Speedster Seat Material

The Porsche 914 used that basket weave vinyl fabric on seats, dash and door panels.

 

http://www.houzz.com/photos/16...ry-upholstery-fabric

 

http://www.mrstitch.com/_borde..._914_Seats_New_0.JPG

 

These guys are in Nor Calif. But any shop could do this.

Thanks all.  I didn't realize it was the basket weave vinyl and thought it was some other type of material.  It's hard to tell from the photo. 

I already have this (bought the car this way - attached photo is of my car).  I guess the only difference is that I have the cross stitching in the bottom and back portions the seat where the McQueen appears not to have this.

 

Thanks, Grant

Grant, your set-up looks very cool!

Thank you Art!

 

I lucked out as the guy I bought the car from told me that he worked closely with Kirk in building the car in 2000, relying on then available magazine photos of the McQueen speedster.  I wish he would have gone a little further and had 5 wide wheels installed. 

 

That will be my next project (changing the VW 4 lug set up with wide 5s).

 

Thanks, Grant

If you have a ball joint front suspension, which if you have four bolts wheels, I guess you do, there is a easy way to convert from four to wide five bolt drums.  I have done them many times on 1969 and newer Beetle suspensions, which all were using the four bolt wheels and drums. 

 

On the front, use the drums made for 1966 or 1967, as both years used the ball joint front suspension , yet had wide five bolt pattern.  The same spindles can be used and as I recall, the outer bearing , the small one, is the same on 1966 and 1967 as used on the 1969 and newer standard Beetles.  With the 1966 drums, you might have to change around the race for the inner bearing from what your four bolt drums have to what is needed to fit both the 1966 front drum and the spindle. 

 

It does not require any other suspension changes and the brake shoes should be the same width, so front brakes remain the same. Or, you can option for disc brakes and then order the sets for 1966 and 1967 Beetle and again, as they give you new spindles with most disc brake kits, you will convert from four bolt drums to wide five for your ball joint front suspension. 

 

On the rear, just pull off the four bolt drums and replace them with the wide five bolt pattern, either 1966 or 1967 drums, if using drums.  You might need to add a spacer on the rear stub axle to position the wide five drums where they clear the rear brake shoes, but with a light weight speedster, you already have more than enough braking, with disc on front, drums on rear.  I was stopping my 1969 Bug, used only for drag racing, from 108 MPH with only drum brakes and the car and driver weight was 1900 pounds.  So, again, my point is with disc up front and drums on rear, more stopping power than anyone really needs. 

 

This is the lowest cost conversion I have found.  Now, if money is no problem, there are other options.  I was pointing out, if the rear wide five pattern drums seem to barely cover the 1969 or newer rear brake shoes, it does not matter.  70% of the braking on cars is done with front brakes.  No machine work is needed. 

Hello George:

 

Thank you for the input.  Greatly appreciated.  My car is currently set up with 4 lug ball joint VW disc brakes up front.  Believe me I've looked at what you have suggested and agree that its the most cost effective way of going up front.  Because I like the better stopping power power (if you can say that) of disc brakes up front, I am going to go with the AC Industries 5 wide disc brake kit.  Going this way will require that I switch out the disc brake spindles for drum spindles, but will give me disc brake stopping power up front.  This will also give me a chance to change out some bad ball joints.

 

In the rear, I have done as you suggested in used Italian 67 5 wide brake drums.  Because I have the wider 315 brake shoes I had the brake drums turned to gain about another 1/4 in or so of brake surface so the drums will fit without having to run spacers.

 

I can't wait to get started on this project, and am currently waiting for AC Industries to get the 5 wide disc brake kits back in stock, which should be this week.

 

Thanks again for the info.  Any advice on fixing a pan that rusted through at driver's side rear seat rail.  Looks like a spot weld there caused a pit through the pan that was enough over the years to corrode and rust through.  My though was to buy a rear quarter replacement pan, cut out bad part, overlay new pan section, weld, and seal.

 

Thanks, Grant  

I am only here to help, if possible. Fixing pans is not my cup of tea. I think you have that figured out. The welding is the proper way. I have bolted in sections with RTV between sheet metal pieces and plenty of paint, because my welding skills suck. But, do the welding and then plenty of good quality paint. Should last for many years. Oh, I do drill a small drain hole in the rear most corner of the back floor pans, just in case rain finds it's way into my car. My cars sit outside on my driveway too much and we get plenty of rain, where I live. On a slight incline, any rain water works it's way to the rear floor pan area. I use only rubber mats on my floor pans, not carpet. Easy to remove and dry out the metal. Not suggesting you only use rubber mats, but it's what I do.