VMC First Service Project

The Bentley VW manual recommends the gear oil be changed at 300 miles for new or rebuilt transmissions. That's what I do.

Thanks, @DannyP I'll be adding "lubing the front end with lithium grease." Randy suggested that a few days ago.

@JoelP   get a "to do" list from VMC and then do yourself a favor and find some old time HOT ROD guy who's seen and done it all and make friends with him...then have him go from STEM to STERN and check everything...nutz bolts electrical connections...the LOT!...then get the VW for idiots manual and metric and standard assortment tool kit and begin learning....the basics are pretty basic once learned.....all this is MOOT if you do not wanna work on cars anymore (like me)....then just keep your mechanic friends number in your phone....just IMHO   happy motoring!

@jncspyder I hear you. If I were in LA or SF, I'd do just that; except for the part about not wrenching - I still like doing that. In the Mid-Atlantic, however, I've been sorely disappointed with what passes for professional anything. Maybe my quest is to slowly become that Hot Rod guy who's seen it all, and I just don't know it yet. In the end, I know I will probably end up going from stem to stern, noting the sizes of nuts and bolts, and which ones were tight, loose, or shaken free. Still, if I were living in AZ, CA or Texas, I'd be dying, feeling like things were left undone because I'd always be driving. This may be the only benefit to East Coast weather when it comes to owning a speedster.  I hope this will set a "good enough" baseline to settle the minds of folks like me who would tinker all day if they could.

A basic "Nut and Bolt" is a good idea. Go through everything that matters: engine mounts, transmission mounts, all suspension and steering attachment points, ball joints, shock mounts, frame attachment points (beam to frame for example), exhaust manifolds and pipes, and the like. I doubt you'll find any grease fittings need anything at 300 miles, but I'd check brake fluid levels, and change the engine oil, filter and transmission fluid. You might need to tighten the parking brake cable and double check the clutch cable adjustment (it's probably fine). Make sure the battery cables are snug (and have some corrosion protection on them). I'd also check valve clearances, re-torque the rocker shaft studs, and if you have a timing light check the timing, too. Check the tension of the fan belt. Check the wheel bearing adjustments.

This isn't a bad to do list every fall just before you put it away. Make sure the tank is full and add some Stabil or equivalent gass stabilizer, and every two years I'd add flushing the brake fluid to the list.

Thanks @JMM (Michael) Looks I'll need to pull the trigger on that torque wrench sooner than I'd planned. But maybe not. I've never heard of torquing rocker shaft studs without pulling the motor. That may be a bridge too far on the ground. Maybe I'll work my way up to that level of daring.

If you're adjusting the valves you can make sure the rocker stud nuts are tight. I think they need 18 pounds to be in spec. The studs themselves are at like 11 but I don't think the torque spec matters on those as long as they're bottomed in the heads.

If it's a new motor I'd be re-torqueing the heads(using the VW final torque pattern) after 1000 miles. Then check the rocker studs, and lastly the valve adjustment.

@JoelP posted:

Thanks, @DannyP I'll be adding "lubing the front end with lithium grease." Randy suggested that a few days ago.

Who's Randy ?

@DannyP posted:

If it's a new motor I'd be re-torqueing the heads(using the VW final torque pattern) after 1000 miles. Then check the rocker studs, and lastly the valve adjustment.

Somebody slap Danny please.

OK, so I know YOU'D be doing that, but I know that's the last thing I'd want my average client to do is pull off their engine tins and rocker assembly...  You could actually do this in a Beck Speedster without dropping the motor, but we have rear inner wheel wells with 3x the opening left and right of the motor and it would be WAY harder in a VM or other pan based car.

@JoelP compile all of the info given above as there are a lot of good suggestions, especially a full "nut and bolt".  We torque mark everything after our 3rd or 4th test drive and once everything is seated in, and I believe I saw a similar marking on newer VM cars, so yours may be more of an inspection than an actual torque check.

Check for bearing play, check for rear wheel play under the castle nut, make sure fuel lines aren't close to heat sources, etc...   Knowing what you're looking at, and a good physical inspection, can be key to happy ownership.

@chines1 posted:

Somebody slap Danny please.

...

Ooo, and don't forget to take pictures!

@chines1 wrote: "You could actually do this in a Beck Speedster without dropping the motor, but we have rear inner wheel wells with 3x the opening left and right of the motor and it would be WAY harder in a VM or other pan based car."

