Hey gang! She's back from paint!!! I have started a new thread here, the original thread is here: LINK but the gist is pre-A coupe, fashion grey (modegrau) paint, Subaru na engine, Rancho pro-subby trans with limited slip (gear type not clutch type), etc, etc. I have a bunch to do this morning, so I can't linger here, but I'll answer questions and update this thread as we go.
Here are a few pictures:
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Great start! Looking forward to the build and build-info.
Great start with the paint pick. I have been wanting to see a build in that color. Let me officially welcome you into the Unofficial Coupe Gruppe or C Gruppe or "Our wives don't care for all that wind in their hair Gruppe". Looking forward to more pics and your progress.
Brian in Murrieta
luv the paint color, looks real close to new Por color "chalk"
Ditto on paint color Love it!!
Oooooh, the anticipation!!!
Looking forward to watching the progress of your build! 
@JMM (Michael)
Thanks for the support, guys!
@RacerX I'm happy to be in das Coupe Gruppe, danke! This color is a very saturated grey with a lot of color to it. It changes a lot with the light, going from a light grey in bright sunlight to an almost khaki green shade in twilight. @barncobob it's darker than chalk or sport classic grey and has more "color" to it, but it's definitely in the neighborhood, plus it is still an available shade from the PTS program at Porsche even thought it hasn't been a production color since the mid-50's. El Guappo, I hope to come close to your exalted levels of cool! If the sun keeps shining on my pointy little head we may be able to take a ride together at next June's west coast jam!
Just another shout out to Greg at Vintage. What a great guy to work with. He and I are going to take this one at a slow pace, there's a lot going on here, a couple things that are new and need to be worked out as we go along, and we want it to be a killer build when it's done. So one day at a time. Mounted on a chassis and rolling around by New Year's is a reasonable goal, the really exciting stuff will happen after that... Though the excitement level right now is off the charts!!! I hope some of you know CPR!
-Michael
@JMM (Michael) any updates?
@ALB thanks for asking. Greg was going for body on frame by the holidays, but I told him not to kill himself about it. I sent him the brakes I wanted used a couple weeks ago and I know that installing those is a whole lot easier to do before you drop on the body. We also opted to go with the umbrella handle emergency brake and that requires a bit of pre-body-drop fettling I think. That was a very recent decision and so any added time there is my fault. The shots above are post paint, pre-color sanding, so they were using their stores of elbow grease on that when we spoke. He is working on a new way to install/hide the AC/heat/defrost set-up on the Pre-A dash so that it doesn't spoil the aesthetics, he's really going the extra mile there. For now I told him to make sure everyone left for the holidays in as relaxed a frame of mind as possible. I'm excited, but the barn's not burning down. Having had customers all my life I know there's at least one that's up his *** all the time. I also know it ain't me. "Don't be that guy" is a good motto sometimes.
In other news Outback is finishing the motor and getting that ready for delivery, the Vredestein tires I bought have been delivered, and I have a box of stuff to send Greg (Out of Sight sound system, Vintage shifter, LED lighting, etc.) so I guess I'd better get off my duff and get that to him soon. They are back from break on Monday, and perhaps we'll see some new pics/details next week. I'll keep you posted, literally!
-Michael
Sounds great! Just remember- if you do the umbrella handle, handbrake 180's are no longer in your future...
Dude, I'll have a torquey Suby. I'll do my 180's a different way. 
Michael, I'll be following this build with interest. One, I'm interested in a coupe someday, and two, Greg has built me two Spyder bodies/frames and did a fabulous job on both. But dare I say the game has been REALLY stepped up from 2002 to today(my new one is 2016). The attention to detail and level of finish were always good, but today I'm even more impressed.
@DannyP you are right. The level of of fit and finish are way up across the board. I think this is in part due to rising expectations. In the case of Vintage I think Greg does a great job of leading his crew. Those guys were really good under Kirk, but they've become exceptional with Greg at the helm. I felt a a really good vibe when I was there. After Greg and I had done our stuff, I was left to wander around until it was time for my Lyft to the airport. So for over 3 hours I watched, and talked to the guys, and poked my nose up under cars and bodies and motors and such. I was really impressed by the details that were attended to that would never see the light of day once the car was finished. It's no wonder the owner of that Continental build simply drove off on a several hundred mile maiden voyage without so much as whisper of trouble.
I really hope every potential new buyer stumbles on to this thread. Greg's builds are unsurpassed. He's doing all the right things and this thread just helps to support that.
Congratulations Michael on doing your due diligence and finding the best builder out there.
JMM (Michael) posted:Dude, I'll have a torquey Suby. I'll do my 180's a different way.
Ok, I got a good laugh when I read that!
And it's good to hear that Greg has raised the bar- from here it seemed like Kirk was pushing the cars out a little too quickly and there were too many details left for the owner to deal with, and that ended up smearing everybody. 3 guys (Greg, Cary and Henry) building quality cars that people don't have to mess with can only be nothing but good for the hobby...
Now, if we only had a simple way to buy and register the car you want in the state you want without the flaming hoops we would really have something.
