The Speedster - It's Alive!

After much wiring work, the car is fully connected! I eliminated over 2m of the wiring harness that was provided with the kit. All connections are soldered and heat shrunk. No crimped connector is just crimped, but also soldered. I adapted the CMC wiring diagram to fit my needs. I also put a voltage regulator on the firewall and fully connected the engine. All of this was done prior to the interior work, but made everything functional when I finally turned the key for the first drive!

The car has parking lights, or city lights which give it a cool eerie look.

Of course the standard headlights work too.
So, with most things buttoned up, I started it last Saturday morning, and moved it under its own power for the first time. Parked in the driveway I washed it, along with the other cars, and had the official appraisals done for insurance purposes. Thankfully the car was appraised for more than $10,000 more than I have into it, so my hard work would pay off (except we have no plans to sell!!) After the appraisal Vanessa and I took it for a quick shakedown cruise. Two blocks in I lost all power with lots of backfiring. We barely got home! I made some adjustments, then disaster - a huge pool of oil under the engine!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, an hour or two after the first drive, the engine was pulled out again. I knew the oil leak could only be the main crank seal.
Sure enough, it had leaked significantly - the bellhousing still had oil in it.

I pulled the clutch and flywheel to find this:

The main seal was sliced slightly, and the o-ring in the flywheel was very worn.

I picked up a new one Saturday night from German Supply. I had it installed, and the engine in place by 11am the next day. This time, no oil leak!

I'm still having some troubles getting a smooth idle. I removed the carb and found all sorts of debris in it. I must not have used a filter when I first started running the engine... I cleaned it out, including the chunk in the end of the pilot jet. I still can't get a reliable idle, but I believe the pilot jet has been overtorqued. Once I can warm it up again, I'll back it out to find the sweet spot, loctite it in place, and readjust the carb.

Currently I'm installing the convertible top. I'm also working on aluminum tin to surround the engine compartment. I need to install the front bumper strip and licence plate, then finish things off with the side curtains (windows). Then the car will be ready for a good polish and use! There are a few cosmetic things to keep working at, but the bulk of the main items should be done this week.

The Speedster - Seat Upholstery & Installation

One of the steps I was most concerned with on this build was the upholstery of the seats. Originally we planned to have it professionally done, but put simply, funds don't allow right now. Hence, I attempted to install the upholstery set that came with the kit by following the less-than clear instructions. All in all they came out well. There are some wrinkles in the seat sides, but that was a necessary evil as I trimmed the padding so someone of my size could fit comfortably in the seats, which were apparently designed for midgets.



The first steps were the easiest... Putting a pinch moulding around the sharp edges of the fibreglasss buckets, cutting the oval cutouts from the seat back, installing plywood strips for stapling purposes, and installing seat sliders. Mine were from EMPI and worked very well. The bottom seat upholstery is actually a separate piece, pulled over a plywood base, glued, stapled, and later bolted down to the bucket...

After seeing it done by Danny Gray on the motorcycle shows on TLC I used an electric "turkey" knife to trim the foam to shape.
I used a small sanding pad on my die grinder to rough up the fibreglass in preparation for glue.

The vinyl is stapled to the inner strips, then stretched around the foam and glued with spray glue on the backside. The wrinkles are a result of the reduced side bolstering, but I tried to make it consistent on both seats and I actually like the look.

The rear seat was pretty easy. Basically a 1/2" plywood base, cut to fit the roll bar, 2" foam on top trimmed to size, and the pleated vinyl stretched over the assembly and stapled.

Here are the finished seats. I wasn't comfortable with just the glue holding the vinyl on the backside. I fashioned plywood strips, then stapled them (believe it or not) to the fibreglass with my air stapler. The fibreglass actually clinched the staples, so there is no way to pull them out! These cleats do a great job of holding the vinyl against the glue.


The door panels are 1/8" MDF, cut to size, with vinyl glued in place, then screwed to the door with stainless screws and fancy washers. The speakers were screwed in place and wired through plastic conduits looped around the hinges.

These shots show everything in place, with the rear seats covered in more custom cut and bound carpet.

Speedster Carpet Fabrication / Installation

The Speedster kit came with a pre-cut and bound carpet kit... Unfortunately the red colour wasn't going to work with our scheme. The style of the carpet was also incorrect, being a cut pile rather than a loop carpet. After some convincing from Vanessa I agreed to make a new carpet set. Here are the results.


The pictures above show the original kit and the basic installation instructions from CMC.Back in the winter I traced the parts from the kit onto our new carpet. Recently I cut out the shapes, then sewed a carpet binding from Fabricland on all the visible edges. Unfortunately when I tried to install it, some pieces were way off. I wound up completely modifying some of the pieces and adding a lot more binding than the original kit...

I also spent time sewing boots for the e-brake and shifter from vinyl, also from Fabricland. I came up with my own pattern, then sewed in velcro to attach them to the carpet.
In time the fibreglass components will be painted, likely with a textured rubberized coating. These images show the binding and the stainless hardware I used to install the carpet. I also used PL Premium to hold the vertical parts.
Just as I was finishing the interior I ran into problems with the pedal assembly, requiring a whole new accelerator pedal, lever, and modern style cable. Funny enough, some of the simple carpet patterns did not fit well, but the floor piece with the complicated cutouts for the pedals fit on the first try!

Once the carpet was done I started working on the seats and their installation... More to come!