Speedster-sized Parking Space

The 1915 doesn't have enough torque to pull the 3.88/.89 for long highway hauls. The 2110 will be much better suited for this, but isn't omg power- it's just right. Al

I bought virtually the same car from Kirk at the end of 2009...now have 2000 miles on it.  Kirk is great.  I had an issue with a carb at first, which Kirk replaced and reimbursed me the cost to have my mechanic to install..no questions (I'm in northern Calif, so Kirk could not do the work.)

 

The car is great to drive, gets rave comments from everyone who sees it, and is conversation starter.  I don't know what else to spec. The 1915 has plenty of juice.  I can go as fast as I'm comfortable.  Some of the others on the site might have some ideas. For me, its just fun.

Sacto Mitch - looking forward to have you join some of the SOC cruises and gatherings. Here's a pre-emptive "Welcome to The Madness"!!

Mitch, the tub you specked out will do just fine, but bigger is always better, so for a few extra bucks,

it's worth looking at the 2110  cc....

Tell Kirk you would rather not have hubcap problems like TA had, maybe he has that figured out,

at the least he'll know you heard about the issue...

 

I've heard that with a 2110 cc, you should add another external oil cooler with an electric fan that's controlled by a thermostatic switch and that you then start worrying about your oil temp all day and that gives you nervous twitches and then you need to hire someone to give you massages to calm you down and then your wife starts asking questions about why you're going off to get massages all the time and, eventually, she gets suspicious and hires a private investigator to follow you around and, finally, she hires a divorce lawyer and you split up and have to give her your Speedster in the settlement, so I think I may stick with the 1915cc.

Not all 1915s are created equal.  When I bought my car Beck offered two 1915 variants.  The first had 90hp and was pretty much at the max you could get out of it.  The second had 125hp and was tunable for more.  I have the latter and it has plenty of power for hooning around or driving like a responsible adult on the highway.  The external oil cooler and fan is a good idea if you plan to travel in it.  It removes the worry about oil temp.  I'm set up that way and have had no problems with the cooling at all.

Mitch, my tweaked aircooled engine experience is limited to the 2110cc  (3:88 freeway flyer) that came in my VS...I lucked out! It has the torque to handle congested village traffic, winding New England secondary roads, and is a 4th gear pleasure on the highway. It has more 'punch' than I need or use...but it's a hoot when the rpm's nudge the webers off the idle jets, and I allow it to take off like a scalded dog!!

 

If you have an option I'd go 2110...just my opinion.  

I've never regretted going from 1911 to 2666 and I'm still married.

2666cc!!...jeez, speaking of 'scalded dogs'

I respect Kirk and the value you get with VS tubs but the basic 1915 he offers is a dog.  Like Lane said, all 1915's are not created equal.  Jump to a 2110 or have Kirk give you an engine credit and have CB performance build you a proper engine with quality parts.  After the credit you will still need to come up with another 3 grand, but just like other things in life, you get what you pay for.

I realized that most of my driving would be top down from 0 to 45.  I wanted torque for acceleration, so got a CB 1915 stroked to 2054.  It is coupled with a freeway flyer trans, so it behaves well on the highway too.  Great engine and enough to get me in trouble.

Ya know I was thinking...  (not often)

 

Why isn't Kirk on the SOC?  It makes so much sense for him to get on here from time to time.  Would likely do wonders for his business.  Answering questions (such as the hubcap problem) etc.

 

I know he said he's not much of a computer guy, but it really isn't all that challenging to log on once a day.

Sh!t, if Gerd and Vince can do it... anyone can. 

Hi I have a CB  built 2054 and 3:88  trans....the car pulls great  smooth idle..etc

I put 23,000 miles on my VS with what I suppose was the "standard" 1915 engine without a single hiccup.  It ran fine and never let me down.  Simple, easy to maintain and work on and I never had to touch those great Kadron carbs in those 23,000 miles.  The 1915 delivered 33 MPG with sane driving and on long trips driving fast on interstates it always got 27-28 MPG.

 

Looking over the log I keep for my car I don't see that I ever added any oil to the engine but it was changed religiously. And the oil I started out using was not the best for that engine but I didn't know any better.  (Now it's strictly green Brad Penn.)

 

I have read on this site that the 1915 is considered the most reliable of the larger-than-stock Type I engines and the more you up the size on the engine, the shorter life you can expect.

 

I never knew what the "standard" 1915 Kirk uses was comprised of and that two versions of the 1915 are available.  I know I'd insist on whichever 1915 was the best available if I was going that route. 