And to that, all of us CMC owners say:

And @JoelP - There is a list compiled on this site up under "Resources/knowledge base" (that's the link) that is a few years old but still applies.  It covers a whole lot more than basic delivery items, simply because it was written for customers of another SoCal "builder" who had a habit of shipping less-than-finished cars to customers, especially those on the east coast (not far from YOU!)  Absolutely NOT VMCinc or Beck, but it became a handy checklist for all newbies receiving their cars.

It stops short of checking torque on head nuts for the reasons Carey mentioned

I check my rocker arm shaft nuts often because I have bolt-on valve covers and I believe one of the rocker nuts (that also accepts the cover bolt) came loose over time causing the shaft to break.  Freak accident, I suppose, but it happened, so now I check torque whenever the covers are off to check the valves.   And yes, you need a torque wrench in the 00 to 75 - 100 ft. lb range, so shop around (let your fingers do the walking) and get a good one.  You also need to check the torque on the rear hub nuts to 275 ft/lbs or so, but we can coach you through doing this reliably with a 36mm 1/2" drive socket, a 1/2" drive Bat Handle/breaker bar and a 4' piece of pipe, when you get there, just ask.

Anyway, here is the extensive list, curated by me and added to by the members on here back around 2010 or so.  Scan it and decide what makes sense for you and take it from there.

https://www.speedsterowners.co...acceptance-checklist

Thanks @Gordon Nichols. I'll also reach out to Greg to find out what the different color markings through the hardware mean, in terms of torque specs. I know I'm 100 miles shy of the job having to be done, but I had a sneaking suspicion it this task would not be a quick process. I'm using it as my opportunity to not only get acquainted with the car from an engineering standpoint, but also check for warrantied items that may need fixing/replacing. I can't see any value in taking this too lightly.

@David Stroud IM Roadster D Randy is @Teammccalla. We received our VMC speedters a week apart and text regularly so we don’t bug you all too much.

@JoelP If the bolts & nuts are marked after torquing all you need is a visual inspection to make sure those marks are still lined up. That's why they do it.  Makes safety checks way quicker to do.

I did not know Greg and Carey were doing that on their respective products. That's very cool and a high degree of QA/QC. Kudos to them!

@Gordon Nichols Yeah. Snap-On torque wrenches are approximately $700+! This is gonna get expensive quickly. I’m wondering if digital is really that necessary .

@chines1 posted:

Somebody slap Danny please.

HEY! I'd like to see you try! LOL!

@JoelP posted:

@Gordon Nichols Yeah. Snap-On torque wrenches are approximately $700+! This is gonna get expensive quickly. I’m wondering if digital is really that necessary .

They're not. It's more important for each fastener to be the same torque than it is for them to 99.999% accurate in value.

I think I’m just gonna get the 3/8” click-type. Either 5-75 or 20-100. Then later buy the 1/2” digital  15-300.  

They’re pricey but remember, they’re lifetime purchases. I bought my 3/8” and 1/2” back in the early 90’s and my 1/4” in 2000 when I bought my triumph.

@dlearl476 Did you go for digital or click?

The Bottom line:  If you're working on a replicar, you probably should have a decent torque wrench.  It doesn't have to be digital or expensive and, as Danny said, it's more important to have similar fasteners the same torque range than exactly the right torque.

A long time ago I bought a needle indicator torque wrench of 0 - 150 ft/lbs - They have a separate, long needle parallel to the wrench arm to show the force and are notoriously inaccurate after a while - I seldom use it (maybe on alloy lug nuts).  

Then I bought a 0 - 100 ft/lb "Clicker" wrench from Craftsman and calibrate it once or twice a year at the middle of its' range.  There are Youtube videos on how to calibrate your torque wrench - It's easy to do.  If I'm worried about something at the ends of it's range I'll sometimes re-calibrate for the specific torque, but that doesn't happen often.

The only one I calibrate whenever I use it is a 1/4" drive version in Newton/Meters that I use on my bicycles because it's easy to screw up a carbon fibre bicycle by using too much torque on a fitting.  I seldom find that it's off enough to worry about.  

Do a search on your torque wrench to find out where the adjustment fitting is on your wrench.  The rest is a little math and making a test weight.

