@Michael Pickett posted:Ed, someone is going to cherish your work for a very long time
I certainly hope it's someone on this site.
After 40+ pages here, I'm betting this has been hashed out previous, BUT . . .
If it was me and I put so much blood sweat and tears into something so remarkably deft, I really don't know how I could part with it. But that remains the plan, correct??
It is the plan, @El Frazoo. I'm going to get the car as squared away as I can, take some pics, make some driving videos and hopefully sell it on BaT. The way it's going that may not be until next spring.
I want to auction it, frankly, because I'm not sure what to ask. I work cheap: $20 an hour at my regular job. Even at that rate, time and materials would put this car in the high 80s.
I also know most guys will not care to spend money on the things I've done. It's not for them.
Given my own tastes and proclivities, I have pitched Projeckt Spyder to a very small, weird and little-understood subculture within the Plastic Clown Car subculture we all inhabit. I do not know how many people inhabit this subculture of a subculture, and I have no idea how much money they have. I just have a feeling: maybe I am not alone. Maybe there are others like me. Maybe—just maybe—some of them have the means to pay me for doing what they themselves cannot imagine doing for themselves.
This was always going to be an experiment in finding the market.
How much could a small-motor plastic 550 be worth?
A pretty nice one much like mine went for $40k on BaT the other day. It had the aluminum ovals on the rockers. It had the barberpole vinyl. Had the plastic windscreen. He even put one Bendix fuel pump in the driver's side cranny.
—But not the correct two Bendix pumps.
It also had quite a few cracks and blemishes in the gelcoat.
Not a Raby engine. No word on HP or gearing. No Vintage 190s.
VW pedals. Chinese gauges. Correct handbrake but in the incorrect location. No functional jack points, nor reproduction Spyder jack. The horns were not Frenched-in underneath like the originals, and my car. No brake cooling ducts. Not sure about the front grill. VW gas tank as usual. Fuel filler low as standard. Diamond tuck upholstered firewall on the engine side.
No Knechts. No turn-key latches on the clam or front lid. Undersides of the lids not smoothed and painted body color like mine. No inner clam Swiss cheese thingie, nor any aluminum riveted junk hand-formed to mimic the real cars. No correct clam hold-up thing with the ratcheting effect. No "seat" for the spare tire nor any K-member framework on the rear chassis. No dust excluder brushes on the rear control arms. No aluminum underpan. No 547-type breather tube and fake oil tank next to a real, functional oil tank for pre-oil and starvation protection.
I could go on. I probably will some time.
My point is, every one of these details, plus myriad others I can't even remember, took time: time to research, to see what was right. Time to research similar suitable materials, time to plan, form and fabricate. Time to install. And usually, time to take it out and re-do it because it wasn't quite right.
My car is elaborately overdone. Like only one other one I know about. Like somebody cared.
At some point, we'll see if anyone else does.
And then, whether they do or not, I will set it free. Buddha said, "the root of suffering is attachment."
While I hope upon hope that you sell for $40K, the market for Spyders is still $25-35K used. You are taking an already small market and making it smaller. Clearly, this could work to your favor and if you have patience, you could wait out the money you want.
Next year may actually be better if the economy levels out.
If it were me, I would plaster it over a brunch of free sites at $45K, ahead of BaT. If someone offers you $45, awesome. If you get offers you don't want to accept, don't but it would give you an idea of price by averaging offers.
Just my 2 pennies.
There's someone out there who will understand what you've done, Ed.
Ed, it may take a while but your story will have to be told on how it was built.
I also think a pre tour of selling would be in order as you will need to hone your skills in selling this thing and the search for the right buyer might be right around the corner or maybe around next year but it will come with patience.
Also the cost of the roulette with this custom built is for me a BAT discourager for the 1st time the car is being offered.
It may not get to the price of a BECK or Vintage but then, the exclusiveness and uniqueness of your build will be for the buyer to judge.
In the end it will be worth what the cheque is cut for 
I followed a guy building a wooden boat on YouTube for three years. The guy was the most meticulous person I think I’ve ever seen, ending every video by updating his material costs and time spent. The boat turned out beautiful and I don’t think I disagreed with hardly anything he did. He has no plans to sell but if he did, an “expert” would say it’s not worth as much as a vintage Chris Craft and, of course, worth a fraction of his time input. Having watched it being built I and probably others would pay Chris Craft money for it. So, you build things for the enjoyment and completion of the process and get what someone is willing to pay for the decisions, precision and quality you put in. This is a great car Ed.
Thanks for the input, guys. Cards on the table, no bluffing.
We went for like a 3-4 mile spin this afternoon and the car is doing pretty well. What a thrill to even just tool around in this beast!
