JPS COUPE FOR SALE

where do you live john. bill

Click on his name for profile - PA

I think you should get it sorted out, enjoy it and reevaluate it. It's a beautiful tricked out car. The more tricks the more teething pains.

PS,

Don't sell it until I'm ready to buy it! 

Pics?

I didn't realize it when I bought my car but they all need some amount of sorting. Some more, some less.  I'm pretty sure the amount of sorting goes up the less you pay for the car.  Mine is a VS and after working on it for about 8 months it is completely sorted except for one small oil leak which I will fix this winter as I have remove the stupid Kafer bar I put in to get to the oil cooler and that is a bear. Also a little jetting in the carbs which is no big deal.  It is a real decent running and looking car now. It really helps a lot if you can do most of your own work. I would guess that the IMs need almost no sorting and the Beck cars a little. I don't know if JPS will help you pay for some of the work or not. They should. A coupe would be a really neat car to have but if you sell it and start over unless you spend a minimum of $40K I think you are going to be in the same boat and maybe even a $40K car will need some sorting. Good luck

John - what engine do you have ?

Probably best to call me to discuss the car if interested 717 816 1836

Here are some pictures of the car

As to the "issues".   Much of this is open to debate and opinion.   I've felt from the beginning that here was a noise in transmission which would be at some point terminal.   At least a half dozen people road in or drove the car at Carlisle and opinion ranged from "you think that's bad you should listen to mine" to "oh thats a carrier bearing failing".   All I can say is that there is a noise which is clearly more noticeable in the coupe which John Steele has insisted is due to the steel gears in the rancho pro street transmission.  Carey Hines says he no longer uses the transmission due to having some failures.  Carey did not ride in the car this time but he is leaning towards the negative on the transmission.    Carey also said when he saw the car that he felt there were issues with wiring and that the "radiator and coolant lines were not plumbed correctly"   One of the other JPS owners correctly stated after asking me if I had electrical or over heating issues and me replying that I did not… "well this might be a situation of one builder not necessarily doing it the why he does so it has to be wrong"  I get that but as an non mechanic owner what am I to accept as valid?   The car runs and drives fine at this point.  One time it did take a fit and acted like it was out of gas but after sitting a few minutes started right up and ran for the next 50 miles or more with out incident.  (Vapor lock, fuel pump, brain fart I don't know) .    

I am not all that worked up about this and will fix the car or sell it depending.  Carey Hines has graciously agreed to help me with the car over the winter and he will extend that offer to anyone who would buy the car.   That in and of itself says a lot about him and his organization.   

THIS IS A CAR FOLKS it can and will be fixed.  I just don't know at this time if it's the car for me or not.  So my options are open.   I am being as up front and truthful as I can be and only wish I had been extended the same.   The builder thinks and will tell you that the car is fine and I am just being an old Fuddi Duddi and perhaps he is right.  Carey may be being a bit hard on his fellow builder.    YOU be the judge in this.   Please don't add insult to my injuries with low ball offers because it ain't going to happen.  If you buy the car at 30 there is a ton of room to make what ever (?) is wrong with it right.   And maybe just maybe there isn't much wrong.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.    Thanks for listening and thanks for the advice.

You guys that drove and road in the car… feel free to offer opinions.      

Keep us posted on the issues/future sale. I hope to be in a coupe by the end of year if all goes right.

What is that color?  The car looks great, you couldn't come close to building it for $30K.

John, that engine is a great engine, with a hard top coupe, the noise level will be magnified whatever tranny you have. On the other hand using 30 year old technology or more does not make for a smooth(quiet) tranny like in some honda products. Even Subie tranny can have some gear whine. Having owned an original 356Acoupe a long time ago my original thought was to get a coupe, but I chose a convertible. At speeds with the top down much of the tranny and engine noise is subdued especially if a VW engine exhaust note is singing, once you quiet the engine by using a subie, you end up noticing the tranny a lot more.  Add a top, or even worse a hard top and your in the drum chamber, I am not sure how much floor padding / noise cancelling you have but I would think that the m0re active or hard the surfaces are, the more the sound resonance will happen.  Someone with your type of car should chime in here with their experiences and how they handle the noise level.  If they have a type 1 to 4 they have the exhaust note covering much of the tranny noise again with a subie your tranny is the noise point now. ... Ray 

John I also think that you should take the time to experience the car before pulling the plug... some dreams are somewhat illusions, and delusions.  I chose to not buy a new/er porsche but I do have some compromises to do with my roadster as well. Even if I really love it I cannot drive to Henry to fix it easily, if you have Carey near you ... you should take him up on it as having a manufacturer near you will lessen the pain of ownership.  Lastly, remember that a custom build is unique and always will have some patina for you to enjoy or stress about.

The car looks quite nice in the pictures..... 

Ray

Carl,

There you go, man. The car you're lusting after at a price point you'll never see again.

Hang in there, John!  I understand either way you go, but you're right - it can be fixed.

Enjoyed dinner with you Friday night.

Hope it all works out for you John.