I never assumed that the hubcap problem was a wheel problem.  I purchased some aftermarket hubcaps and they didn't fit, they were the problem and were quickly fixed with a pair of vice grips.

 

Jack, I put 60,000 miles on my 1970 Beetle, with Kardon carbs.  The only maintenance I did was a slight adjustment every year.  That's it.

I really believe the secret to a long, maintenance free engine life is to go mild.  A 1915 with Kardons is a great way to go.  Unfortunately, I'm not taking my own advice.  This time around I'm upgrading my 2276 with larger heads and shooting for 160/165 hp.  What can I say....power corrupts and I'm so weak.

You take an engine that was originally capable of generating 40-60 HP then modify it to put out 2-3 times the power? Yeah, you're going to have certain issues, especially with heat.

Eddie Janis had a 1776 built by Strictly Foreign several years ago. It is a "mild" cc change but that little bastard will give any 2110 a run for the money. The engine was spec'd well and only quality parts were used. As far as I know, Eddie has never had a problem with his engine.

Best possible choice, if you want to stay air-cooled and you have a decent build budget? Find a 912 engine and build it up with a 1776 kit. Excellent power, no heat issues and, with proper maintenance, it'll last a long while.

MARY IS ON HERE EVERY SO OFTEN FOR KIRK

2332 WITH EXTRA OIL COOLER

Not pushing the type IV over anything else but thinking about what Terry posted.

 

The more stress on any engine,the shorter the life is something I have read many, many times here.

 

So:

 

If you take a 1600 cc engine and take it to 1915 , that's an increase of 20%.

 

Make it 2276 and that's an increase of 42%  (!)

 

a 2 liter Type IV starts out at 2,000 cc.  Mine is now 2,143 cc or an increase of just 7% which is why I expect a long, stress-free  life from it.

 

Another reason the Suby conversions are so desired ---no increase in engine size from the

original design is done so these engines aren't stressed by increasing the size at all.

 

Interesting to consider. And the '77 Type Is were really just 1584 ccs.

 

 musbejim's Type I has over 60,000 miles on it ---must not be very stressed.  Is this the record for a Speedster?

Jim might have the Speedster record but over here in TD Land 60k may not be so special. Mine's got 50-something right now & I have no idea if the engine was rebuilt prior to (or after) the speedo was installed. Engine is a '66 Type 1.

 

So the block did whatever miles it took to get from 1966 to 1981 and then the counter started, currently at 53 or 55,000. Something like that.

 

It's the Three-in-One oil, I tell ya.

Mitch - as you already know, and by responses on this site, it always just boils down to your personal preference tempered by budget. Some want to go fast in their Speedsters, some want to cruise.

 

I'm a cruiser, and FWIW my '95 VS has an 1835/dual Kadrons & 3:88 trans. Perfect for spirited cruising around town but also enough to maintain highway speeds (70-75+ mph) for extended periods (up & down Calif, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado) without ill effect. My speedo is in kilometers and shows 130,000km. I think that is about 84,000 miles, all without any catastrophic results. Your results may vary.

 

What won't vary is the cool gratification you get driving your Speedy, no matter what its powered with.

 

Welcome To The Madness!

 

Well said, and beautiful car.  Each time I see that photo it makes me glad to be driving one of these speedsters.

 

MUSBJIM, thanks to you and to everyone who's replied here. The range of opinions is pretty much what I expected and shows how many 'takes' there are on the best way to set up these cars.

 

I see this as a car I'm not going to flog very hard, so I think a mild tune under two liters will work for me.

 

I had a first generation Miata for about 15 years (OK, I admit it) and it was a blast to drive, with only 115 hp. A 90-hp Speedster should be quicker since it weighs about 700 lbs less.

 

Back in the dark ages, I used to hang out on the old Compuserve Miata forum where Bob Hall was a regular. He is the American auto writer who invented the idea for the Miata and pitched it to the chairman of Mazda over dinner one night.

 

(More here:  http://www.automobilemag.com/r...les/0503_ikigai_man/

 

Amazingly, Mazda hired Hall and put him on the Miata development team, so he had some great stories and insight into how the car came to be. He always defended Mazda's decision not to put a turbo in the car - something they've stuck with to this day.

 

He thought too much power (and the beefing up of everything else that would require) would have killed the car's 'light, tossable' character.

 

His mantra was that, if you knew how to drive, 85 bhp was all you needed in a car that light.

