Thank you. How much time did your trip take?
@Teammccalla posted:Wow. Canepa’s team sure does good work! His place is about 10 miles from here and I have never been! I dream of getting my RSA seats redone there…
Teammccalla, You need to go if you're that close. Bruce has a great shop and Museum with lots of mouth watering cars, motorcycles and race cars. I've known Bruce for years and he is quite a guy, great racer and easy to talk to. Its worth the trip !!
you can also go down to San Pedro and then drive along the Palos Verde peninsula coast drive which will drop you down to PCH in Redondo Beach ......then head north on PCH , which changes names to Sepulveda , right after LAX airport turn left on Lincoln blvd which will take you to Marina Del Ray .
Lincoln Blvd runs into PCH in Santa Monica and leads you to Malibu....
Its a nice drive , just remember "June Gloom" overcast skys are possible so have a warm jacket.
@Teammccalla posted:Thank you!
What’s the drive between Capistrano and Hemet like, meandering slightly north through towns? I am not going to tempt fate going on some of those tiny tiny mountain pass goat trails.
@Troy Sloan what is the route you do in your drive videos?
Those drive videos are done in Fresno, CA which is about 250 miles north of where you are picking up your car. Not worth the drive.
@Teammccalla posted:Thank you!
What’s the drive between Capistrano and Hemet like, meandering slightly north through towns? I am not going to tempt fate going on some of those tiny tiny mountain pass goat trails.
@Troy Sloan what is the route you do in your drive videos?
As Robert said, those drives are all in the Fresno county foothills and it's way out of your way. There are lots of very nice drives up this way and, with both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks both near by, it has been considered as the site of a future annual gathering.
Thanks, Robert and Troy. I’ll stay mostly on the coast unless it’s freezing. I will definitely hit Topanga though (maybe back and forth) because it’s beautiful and historic (in my mind). I’ll wave at the ghost of David Crosby and Cass Elliot as I drive by.
@Troy Sloan, I won’t have my Cruizin Windows for the drive tomorrow because I guess Anna didn’t let you know in time to ship them to Hawaiian Gardens? Sending to my house is OK, of course, but it’s a bummer not to have them for the maiden voyage.
So excited to go see pick it up and test it.
@Teammccalla posted:I need to drive 200 miles at varying speeds Weds afternoon in Orange County to break in my car. Where would you all suggest I go from Hawaiian Gardens round trip 200 miles? One friend suggested I-5 south to Capistrano and then east out through the hills. Do you have other suggestions or favorite drives?
I was just at VMC today and saw your Speedster being detailed...it looks amazing!
If you want to head east about 25 miles into Orange County, I can meet you tomorrow for a drive on some great roads near me. PM me if interested.
Also, a quick shout-out to Greg at VMC for helping me pinpoint and fix a strange noise I picked up on the WCC SLO trip. He definitely knows and stands by all of his builds...Thanks again, Greg!!
Wow. Are you serious?! I haven’t even seen a photo. It’s killing me!
I will PM you. What a great community!
Ha...too funny! I was going to take a picture of it, but I figured you already had enough pictures of it from the shop.
@Teammccalla Same here. Except my car will be shipped tomorrow. The wait has been killing me. At least another week.
@NTrav Did you see a silver and red speedster with GT bumpers, Rudge style wheels, and white piping on the seats?
@Teammccalla posted:I researched it and they put the fuel under the dash?! Combo filter, shutoff, reserve? How far away was that from the aforementioned cloth wiring loom? OK, I take back everything I said about great Porsche engineering!!!
That’s nothing. Original 550s had their twin Autopulse fuel pumps in the cabin as well.
And FWIW, the gazillion beetles had their fuel tanks right on top of the footwells, too. VW stopped putting the petcock inside in 59-60 (?) Actually, that may not be right. I think VW’s just had the petcock lever inside. I don’t think they had the included filter like a 356 did.
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My ‘57 beetle had just the fuel reserve lever under the dash - no filter in the cockpit. All VW’s had was a pebble screen inside the tank. The external filter was only on the Porsches. There was also no gas gauge. You drove on “main” until the engine sputtered, running out of gas, then reached down (it wasn’t very far) and moved the fuel lever to “reserve” and got another 30 miles to find a gas station. It was kind of important to return the lever to the “regular” position when you filled up.
I get more questions about those Autopulse fuel pumps than just about anything else in or on my Spyder.
The lever jack is a close second.
We picked it up. Jim and Nick led my lady and me on a great tour down the PCH and up into the hills for a couple of canyon roads. It was so fun. The car behaved perfectly!!!
I am thankful I found this community. People are so down to earth, helpful and just “my kind of people.” Thanks guys.
Here are a few photos. Jim may have some others to post!
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Congrats!
Very cool!
-=theron
Just got sent pictures of mine just before they loaded it into the carrier. Still have at least a week. 
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@Theron posted:@JoelP I like how the knock-offs, beehives and spartan door panels seem to fit the right period motif.
-=theron
Those “knockoffs” be Coddington Rudge repros. Tres chere. IMO, They definitely set a Speedster apart.
FWIW, I read somewhere (550.Com iirc) that all racing 550’s came with Rudge center lock wheels from the factory, but photos don’t seem bear that out.
@dlearl476 posted:Those “knockoffs” be Coddington Rudge repros. Tres chere. IMO, They definitely set a Speedster apart.
FWIW, I read somewhere (550.Com iirc) that all racing 550’s came with Rudge center lock wheels from the factory, but photos don’t seem bear that out.
Love em! Don't see those very often. Will be a talking point for sure.
