How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster.

Thanks Ted, that's good to hear.  I know I couldn't go wrong buying a Speedster from Troy but I couldn't help expressing my shock at all you did.  Sounds like a beauty of a car.

 

And don't get me wrong, I'm a bit of an audiophile and I will have mine in the stereo shop for a little something in the sound department.  Nothing crazy like my high school days which was 4 - 10", woofers, a half-dozen mids, and a half dozen tweeters with three amps.  Just some real clean sounds while waiting for the traffic lights.  

Hey Koda, I got my 10 yr old VS Speedster 4 wks ago from a SOC member, the car is cherry I'm loving it and will drive even on cold days at the Jersry Shore. But I can't even screw in a light bulb, so I found a great old air cooled VW guy who do the work needed, talk to Kirk as needed and ask Troy and the rest for help/advice as needed.

Embrace the maddness!

Koda.

I'm not an audiophile and I don't know what it is, but you might be happy to know that your car appears to have an amplifier tucked up under the dash.

On the other hand, you're going to find that no matter how good the stereos in these cars are, they are pretty much drowned out by engine, wind and road noise.

 

Thanks Troy, can't wait for my money to get here so I can give it to you and take that car out for a loooooong drive.

Day 15... No speedster. Having withdraws.

 

I expect symptoms to worsen over the next 3 weeks.  

 

Future looks grim.

 

Ted

Ted - anytime you're down in SoCal, my raccoon-terrorizing brutha, you & Alexis are welcome to take our Speedster out for a cruise along Pacific Coast Highway! 

I appreciate that my friend.  You know what they say, "Once you go black..."

 

Ted

Day 22. Patient shows no signs of improving.

I may call Ken next week, but I'm afraid he'll say something I don't want to hear.

Ted

Ted, I found that it worked better to have Tony call the Kens.

Ahh, good to know. I just hate to hate add to Tony's plate. I know he's busy. When we first started talking about this, Tony said it would take 3-4 weeks. If I'm being honest, based on the way he said it, I understood that to mean... a good solid 4. With the extreme possibility that it would to extend into 5.

 

The Ken's got the Trans on the 12th. I called that week on the 16th and they were pretty busy, so they hadn't even unwrapped it yet. We just ended the 3rd week since they've had it. Tomorrow starts week 4.  We are going talk once the trans gets torn down to figure out what 4th gear I had in there and then decide which 4th gear to go with.  I'm sure what makes the most sense with the 1915 and the 3.88 R&P. Tony had some great suggestions. I have them written down at the office.

 

Without receiving a call, I assume that it's not taken apart yet. Maybe I'll call Thursday or Friday.

 

No big deal, I just hope they are working on it.

 

T

Ted I say the "Kens" because you have Ken Jansen, the engine guy and Ken Porter, the tranny guy.

It doesn't matter which one you're working with, it's best to have Tony place the call as he does business with them on a regular basis.

Tony understands their idiosyncrasies far better than us lowly hobbyists.

AH! I thought there were two Ken Porters, maybe a father and son.

 

I'll reach out to Tony today.

 

There aren't many of us who do all our own work.  No matter how talented the owner is, sooner or later, something needs to be shipped to "the guy", who rebuilds whatever it is that went south.

 

Of course, "the guy" is much in demand, since there aren't many still offering his unique services.  The market is shrinking, new mechanics want to learn the newer technology, etc.  So, as a result, we must approach this magician with hat in hand, as it were.

 

To further complicate matters, most of us don't live close enough to the maestro's shop to just drop in and see how the job is progressing.  Does that mean that we have a tougher time getting high enough on the list to actually warrant someone looking at the broken piece?  Of course, the answer is a resounding YES!

 

No tradesman in this field has it all: competence, fair price, accountability, and great customer service.  Most of the guys we deal with have been doing this for many decades, and they aren't searching for new business.  They (reluctantly, mind you) accept our business with lots of caveats up front: you know, I'm really backed up here--I really don't take these kind of jobs anymore, but since old Jack died, I'll make an exception--I really want to retire, ya know, but that worthless kid of mine won't pick up a wrench, yada, yada.  The first comment from the great one himself is usually something like: wallll, whoever built this damned thing in the first place did it all wrong.  What you need to do is run a weld bead down this a way, then grind it a touch . . .

 

To those of us who have run up against the above, you are nodding in agreement as you read this.  To those who haven't, I wish I could suggest a method of avoiding the looooooonnnnnngggg waits, e-mails not answered, phone messages not returned, etc.  It is what it is, and we, myself particularly, need to learn to accept it.  Sounds easy, eh? 

Just to be clear - So far Ken's on schedule and always available when I call. I'm not unhappy with his service, so far.  I only called once the first week to make sure he had the trans. Since then, I've been assuming he's doing what I asked him to.

 

I think we're unsure on the 4th gear because of we didn't know what was in there and we didn't know what kind of shape it would be in.  Do I Leave the stock 4th gear or do I do the bus 4th? Not sure I want to go clear up to the Freeway Flyer.

 

I went into this rebuild with eyes wide open. I know I could have gone with any number of 'ready made' units out of LA. I trust Terry &  Tony's judgement and went with Ken. I also assumed 3 to 4 weeks meant 4 to 5. We're just starting week 4. I'm not worried yet. I'm only afraid to call because I'm afraid he'll say "it's going to cost more than we'd thought' or 'oh, *that* one..."  We're supposed to touch base today.  I'll let you know what I find out.

 

The most recent decision I'm trying to make is rear disks?  Or should stick with the drums? I already have a dual master cylinder, so it should be a straight swap. I already have the woven stainless steel rear lines to swap over. With the trans out and empty, right now would be the time to switch to disks if I'm going to do it. Kustom1warehouse is the only place I've found who actually lists the AC Industries, 0 offset wide 5, with e-break in stock. I'd go with that to match what's on the front. Another $380.00 is kind of steep, so I don't know.