Torque Wrench Calibration made easy:

https://youtu.be/xZID9uOy7qU

I watched a video last night comparing a bunch of torque wrenches. As Danny points out, the consistency of the wrench is probably more important than being calibrated to within a half percent.

They compared everything from a HF Icon torque wrench (which wasn't bad) to a Snap-On. Not surprisingly (since it costs 5x as much as most), the Snap-On was the most consistent, but not necessarily the most deadly accurate.

I'm staring to think the beam-type torque wrenches we used to build a half-dozen 'murican V8s before any of us turned 18 were probably better than any click-type wrench we bought once we had a bit of loose cash.

It doesn't matter much to me anyhow - the only thing I use a torque wrench on is rod bolts and heads. If a guy uses a torque wrench for plebian fasteners (lug nuts and whatnot) - he's getting paid by the hour, not the job.

@JoelP

You are more then welcome to call anytime and I will walk you through what needs to be done. I love this site but sometimes you will get walked around in circles here. :-)

Greg

www.vintagemotorcarsinc.com

(714)894-1550

@JoelP posted:

@dlearl476 Did you go for digital or click?

Click

If you're working on a replicar, you probably should have a decent torque wrench.

Important to take the load off a mechanical torque wrench spring when you are done.

@VSpyder posted:

@JoelP

You are more then welcome to call anytime and I will walk you through what needs to be done. I love this site but sometimes you will get walked around in circles here. :-)

Greg

www.vintagemotorcarsinc.com

(714)894-1550

Greg, if you could post a document outlining what needs to be performed during the first service on a Vintage Motorcars Speedster it would be greatly appreciated!

Jason

Ironically, I’ll be adding “check hoot latch tension.” Drove to Harbor Freight to buy some Jack stands, and when I got out, the hood was open and wouldn’t close. That was a scary drive home.

@JoelP posted:

Ironically, I’ll be adding “check hoot latch tension.” Drive to Harbor Freight to but some Jack stands, and when I got out, the hood was open and wouldn’t close. That was a scary drive home.

Been there. Thank goodness for the safety catch.

Yeah. Just fixed. The retaining nut had shaken loose and the plunger was approximately 1/2”  more extended than a pic I took when I first got the car. Used that pic as a reference by zooming in and counting the exposed threads. I’d use Loctite to keep the retaining nut in place, but first need to align hood gaps. The gap on the right of the hood has been killing me since I got it. Wondering if a couple of shims on the left side would do the trick? Especially since it’s pretty clear the gap is uniform.  

@Alan Merklin posted:

If you're working on a replicar, you probably should have a decent torque wrench.

Important to take the load off a mechanical torque wrench spring when you are done.

What Alan means by this is to unscrew the torque adjustment knob down to the minimum number for your wrench when you're done. This way, the springs inside are at their least tension.

@JoelP posted:

Thanks, @DannyP I'll be adding "lubing the front end with lithium grease." Randy suggested that a few days ago.

@DannyP Do you have a recommendation for which type of transmission fluid to use?

I've had good luck with Amsoil synthetic.

https://www.amsoil.com/p/manua...OEAQYASABEgK6MPD_BwE

@DannyP Wow! For $22 per quart it better be the best transmission fluid ever created. Price notwithstanding, $88+tax+shipping isn't much when only have to change it every 30K miles.

And I must get under the car to figure out the size of the hex head wrench I need to buy to loosen the filler plug.

17mm, available at Autozone, NAPA, etc.

And you only need 2.8 quarts. I wouldn't use it for the initial fill, for sure. Even cheap stuff is $9-10 a quart thses days.

After my first fill (It had LAT Synthetic in there originally) I used Valvoline Full Synthetic 75W90 from NAPA.  Seems fine so far but shifts a little slower at first when it's in the 30's outside.

And don't forget some thread sealant on the threads of the drain and fill plugs.  Either teflon thread sealant in a tube (used sparingly) or good ol' teflon tape.

Also, make sure you can get the fill plug out before you drain it. Probably not an issue on such a new car, but it is definitely a habit you want to develop.

You don't need anything on the threads of the drain or fill plug.

@Gordon Nichols I’ve never heard of using thread sealant on a transmission. What’s the reasoning there? I can speculate, but this is a very unique suggestion. Do you use thread sealant or sealant tape on your oil plug as well? If not, why the differentiation?