Brake pedal is still low but I can lock them up. Possibly the left front locked first. Haven't gone fast enough to really test and bed the pads yet.
Brake line adaptor fittings are on the way. I also cured the brake line rub in the left rear fender well and touched up the paint there and installed the edge guards.
Ride height seems set and I'm learning how to get in and out of the driveway without dragging the tail.
Clutch chatters just a little on low RPM takeoff. Dammit!
Looks like the temp gauge is working. 80c (just under 180F) and steady. Obviously I need a longer, faster run on a hotter day to see better.
Warm idle was too low and wanted to stall. I turned the stop screws in a quarter turn on each side and we got 900 steady.
Had a fuel drip from the accelerator pump on the left after I parked it. The cover screws were tight so I was going to look in there and see what's happening. I loosened the screws, then changed my mind. Tightened them, started the car to see if it leaked running, and it didn't.
So I let it idle a bit (this is when I upped the idle settings) and checked again, then turned it off and felt around where it had been dripping. And this time it was dry.
Also no oil drips from underneath. So maybe I won't be needing those JayCee pushrods after all. Fingers crossed.
I'm going to try to get the headlights aimed tonight.
I'll look for oil under the engine as well and try to pinpoint any drips. I am very sure my CB sump cover is not right, so that will come off and probably got back on with Permatex Ultra Grey at some point soon, with possibly one of the studs replaced.
Bottom line: Just as soon as I can get the dang brake pedal up to a decent height I am going to absolutely thrash this baby.
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Ride height seems set and I'm learning how to get in and out of the driveway without dragging the tail.
OK, but how about getting in and out of the car without dragging tail?
Not exactly like an MG, is it?
Greg fixed it on his later cars, but I'm going to assume your TR headlight buckets are similar to my earlier car.
I had to bend the tabs on the headlight bulb, and remove the wires from the 3 prong headlight plug in order to aim the headlights. At least if you wanted to light the highway instead of the trees!
You could cut out the back of the bucket alternatively, our headlights are inside the trunk instead of out there by the tires on a Speedster.
I also had to bend the springs that push the bulb assembly away from the adjustment screws. My screws were WAY out near the end of adjustment. Spyders have the buckets laid back at more of an angle than Bugs do.
So I put the car up in the air and checked under the engine and—how about that?—no pushrod tube leaks and the drip from the front appears to be cured as well. Only the left valve cover was just a smidge wet (I'll pick up a new set of bails) and the sump plate is definitely seeping. No drips, but they will come. So that gets R&R'd soon.
I'm going to run this a few more miles and set the air/fuel mix and rig up the Black Box, but if things stay as they are I'll just leave everything but the sump as-is. Psyched.
Tonight I got the headlights rough-aimed. I think they might be OK so I don't need to pull them out and mess with the adjusters and such. We'll see.
Then I shook off the top for a test fit.
I'm confident that with some time and probably a few parts from @chines1 & co. this could be made to work, but frankly I don't have the patience. I'm going to fold it all up and call it and the glass windscreen a "standard toption" & let the next guy sort it out.
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Like Danny says, they lay back more than in the Speedster. I ended up moving the pivot point on the light ring/bucket attachment.
https://www.speedsterowners.com/topic/headlights-6
I have more pictures if it'll help.
Did another lap around the block this a.m. & this time tested the GoPro.
(edit to replace above with higher res version).
I can't live with the brakes as they are so I put it up and pulled the floor off. I'm going to yank the MC and bench bleed it and put it back and see if that does anything. I tried to make Gordo's power bleeder last week but that failed, so I'll try again. There's definitely air in it. I think when I get that out I won't need the residual valves. We'll see.
While I was at it I pulled the wipers and the 356 screen and put the plastic one back in. Getting that mirror to not interfere with the windshield took some fabrication.
I really like the look, impractical though it may be.
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@edsnova posted:
I really like the look, impractical though it may be.
No, that look is worth whatever it takes to get there. It's fantastic.
I've been very very tempted to do that to my car. That's the cherry on top.
Hey Ed. Would you mind taking a pic of the screen, mirror minus the glare? Maybe a top view, too? I'm getting ready to ditch my Speedster windshield fir the lexan one as well and I'd like to take a look at the spacing.
What did you do with your center support hole?
Thanks for taking us along for the ride, Ed. What a thing of beauty!
@Carlos G posted:I've been very very tempted to do that to my car. That's the cherry on top.
I'll tell you this: "Project X" is crying for such a thing.
Astounding.