Screaming deal at $30k (said the DIY Subie-in-a-TD guy). FYI, a nice pro-street transmission can be built locally for $1,100 or so, with a 3.44 R&P. 

That said, they ain't for everybody. Good luck to you John, whichever way you go.

John,

Sure am bummed I missed out meeting you at Carlisle. It was on my list. Between needing to scour the flea market for parts, having lunches and egg sammies, and running the auto-cross and trying to fix a broke car, well, the weekend was just too short.  My $0.02: give the car a little more time, and use the support system that you seem to have going for you here.  I'd say at least a year.  If it does not fit and do for you what you want by then, then look for a buyer and another way to scratch your itch.  If you bail too soon, I can smell some future potential regrets creeping in.  I do not know what sort of dude you are, and how you process such stuff, but there would be a lot of second guessing if it was me, and I sold off my "dream" too soon.

Good for you, John! I rode in the car, and it is comfortable and looks very well finished. I heard the transmission noise but I can't add much to what you've already gotten from guys who more about it than I do. I would keep it and fix it...but I've been "sorting" my car for about 8 years, so don't go by me.

You've got a real beauty there and it will be worth the effort.  My $.02

John...I feel your pain but I'd try to put some serious miles on it before letting it go as is for that price. When I test flew various homebuilt planes, I'd put many hours on them but just around the patch and then further and further. Take your car a hundred miles at a time and let it prove itself one way or the other. You may get a pleasant surprise.

At the worst scenario, if the tranny goes US, it's just not that expensive to change out for a new one considering your base price of $30K. There are plenty of guys near you that can help.

As for the engine quitting suddenly and then restarting as you described to a group of us at Carlisle, that may be a mystery now but a PIA that might be easily fixed.

If you really like the car and the fun it provides, I'd say try to be patient and sort it out. Please keep us posted.

"As for the engine quitting suddenly and then restarting as you described to a group of us at Carlisle, that may be a mystery now but a PIA that might be easily fixed."

Must be contagious as mine did the same thing once on the way up to Carlisle.  Seems to happen about once a year to me, with no cause found.

I believe the car has been sold.  A SOC member has committed to buy it so unless there is a change of heart it's going back to California.   Probably best for the car and for me.   After the smoke clears I'll decide what I want to do with respects to "the madness".  

I'll keep all informed and hopefully I can remain a part of this with a car or without.   

I have an much better idea about what I'd want in a car and certainly and more importantly who I'd want to deal with building or buying it.   That in and of itself I guess is "worth it".   Some times an education is expensive.  I wrote the check for the first semester and pretty much failed the course but made next semester I can get some "A's".

I DO very much appreciate the advice and help give and the friendships made.  You're not rid of me yet.  

I've been promised a check so we'll trust that the car is going back to California.   I had to make a decision and this car wasn't going to ever be the right one for me.   I could have chased the gremlins and perhaps been mostly satisfied.  I think back in California the car will have a better life and I can move forward.    I don't know exactly what I want to do but I am at least educated to some degree about these cars now.    I made some mistakes and hopefully I can (and I believe already have helped at least one fellow) avoid some of the pit falls I made.   Alan Merklin has been a mentor and had it been an air cooled car I believe he could have helped me sort it out.   I did not want and did not ask Alan to get involved with this car because I sensed that he was uncomfortable with the water cooled nature and I also did not want him to be in the middle of this mess or in any way have him feel obligated to me. I consider Alan to be a friend and a gentleman and I know from my experience with the SOC group he is that to many of you.  That's more important to me then the car or the money a lot more important.   With what I've learned and the contacts I've made the second time around will be better.   I never divorced a wife but maybe I can look at his car deal as a divorce of a type.   I might join Match Makers or E Harmony and see what happens. Again thanks to all.

John;

Out there some place, there is just that right one!

Art

I may have missed this but was this a new build and if so, it's not under warranty?  I will tell you I went from speedster 1 to 2 real Pcars, but sold those because I missed the character of a Speedie.  Built number two and had teething issues.  Sorted them, sold the car went through two more P cars including my 996 and 951 s and just sold both of them because I regretted selling my Speedie.  So, now building my dream car with whom I believe is the best and most entrenched which is Carey and shop...a spyder with a suby motor.  I hope you don't refret selling.  When these cars are spot on, there is nothing better...not even a 996 convertible with 23,000 miles...or my 951 S turbo with 300hp and the best turbo spool ever...nope...didn't do it for me as much as my $30k fiberglass Speedie...  Good luck!

John,

Knowing what you know now, if you were to build a car from scratch what would it be? 

The stock VW T1 transaxle is the weak link once horsepower

is bumped up.  A Porsche 5 speed or Subbie 5 speed is good but costly alternative.  4 wheels disc brakes are nice to have too.   

John, make sure you get fully informed before you jump back in...otherwise you are bound to repeat the coupe experience.. 

Every platform has it's issues, remembering that the technology is 30 years old in VW, & Porsche; Subie is newer and in theory should be less maintenance that is why the newer builds feature a lot of Subie technology.  I am of the opinion that having all VW, or Porsche or Subie is the way to minimize power train issues.