Robert,
The laws in Texas are the same, no white lights on the rear except reverse lights.
I was not as clear with my description as needed. The LED third brake light is red. However, there are also white LEDs in the unit that can used for a reverse light. It is a combination red/white LED light bar.
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One mod I plan to do down the road is to mount my 24F lead acid battery in front of passenger's front wheel. Goal it to gain trunk space and maybe fit a spare tire with large fuel tank PLUS gain weight out front -- to offset driver that needs to loose 30 #.
One mod I plan to do down the road is to mount my 24F lead acid battery in front of passenger's front wheel. Goal it to gain trunk space and maybe fit a spare tire with large fuel tank PLUS gain weight out front -- to offset driver that needs to loose 30 #.
Need a push, Greg...? :-)
Another possibility is to mount a small higher CCA lawn tractor battery on the opposite side of the forward pan from the master cylinder, I have used that smaller battery a few times mounting it on a the 2 x 2 frame near the right rear taillight. Plenty of cranking power.
I use an Odyssey gel-cell battery that is tiny and only weighs 14lb. It can be placed pretty much anywhere as it gives off no fumes and it can be in any orientation except inverted. You could mount it in the interior behind a seat, up under the dash, pretty much anywhere you wanted. It has lasted me for 6-8 years now with no issues. In my car it is mounted in the engine compartment. I have a full-sized spare tire up front.
The car should be weighed to check corner balance BEFORE any components are moved around. My battery is a small lawn tractor type(U1 size) and is mounted in the left rear corner, in what you would think is the worst place.
My corner weights were pretty close, and I evened them out with a 7 pound Halon bottle in front of the RF wheel.
The point is check first, then you KNOW. Same thing with fuel pressure, unless you actually measure it, car running, you really don't know, do you?
Regarding your question on the front beam and leaves, there's always been a question here at some point or another as a guy builds a car.
I think it depends an awful lot on how heavy the front of your car is going to be when it's finished. If you're going to roll around with a spare, some folks will tell you to take out the two smallest leaves from both tubes. Others will tell you not to take leaves from the lower, since the front suspension travel is on the end of two trailing arms.
There aren't any two folks with DIY cars who will give you the same answer with identical-looking cars side-by-side in a parking lot. Height matters, tire width and what kind of shocks you have ... et cetera.
Ultimately, one end of the spectrum has Baja guys getting 10" of travel by going with coil-overs and shocks (eliminating the torsion springs and installing a through-rod in each tube of the beam). The other end has guys trying to take the two smallest blades out and adding 50 lbs. of shop equipment to the front trunk at a time to test subsequent reductions.
In my case, the leaves were shortened by 3" on each side first (narrowing it six inches), and one spring was eliminated at a time, first from the top of the stack, then from the bottom. The beam got cut next, and the grub bolts had to have new holes drilled with a dye grinder.
At the end of it all, I was short three-and-three on the springs, six total between the two beams, and that allowed just barely a half-inch of clearance for what I wanted to do with the front of my car opening up. That bit almost certainly doesn't apply to you -- except that it's on 2.5" dropped spindles ... and so on. There are about 10 factors to consider.
There's an interesting thread here:
https://www.speedsterowners.com...front-beam-to-soften
... in which Nucklehead expresses those same concerns and a few thoughts on how it matters. It seems to me that taking out the two smallest leaves, running sturdy Zip ties around them to hold them together on re-installation and making sure the grub bolts have a place to hold fast, greasing it all up well and sealing it tightly, you'll be off to a good start for what you have.
I'd suggest oil shocks (versus KYBs or the like) and I'd make sure your choice of wheels and tires clear not only the front fender arch, but also the footwell area behind (where the master cylinder and such are attached.
That should give you a suspension travel of roughly five inches and a softer ride than a Beetle, compensate for the weight and still keep it flat in the corners. As long as you drive it like a Volkswagen, that is.
Finally...ready for paint! I've found a painter and we are working on having the stone grey paint mixed in a PPG single stage formula.
Other projects and an unexpected health issue has slowed progress, but I am very excited about getting it painted. Thankfully, the surgery recovery is going well and my plan is to get it to the painter after the first of the year. Then the final assembly can begin!
I was able, with my son's help, to get the body back off the pan and mounted on my paint dolly. Windshield and other stuff have been removed, but still have to remove bee hives, bumpers, etc.
Progress...it is slow but moving in the right direction!
James;
That looks great! I may have missed it, but what did you use to refinish your wheels and hubs? They have a look I was trying to get when I built mine 10 years ago. I had to resort to a VERY expensive set of wheels to get that "nickel-plate" look.
What you've got going there is fantastic.
Looking good, keep going... Ray
Danny, I need to have that done on my car as well. I find a lot of guys with scales over their eyes but not many that can do an alignment with them. 
Ray
Stan,
I am running CB front discs and they have an aluminum hub. On the rear I have decided to use drums in order to keep things tucked in tight for extra clearance with the rear fenders. Currently I have the drums painted black, but I'm considering a pair of drum skins for the rear.
My wheels are 66-67 VW. The slots are not the "D" shape of 356 wheels, but I like them bc they do not have hub cap clips. 66-67 VWs use a different hub cap. The only drawback is they are only 4 inches wide. My future plan is to put 5 or 6 inch wide hoops on the VW centers with a custom offset. I had these wheels powdercoated silver. I think the color was a Toyota wheel silver that the powdercoat guy had from a previous job.
Danny,
Can you give me an idea of the weight distribution that I should be looking for on a Speedster?
Thanks everyone!
A really nice example of what a guy can do at home if he is motivated. Love the fab job on the seats. Will be interested to see it painted. Great job!
