Well,
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Well,
How was skiing?
Congratulations Scott and don't worry, you get things sorted out.
Here are a couple of pictures that should help you find that dip stick.
Here are a couple of pictures that should help you find that dip stick.
Rich, skiing was good! I
Congratulations to Scott on the new arrival!
Not to jump the thread, but, as a newbie here, I have been wondering about fiberglass repair on these cars, too.
Are spider cracks common and is the fix simple?
Can most competent metal body repair shops be expected to work on fiberglass or do you have to seek out dedicated fiberglass shops?
How much damage is considered easily done and at what point should the body be replaced?
The bumpers seem especially vulnerable, but easily replaced. How much damage there is it reasonable to fix before replacing the bumper makes more sense?
Wow, what a bunch of cheery questions for new owner Scott to be reading.
Not to jump the thread, but, as a newbie here, I have been wondering about fiberglass repair on these cars, too.
Are spider cracks common and is the fix simple?
Can most competent metal body repair shops be expected to work on fiberglass or do you have to seek out dedicated fiberglass shops?
How much damage is considered easily done and at what point should the body be replaced?
The bumpers seem especially vulnerable, but easily replaced. How much damage there is it reasonable to fix before replacing the bumper makes more sense?
Wow, what a bunch of cheery questions for new owner Scott to be reading.
Scott--congrats on landing the Speedster! Iknow you are excited.
Your idea of having a good air cooled VW mechanic look it over is good. I got great help from such a person when I first got my car and believe me I had more issues than the average bear!
Gordon knows a lot about fiberglass repair and look in the knowledge section for info on that. You would think that a Chevrolet dealer could hook you up with a shop that repairs Corvette fiberglass. I don't know for certain that it's the same material as we have.
If the paint is in only fair shape consider a process called "color sanding" I had it done and now my finish is amazing compared to where it started. This might be done in conjunction with the spyder repair.
I'm looking forward to seeing that Speedster! Remember, it's NOT a Miata with all the modern touches but far more than a Miata!
Your idea of having a good air cooled VW mechanic look it over is good. I got great help from such a person when I first got my car and believe me I had more issues than the average bear!
Gordon knows a lot about fiberglass repair and look in the knowledge section for info on that. You would think that a Chevrolet dealer could hook you up with a shop that repairs Corvette fiberglass. I don't know for certain that it's the same material as we have.
If the paint is in only fair shape consider a process called "color sanding" I had it done and now my finish is amazing compared to where it started. This might be done in conjunction with the spyder repair.
I'm looking forward to seeing that Speedster! Remember, it's NOT a Miata with all the modern touches but far more than a Miata!
Scott, you will have to do some sorting to get things the way you wanted. I'm no mechanic and am blessed with great support from my builder, my local expert, Bill Demeter, and the experts on this site. If you don't approach this as a hobby and a work in progress, you will be frustrated. It's kind of like when you buy a house. At first, you're frustrated with the surprises, then you get to know the place and make your improvements. Finally, things break and require maintenance and you take it in stride as part of being an owner. If you can make it through phase I, you will be doing fine.
Did somebody say "welcome to the madness?"
Scott: Oil Leaks: Usually from one of two places; Most popular place is leaking from the oil strainer cover under the engine in the middle of the engine sump. It's about 4" in diameter, has 8 studs/nuts and requires a couple of round paper gaskets and some special copper washers for the studs (the washers get replaced whenever you remove the strainer - they crush when installed to stop leakage at the studs).
The other place is off to the left/right side of the engine where the push rod tubes leak at the ends. There is a big, tapered "O" ring on each end and they often dry out and leak. Cure is to replace the push rod tubes with spring-loaded ones with new O rings, but that's best left to a VW repair shop for now til you get better at mechanics. They see this all the time.
The only other place that I can think of is at the rear of the engine, just below the crankshaft pulley (the big pulley at the bottom, next to your newly-found dipstick). Believe it or not, these are designed to leak a small amount of oil. If there is a LOT of oil there, the car might have been trucked sitting at an acute uphill attitude, thereby forcing most of the oil to the rear of the engine and it simply leaks out. Re-settling the car normally (horizontal) will cure that. If you drive it briskly after a while and still get a lot of oil leakage below the pulley, check back in here and we'll help you cure it in other ways.
Hope this helps. Oh! and Welcome to this infectious madness that is "Speedstah Ownership"!
