Rick in Southwest Missouri

Welcome to the site and good luck with the project. It's looking good so far.

Springfield Missouri.  

Welcome to the Madness, Rick! It'll look good with wide 5's on it. Tire size(s)? Do you know what make the body is and is it painted already? Any pics of it? What size engine (hp? cam? heads? carbs? exhaust? c.r.?...you know, all the details!)? Do you know the ring & pinion in the trans? Stock gears? Al

Rick, I too live in Southwest Missouri. Approximately 1 hour north of you in the Bolivar area. If you are a VW guy, I am sure that you know about GROOVE, General Registry Of Ozarks Volkswagen Enthusiasts in Springfield. Ben Gulley is the webmaster for their club website,and he has extensive experience building Porsche 356 recreations. I suggest you contact him,as I am sure he is more than willing to lend a hand in your build. He can guide you with many helpful suggestions that will enhance the quality of your build and ultimately the final result.

http://www.groovevws.com/

I'm from Springfield!

Seriously? I thought you were CA, through and through.

Spent most of my life here (Cali). The Smith / Crenshaw clan is all from Springfield.

Here's one for ya - The United States medical center for federal prisoners, where John Gotti died, is located on the old Lewis Allen Dickens Crenshaw (My great great granddad) plantation land. Who knows what relatives are left there but for me my father passed in 2008 and I haven't been back there since. There must be something about that area. It pulled my father back in 1985 and he never came back to California. Springfield is locally pronounced "Sprangfailed" and you have to say it kinda slow...

...and Rick - Hello and welcome!

Welcome!!

Thanks, I know Ben and am a founding member of GROOVE vw club back in 1994!  I dont get involved as much as  I used to with work and family now taking up much of my time.  I always seem to have an aircooled vw or porsche to tinker with; which brings me to this car.  I think it was made by Fiberfab? It says classic speedster on the hood. I purchased it last year from a gentleman in Arkansas who only had the body, engine, and an assortment of parts.  Unfortunately many of the parts were missing so its been a real chore figuring out what is needed.  The manual has certainly helped, but not real clear on some subjects.  The pan is a 1960 bug chassis that I shortened.   It has a rebuilt 4.37 ring and pinion transmission.  4 wheel wide 5 disk brakes.  I don't know much about the engine but was told it is a real screamer out of a rail buggy.  The body came painted and has some scuffs here and there. Its really dusty as I guess this is what fiberglass does if not cleaned regularly.  I have spent most of my time getting the pan ready and have a few questions I will soon be asking before I can proceed.   For now thanks for the hospitality and I really enjoy seeing everyone else's cars.  Its certainly motivating me to get mine finished.

Are those DCNF's on that engine, Rick? Do you know what displacement the engine is? How high does it rev with power? And you know that shroud doesn't exactly deliver balanced cooling, right? Al

Nice fuchs in that pict  Which car wears those ?

I gotta say, these are my favorite threads.  A new owner, resurrecting a dead project and everyone welcomes them.  So cool!

-=theron

I see what you mean about the fan shroud. Any suggestions on what I should run?  I don't plan on running heat. I really don't know anything about the engine as I've never seen it run.  It seems tight and very clean under the valve covers.  Good compression too. The carburetors are dcnf 40s.  As for the fuchs they are on my 66 beetle.  It only has 42k original miles.  Never been painted or in an accident.  This car is completely original, only thing thats not stock is the adjustable suspension and 4 wheel disk brakes I added. Here is a picture.  Now on to my first question!  I had a set of wide five wheels sandblasted and want them to look stock.  What color or brand of paint should I use?  Also, should I just run a 165 tire as I want this to look as close to original as possible?  

Nice VW... does it go fast enough to have disc brakes I think someone here painted theres a VHT Argent Silver ...can't remember but if you search this site you can find it. 

Reddy1 posted:

I see what you mean about the fan shroud. Any suggestions on what I should run?  I don't plan on running heat. I really don't know anything about the engine as I've never seen it run.  It seems tight and very clean under the valve covers.  Good compression too. The carburetors are dcnf 40s.  As for the fuchs they are on my 66 beetle.  It only has 42k original miles.  Never been painted or in an accident.  This car is completely original, only thing thats not stock is the adjustable suspension and 4 wheel disk brakes I added. Here is a picture.  Now on to my first question!  I had a set of wide five wheels sandblasted and want them to look stock.  What color or brand of paint should I use?  Also, should I just run a 165 tire as I want this to look as close to original as possible?  

Here's an article on original wheels for early Porsches:

http://roadscholars.com/wheels...y-porsche-road-rims/

If it floats your boat, then by all means build it "as close to original as possible" , but know going in that (for the most part) there is no acceptance to be had for replica owners in the Porsche world, even it it's an exact build with factory original parts. 999 out of 1000 people on the street will love it, though, and won't know anything or care about details- whether it wears original 5x205mm shoes, 4x130mm rims with hubcaps or Fuchs alloys (originals or cast replicas), the engine/trans are Porsche or VW, it has discs or drums, the gauges are from a 914 or look like original 356, and on and on and...

As for the 1 guy that looks down at your car and bitches that it has VW parts, is plastic and doesn't have a P vin- f*ck 'em. These cars get driven (as opposed to most "real" Speedsters which only get driven on and off the trailer and haven't had a set of mountain curves underneath their tires in how long we don't know) and are too much fun to worry about what anybody else thinks.