 

These cars are so light, I'm not sure I really need the rear disks.  Any thoughts?

 

Ted

 

 

 

 

Rear discs really help with quicker straighter stops.

Ted- Stay with the stock .89 4th gear, as making the 3-4 spread any bigger will just be awkward; you'll have a 4-5 mph spot between the 2 where the engine's really revving a little too high in 3rd and in 4th the fan speed will be just a little too low to be really comfortable at anything but a light cruise. It works with a bigger engine (over 2 liters usually has enough torque to cruise that low) but the 2 or 3 guys on here that have done it (Ron O and I don't remember who else) didn't like it, even with bigger engines. With the 3.88, .89 and 25" tires, 3500rpm will be  77-78mph and with 24 1/2" tires it'll still hit 75-76mph.

 

I think it's a good thing that you're farming the trans work out to someone close and not sending it off to one of the big trans companies; it's always great to spend your money as local as possible when there's someone competent to do the work. But, whether "it's going to cost more than we'd thought' or 'oh, *that* one...", you need to keep on top of it; there's nothing worse than them assuming you want this or that, and it lets them know that you don't want it sitting there forever, so call and check often enough that they know you want it soon.

 

If you were running substantially different tire sizes front and back and you'd upgraded to front discs then I'd say you definitely need to upgrade the rear brakes, but your car has the same tire and rim sizes front and back, correct? With the same tires all around, the front disc/beetle back drum combo is fairly balanced (VW did it on the Karmann Ghia and it worked great) and will work for most people almost all the time. Unless you really like to hot-foot it around on a regular basis it's not necessary, but if you can afford and justify the rear discs, you could do it. That $400 would put a stroker counterwighted crankshaft in your new engine though. A 78x94 would really kick ass; just sayin'.... And then you could decide at a later date if you really need rear discs.... Hope this helps, Ted. Al

 

 

 

  

Spoke with the Ken (Transmission) - he says that we're on track for the 14th. Which is about 5 weeks. Kind of like I had expected. He's also saying stick with the .89. That reaffirms what everyone has said (Tony, ALB, Terry, etc.). The 3.88 is going to be a big improvement. The beef-a-diff, ten tooth outer gears, welded 3rd and 4th, steel forks, etc will add some heft to the equation. I followed Gordon's lead and went with the Rhino mounts. 

 

I went ahead and bit the bullet on the wide 5 rear disks (with 0 offset). I already have a dual circuit master cylinder, so I'm hoping it's a straight forward swap. I'll switch over to the SS lines at the same time. The trans is out, the gear oil is already drained, I'm putting in new seals anyway - might as well just do it once. Buy once. Cry once. 

 

Maybe I'll get half of that Kaffer bar installed tonight? Maybe.

 

Weee!

Ted 

If I did anything like that, it'd be down the road. And I'd opt for  a 76 x 94.

 

Keep is simple.  

Ted

 

Not trying to beat anything to death here...just trying to learn. Alb, you wisely say above that with 25" tires and the 3:88 and .89 fourth gear a car will go 77.5 mph at 3,500 rpm.

 

Not trying to pick hairs here either, but does anyone take into account that the tire is not round? ...It really is flat on the bottom where it meets the road and a quick measurement with my setup shows that the radius is actually about 1/2" less than 1/2 the diameter just by the weight of the car and thus the "true" radius is reduced where it is most effective...the center of the hub down to the road. It only accounts for about 4.35% on a 25 inch tire if I'm right, but your rpm might go from 3,500 rpm to 3,652.

 

Not a big hill of beans for sure but how many times do we hear that lads say their

speedo is off compared to other peoples stated rpm.

 

So, my situation is this...I just measured the diameter of my tires and they are 24" diameter, yet flat by about 1/2" on the bottom yielding an effective radius of 11.5".

 

Now, going from Al's reference above with the 3:88 / 89 fourth doing 3,500 rpm hitting 77.5 mph with an effective 12" radius, I'd be doing about 3,652 rpm. But

for now I have the stock 4.125 which would give me 3,882.

 

Thinking about a new tranny upgrade soon, if I went from the 3:88 down to the

3:44, with the same tires I'd be doing 3,237. Now couple with that my real cruising speed is between 60 -65...call it 62.5, my actual rpm would be about 2,610 rpm.

 

Sounds like a good choice considering this torque graph or not ? Thanks..

David, I've raised that point over the years with a good number of people, and nobody seems to think it matters, so I don't bother any more, but I do think you're right. Other people have told me that at highway speeds the tires "lose" that flat spot and the full diameter is accurate to use in gear ratio calculations. The problem is that with the inaccuracies of the equipment we're dealing with (cheap electronic tachometers aren't that accurate from day to day and a speedometer design that comes from just this side of the stone age) it's approximations at best. I guess the bottom line is whether it's 76 or 78 mph (or whatever the numbers may be), use it as a comparison tool.

 

From what I've read, I'm of the understanding that your thinking the Subaru engine can "pull taller gears" in these cars is correct. A large (2200cc's or larger) VW aircooled engine with a 5500 or 6,000rpm redline will have a very similar torque curve, but being watercooled, the subie isn't saddled with the minimum rpm cruising restrictions that our beloved aircooled engines have to live with. Ask around some more  before committing, but I think you're on the right track. And if (for whatever reason) the 3.44 doesn't work out, I'll buy it off you. 

 

And David- call me Al; ALB sounds so...you know....formal... And come on; you know the tune....

 

And Ted- Hey, no sweat. Remember, though, as you're driving that new 1915, that another 250cc's (and the increased stroke) will transform your car! And whether it's 76 or 78mm it'll all be good!