What have YOU done with your speedy today?

3 days of doing body work so no driving for me. Also I'm just not into driving it much because it's very much in 'transition'. No worries though, my new engine should be here in a few weeks and once I pull the old I can do the things that need to be done. It's a case of waiting and so I don't have to do things twice. I'm getting very anxious though!

Irish Kathy sounds rather dreamy. I have British prison warden Phyllis on mine and frankly, she scares me and I half feel bullied into taking certain routes.

Got my battery sorted out and a new one fitted, came all nicely wrapped with a dead cell. I upgraded and installed a Bosch gell battery with 320 amps for when the bigger motor goes in. They gave me 30% discount to say sorry, so who was I to say no?

Last weekend I only drove the vert D and wore out 2 right seaters with top down freeway cruises. Thats Chrissa and Leah my wife and daughter. Gave them a taste of old school cars and driving. Like I have mentioned before my driver all though high school and partway through college was an 58' MGA w/side curtains.

Its Friday AM and its take the vert to work day and maybe drop in at Just Bugs and check out their armrests with vinyl colors maybe one is close to my leather color.http://www.jbugs.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=16-1622-COLORS&Category_Code=213301

Then I can add these to my growing TTD list of improvements.

Want to get to the headlight grilles and alloy pedals at least this weekend. Plus some more cruises, maybe to Mitch's surf shop in La Jolla in the search for a good ballcap.

Dave

Irish Kathy is usually first choice, but I recently downloaded Englishman Jon Morehouse. No idea who the heck he is, but he's a riot to travel with, especially if you have two turns the same way close together, then he gets all excited, yelling "TURN! TURN!".

Then, when you get to where you're going, rather than dryly saying "you have reached your destination", he states very bluntly: "OK, You're here...no more...Get out'd car!"

Polished the tub last night and took it to work AGAIN.. this morning. got a freaking ticket too! DAMN yellow lights.. Cop asks me "Is this a VW Sir" LOL.. But I gotta tell ya it looked pretty good pulled over too!

Speedster "D"

Took it to work today. The weather dudes said only 20% chance of rain - which is lower than normal here for this time of year. Of course that means we had an absolute frog strangler about 2:30. Luckily I had put the top up just minutes before, having walked over from the lab. Our building has no windows, and I could have been caught unaware.

I got a little water in one carb, despite the rain hats, but it just sputtered for a couple of minutes. Within a mile it was purring like a (loud, pissed off) kitten.

Couldn't stand it anymore so I took a few hours today and adjusted the rear ride height on the speedy. The driver side was a little lower than the passenger (approx 1")and the car had a noticable pull the the left. The ride was also horrific as far as the smoothness. It was spine jolting over the smallest little bump. So up it went adjusted the bushing one turn and now I have a silky smooth ride : )!
Also adjusted the rear drums while I was under there and did some R&D for the relocation of the shocks for when that project starts in a couple weeks (gonna do it during the engine swap).
The new ride height is a little too high for my liking but the ride difference far out weighs the asthetics right now. Plus, the height will drop a bit (probably exactly where it should be) when I put on the new tires on.

Found an old 1950's metal AAA Auto Club badge listed on on eBay by a Ohio seller. The AAA badge is from Chambersburg PA where I live. Badge arrived in as new condition, another classic touch to my triple black VS. ~Alan

Mickey - You are one hard working dude!!

Alan - another Speedy gets 'Merklinized'!

filled up on Fri on the way into work and calculated 29.4 MPG. Its official my vert D likes hi-test and it does not diesel anymore when I turn it off. Safe 70 mile round trip Fri and then on Sunday I changed out the peashooters on the stock muffler with some tapered tailpipes. I did a sound check and the larger tailpipes are about 2 to 3 decibels louder across the rpm range for instance 3500 rpm is 89 dcb for peashooter and 91.5 for tapered tailpipes.

Also studied my pics from the shows and installed my new 356 reflectors. also did some heater hose work.

Then went for a freeway ride north to La Jolla where we cruised downtown and went to Mitch's Surf Shop.

My right seater judged the new tailpipes a little louder but nice. Kinda nice and a little deeper sound. But the empi chrome really sucks compaired to the German tailpipes. I can always switch them around when I want.

Great weekend hope all had the same

Cheers
Dave

I can't believe how much I enjoy driving this smaller 1641 cc VS speedster !

Alan - welcome to the world of sub-1900cc hassle-free cruising!

I love my 1835cc d/Kadron set-up! In ten years of cruising our VS & 91K kilometers showing on the speedo, I've done nothing more than routine tune-ups/valve-adjust/oil-change.

Dave - we love cruising down to La Jolla and hanging out then taking in some music at the Blue Note!

I drove the Hoopty in to work last night. While I was waiting on the turn from New York Avenue onto I-395 in D.C., a couple young guys in a 350Z were in the other turn lane to my left.
The driver looked over and asked what my eighth-mile time was, then revved his engine.
"She's a lover, not a fighter," I said, knowing there was a speed camera after the first overpass.
When the light changed, he was gone so fast I couldn't see if the camera got him or not. It probably did. It's set for anything over 45 mph, and he was probably doing about twice that when I lost sight of him.

My stable...

