Ordered a shifter from Vintage Speed

Love my Vintage Speed shifter!

Ditto

I was pleasantly surprised at how accommodating they were.

i bought the vintage one (powder coated ivory)

 

it's a very solid piece of machinery.  one of the better mods i've done.

Very happy with mine as well.

Ron, why didn't you just get the 10-1/2" version?

Ming makes that just for our replicas.

Vintage makes a 11.5" speedster model, with a very nice bend in the shaft.  They also make a 10.5" model, with a straighter shaft. 

I wanted the speedster bend in a 10.5" length.  I'm hoping this will place the shift knob closer to me and make it easier to shift gears.

Love mine too. I also have their muffler which is very nice as well. Easy people to work with!

I really like their merged exhaust system.  Too bad it can't be used with heater boxes.

Wow!  That's nice enough to make me forego the meager warmth I get from the heater boxes.  What does he charge for that setup?

 

Anybody know if it is quieter than an A1 Sidewinder?

They do have nice ($$$) 1 3/4" heater boxes too!

 

http://www.piersideparts.net/CSP255-100-045LR.html

 

That work with these (not sure if they would fit a Speedster though)

 

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/cla...detail.php?id=617402

Wolfgang, I have a VS and their high performance heater boxes produced very little heat. So I put VW stock heater boxes on and now I have great heat!

 

Do these heater boxers from Pierside have lots of fins like the stock ones?

I have yet to see a set of larger, aftermarket heater boxes that anything but any empty core.

I had a set of custom 1  5/8" heater boxes made before anyone made aftermarket heater boxes.  The fabricator ended up using the stock heater box's outer skin over 1  5/8" pipe.  Unfortunately, there was no way the stock aluminum core could be altered to accept a larger diameter pipe, because the heater box pipe is square, not round.

I do get some heat from my heater boxes, but it is only mildly warm-never hot. The mildly warm air was enough to keep the cabin temperature tolerable when I drove the car home from Intermeccanica, with the temperature around -2 C degree.

So, I keep on asking myself, "Do I need heat?"  The answer is, "Sometimes."

The next question is can I live without any heat?

I'm not sure of that answer, but I really do like the Vintage merged system.

I customized the shifter that came in my VS.

My shortened VS shifter broke out almost at the base where it's welded. I went ahead and ordered an old Bug curved shifter which is long and has a larger diameter although the same type of cream colored knob. It looks cooler (and very similar to the original article on 356's) and actually shifts better because it's longer and has better mechanical advantage.

 

Anyway; now that we talk about Vintage Speed and their exhausts; has anyone installed any of these?:

 

http://store.vintagespeed.com....cchk=1&Itemid=80

I have one of their shifters and also one of their exhaust systems, and I love them both. If your shifter broke just let them know and they will make it good, they're very good that way.

Well, my VS I ordered in 2004 so it's waaaay out of the warranty period. I also figured the longer shifter works better and it does. Not only does it look closer to the original Porsche item but no modification is needed (the VS ones seem to be modified shortened units); I wonder why Kirk doesn't just install the old style curved Beetle shifters.

 

Re the exhaust; did you get the unit for 356 Replicas and how was the fit?

Impala, when you say VS shifter are you referring to Vintage Speed?

I ordered the 10.5" shaft because I found the 11.5 on my CSP shifter to be a bit too long, and I don't mind the extra shifting effort.

The first time I owned my IM I had a Gene Berg 9.5" 60% rapid shifter.  The thing was stupid fast. 

Extra effort?  Oh yes.

Fast shifts?  Holy crap they were fast. 

Actually, the shifts were so short it took me a long time to trust the shifter and believe I was in the next gear.

I figure the 40% shifter with a slightly shorter shaft should be a good compromise.

Actually I meant the shifter from Vintage Speedsters. Gene Berg is the best but the look for a Speedster always threw me off; I'm more of a purist in that respect. I like stuff that looks as original as possible and in that respect the shifter from Vintage Speed is 90% there except for the base and the cheap VW rubber boot which coincidentally is the exact same item on 356 A's.

I think the base and the boot look very, very cool. To each his own, I suppose.

Yes, I purchased their 356 muffler for use with heater boxes, the fit was perfect, the look is good and I have heat!  Nothing but good things to say about Vintage Speed!

That's why I didn't go with a Gene Berg shifter this time.  I really like the look of the Vintage Speed shifter-especially in ivory.

Ricardo,

When I bought my VintageSpeed shifter from Ming at Bugorama several years ago it came with the billet aluminum base as on the Black Mamba shifter. The base is so nice I couldn't cover it up with a boot.

I'm sure if you request the billet base they'll have no problem accommodating you.

I didn't explain myself too clearly. I actually like the rubber boot; it's what the originals had.

Hi Terry; it looks like a great shifter and I'm sure it is but still the high tech looking base throws me off a little; like I said this thing is actually 90% there for my taste. Funnily enough when I had to replace the stock shifter from VS the car came with an old curved Beetle shifter I noticed how much better the car shifts now, definitely due to the greater mechanical advantage achieved with a longer unit. When I installed it I just packed that thing with wheel bearing grease to the gills! Works flawlessly. 

My shifter is at Customs, so I should have it in my hot little hands soon.  Hopefully, I can install it this weekend and post some photos.

Here's a comparison between the CSP and the Vintage Speed shifters

 

 

Here are two photos of the shifters in the car.

 

 

 

 

Since the engine is out I've only been able to sit in the car and row the shifter.  It definitely feels better.  The shifter is bent back enough that I don't have to reach for 1st and 3rd gears like I had to with the CSP shifter.

Vintage Speed is definitely closest in spirit to what the original cars had.

Ron, do you have extremely short arms? I don't see much of a difference, but it does look more authentic.

Do you have any interest in selling the CSP shifter?   Thanks

Hey Ron - is that the vintage speed - 'vintage' shifter cut down, or the 'speedster' shifter painted?

 

i bought the 'vintage' one.  it is awesome, but a tad too tall for my monkey arms. 

I think my arms are a normal length.  for some strange reason I had to really reach to put the tranny in 1st and 3rd.  Henry, at IM, had the same problem, so it wasn't just me.  The Vintage Speed shifter is bent back just a bit more, but it's enough to make a noticeable difference.

Mango, I had Vintage Speed do some custom work on their Speedster model shifter.  I had it shortened one inch and painted ivory.  The shifter is very well made (as is the CSP shifter) and they didn't charge me any extra for the modifications.

Flyenby, I don't plan on selling my CSP shifter.

I'm with Ron, although it's not bad.  I asked Carey to move my seat back a bit for a bit more leg room, so the shifter is a long reach in 1st and 3rd.

My problem may be that I like my seat back reclined a fair amount. 

Ron- Me too. You should see how far I've got mine pitched back-- it looks like a Gemini space capsule.

Compared to most of my friends,  I like having my seat back reclined a lot.  I got a real shock when I sat in one of these:

 

 

 

crap!  i didnt even think to ask if they would mod it for me.

 

oh well - i'll have to mod my own.

 

thanks Ron.

I wonder how easy it might be to gently bend the shift lever shaft on an exhaust pipe bender?  I shouldn't take a lot to bend it a few degrees and the radius could be selected from the stock bend radius blocks for different size pipes.  Just a small bend would give you an inch or two difference in the knob position and greatly increase your comfort from a shortened reach.  We used to do this with 356B shift levers which were much thicker than a stock VW shift lever - more like a Berg shifter shaft and bending the 356B version was easy. Just take it slow and try it a few times until it feels right.

hmm.  i tried that with a stock shifter and it shattered.  i didnt know they were cast.