I can only imagine what a thrill it must be to be driving something you’ve worked so long and hard to build. Congrats
@dlearl476 posted:Hey Ed. Would you mind taking a pic of the screen, mirror minus the glare? Maybe a top view, too? I'm getting ready to ditch my Speedster windshield fir the lexan one as well and I'd like to take a look at the spacing.
What did you do with your center support hole?
Center hole is just a hole. If you look at pics of the real cars, they usually have several unfilled former attachment points and such. I suppose I could stick a rivet in it.
The Fibersteel plastic screen is made to lay over and cover the mounting holes from the glass Speedster screen, so there's your fitment. You can just see a couple riv-nut edges peeking out from under the leather gasket on the right of this pic.
The tricky bits are the mirror and tonneau snaps. I just drilled a hole where I thought the mirror would look and work well, and then found the mirror that came with the plexi screen was a tad too tall, when stood upright as intended. It may be possible to just machine more threads up the stem to sink it; I opted to grind the top retaining nut at like a 15-degree angle and make a matching angled collet for underneath.
The one Tenax stud I had installed, using the tonneau itself as a guide before any windscreen was attached, had to be relocated about an inch rearward in order to get enough headroom for the snaps to function (you can see that hole too). I also had to have the tonneau altered likewise.
DM'd additional pics.
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Lovely, and sounds good, too.
Fantastic, Ed. Can't say much more than that.
Fast loud and proud , how cool for you ….well done !
Amazing job!!!
So I pulled the master cylinder and ordered a different model, having been schooled by @chines1 that the one I had in there, recommended by the PO with the universal endorsement of writing "USE THIS" in sharpie on it, is inadequate to the task of actuating four-wheel disc brakes. It was designed for front disc brakes and rear drums, as indicated by the single "D" on the end of its part number. The new one's bore will be 20.6 mm's in diameter, as indicated by two letter D's at the end of its part number.
I am advised that this will or should obviate the need for the 2-lb residual pressure valves and the unobtaniam brake line adaptors I have ordered but have no confidence in their being the actual ones I would need for this job.
Thoughts and prayers for me? Can I get an "amen?"
While awaiting these possible final keys to Full Spyder Viability I've set my attention on creating a valid and functional flat towing system for the car.
As many Spyder owners have discovered, the standard VW flat towing device can work, but it's a bear to get it fixed to the beam, which is so far under the car and then unreachably up in the body work.
On my car there is also an aluminum sheet screwed in under it, blocking access.
But since I extended the frame forward to render the jack points functional, and since I also installed 7/16 bolts through these extensions from the bottom of the floorpan, I have the built-in makings of a potential towing system.
All that's required is a sort of bracket or frame to extend from those bolts, past the jack points, to a spot under the grill. From there a simple horizontal pivot to the tow bar.
CAD:
It seems appropriate that the 1x2 box tubing I'm making this out of came from the same treadmill I fabricated the frame extenders from.
Holes for those big bolts....
Then measure again and relieve for the jack points.
Tomorrow I'll grind these holes out and locate these tubes in the box tubing so it fits over the jack points snugly.
After that it's tack, test-fit, maybe tack again.
Then I'll get some pins to fit through the fronts of these guys and gusset all that & tack it together.
And after that I cut the ends of a regular VW tow bar and make box ends to fit over the ends of these brackets and slide the pins through.
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Ed, you suffer from the curse of spare time ☺️
So THAT's where my drill press vise went! I've been looking all over for that!
It's good to see you coming up with a continuum of projects during this Covid thing.
@edsnova posted:Center hole is just a hole. If you look at pics of the real cars, they usually have several unfilled former attachment points and such. I suppose I could stick a rivet in it.
The Fibersteel plastic screen is made to lay over and cover the mounting holes from the glass Speedster screen, so there's your fitment. You can just see a couple riv-nut edges peeking out from under the leather gasket on the right of this pic.
The tricky bits are the mirror and tonneau snaps. I just drilled a hole where I thought the mirror would look and work well, and then found the mirror that came with the plexi screen was a tad too tall, when stood upright as intended. It may be possible to just machine more threads up the stem to sink it; I opted to grind the top retaining nut at like a 15-degree angle and make a matching angled collet for underneath.
The one Tenax stud I had installed, using the tonneau itself as a guide before any windscreen was attached, had to be relocated about an inch rearward in order to get enough headroom for the snaps to function (you can see that hole too). I also had to have the tonneau altered likewise.
DM'd additional pics.
Thanks Ed. Took a brief look at your post, but I’ll take time to digest it later. I’m on my way down to change screens myself. Like yours, I have both sets of holes. My car had the lexan screen on it when I bought it and I had Carey et al put the Speedster screen on in preparation for my drive to NYC.