The other place is off to the left/right side of the engine where the push rod tubes leak at the ends. There is a big, tapered "O" ring on each end and they often dry out and leak. Cure is to replace the push rod tubes with spring-loaded ones with new O rings, but that's best left to a VW repair shop for now til you get better at mechanics. They see this all the time.
The only other place that I can think of is at the rear of the engine, just below the crankshaft pulley (the big pulley at the bottom, next to your newly-found dipstick). Believe it or not, these are designed to leak a small amount of oil. If there is a LOT of oil there, the car might have been trucked sitting at an acute uphill attitude, thereby forcing most of the oil to the rear of the engine and it simply leaks out. Re-settling the car normally (horizontal) will cure that. If you drive it briskly after a while and still get a lot of oil leakage below the pulley, check back in here and we'll help you cure it in other ways.
Hope this helps. Oh! and Welcome to this infectious madness that is "Speedstah Ownership"!
Scary questions, indeed...... Since a bunch of us would like to know about this stuff, here goes:
Are spider cracks common and is the fix simple?
They seem to be common on many of these cars and many are caused by the tires throwing something up off of the road to the underside of the body, impacting the underside of the glass and distorting it enough to cause the gel coat to crack - hence, spiderweb cracks. Usually the underlying fiberglass (that which gives it strength) remains intact, so the repair is to grind (sand) off the gel coat to an area about 10% wider than the extent of the cracks and re-surface with resin then sand down to match the surface and paint it. If you look at 1930's style hot rods with those sweeping front fenders you'll usually see a bunch of spider cracks from stones tossed up - it goes with having 'glass fenders. BTW: The complete cure would be to install fender well liners like on all modern cars, but I don't know of anyone on here with them. If you have a rather larger (4"-8" wide) spider area or the cracks seem to follow a line, then maybe someone dropped something onto the car at some point, or the body is not being sufficiently supported - that would take someone with decent mechanical skills to survey the underbody/support frame and see what might be done to support the body better, but I haven't heard of too much of that sort of thing on VS cars.
Can most competent metal body repair shops be expected to work on fiberglass or do you have to seek out dedicated fiberglass shops?
Probably not, since most metal body repair shops these days are replacement shops, i.e. they remove everything that's damaged and simply replace parts removed with new parts then paint. There isn't a lot of "custom" work involved. Best to find a shop competent to repair damaged body panels on Corvettes or hot rods/customs OR, if you live close to popular boating places ask around for a boat repair place - those places know fiberglass.
How much damage is considered easily done and at what point should the body be replaced?
If most of the body is damaged (like the car rolled or had a fire) then I might replace the body. If it's just a fender or front or rear clip AND if I could get a replacement piece from one of the regular builders (that's a big if) then just replace the damaged part - it's pretty easy and straight-forward to do so.
The bumpers seem especially vulnerable, but easily replaced. How much damage there is it reasonable to fix before replacing the bumper makes more sense?
If the bumper is shattered, then replace it. They are more-or-less readily available and you'll have to re-paint whatever you put on there anyway.
Are spider cracks common and is the fix simple?
They seem to be common on many of these cars and many are caused by the tires throwing something up off of the road to the underside of the body, impacting the underside of the glass and distorting it enough to cause the gel coat to crack - hence, spiderweb cracks. Usually the underlying fiberglass (that which gives it strength) remains intact, so the repair is to grind (sand) off the gel coat to an area about 10% wider than the extent of the cracks and re-surface with resin then sand down to match the surface and paint it. If you look at 1930's style hot rods with those sweeping front fenders you'll usually see a bunch of spider cracks from stones tossed up - it goes with having 'glass fenders. BTW: The complete cure would be to install fender well liners like on all modern cars, but I don't know of anyone on here with them. If you have a rather larger (4"-8" wide) spider area or the cracks seem to follow a line, then maybe someone dropped something onto the car at some point, or the body is not being sufficiently supported - that would take someone with decent mechanical skills to survey the underbody/support frame and see what might be done to support the body better, but I haven't heard of too much of that sort of thing on VS cars.
Can most competent metal body repair shops be expected to work on fiberglass or do you have to seek out dedicated fiberglass shops?
Probably not, since most metal body repair shops these days are replacement shops, i.e. they remove everything that's damaged and simply replace parts removed with new parts then paint. There isn't a lot of "custom" work involved. Best to find a shop competent to repair damaged body panels on Corvettes or hot rods/customs OR, if you live close to popular boating places ask around for a boat repair place - those places know fiberglass.
How much damage is considered easily done and at what point should the body be replaced?