You don't sleep in the bedroom, do you Vince?
WWII Army cot in the garage, with a toolbox for a pillow? If I had that pair, that's where I'd be.

Vince, those pics of your cars made me think of the movie CARS. The Phattub looks like your character, a brash,fun loving bull in a china shop. And the Lowlight Ghia is Terri, a classic, classy lady that has to endure and enjoy the benefits? of sharing the same garage!

Beauty and the Beast....

Last night I had a dream I had my speedster with me. Once I woke up I tried my hardest to get back to sleep and dream some more.

washed, waxed and changed the oil
used Brad pennington the green stuff hope to see if there is a difference

drove it....... another nice day in so cal

eat your heart out east coasters :)

Clutch adjustment today. Yesterday I noticed the shifting was not so good so this morning I crawled under the trannie and checked out the wing nut. The clutch cable loops through the back of the wing nut assembly and is clamped to itself with a small hose clamp. This clamp was loose and only the bend in the cable was working the clutch which gave it some slack.
Got the clamp back on and a few turns of the wing nut and she's good a before. Drove down and had some Thai for dinner and stopped into the parts store and got a nice lighted switch for my Fogs. Thats next weeks project.

Dave

Kevin, eat this!

I drove mine every day last week and today, that's eight days in a row. Today, 81 degrees, partly cloudy in the morning, then sun all day, no humidity. Ahhhhh, bliss.

Hey I drive mine everyday 35 miles round trip to work, and make a point of it to drive home along the beach.....

Got some sound deadening in the car and was pleased with the results. BIGTIME.

Took WildThing, my Speedie, on Saturday to a samll car show at the local hamburger joint. Turned out that all of the cars there were Mustangs, expect for one 1978 Ford Capri (remember them?), and my J-LO Speedie. While my wife and I went into the joint to get dinner, a glance back showed most of the Mustang owners converging around WildThing.

That is one of the things I like about these cars. RARE BEAUTIES!! They stand out from the usual muscle car crowd. They are similar to having a really beautiful woman on your arm and seeing other guys only dream.

Regards,
Chuck

Chuck - Dontcha just luv it when that happens?!

Jim,
Each and every time!!

Chuck

Chuck,

During my drive through Carmel I stopped at a scenic overlook. there was a large tour bus at the same stop. It could not have been more than 30 seconds from walking away (did not seem to let my car out of sight longer than that) and I turned around to see a group of people no longer interested in the view. They were swarmed around the speedster. As I got closer I could hear them speaking German. Apparently the tour bus was loaded with German Tourists. At that moment I was kicking myself for not paying more attention in my high school German class. To have been able to understand what they were saying... I can only imagine.

paul

Got mine Registered today...Hip Hip Hurray......Yaba Daba Doooooo

I practiced my SEG at 1500 meters 'cause the IM is due soon.

Tomm

Well, TODAY it is raining so Speedster is in the garage. However, the last several weeks here on the Right Coast (as Pip has indicated) have been unbelievably nice: dry, sunny, warm not hot. Which included a week at the DE shore with family and grandkids, w/ the Speedster. Young grandson (age 5) had his first ride in the car, and was found at odd times all through the week sitting in the car, and "driving" it. We cruised the beach highway several nights, and he actually did drive (steer) it a little. What a hoot. Engine going well, and back and forth to work most days. The car turns a lot of heads and gets many thumbs-up. My right-seater was tasked to count the number of thumbs-up during trip to/from the beach, and we lost count. She also asked me what does "thumbs-up" really mean. Would this thread be a good place to hear what we all assume this gesture means? Have at it. And another thing I have noticed: in addition to heads turned and thumbs erect, the car just makes people smile -- now that is pretty cool. And I have noticed that women are much more likely to stop and comment, while the guys are more likely to just look (jealously??) from afar. Also cool.

Tomm -

Call it a hunch, but I'm guessing your SEG is well practiced!!

Monday.....drove it
Tuseday....drove it
Wednessday.drove it
Thursday...drove it
Friday going to drive it and install a bigger engine

The NEED for SPEED......SWEET

Ahhh... yesterday was a busy business day so today was a Speedster day. Decided to drive into Quebec City and try and run over the tourists. The city and old city was wall to wall tourists, the caf

Stand by for Mike's '08 snow pics !

Mike!

Is it time for me to Bug-Out for the South??

Swamp Maples are starting to turn, the last tomato is just getting ripe and we're getting fresh Shrimp cravings. Tell me it's time to head home!!

No way, Gord. We must see SERIOUS progress on the new project before you will be allowed past the Mason-Dixon line.........or else!

"Well, TODAY it is raining so Speedster is in the garage."

Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.
Yes, it IS raining today. Who cares? We need to get you a flying helmet and an aluminum interior, amigo!
I've gotten more waves and smiles in the rain than I have in bright sunlight!
Hey -- you going up to Tom's place next week?

WEll, Cory, we have all known for some time that you and the Hooppty are "special cases". Would not have it any other way. Affirmative wrt Easton visit next week-end. Question: what would be appropriate travel plans, carpooling, etc? BERT figuring in?

I'll be tooling on up there on/about the night of the 3rd or the morning of the 4th. I've got work to do before the engine goes back in.
Check the coupe thread ...