-=theron
@Gordon Nichols posted:My ‘57 beetle had just the fuel reserve lever under the dash - no filter in the cockpit. All VW’s had was a pebble screen inside the tank. The external filter was only on the Porsches. There was also no gas gauge. You drove on “main” until the engine sputtered, running out of gas, then reached down (it wasn’t very far) and moved the fuel lever to “reserve” and got another 30 miles to find a gas station. It was kind of important to return the lever to the “regular” position when you filled up.
There's nothing like being on a motorcycle and pushing your limits on a nice sweeper curve, leaned all the way over.....and hitting the reserve sputter mid-apex......it quickly becomes the reserve-pucker 
Here are a few pics from Randy's shake-down cruise along Pacific Coast Highway. Unfortunately did't get any in the winding oak-tree lined canyons. Judging by the constant smile on his face, I'd say he's stoked about his new ride.
"Welcome To The Madness" known as replica Speedster ownership! 
Click on pics to enlarge...
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The car is great, and I really appreciate Jim and Nick being there through the process. Both of you were genuinely kind. Thank you!
I have to take the car to the CHP for inspection, it seems. It’s an unusual request that came back to Greg from the DMV service. I will keep you posted. Unexpected hassle.
Meanwhile, my partner and I name cars. Dorky, I know. We are down to two finalist names. I will share once I lock down the CA DMV corresponding black plates.
Another board member said that I have the Speedster bug BAD. Perhaps so. I have gotten a few accessories and have ideas for this and that. Meanwhile, I did secure a plate I want from eBay. It’s a three letter, three number yellow CA plate. Original. I know that the vanity black plate is available so I will get that. I imagine I might put the yellow one on to go to shows. Now that I think of it, every day might be a show. I will buy one of those frames you put your reg stickers on. That way if I ever get a “fix it”, it will be easy to correct. Not that I would do such a thing — nope, nope, nope!
Do the plates have a registration sticker on them still?
Yes. 1959.
For car show purposes, of course, I might update that sticker to 1962. Might not.
@Teammccalla posted:Yes. 1959.
For car show purposes, of course, I might update that sticker to 1962. Might not.
This is what I did: Got a personalized vintage plate in the format for 55, (2 smaller letters, 3 numerals) and had LicensePlatesTV make me a replica plate. I bought one of the sticker plates, but it doesn’t work with my frame.
(I’ve since removed the stickers from my plate)
I keep the “real” plate in the door pocket, along with the sticker, just in case.
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That looks great!
Another way to go is to get a replacement sticker so the “real” plate has one. A replacement sticker doesn’t cost much. I might do that the first time for a fresh sticker for the frame. In CA, for proper YOM plates, you match the vintage sticker to your chassis year, and then put your tags on the frame or on a small plate sticking up from the vintage plate.
I can’t do it with proper YOM plates since I have a ‘69 chassis. So I’ll get an official black vanity plate and the vintage yellow “going to show” plate. The plan is to keep the official one in the car in case questions arise.
Here is an example of what a person could do. This is not my plate so feel free to grab it if you want. The yellow plate is on eBay. The vanity place is available through the DMV.
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@Teammccalla posted:I can’t do it with proper YOM plates since I have a ‘69 chassis. So I’ll get an official black vanity plate and the vintage yellow “going to show” plate. The plan is to keep the official one in the car in case questions arise.
This is why I begged, pleaded, and cajoled my way into getting my car titled as a “1955 SPCN” when I transferred my 1996 Florida title to Utah.
That registration for 40+ year old vehicles is $20/yr was a pleasant surprise.
ps: how much are those plates? When I was looking, singles were $25-$100. Pairs were $600<. In Utah, you need to have both plates in order to re-register them in your name. I bought a single ‘55 for $40 to get the format/font correct, but I couldn’t use it on my car.
Those plates are $338 but they are close to perfect. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.htm...p4432023.m4084.l1313
I got my single one for $75 in nice original condition. I figure that, if I get a fixit ticket for the front plate, I would put the black ones on anyway. I did order a front bracket from VMC so I have it set aside just in case.
I had to end up putting front plates on both my RS America and my ‘69S. I am hoping the VMC brackets are easy on easy off if I ever have to use them.
@Teammccalla posted:Those plates are $338 but they are close to perfect. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.htm...p4432023.m4084.l1313
I got my single one for $75 in nice original condition. I figure that, if I get a fixit ticket for the front plate, I would put the black ones one anyway. I did order a front bracket so I have it in case.
I had to end up putting front plates on both my RS America and my ‘69S. I am hoping the VMC brackets are easy on easy off if I ever have to use them.
That’s a great price. When I was looking I don’t think I ever saw 55’s under $750. And they weren’t in anywhere near that condition.
For California the 1955 and earlier plates are larger than the 1956 till today plates ,
It’s pretty hard to find the larger 1955 or early plates in pairs and also very hard to find dealer plate frames ,
were other states the same , changing to the standard size plates in 1956 ?
I haven’t bought the plate frame with tag spaces yet. I want it to interchange so I’ll have to figure out a surround for the smaller one. This is a fun hobby.
I just checked. 1956 and modern CA plates are the same size. 6” X 12”. That will make it easier to swap in the yellow ones for “shows”, and have a single frame with the current tags applicable to both.
I have a nifty front (quick-change) lic plate bracket if you're interested. I can set it up to handle two different plates if you need to...............Bruce
@Teammccalla posted:Thank you. This is helpful. I will just replace them as I break them! I like the look without any protection better anyway.
Pele, our red Speedster, is the only one that doesn't have any headlight protection and we only had one broken lens in close to 35000 miles, and it happened while being parked on the street...
@Maui Roadsters posted:Pele, our red Speedster, is the only one that doesn't have any headlight protection and we only had one broken lens in close to 35000 miles, and it happened while being parked on the street...
Nice to see you here, Jerome!