Well I delivered it to the painter last Saturday. We are still trying to work out the 5710 Stone Grey color in PPG. If anyone has info, please share!
Hopefully all the pieces will be painted in a couple of weeks and I can start putting it together for one last time.
James,
I had my coupe shot with Stone Grey, a 1957 alternate color offered by Porsche. Much like the infamous British Racing Green, Stone Grey seems to be a movable feast. Intermeccanica, Wilhoit, and DerWhite all offer paint chips. My builder told me he got the chip form IM, but, since his lips were moving, he may not have been exactly truthful.
I like what you are doing with your car. It really looks clean and simple, in terms of the body, and that's how I think these cars should be: functional.
Bob: IM S6 posted:I like what you are doing with your car. It really looks clean and simple, in terms of the body, and that's how I think these cars should be: functional.
Not covered in diamond tufted, brass studded upholstery with leather covering the gas tank and lining the engine compartment. I don't care how "show car" it is, the idiot who was responsible for that mess should be shot.
Just expressing my opinion, of course....
Now back to the regularly scheduled discussion...
Jim Kelly posted:James,
I had my coupe shot with Stone Grey, a 1957 alternate color offered by Porsche. Much like the infamous British Racing Green, Stone Grey seems to be a movable feast. Intermeccanica, Wilhoit, and DerWhite all offer paint chips. My builder told me he got the chip form IM, but, since his lips were moving, he may not have been exactly truthful.
I have a paint chip from Wilhoit and the paint formula from BASF Glasurit. PPG does not have a listing or cross for the Stone Grey 5710. My local PPG paint supplier has scanned it with their camera and will attempt to match. I could go with Glasurit, but my preference is to use PPG Concept, single stage paint in order to look as authentic as possible. My painter also prefers PPG. So, the search continues!
James - Where did you get those wheels? They look like brushed aluminum.
you can get RM UNO 5710 . RM is made by BASF who also makes Glasurit. If you are going single stage RM uno is really nice to spray and is pretty good paint. Basf is the only company I know of who still has the formula's for the old Porsche VW colors.
I am in the process of a new build with Special Edition and going with stone grey as well. This is the same spray out at different angles. Even though it is just a solid color it gives off crazy side tones and really changes color in light and in shadow. Carey Hines is going to compare his spray out to a John Willhoit sample as he wants to see how close the DuPont formula is to the original. 
James, beautiful car and craftsmanship on your part! I'm so jealous of the beehives and engine lid louvers.
Did your car have teardrop taillights originally? I'd love to change mine to beehives but don't want to repaint the entire car...
I think your 2nd thoughts about the backup lights are correct, it's too much...
Rock-on buddy, lookin' awfully nice!
Will
I think scott sloans color was perfect, maybe contact him, i think Henry built that one.
Yes, Scott's car was an IM. It was nicely done.
mcdusty posted:James - Where did you get those wheels? They look like brushed aluminum.
My wheels are 66-67 VW. The slots are not the "D" shape of 356 wheels, but I like them bc they do not have hub cap clips. 66-67 VWs use a different hub cap. The only drawback is they are only 4 inches wide. My future plan is to put 5 or 6 inch wide hoops on the VW centers with a custom offset. I had these wheels powder coated silver. I think the color was a Toyota wheel silver that the powder coat guy had from a previous job.
Will Hesch posted:James, beautiful car and craftsmanship on your part! I'm so jealous of the beehives and engine lid louvers.
Did your car have teardrop taillights originally? I'd love to change mine to beehives but don't want to repaint the entire car...
I think your 2nd thoughts about the backup lights are correct, it's too much...
Rock-on buddy, lookin' awfully nice!
Will
Will,
My car had originally been cut for teardrops. It also had holes for 914 gauges. The kit had never been completed, so I removed the body and did extensive filling and bodywork.
I've seen your clips and admire your work. It looked like you had teardrops and had removed, backed them up and filled the voids. Like I said, I'm wondering if I can do what you did and only repaint the area, then color sand and polish? Might try it once other things are sorted.
A little closer. Still has to be blocked one more time, then sealed and painted.
Love the beehives and the engine lid louvers - adds that extra sporty touch.
Bob,
I debated several times widening the rear with a slice like on yours. It would have been a fun project and yours looks awesome! However I tend to get caught up in too many details and my projects drag on forever. Lol.
I think that rear end widening takes a whole lot of skill and experience - not that you could not do it! I certainly know I couldn't.
With these cars, there are perhaps four approaches: 1. have skills and tools to do something yourself; 2. have the means (or madness) to pay someone else to do what you can't do; 3. be able to cajole someone else to 'help out'; 4. buy a car and drive it and enjoy it as it is.
You obviously are in the first category, and good for you.
wrt the body mods and then repainting, I am no body man whatsoever (all of that is very mysterious to me), but I can tell you that it is possible to do the filling and pathch work on the tail lights locally, and then just paint the worked area without repainting the whole car. You will need to know what you are doing, and have the paint codes or a machine that does that sort of color matching, but it can be done. I had a deep gouge in my fender requiring FG or at least resin work to fill and the shop I used (they definitely know what they are doing) made it all disappear. I know exactly where that gouge was, and in the brightest light, I cannot tell any difference anywhere on that fender. And the paint is a metallic one. It's possible -- but maybe not cheap.
More progress!!
Finally got some color on it today!!
Love the color!
Yeah, I agree - that color will look great on a Speedster.
Ooooo . . . very nice. Wanna see the final result, all put up.
Stone grey! It's amazing how much the color varies depending on the light.
Paint is officially finished! The final buffing is complete and it turned out great. It has only taken two years to get to this point! Lol.
Now to start the final assembly. ��
And a little more progress.
Longer studs needed in the horn grilles.