I'm sure it's an interesting story as it was a big surprise to me when the car was announced.  One thing though, they did have a couple of special editions that came with turbos.

 

Forgot about the Mazdaspeed cars.

 

From the beginning, there were always aftermarket turbo kits, but no factory-sanctioned  turbo until 2004 - 15 years after the 1989 rollout. By then, Hall (and probably most of the original design team) was long gone.

I've owned a stock powered 1997 Miata and a V8 powered 1990 Miata.  

I'll take the V8 powered Miata any day.

There used to be a company in San Diego, Calif  called Monster Miata that did V-8 conversions,  dont know if they are still in business..

Sacto: Much as I hate to get back on topic LOL.

I have one of Kirks 1915's in our Superwide and it has the dual Empi 34's and the 3.8 Freeway Flyer trans. Good power and torque. My recommendation is to go with a 3.44 trans ( I understand that they are making that ring and pinion setup again and it may take some convincing of Kirk) with Weber 44's. Roland (www.rasconmotorsports.com)was building for Kirk when I got mine and he does a good job. If you talk to him he can guide you regarding the jets/venturies for those carbs.

Thanks, Doug.

 

With the 3.88, what revs are you turning at 70 mph? 75 mph?

 

Any oil temp issues if you hold those speeds on the freeway on a hot day? Around here, getting to the good roads usually means an hour or two on the freeway, and summer highs are often around 100 degrees.

Sacto,

 

I have a 1945 Engine with an out board cooler, once I added the cooler the car stays with in heat range. Here in Escondido we can see 100 and above temps. The motor handles the heat nicely. I believe i have a freeway flyer trans, at 70 i'm turning 3400 rpm. My engine was built  locally and is an odd but very workable combo. I'm running dual kads that i had rebuilt by AJ sims a couple of years ago. The engine has been dependable. There are a lot of folks on the site with good advice for assisting you in your engine choice. Figure out how you want to run then by as big as you can afford.

 

Like Musbjim I am a cruiser (whose tires are sqealing) and my engine/trans works just great. Here is a picture of my car on the same Palomar cruise as jim's. Hope we see you at some of the SOC event's.

 

Larry

 

That is a cool pic, Larry!

I'm having a 3.44 R&P installed in my tranny this Fall.  A 3.44 is a great ratio for freeway driving, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything smaller than a 2110.

thats a great pic larry was that up at the rock store

Gerd,

 

That was a run up to mt. Palomar last year. It's a great run. Unposted so the speed limit is 55.

 

Larry

Sacto: At 70 indicated I'm at 3200 rpm's. I also have an external oil cooler w/ fan mounted under the car and in the 100+ days we saw recently it would run on the high side of warm. That's running at 75 to 80 to keep from getting run over. Also I find that 1st gear is about as useful as tits on a boar hog unless you want to pull stumps out of the ground.

Sacto: You may already have this info. I found it helpful. The original speedster gearing was 3.10-1.73-1.26-.89. The standard VW gearing is 3.80(stump puller)-2.06-1.26-.89. The difference in complete use of the transmission , in my opnion, by changing 1st gear to 3.10 and 2nd gear to 1.90 or so, is worth exploring.Just a thought.

 

Bob

 

In the late 60s, a friend had a stock beetle. I remember smoking a lot of Mustangs and Camaros at stoplights - up until about 25 mph. After that, we ate a lot of dust, but it was fun watching the pony cars having to floor it to catch up.

 

Of course, only insecure adolescents obsess about off the line grunt. We mature adults know that what counts is handling and balance - being able to cruise with poise on any kind of road - wrapped in an elegant package.

 

Do many folks here mess with the ratios in the gearbox itself? Matching gearing with torque curves sounds like voodoo science to me. And maybe expensive voodoo science, too? Does Kirk offer the option of custom gearing other than just 'standard' or 'freeway flyer' final drives?

Size matters, but so does quality of a few key parts.  I have a 1776 with CB .044 heads, dual Kadrons, a decent exhaust with the side mounted Magnaflow, a balanced crank and the 3.88 gears.  It has no problem pulling the taller gears at any speed on the freeway.  At 70mph I am spinning at about 3,200 rmps with 165x80x15s.  I'd spend a few hundred bucks on the extermal iol cooler regardless of the engine size just to be safe.  This is my car.  Maybe ask Kirk if he could add the upgraded heads to his standard 1915.  They are cheap enough and probably offer a good $$$/HP ratio.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC9opej09tI