most of us face in the US is getting the glass bottom to stay in the bottom rubber gasket and not pop up/out at the front when everything gets (gently) tightened down.

Oh, and on the seat delay - When it came time for paint on my car I got super-busy at work and didn't have the time (or better painting skills) to do it, so I dropped it off at a place lots of Street Rodders use and then did a very dumb thing:  I said "I probably won't have time to get to it for six months, so just use it as time filler".  Dumbest thing I ever said.  A year and a half later it hadn't been touched so I showed up with a trailer to get it, looking the same as the day I dropped it off.  The owner panics and says, "I can finish it in a week.  You wanna let me finish it?"  Quick call to a couple of street rodders who said they trusted him and I said "Sure!"  

Sonofagun.........The thing was done in a week and looked fabulous.  And it STILL looks fabulous, 20 years later!

Hi Mr P,

Love the wet finger approach, did you use some spacers to stop the glass touching the ali frame? I think I may have to go down the same road with Sikaflex.

Seats are with Gary at Classic FX - http://classiccarrestorationsurrey.co.uk I am using houndstooth centre and black leather around.

Good morning gentlemen, Just joined this Speedster Forum, I am very new to building a replica, and have purchased my kit from Pilgrim Motorsports near Bright, UK, I live in North Wales, and I have some knowledge, but rely on a friend who is a mechanic. 

Looking through the posts, I wonder what I have let myself in for, but it should be a challenge, my timetable is to have the car on the road for next spring (2018). So I will posting lots of questions and picking brains for ideas and help.

My personal name is Scott, and live in Llandudno, North Wales, so Hi to all.

Welcome to the Madness, Scott!!