New Speedster Owner

more pics

engine bay

Nice looking car.  The  Metalcraft industries frame is a great upgrade over VW pan.  I like how builder applied the lower trim to match the flared fenders.  Most Calif flared versions leave off the trim and bumpers. A couple threads here on MSD.  Great that wife too is enthusiastic with the car (even after 2 breakdowns!)

Great story about how you ended up with your Speedster, R3d! 'Welcome to The Madness' known as replica Speedster ownership. This site will provide you with all you need to know about how to maintain your car (albeit you have to wade through a ton of info, a lot of which you didn't ask for, or thought you needed ).

Once you get it all sorted out (probably something simple), wishing you many miles of top-down driving enjoyment!  @Norma Jean

If a rotor is broken, and 99% of the time they break off at the tip, it usually means that someone last put the distributor cap on slightly cocked.  If the rotor struck one of the electrical contact tabs inside of the distributor cap, then there should also be evidence of one tab slightly bent or cracks around the base of the tab in the cap.  Replacing the rotor with a semi-unknown "aftermarket" version might also cause it to break, simply because it's not the right dimensions and hits something.  When installed properly, there is about a 1/32" gap between the tip of the rotor and the cap contact tabs.  Not a lot of wiggle room, so if the cap is installed poorly it can be off-center and the rotor strikes one of the tabs as it swings around.

Is it common?  Well, back when we were all running points ignitions (up until the mid-1980's) one would see an occasional snapped rotor, usually right after a tune-up when the mechanic didn't get the distributor cap on just right.

Good that you're getting a new cap and rotor from MSD - that should ensure a proper fit and it shouldn't happen again.  There is an alignment tooth on the inside of the lip of the cap that should fit in to a notch on the rim of the distributor base.   That notch is  usually somewhere around 4 o'clock when looking straight down on the distributor housing.  Also, make sure there is proper slack in the plug wires such that none are pulling tightly on the cap once assembled and you should be fine.

Have a great time with your new-found, shared toy!

Your wife's cute.  I can see where she might have a crowd around her, some looking at the car and others looking at her!

BTW, the other Norma Jean (we all know who she was) never had a Speedster - She was a '54 Cadillac Eldorado girl, followed by a '56 Thunderbird and then a '62 Chrysler 300C.  I only know this because of an article in Hemmings Motor News a while back.

Welcome to the Madness, R3d!

We are having a gathering in Maggie Valley, NC, the last week of September.  If you can fit it into your schedule it would be a great initiation into the hobby.  Also, Phil Luebbert has a home in C’ville where he keeps a 550 Spyder.  Y’all should get together sometime.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, and the technical advice!  I have been lurking for a couple weeks and have already found great advice and and learned lots from this site.  I will be adding more pictures soon, the uploads were not working earlier  =, so when i get the chance i will post more detailed pictures.  I called the car Norma Jean from the first day, since the car is not the genuine article, I figured it's a close approximation to the most beautiful model.  Hence the name.   I will post pictures of the new ignition parts and get feeback on what to do if this continues.

Cheers!

R3d

Lane beat me to it, but here goes anyway: Welcome to the Madness!!.  Or WTM for short.  Please say soonest about the distributor issues.  Hope it is as you say.  Did you contact the PO and ask about his experience with sudden stops?  Maybe why he sold it??  Does it have actual points, or breakeless electronic points?  Sudden stoppages can be caused by funky electronics.  Ask me, or anyone here, how we know.

Waiting to see more of these broad smiles -- we call 'em SEGs.

Success!  I figured out the problem with Norma Jean.  Such little things can bring the fun to a halt.  I replaced the Rotor and Cap with MSD parts, still no ignition.  So I started tracing the problem and found that I had no fuel delivery.  Hmmmmm so I had the car towed to my local shop that has been helping with the car when I can't figure out what's happening.  They traced the problem back to a kill switch that had been installed under the dash.  The wiring was all good, but the switch had failed, so that it would not make the connection and get power to the fuel pump.  The pump was working but not getting power.  I guess the PO had installed these switches as a theft deterrent.  They removed the switch and everything was back to normal. I also would say that the car runs smoother and with more authority with the MSD parts installed.  I took Friday off and took the owner for a little joy ride this morning, we went out to the Shenandoah and hit up a little BBQ place called Monks BBQ.  If haven't been there, it's worth the drive.  She had the SEG the entire time, and we made it back in time to get the kids off the bus.  Great day driving around on country roads, in some of the best weather the east coast has had all summer.  Pics of the switch, and some of the car.

Great job getting her back on the road. 

Nice work. Why two tachs?? 

I only see one, Ted.  Whatcha been drinkin’?

Lane Anderson posted:

I only see one, Ted.  Whatcha been drinkin’?

Congrats and WTM!

@Lane Anderson

 look again, and put the bottle down!

I see 914 2L gauges - with a tach and optimistic 150 mph speedo

WOLFGANG posted:

I see 914 2L gauges - with a tach and optimistic 150 mph speedo

Steering column:

So there, @Bill Prout, Nyah! 😈

EDIT:  Oh, that thing on the column.  In the words of Emily Littela, “Never mind.”

LOL!!

Robert, you poopie head!

Bill Prout posted:

LOL!!

Robert, you poopie head!

Lane Anderson posted:

I only see one, Ted.  Whatcha been drinkin’?

Whoops! I should have directed that little bit of "If it was a snake it'd have bitten you" at Lane. 

I'm getting old - missed the old school steering column mounted one!  Must be a pilot and likes redundancy.

Well in our defense, Greg, it’s not fully visible. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

WOLFGANG posted:

I'm getting old - missed the old school steering column mounted one!  Must be a pilot and likes redundancy.

Lane Anderson posted:

Well in our defense, Greg, it’s not fully visible. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

I looked at it again through the bottom of a whiskey glass and you're right, it is easy to miss.

Too funny !  I was wondering if someone would notice the “extra” tach. With the MSD ignition the tach in the dash does not work correctly so the PO put another modern one on the column. It’s somthing I want to change.  And I have a line on a local guy that will be able rectify the situation.   The speedo runs a little high saying that I am doing 90 when my actual speed is about 70 mph.  Top speed so far is 102 mph  verified by the gps app in my iPhone.  So a 90 mph speedo won’t do it. 

R3d

R3d

WOLFGANG posted:

I see 914 2L gauges - with a tach and optimistic 150 mph speedo

Wolfgang. Thanks for the info on the gauges I am learning more and more about the car and the parts that are installed on the car. Gives me pause before I go and have those gauges fixed if I should be looking for the 356 correct ones instead.   R3d