Most guys build to make their cars fun, and that usually entails more power, disc brakes (on the front at least), slightly wider tires and wheels, anti-sway bars (with camber compensator on the back if it's swingaxle) and whatever else you may desire. The beautiful thing about these cars is there are no Porsche vin #'s, and this gives you the freedom to do whatever the h*ll you want- it's your car. Create your dream without guilt. As our esteemed buddy Stan (President for life of the Republic? of Stanistan) has said- it's a big tent and there's room for everybody. We don't care how you do it.

You'd be best off with a doghouse shroud/cooler with a thermostat and flaps assembly. Make sure there's adequate airflow into the engine compartment and the engine is sealed off from spent cooling air and radiated exhaust heat. Above all, have fun. Al

Robert nice post.. thanks

Thanks for the advice.   I changed the shroud like you suggested and went with 185/65 tires.  I also painted the wheels using info from the link above.   I was able to mount thehe body to the chassis over the weekend as its crazy weather here in Missouri,  70 degrees in February!  Seems too low in the rear so will make some adjustments. 

That's not too low. It looks just right...

I'm sure most have seen this, I just stumbled on it.  Really neat speedster with lots of attention to detail!  

https://youtu.be/ybtj3-5BSf4

If I'm not mistaken this car was at Sema a few years back. I forget which booth it was for. Lots of amazing attention to detail for sure. 

At the time it was listed as a 'beck' but it was proven to have affiliation with Beck.

Went up for sale at one time with a 100k reserve / ask:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/331758...8311348&viewitem 

https://www.speedsterowners.com...edster-beck-sema-car

If you'd like some windwings like the ones on that car, reach out to AirCooled (Bruce). He provided them for that build.

Neat car. 

It's too bad somebody ruined a perfectly good Speedster with all that junk...

I've seen that car in person at Vintage Speedsters a couple of times... I think Greg even had it at one point too...

For those that like an outlaw look, it is pretty nice in person. I don't care for all the extra stuff (IMO)...

That car was at Vintage when Kath and I picked up Whitecloud, Kirk built the body and I think painted it, I think it was sold as a roller.

It's over-the-top but still the details are cool.

Will Hesch posted:

That car was at Vintage when Kath and I picked up Whitecloud, Kirk built the body and I think painted it, I think it was sold as a roller.

It's over-the-top but still the details are cool.

That car certainly is an exercise in excess but there are some nice features that could easily be incorporated into our cars. One of the features that I did like was how the underside of the dash is covered. I'm not a fan of the padded red diamond tuck but sealing off the underside of the dash really cleans up the interior. It'd also make a nice way to install some under dash speakers instead of using the doors.

 Does anyone know where I can find a turn signal lens just like this one? My car only came with one and I've yet to find another  like it. I believe the one I have is the original that came with my cmc kit.  It is orange and made of glass.  The empi one looks similar but is larger and made of plastic.  I've looked at other cars and many seem to have a lighter color and slightly smaller version.  I would like to have one just like the one in the picture if possible. Thanks for any suggestions, Rick

CMC used 18 wheel truck clearance lights from companies like Signal Stat (SigStat).  Back in 1990 they send me at least 5 different ones until I actually had a matching pair.  I ended up using LUCAS 594 lamps from Austin Healey/TR3, etc.  See my Avatar.  They have clear, frosted, amber and red glass lenses --- and you can get twin or single element lamps fixtures. See 22. I used clear glass with amber bulb.

Thanks for the info,  really helps.

Rick:  You might luck out and the bases that you have (if you have both trim rings to hold the lens in) will fit a Porsche 356A directional light lens like this:

http://www.stoddard.com/porsch...al/front-lights.html

I had the original CMC lenses and hated the look so I went with the Porsche version for a better look.  I used the earlier (shallower) "A" part (#1), but the later (and taller) #2 lens would fit, too.  Either would look more appropriate on a 356.

Just giving you options.

Hey Rick,

Welcome, my speedster had a similar story to yours. Here is a source for parts, reasonable prices;

http://vintagespeedsterparts.com

Have fun, Chris

Well I finally got my Speedster running today! I'm really  excited  and she sounds wonderful. I have a little brake work to do as I sprung a couple leaks during bleeding.It's been 2 years almost to the date since I started. I really understand what the madness means now as I've had my hands all over this car 2 and 3 times.  I appreciate all the advice / knowledge this site has given and  plan to join very soon.

 It has definitely been one of the more difficult projects I have done....but we'll worth it!  I will put more pictures on soon so we can let the critiquing  begin!

No need for critiquing- it looks great as it sits!

Congrats ..applauso!

Beautiful build! Looks like you're going to have a lot of fun this summer. Any plan for the windshield wipers?

Rick...Your car is lookin good !   It also looks like your ready for some of my wind-wings and visors. I have clear wind wings but I also have some transparent Red ones like those on that Grey Speedster you posted. Let me know. I also have door pulls, a folding left foot- foot rest, and a really cool front license plate bracket that removes in seconds......Bruce

Great job!

Congratulations. They say building them is half the fun. They lie.

Building a car isn't easy, and you've done a wonderful job!   Also, bleeding the brakes for the first time and getting a few leaks is pretty normal.  You'll fix it.

So, Welcome...... To the Continuing Madness!