If most of the body is damaged (like the car rolled or had a fire) then I might replace the body. If it's just a fender or front or rear clip AND if I could get a replacement piece from one of the regular builders (that's a big if) then just replace the damaged part - it's pretty easy and straight-forward to do so.
The bumpers seem especially vulnerable, but easily replaced. How much damage there is it reasonable to fix before replacing the bumper makes more sense?
If the bumper is shattered, then replace it. They are more-or-less readily available and you'll have to re-paint whatever you put on there anyway.
Your madness has begun. Check the axle boots also. A crack in one of those will fling around a lot of oil and leave a "puddle" when you park for a while. That's a cheap and easy fix .
I'm not saying they aren't out there, but I have never seen a Vintage Speedster with spider cracks. I thought it was something related to cars with gelcoat. Is that not the case?
Nope.
Paint over gel coat will spider, too.
Paint over gel coat will spider, too.
Thanks for all the tips and advice guys. I took a better look at the spider crack in the daylight today (didn
My neighbor came over and knocked on my door asking if id help him find the dipstick in his ferrari. If anyone else should find themselves in this situation, the dipstick is fastened to the underside of the oil fill cap. It was easter Sunday and he called the ferrari salesman. The guy excused himself from easter dinner in order to help us locate it. Guess thats the service you get when you purchase a car for over $100K (or when you buy from Special Edition)
Welcome to the madness Scott.
Welcome to the madness Scott.
It's one peanut at a time Scott, that's why I have to charge $25 for shipping and handling! ;-)
Call me if you need to, but installation is pretty simple, the pins go in the holes, you make sure the windows don't collide with the windshield frame and you tighten up the screws.
Call me if you need to, but installation is pretty simple, the pins go in the holes, you make sure the windows don't collide with the windshield frame and you tighten up the screws.
Thanks for the great reply, Gordon.
May no one who reads this ever need to use that advice.
May no one who reads this ever need to use that advice.
WOW! That
Hey now! Your a rock star!
Scott, I'm also a new speedster owner and I relish the admiration and questions from observers...I guess it's my 'ego feeding time'
It's cold in Connecticut but whenever the temperature pushes past 40F, and it's sunny, I don a warm sweater and gloves and find reasons to run errands!! Love it.
Can't wait til it's 50, 55 degrees so I can do a grocery run with the top down.
It's cold in Connecticut but whenever the temperature pushes past 40F, and it's sunny, I don a warm sweater and gloves and find reasons to run errands!! Love it.
Can't wait til it's 50, 55 degrees so I can do a grocery run with the top down.
Scott.
We don't believe a word you say until you post pictures!
We don't believe a word you say until you post pictures!
Yeah, me too!
By the way....When I go to Carlisle these days, Carl, I take I-84 through Danbury to I-81 in Wilkes Barry and follow that all the way to Carlisle. Should be about 3 Hours or so for you.'
Pick you up on the way by?
gn
By the way....When I go to Carlisle these days, Carl, I take I-84 through Danbury to I-81 in Wilkes Barry and follow that all the way to Carlisle. Should be about 3 Hours or so for you.'
Pick you up on the way by?
gn
Welcome to the madness, Scott. You too, Carl.
Carl - sounds like a pretty good day! Too Much Fun!
Welcome aboard
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I'm dizzy!
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I'm just flat out jealous as I only got to drive mine around the block the day it came off of the trailer. Afterwards, I could only sit in it while in the garage counting how many months it would be before Spring.
I may actually get the chance this weekend to move it to the driveway. Then I can drive it back and forth 30'.
I may actually get the chance this weekend to move it to the driveway. Then I can drive it back and forth 30'.
Steve, my calculations are that 176 of those types of trips should get you a mile.
But I won't be able to get enough speed to get the wind through my 3 hairs. Kind of takes the fun out of it.
Rich don
Gordon, 'picking me up in Danbury' on the way to Carlisle is a terrific idea!! Thanks.
Maybe you can Pied Piper TC and other eastern Mass. people...Perhaps Danny Piperato in his spyder will latch on to us on the other side of the Hudson...The more the merrier.
Maybe you can Pied Piper TC and other eastern Mass. people...Perhaps Danny Piperato in his spyder will latch on to us on the other side of the Hudson...The more the merrier.
Carl, if you're joining us check out the thread in the Events forum regarding the hotel in Carlisle. Rooms are just about gone, so you need to register ASAP. Hope to see you there.
Scott, I got a 20 mile ride in the middle of February...I'm counting my blessings!