But, like Carey warned me, the header is right in my line of sight. Now that I’m driving the car a lot, it really bugs me. I find myself slouching down in the seat to see under it which inevitable starts hurting my back.
I’ll get to the mirror later. Checking the dimensions of that Cobra mirror someone suggested, it may be too tall. But I found one on Moss motors for a TD or TR-3 with a shorter stalk that might be perfect, as long as the angle will clear the clamshell.
FYI, here's another source for vintage-style interior mirrors.
No experience with these, but they look promising.
Update: Finished drilling the big holes in the top to allow the jack points to dip into them, then fit them up with thick walled tubing to surround and capture the jack points and measured for square. I got them to within about a 16th of an inch and marked with tape to locate the tubing, then tacked and checked again.
Finding them still good I welded them around, and put beads on the cuts I'd made earlier to conform the part to the bend of the car's underside.
Trying to decide now whether to ties these brackets together with a piece of big (but thinner) rectangular box tubing to prevent lateral stress on the jack points. It would seem overkill and make it very much harder to install these parts in the field, but still I ponder.
The next step is getting a squared box on the ends of these, with the through holes level and square to each other on the same plane, since on installation these bars each tilted in slightly (see top pic), making use of the existing holes problematic.
I'll probably get after that tomorrow or Sunday.
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You might as well finish it. You don’t want to go to the beach this weekend, anyway.
You are are a fabrication god, Ed. Your updates and photos are a breath of fresh air in the dumpster fire we call 2020. Can't get enough, thanks!
@Sacto Mitch posted:
FYI, here's another source for vintage-style interior mirrors.
No experience with these, but they look promising.
Thanks, Mitch. Those first two look promising. Yesterday during my intitial drive I was thinking I may have to adapt an adhesive windshield mount to invert and stick on the dash.
I may be looking at custom motorcycle mirrors, too. I was so beat yesterday after doing the screen and messing with a missing swing arm cap bolt, I neglected to measure how much room I even have in there.
@El Frazoo posted:After 40+ pages here, I'm betting this has been hashed out previous, BUT . . .
If it was me and I put so much blood sweat and tears into something so remarkably deft, I really don't know how I could part with it. But that remains the plan, correct??
I could never figure out why there were so many Spyders for sale with 200-1,000 miles on them on BAT. Granted, ingress and egress are a combination of yoga postures, but still. Had I not driven small cars all my life I think the size could be intimidating, too, and I assumed it was people who bought a Spyder then didn't really like them.
After reading the threads here it dawned on me: for some, the fascination is the building of the cars, not the owning/driving. I can see that. I look at my Beck like a 1:1 scale model I can tinker with. (And drive)
I also think that it takes a different kind of guy to own and drive one. I would imagine lots of guys get into one thinking it'll be a car - then buy it and figure out it's a very expensive and labor intensive motorcycle with 4 wheels. It rewards those who are not over 5'9" or so, and a buck-sixty at the outside. Corn-fed, white-bread primates need not apply.
Not everybody is cut out for that.
@edsnova Moving the pivot points out for the tow bar is a very good move on these low cars. I was going to play around with a spring loaded tow bar. My jack/tow points, are right about where your bolts are. With all the ups and downs around here, a typical tow bar would hit the body of my car.
Is the only attachment on those pieces the 5/16 bolts? Looks like the jack points just sit in that cup you made. I figured if you made something like this.
Those brackets could be slid onto the jack point, then bolted like you have them. They would have two attachment points. I was just thinking, if someone or something were to add pressure downward on the front of those brackets, they'd bend.
Just thinking out loud.
Carry on, bro.
CG
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Dang.
been wracking my noggin trying to figure this. At first I thought a horizontal hole and pin through the tubes and jack points but drilling those accurately now would be super difficult.
Thought about tapping a hole in the bottom of the jack points for a smaller screw to augment things. Still seems bodgy.
But you nailed it: a key hole with the roundy part at the front, the slot just wide enough to slide above the ball of the jack point. You slot these on and then feed the bolts up and tighten. If the bolt ever backs out or breaks the part stays locked on as long as you pull.
The only problem: the plane of the tops of these brackets want to pass directly through the balls. Raising them up 3/8ths to make the key slots work might be more than I can achieve using my rudimentary tools and skills...
Yours is definitely the optimal design though. Thanks, Carlos.
Holy crap I just looked at your post again and yeah you frickin solved it.
i will adapt my design!
Here's a step further, to lock it in. The washer is welded to the little plate to help center the knob. Maybe the slotted hole can be made to help lock it in too.
Hopefully you can make sense of this quicky drawing.
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