Winter “Rebuild season” is upon us!

70 deg today - took the car to lunch to meet my son (who bought my meal!). I'm 99% sure this is it.

been there, done that...SUBARU therapy sessions did wonders for me (sarcasm)

Today I split an AS41 shortblock from a semi-auto 1500 or 1600 Beetle. The #1 rod went(rare, it's usually #2). The inside of the case has a couple bash marks from the rod and cap, but looks OK otherwise.

I'm getting ready to send two cases for line bore, time-sert installation, and milling the barrel seat area. I'm building one or two spare engines for next year.

I think about engine stuff all the time, ESPECIALLY when I go to sleep!

The weather has been pretty good out here in the Bay Area of California. This coming week shows a possible rain forcast and low temps in the mid 30's at night. So winter is heading our way soon. I admit we are lucky out here to have a longer season than my brothers in the rest of the country. I too am thinking of things I want to add to my speedster and upgrade it a bit. I watched a video on the new Porsche718 and its manual smallish top. So I dreamed up what I could build to make a smallish sun shade top for my speedster and still run the car with my double helmet faring hard tonneau. I will start by designing it and using plastic pipe till I get the right fit and look. Using duct tape to shape the edges of the top and the overall look. Then add heavy card stock to fill in the large spaces. By then I should have a pattern to lay out where snaps, straps etc. will need to go. From there it's off to the metal tube bender, some welding and finally to the upholstery guy to cut and sew it up. Here are some ideas below

I love it, Dave. I always thought a Boxster Spyder-like top would be the bomb on one of these.

Do you have more shots of the 550 Spyder?

That's gonna be the beans, Dave!

I'll bet you'll have several folks who want copies, Dave.

@Butcher Boy posted:

The weather has been pretty good out here in the Bay Area of California. This coming week shows a possible rain forcast and low temps in the mid 30's at night. So winter is heading our way soon. I admit we are lucky out here to have a longer season than my brothers in the rest of the country. I too am thinking of things I want to add to my speedster and upgrade it a bit. I watched a video on the new Porsche718 and its manual smallish top. So I dreamed up what I could build to make a smallish sun shade top for my speedster and still run the car with my double helmet faring hard tonneau. I will start by designing it and using plastic pipe till I get the right fit and look. Using duct tape to shape the edges of the top and the overall look. Then add heavy card stock to fill in the large spaces. By then I should have a pattern to lay out where snaps, straps etc. will need to go. From there it's off to the metal tube bender, some welding and finally to the upholstery guy to cut and sew it up. Here are some ideas below

The second photo with the HD hardware for the top tie down is from a 550 replica that sold on PCarMarket some time back. Not too many people like the car say for some aspects of it.

The first photo is the 2024 Porsche 718 RS Spyder with fully manual roof.

I'm sorry, but that first photo is the 987.2 Boxster Spyder from 2009 or 2010 as Stan correctly stated.

I have that photo saved on my computer somewhere.

We were pondering back then if that minimal style of top for a Spyder or even a Speedster could be made.

That 550 replica had a lot of stuff tacked onto it, in a not very flattering way. But that top idea was cool.

That original Spyder was a manual transmission car for sale for $61K, and could be had w/o A/C or a radio, as I recall. I wanted one REALLY badly at the time, but the timing was bad. The 718RS looks even better - but is $161K and no manual transmission is even offered.

Those things in combination make it a hard pass for me.

Thanks for the link to the Spyder in question, Robert. I knew it was a bodge just from the intake hump obvious in the picture, but in full profile it's hideous. Even the top is unusable in that it's basically an awning, and has no utility as an emergency top.

I think if anybody can get this done, Dave (with his hotrod connections) is a great bet. I can't wait to see if it happens.

I've come up with my own version of this bikini top for my Spyder. It can be folded up and stored in the frunk. I just need to make a full prototype. I have part of it made from cardboard already.

It might help for a sudden rain, but it'll serve more as a sun shield.

BTW that spyder is hideous and that top looks too bulky. It's all wrong.

Thanks for all the comments fellas. As this progresses I'll post some pictures. I'm really looking for a top to keep the sun off me on long trips and allow the hard tonneau to stay. If that wasn't the case I'd just use the normal folding top that came with the car. As a hot rodder, anything is possible. Just take a bit of vision, skills, time and materials. Should be fun and so far it looks pretty good in my head.

If you look a the way our standard Beck Spyder top is attached, it isn't too different from the way this bimini top is attached, except we use a fully closed back panel with a steel bar inserted so that the rear tensions evenly to the 2 catches on the clamshell.  Sewn properly you could achieve the same type of tension with 2 butress style attachment points like on the 718, but without a roll bar for support over the driver's head you'd need a top bow in that location.  We have that on our top and it attaches to 2 studs that are bolted to the rear firewall.  The height at the rear of there top could be adjusted simply by lengthening or shortening that top bow over the driver's head, BUT the reason it sits so proud is for adequate headroom, so it would be difficult to comfortably get the same rake to the top as a 718 and still fit in the car well.  To better explain this, simply draw an imaginary line from the windshield to the point you want to attach at the rear clamshell.  On a 718 the top of your head is below the top of the windshield so it is easy to bring the top back flat and then gently taper off to the rear of the car.  On a Spyder, for most of us, our head is at or above the crest of the windshield, so it has to come back and still go up before it can taper down to the clamshell.  

@chines1 posted:

On a Spyder, for most of us, our head is at or above the crest of the windshield, so it has to come back and still go up before it can taper down to the clamshell.  