Boy, ain’t THAT the truth.......
Al, You should try being in the white north and you can't even get a coupe here.
Make sure you get LED tail lights on that coupe. 
LED on all exterior lighting @IaM-Ray. It's a necessary ingredient to me. Those bee hives look cool, but they is tiny little things. I also built a 3rd brake light with strobing to fit under the rear grill for Greg to install. That's something several guys on here have done. Steal from the best, I always say.
YeaH I have the Kahtec blinking smart module for the 3rd eye and it works like a charm and CuLayer for the tail lights. they are excellent products
You need to have Greg make a valence and install a more subtle AC vent system and put in HIDDEN switches for the windows.
I really don't like the other coupe builders who stick switches for the windows on the center of the dashboard. IMO, very unsightly. We go through the effort to hide the hand brake but we put BIG SWITCHES on the dash... I don't get it. .. Just saying.
IaM-Ray posted:
Al, You should try being in the white north and you can't even get a coupe here.
Make sure you get LED tail lights on that coupe.
What White North? Southern ON is still green, you must mean MI or OH 
JMM (Michael) posted:LED on all exterior lighting @IaM-Ray. It's a necessary ingredient to me. Those bee hives look cool, but they is tiny little things. I also built a 3rd brake light with strobing to fit under the rear grill for Greg to install. That's something several guys on here have done. Steal from the best, I always say.
LEDs in the beehives, turn signals in the louvers, and a third brake light high up in the grill. I wanted as much illumination as possible back there.
OT but I just noticed Starke is still advertising on this site?
JMM (Michael) posted:LED on all exterior lighting @IaM-Ray. It's a necessary ingredient to me. Those bee hives look cool, but they is tiny little things. I also built a 3rd brake light with strobing to fit under the rear grill for Greg to install. That's something several guys on here have done. Steal from the best, I always say.
I did every single bulb in LED. Speedhut gauges, 3-step sequential shift light, all exterior taillights, turn, stop, 3rd brake light in the grilles, and license plate light are LED. I will eventually even do some footwell lights.
Looks like your thinking over there
Try looking at these types of LED. I have a few under which are unseen in LED liscence plate light footwell
I also had these in Incandescent that are reg IM's lights.
Coupled to a Door Switch which is wired to the Headlight pot/switch they work great.
I even have some in series that I can switch on or off if needed. So I have two incadescents normally and then I can get two more via extra switch all under the master control of the headlight switch.
Bob, are your rear lights from CUlayered?
IaM-Ray posted:Bob, are your rear lights from CUlayered?
Yes. Same as front parking lights.
Everybody's doin' it - doin' it - doin' it... Came out pretty good, bloodwood and maple, brass threaded insert. Should look good on the vintage shifter. Not much else to report at the moment.
I like it!. I wouldn't put that in my current car, but that is going to be a thought in the back of my brain for a future coupe....
Nice Job on the lollipop.
Things are moving along. Greg and the guys are able to work without breathing on each other, so they're carrying on. Here's a fram shot. Body meets frame tomorrow!! Stay tuned!
JMM (Michael) posted:Things are moving along. Greg and the guys are able to work without breathing on each other, so they're carrying on. Here's a fram shot. Body meets frame tomorrow!! Stay tuned!
perfect time to build in an umbrella emerg brake handle and confuse the other 90 %.
@David Stroud IM Roadster D I like the way you think! If you look in between the beams you can see the umbrella brake pivot shaft. Also, on the tunnel note there's no hole where the VW brake lever would live.
Remember- if you go to an umbrella emergency brake there are
Alb we can't do those anyway
If you have a frame IM, your hand brake IMO is somewhat too forward than it could be. It was for me. I guess being long legged like I am it was hard to reach except in an emergency. 911 cars and others that have it more centred
So here are some engine pictures. It's a 2.5 SOHC 16 valve with what John at Outfront calls a Z-head modification. If you look at the manifold you can see the intake risers are taller and larger than normal. The 3rd picture is of a normal 2.5 SOHC so you can see the difference. The change is supposedly worth 15-25 ponies depending on intake, exhaust, etc. Once the car is finished Greg will bring it back to Outfront and they will dyno-tune it and we'll see what we have at the wheels.
Very nice, Michael. Been near there, slightly ...well way over on the other side but I like your Soob install.
Very nice engine will that engine fit in the speedster
@IaM-Ray Yes it'll fit. If you look at the coolant fill tank you'll see the normal style plenum lies flat and is lower than the fill tank. The highest point of the Z-head style is about the same height as the fill tank and the long side of the plenum is oriented vertically. That arrangement gains almost all its height at the rear of the engine compartment. Greg said it would fit fine before I went this route. It's been fun to study the photos. I had talked all this out with John at Outfront, but hadn't actually seen it in the flesh. The runners are designed like an equal length header with valves all the same distance air inlet. The intake path looks like it's slightly longer, too, which in theory should help torque. The air path also doesn't make any sharp 90* bends like it does in the older arrangement, so that should preserve high RPM flow for hp. at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. We're still a long ways away from seeing the whole package on the dyno.
