Watercooled IM

I think I missed it, were you doing a speedster or a D?

John. Those covered discs you saw may have been DrumSkinz from FiberSteel.

It's a D, the speedster has much nicer lines but as a daily driver in BC I like the extra interior head room and rag top interior finish of the D. And Jim, you are right, it was the fibersteel rims. I'm not sure if they are authentic, but I liked the look.

Strange thing about the sound system, I've always been into serious audio equipment. My Z3 had a stereo that got louder as the ambient noise went up and got quieter as the pulled up to a red light, thus preveneting the asshole effect where you pull into the lights with some mindless 80's tune blarring. It's strange because I had a doctor's appointment today where I found out I have some very measurable mid and high end hearing loss. Too many years with a convertable perhaps, too much gunfire on set, or I'm just getting older.

I guess I'll need a built in EQ in the MP3 player to boost the mids and high end in my mindless 80's tunes.

Gz

HI Bill
I also use ear buds and and iPod Shuffle. Last spring I bought a pair of Shure E2 earbuds. At $180 Canadian they're very expensive, but the sound is something else! It's hard to believe a little flash player can sound this good.

John G, your car sounds awesome. I miss my 84 Intermeccanica. Watercooled, with fuel injection, will be great in our climate.

Ron, nice choice on the Shure ear buds. I cheaped out and got the Sony high ends buds, they are not as nice as yours, but worlds ahead of the "stock" buds that come with a player. With really good ear buds, I really can't imagine needing a built in stereo ever again.

My Dell Mp3 player has all my music I have ever bought on a digital format (that I haven't lost), sounds great, seals out the noise from driving in wonderous top down style, I even have playlists!, things just get better and better.

I got some of the high end Sony ear buds, but when you eat you hear no ambient sound and it sounds like you are chewing on your own brain, I found them too creepy. I used them for about 20 minutes. If you know anyonw who wants them I'd sell them for about $ 25.00. I use the Bose noise cancellation headphones now and they are great.
Perhaps not for driving.

Ron, I've been shooting up in Chilliwack lately. Nice drive up there. Must have some good roads.

Gz

John, I might be interested in your Sony buds. What model are they?

I love my Bose noise cancelling headsets, but would get busted down here very quickly if I tried using them while driving. Even ear buds are technically illegal, but the CHP seems to be looking the other way when they pass me, when I am using mine. Perhaps they assume I am using a hands free set on my Cellphone, but whatever the case, they don't hassle me (at least so far).

It is amazing to me that people actually use there portable stereo stuff without nice ear buds or headsets. The stuff that comes stock is so bad, they hurt, give you a headache and don't sound good to boot. I think if someone came out with an MP3 player with great buds to start they could own the market.

Anyway, I have my Roadster all apart for the EFI install, so I might take my Clarion stereo I bought out before I button everything back up. I think the car will look better, and it will be one less thing for thieves to be temped to slit my top for.

Hey Bill, send me your address and I'll fed ex the ear buds your way. If you find yourself using them you can mail me $ 20.00 US, othewise just pass them on to someone who will. The money is not that important, I'd rather someone was actually using them. I found I didn't like the internal earplug aspect of them, and ended up buying the Bang & Olufsen earphones that work pretty well for me. Since I can't hear very well anymore at least they look cool.

Gz

Hey John,

You've got mail.

Thanks

Copy that.

Gz

Chewing while wearing ear buds...ha, ha, haaaa

Ray, in what years of Golf did VW use the engine that IM is putting into your Speedster? I could not find any Golf, fuel injected, non-turboed engines that have 100 h.p. The most recent 1.8 Golf engine is the 1.8T that produces about 150 hp.

Your choice of engine sounds ideal for a Speedster without an excess of complication. Since the fuel injection is computer controlled, will the car have an access port for CELs and adaptations? If so, will you be able to use the usual access programs in a laptop?

I am interested in replacing my 2180cc with a modern, FI engine, and the Golf appears ideal. Besides that, it is still VW!!

Chuck
CMC Flared Fender "C"

John, what's the latest on your car? How's it coming along? Do you have any build pictures we can see? Cheers. John.

Build Pictures ???

You guys are funnnnnnnnnnny. No, there are a bunch of fella's cars ahead of mine still. Besides, I wanted to make sure I got my brand new convertable right at the start of the 6 month Vancouver rainy season.

The plan is for Henry to finish up the car that was pictured in the very first post in this thread. It'll have the water cooled 1.8 engine, standard 4 speed transmission and an unpainted, bare bones body. The goal is to test where everything should best be located, make sure there will be no unforseen surprises. It should be a blast to drive around in and to be part of the test pilot stage of the project. If it doesn't have a roof I'll have to get one of those WW1 style pilot helmets. We're also still looking to see if we can mate a more modern transmission to my engine to make the car as smooth and contemporary as possible.

A friend from out of town came over to dinner with my wife and I yesterday and when I drove him back to the hotel I had to stop by IM to show him one of Henry's cars in the big front window. It's pretty fun to show people what you are doing, to see their rather amazed reaction, and it really helps you remember what you are waiting for. Anyway, in the front room there was a pretty substantal engine sitting on a pretty beefy cradle. Maybe it's mine. I can only hope.

There have been some posts lately about this brand of speedster or that brand. My only opinion is that I feel like I'm very involved with the process of the design and build and I wanted that. Even though I don't have the car yet I already think it's been worth the money. It's like my own personal episode of Pimp My Ride.

Gz

If it's the engine in the picture John, then it's not yours. That's a Porsche 2.7 freshly rebuilt from scratch that Henry had built for one of his customers. There is a rebuilt 915 to go with it. I must say, I wouldn't mind having that sitting in the back of my car!

Ok, that makes sense., Sweeeeet engine though. 2.7 eh ? How many horsepower would that be, and does it bring new meaning to the phrase "slow in, fast out" ?

I can't even guess what that motor would cost. Isn't a basic rebuild on a 2.7 around $10,000 and up?

John: Any update for us?

They say if you want something done right ask someone who's busy.

We have the enigine in the shop, the transmission selected ( a 5 speed 901 or 905, I can't remember ) and the frame is welded up. I'm not in a big hurry so it's working out for both Henry and I. He expects to have something roughed up and drivable in a month or two that we can take on the road and experiment with. I'm still kicking around the colours - planning on the Porsche Ruby Red, but have not seen a top colour that works for me yet.

Henry is pretty busy these days but I know it'll be done right.

Gz