"Properly" (at least to my way of thinking) set up, a Speedster needn't be this way, so the top we're talking about can look a lot more like the 718 RS Spyder than the canopy-tent look of the original Spyder top

I've talked at length about the odd proportions of my statuesque physique, and how much effort I've put into being "in" the car rather than "on" it. For me, this means being behind the windshield, so that I look through the glass rather than at the top frame. My entire head is below the level of the windshield frame.

If I can fit in a car like this, almost anybody under 6'5" can as well. That makes the kind of top that Dave (@Butcher Boy) is talking about a possibility.

Yes - it'll need a bow behind the door opening, but that's all it should need, and the top itself could roll up just like the 718 RS Spyder top does. I have a wind deflector screen which would work perfectly as a rear hoop. The combination of a wind deflector and a bimini top would be pretty nice for long-distance travel.

Well I guess if you put a cross bar where the roll bar is and make this the high point that is higher then ones head, and drape it down to the back are you not just doing a high top speedster top minus the rear window, kind of, sort of.  I like the 718 top it is pretty cool.

When I was building my car, challenged like Stan,  I had to do everything choice of seats etc, to drive the seat low and back so I could get my head completely below the windshield and myself in there, thank God I can fit better these days.

Luckily, I sit completely IN my Spyder.

I obtained a never-used Beck Spyder top a while back, from a guy on Spyderclub in the Northwest US. It has the updated header with a spot for a folding mechanism. My top didn't have the folding frame part, just the windshield header and double rear bow. So after speaking with Carey and getting accurate measurements from Chris T, I built my own. It folds nicely at the rear cockpit, enabling you to get in, then flip the top forward and latch it.

Getting into a Spyder with the top in place is near impossible for me now. It wasn't too hard when I was in my 40s. But today, NOPE. The flip back part is highly necessary.

I haven't finished the install yet, I wanted to incorporate a cutout for my headrest fairing so I don't have to remove it when installing the top.

It looks decent enough on the car, and is well-made. I've been dragging my feet on cutting into the rear window area.

I also have the old-style Troy's Cruzin windows(which are too long for a Spyder), which I was going to cut shorter and make new side windows to fit the Beck top. Also I need to drill the door tops and install sockets for the window pins.

Maybe I'll finish it this winter. The only problem is I can't stow it in the frunk as is. I have an idea on how to get it in there by making the brake cooling duct removable on one side. We'll see.

@Stan Galat posted:

"Properly" (at least to my way of thinking) set up, a Speedster needn't be this way, so the top we're talking about can look a lot more like the 718 RS Spyder than the canopy-tent look of the original Spyder top

I see now that the OP is talking about this type of top for his Speedster, which I overlooked and just saw the pic of the Spyder.  Yes, in a speedster it is easy to get your head below the windshield, and thus making a top more like the 718 is a LOT more feasible...  I've done "on off" hot rod style chop tops on the speedster that taper from stem to stern and at 6'1" I still fit under it comfortably.  In a Spyder, the seat is already at the floor height, which is in line with the bottom of the chassis, and you are already down to roughly 5" ground clearance, so recessing a seat in a spyder is not advised.

I forgot to add, I purchased the header/windshield clips and rear deck clips(both beautiful, BTW) from Beck. I have purchased MANY things from them over the years, Tenax fasteners, brakes, steering wheel hub, and other assorted parts over the years.

My favorite piece? The Spyder decklid holder, replica of the OE style.

Thanks for the excellent service, Carey.

@Stan Galat posted:

"Properly" (at least to my way of thinking) set up, a Speedster needn't be this way, so the top we're talking about can look a lot more like the 718 RS Spyder than the canopy-tent look of the original Spyder top

I've talked at length about the odd proportions of my statuesque physique, and how much effort I've put into being "in" the car rather than "on" it. For me, this means being behind the windshield, so that I look through the glass rather than at the top frame. My entire head is below the level of the windshield frame.

If I can fit in a car like this, almost anybody under 6'5" can as well. That makes the kind of top that Dave (@Butcher Boy) is talking about a possibility.

Yes - it'll need a bow behind the door opening, but that's all it should need, and the top itself could roll up just like the 718 RS Spyder top does. I have a wind deflector screen which would work perfectly as a rear hoop. The combination of a wind deflector and a bimini top would be pretty nice for long-distance travel.

That's my thought to Stan. I'm 5'7" and sit low in the car. You are right, all I need is a simple bow that attaches to the inside of the speedster and a simple lightweight top that rolls up on one of Greg's windshield header and connects to a few existing snaps with a buttress style attachment. And to adjust the tension to the top bow, a couple of adjustable strap could be used and mounted to the car. Everything will be able to fit in the front of the car even the header. If need be, the header and bow can be made to take apart by using metal dowel pins.

Again thanks to all for your comments

I go to bed, thinking about build issues, back out of bed, go out to the garage at all hours of the night to see if my idea will actually work .... an illness that has yet to cure itself.

Usually, when I get up in the middle of the night, I just eat a half blueberry muffin and have a short glass of water and go back to bed........

At least my neighbors aren't wondering why the hell my garage lights are on at 3AM.

😉

Actually, Señor Clock, I should introduce you to Wray Schelin and Dennis O'Brien.  Both of them often work through the night, going to bed around 4-5am and getting up for "breakfast" around 11 am.   Must be a "Charlton, MA" thing.

I guess it gets dark early in the winter so they never notice it's late.  Actually it reminds when I was young, with six kids my mom use to stay up all night making winter coats for us.  One winter it took a week of nights to get us all fitted up.  What a trouper she was she gave her life for her kids.  Miss you Mom !