New member saying hi

Looks like I'm the first one to say Welcome To The Madness! Tell us about the Speedster you're rebuilding- does it have a shortened bug pan underneath or a custom frame? do you know which company originally built it? irs or swingaxle? what size engine? color? discs or drums? 4x130mm, 5x205 or 5x130 (Porsche) bolt pattern? what size rims and tires? anything else? And we'll need pics! Al

Welcome to the...  damnit, Al!  You beat me to it.

Pics!  We need pics!

Welcome! Yup I agree - pics or we'll never believe that you have a car. And, as we all know, being a Supporting Member is very, very important here.

Yo Adrian - Best of luck with your project! It would be great to follow your progress with pics! 

Aloha!

Must post pictures and keep it short

Welcome to the site Adrain, great group of people here you will find them all most helpful and at times to helpful. lol
Enjoy the madness.

Well i guess the proof is in the pudding. the first picture was when i was using it as a daily driver. The follow up pictures is as it sits today, taken apart to rebuild and mod it. I will be starting another thread for that, but first to pay the site for this 150k picture limit will not do lol. Thank you guys for all the welcomes.

Congrats.

Do tell, what's your vision for this one?

Compared with my first one i put together which was a cmc it handled like it was on rails and very tight and solid feeling at all speeds then it got stolen. This IM is a complete different animal on inner city speeds it was the same, but on the turnpike, 50mph+ the front end felt light, like it was floating and any 1/4 movement on the wheel and you where in the other lane. i tried alignments, steering boxes,even front spacers on the front top axle beam yet never fixed the issue. The engine would pull hard but at 60/70mph+ the engine needed another gear which i did not have. The vision is simple really. It will be black with saddle cream interior, full suspension front and rear. The engine and tranny will likely get the deep six. I hate having engine issues or having to adjust carbs every week so something rock solid with some bite is in order. So one step at a time first the frame, i had new pans welded in but I'm not to happy with the welding job so the fun begins.

Adrian, did you try caster shims under the bottom beam? Not having enough caster will create what you're describing, and if the front has been lowered by moving the center pivot point on the beams (either turned and welded or adjuster[s] installed) it may take 2 shims to get the caster back to where the car is safe at higher highway speeds. Shimming the top beam forward will make it worse!

IIrc, stock is about 3 degrees, and for your purposes aim for 4-6', keeping in mind that more caster does increase low speed (think parking lot) effort. 

Gene Berg Ent. sells them for $5 apiece, and others have them as well. If you check the alignment beforehand you'll know whether to buy 1 or 2 sets.

 http://www.geneberg.com/advanc...dge&x=10&y=7

Hope this helps. Al

Ouch on nose damage!  If you go with 2 caster shims be sure to order the longer beam bolts.  Also check the steering rag joint and wheel bearings.

Welcome to another FL owner (albeit 12 hours away!)

alb and wolf thanks. i have one set ALB but i think i had them on the top. Its been a while since i pulled them off, but i will look into it when I'm done with the center frame work. I know wolf i was checking out a great looking set of rims on a brunette bicycle  and the car some how popped out of auto pilot and a work van seemed to have been looking at the same rims and stopped lol. The old guy in his work van kept giving me napkins to wipe my tears saying she pedals by everyday. i have never taken that street again and my car seems to be grinning at me every morning.

It might take more than one set of shims.  Most of the those sold give something like 2.5-3 degrees of movement.   These cars need a total of 5.5-7 degrees to dial them in and make them handle positively down the highway - otherwise they wander a lot or have bump steer or both.

Bicycle rims are nice, but the view of a lady rider from her drafting angle isn't bad, either.......