New VS broken down

Not again!

I'm sure Will will chime in as he just went through the same not long ago.

 

That's not good at all...

Do you have someone with AAA that can help with the tow so you don't have to wait?

Are there any SOC'ers near Chino Hills, CA that can help out a brother???

Better yet, get Kirk to pay for the tow since it's under warranty.

Come on VS...this is your legacy and your name.  

VS should indeed cover towing.  Pull off distributor cap and have someone watch to see if rotor goes around while you crank the engine over.  If it doesn't - maybe the distributor  was not tightened down and jumped up off the crank drive gear (most obvious). Anything else probably requires an engine tear down.

WOLFGANG posted:

VS should indeed cover towing.  Pull off distributor cap and have someone watch to see if rotor goes around while you crank the engine over.  If it doesn't - maybe the distributor  was not tightened down and jumped up off the crank drive gear (most obvious). Anything else probably requires an engine tear down.

Thanks Wolfgang, I will give this a try!

Kirk has a Tow Guy Name Sal ,call Kirk tomorrow and have him set it up a tow with him.

Dear VS,

I am a pretty capable guy who LOVES detail and noticed that you are in need of a QUALITY ASSURANCE ENGR.  What are you paying?  Do you cover travel costs?  I'm east coast.

Craig - I think Alan is rerouting his return from  Sanibel Island FL to CA after looking at weather headed to North East this weekend!

Just curious....have you checked the dipstick for oil quantity ?

David Stroud posted:

Just curious....have you checked the dipstick for oil quantity ?

First thing I checked when I got the car... Checked it again a week later and checked it when it broke down... The right amount of oil!

I'm curious on what the rubbing noise was. Was it rubbing while you moving and it stopped when the car stopped? Or was it rubbing while you were sitting still? 

Silly question... Do you have fuel getting to the carbs? Did you check to see if the carburetor(s) were squirting fuel down the carbs throats when you pumped the throttle?  I know it's not yours to fix, but sometimes it can be something really easy.

Ted

TRP posted:

I'm curious on what the rubbing noise was. Was it rubbing while you moving and it stopped when the car stopped? Or was it rubbing while you were sitting still? 

Silly question... Do you have fuel getting to the carbs? Did you check to see if the carburetor(s) were squirting fuel down the carbs throats when you pumped the throttle?  I know it's not yours to fix, but sometimes it can be something really easy.

Ted

Ted, the noise was when the car was running but the car was not moving. I don't know about fuel in the carbs. 

Thanks,

B

Was the charge light flashing?

> On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:19 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:
>

Greg we may stay in Sanibel Fl till June

Any time it makes noise and dies, don't start it.  You can make things worse.  Just try to turn it over by hand and see if you can find the rubbing.  It you think its internal, STOP. Flywheel might have come off, and that is not a good thing. 

My two pennies. 

Tom Blankinship posted:

Was the charge light flashing?

> On Jan 20, 2016, at 10:19 AM, SpeedsterOwners.com <**************> wrote:
>

No charge light was not flashing.

Thanks,

Brian

Get it towed to Kirk, and let him nuke it out.  Meanwhile, don't touch it.

VS should pay for the towing.  

Not unusual sorting issue with a VS car. I have had two stripped splines on the axles. Car would start, but not move.  Had some difficult to diagnose electrical issues for a while. I have had 5 right real axle seal failures that seems to me OK for now. The car had a severe oil leak so I then did a complete tear down, valve job and case reseal at 7K. Also Kirk replaced the transmission after about a year under warranty. His labor reimbursement did not provide enough $ to cover total cost. Since then only trouble has been self inflicted mods when "high" quality aluminum pushrods mushroomed and "high" quality rockers broke. Lesson learned these stock mexicrate engines should not be hot rodded. Next upgrade I am going to get a CB motor and Prostreet tranny in the ongoing search for more HP. No I do not want a Suby, no offense intended. Just an old air cooled kind of guy. 

 

Wow, I thought I had a lot of problems. My major complaint was crap color sanding. Back to the original post, lower or upper pulley loose, fan loose, check crank end play by pulling in and out on lower pulley, if you have more than .005" the thrust bearing could be going out. The guys that said to let Kirk tow it and repair it gave you the best advice including don't touch it. You have a warranty use it and relax.

Don't listen to ANY of these suggestions.  None of these people are there to see and hear what is going on so this is all just idle speculation.

Kirk Duncan is a stand up guy who will stand behind his recently delivered product.  We've seen him stand behind delivered product before.

Let him know what has happened and get him to get it towed back to his shop, where he can quickly ascertain what has happened and make it right for you.

"Don't listen to ANY of these suggestions.  None of these people are there to see and hear what is going on so this is all just idle speculation."

I'm not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers here but when has THAT ever stopped ANYONE from giving an opinion on what might be wrong? I think I remember 30 pages of opinions on someone's carburetor.  No one has suggested he take the car apart and try to fix anything. Just offering opinions to maybe ease his fears a little.

...get it towed back to Kirk, by Kirk!

Trust me, you're lucky you're close by (relatively) our new VS broke down 35 miles from the shop the day after we picked it up, had Kirk tow it back to the shop and "fix" it.

Then, two days later, it broke down on our way home, 100 miles from the shop, no one answered the phone...so I fixed it enough to drive home. The whole saga is carefully/painfully chronicled in other posts here, look 'em up.

Then...a week later it finally died...forever...

(now, that's what I call a cliff-hanger!)

...in fairness, Kirk did pick up the tab for a new $5,000 motor from a builder of my choice (Powerhaus VW Parts, Torrance, CA).

In ALL of my chats with Kirk and time spent at his shop he is a stand-up guy and will take care of it all. Just make sure everything goes through him so you don't have to pay out of pocket for anything.

It sucks you have to go through it, but it will work itself out in the end.

*LongFella posted:

In ALL of my chats with Kirk and time spent at his shop he is a stand-up guy and will take care of it all. Just make sure everything goes through him so you don't have to pay out of pocket for anything.

It sucks you have to go through it, but it will work itself out in the end.

What a crazy business model. That it gets defended as much as it does is even crazier to me.

How much more would it cost to just build stuff that isn't guaranteed to break?

I don't care who built it, things can and do break.  Kirk builds a lot of cars and for everyone that has a problem, there are a bunch that don't have problems.  Very few of the Vintage buyers are even on this list and we tend to only hear about the ones that have problems.

Unfortunate that there is a problem, but Kirk will take care of it and you will soon be enjoying your new Speedster.

It should never come to this. It's a VW motor, how hard can it be to do it right the first time. I'll never order a new VS after these two stories, but would buy one sorted by Troy or Alan for that matter...

My initial thought was that since it just stopped with no over heating, puddle of oil or tell-tail glaring dash lights that perhaps it was simple loose distributor or loose rocker arm assembly (causing maybe a scraping noise as the push rods brushed the oil return tubes).  Hate to see Speedy on a flat bed if something simple.  Hope B gets it fixed soon and reports back to us with cause!

We don't know what the failure was, so who can say something wasn't "done right the first time?"  No matter how right something is done, sh&# happens and things break.  I think it's a little premature to fault Vintage for something we don't have all the details on.

I just want to hear that the car got back to the shop from whence it came, and the problem diagnosed and fixed.  I wanna hear what was wrong, so we can see who won the "Diagnosis by SOC" lottery.  Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out.

$30,000 for a new car, and it can't even make 500 kilometers? Thats 5 that I have personal knowledge of, not just one here and there. And for every one of us who are vocal about the failures, how many more silently sell and get the hell out of Dodge?

I paid $21,000 for Kathy's new Prius C, it gets 56 mpg at 68mph, looks great and drives perfectly. Oh yeah, it has 21,000 miles and not a hiccup!

I agree with Bill, it's not rocket science, what up Kirk?

Something needs to change in Hawaiian Gardens!

Although chicken pot pie is delicious (ALL pie is delicious, come to that), I might just prefer a well-made beef pot pie.

edsnova posted:

Although chicken pot pie is delicious (ALL pie is delicious, come to that), I might just prefer a well-made beef pot pie.

Some pie is more equal than others. Right now, a nice coconut cream pie seems most equal of all.

edsnova posted:

Although chicken pot pie is delicious (ALL pie is delicious, come to that), I might just prefer a well-made beef pot pie.

You should taste my Osso Buco......

Although I am not pleased with having my new car break down, and then push it for several hundred yards... I know things need to work in, I knew there would be tweaks and things that needs to be sorted out so far Vintage Speedsters ( Kirk) has been really cool and easy to deal with. I know things will be sorted out and my car will be back up and running great. I will let you know the details as I find out. I am not concerned that Vintage Speedsters will not do the right thing, I just want to cruise around in my new cool car. 

Troy Sloan posted:

I don't care who built it, things can and do break.  Kirk builds a lot of cars and for everyone that has a problem, there are a bunch that don't have problems.  Very few of the Vintage buyers are even on this list and we tend to only hear about the ones that have problems.

Unfortunate that there is a problem, but Kirk will take care of it and you will soon be enjoying your new Speedster.

Troy, you make a great point: "Very few of the Vintage buyers are even on his list..."

When I was at VS this past Saturday hanging around/learning and chatting with Kirk he got three new build orders. To me, that tells me a LOT of VS buyers are not on this forum. I have yet to hear/see the new buyers on this forum. Hell, I watched a guy sign over a check paying in full (really nice guy too). Nonetheless, he mat have a different business style and how he runs things but he will make things right.

I told Kirk my Irish presence and good luck got him the orders... and that it should get me a body and paint job for free ;-)

I'm with Troy and Longfella ... Things break, and mechanical failures can't be attributed to a particular builder.  

I have owned several previously owned  VS, and currently own a 2013 new build, and could not be happier with his cars and the service and support received from Kirk and his team.

Was some sorting required with the new car?.... Some very minor stuff....  like with most speedster new builds from all builders.  This is part of the learning curve of the ins and outs of each specific car... And also part of the fun.

 IMHO Kirk is a good and honest business owner, who builds a good custom product at a reasonable price point that allows many of us to enjoy this hobby.  He has been building 4-8 cars a month for years, and in my experience has always done the right thing for all his customers.

I know it has been said before, but here it goes again,..IMHO It would be best to deal with any sorting issues directly through the builder....  No need to trash him or his cars on this site.

 These cars are not Toyotas, and any expectation that they will run as one will lead to great great great disappointment.... And probably one of the main reasons why you see so many speedsters for sale with less than 1000miles.