My new Project

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:15 pm

Hi folks, new around this here forum but thought it looked like a decent place. I'd been lurkin for a while but didnt have much to say (porsche related) until now. I'm a regular over at volkszone and have owned various vw's inc a notchback which I just sold to fund my latest toy.

My fave car of all time is the Porsche speedster and I always dreamt of owning one or building a replica. I never thought I'd have the money but recentley a Legend? speedster body and rolling chassis came up for sale on volkszone.

I promptly sold the notch and bought the kit. I dont know much about the body or the company and I'm sure there will be opinions both good and bad but its a starting point and I intend to build it to the best of my ability.

The car came on a space-frame chassis as the Legend kit has fibreglass floors. The chassis though is junk, its badly home-made and in my opinion looks awful and is probably dangerous.

My plan is to build my speedster on a shortened and strengthened beetle pan. I have numerous reasons for this, the first being that I have an excellent floorpan and running gear just sitting in my garage. This would be great for me as its a late 60's tax exempt pan and will keep all the running gear for my car easy and cheap to maintain.

The first problem I see is that the shell appears to have no inner subframe. The shell is very thick but obviously it will need to be made rigid and safe. I'm currently drawing up plans for my own subframe which will give proper mounting for the doors and body etc. I personally also would feel better sitting on a steel floor rather than a fibreglass one!

The shell came complete with bonnet, decklid, doors, bumpers and engine shroud. I have a huge list of parts to collect inc the screen and hood!

I'm intending to build it in an outlaw inspired style, and will be building it on a strict budget. I'm hoping for a minimalist look but with great attention to detail and some interesting touches. It will never be a true porsche and i'm building it with this in mind. I want to build a cool car and thats all that matters, not trying to clone something that it could never be! Although i do respect and admire accurate relicas.!

I will post some pics shortly and some sketches of my plans. I hope some people will find it interesting to read about!

Old-Bugga · Post by **Old-Bugga** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:40 pm

Looking forward to seeing what you do. Got any pics to show us what you have so far?

In fact......thar she blows!!!!!!

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread ... ight=shell

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:35 am

thats the one, that chassis is hideous isnt it!!

its actually blockin my garage door as i type but despite the shoddy work it actually has some bits worth saving like discs and a decent front beam. i really ned to strip it...then burn it perhaps!

on a side note, i was thinking i could use some beetle cabrio sill strengtheners which run the length of the pan either side to secure the cut down beetle chassis, obviously they would also have to be shortened but i think it'd be a good start!?

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:54 pm

heres my first of what i'm sure will be many concept sketches. its only rough but once i finalise a design i'll render it properly...

basic look is smoothed out, lack of trim, horn grilles are now air ducts, runs a narrowed type 1 beam, polished radar wheels with the hot rod big & little tyre combo...lowered all round with a subtle rake forward. out back i've gone for the small round lights rather than teardrops with a single central exhaust cut-out and the carrera gt louvered decklid! (which my kit came with). its part custom, part cal look, part porsche racer style...

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:15 pm

Old-Bugga · Post by **Old-Bugga** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:39 pm

joedirt wrote:its only rough

Oh yeh...right, like we could all knock up a drawing like that in thirty seconds!

Ignore me....I'm just jealous.

I thought I was the creative one on here.

The King is dead....long live the King!

What package did you do that with?

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:51 pm

haha thanks, i'll have to post some polished work for you!, i draw in ink, then colour using the airbrush tools with my tablet/light pen, same difference as paper i guess but saves opening paints and making a mess! haha...

so your an artist yourself?, i'd be interested in seeing some of your work!, where can it be found?

Old-Bugga · Post by **Old-Bugga** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:11 am

I can just about find my way about in Photoshop and know just enough to do the odd basic trick i.e. colour change cars, montages. If I dre the same picture as you in ink then airbrushed it, you would see something COMPLETELY different. Actually, time permitting, I may do it to give you all a laugh.

pae · Post by **pae** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:24 am

You just know that someone with that sort of artistic talent and eye for detail and finish is gonna build an absolute showstopper, don't you?

Nice work, mate, good luck and keep us posted.

regards, Phil

Post by **Bootsy** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:46 am

Quality, do you do comissions?

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:57 am

thanks folks, clearing the garage today as we only just moved in! hopefully get some pics up of the actual kit tonight!

old bugga: get drawin!!

bootsy: i do but not at the moment as i'm taking time to finish my website and portfolio, i'll be sure to let you guys know when its done!!

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:55 am

ok, clearing the garage has turned into a 3 day affair, managed to clear out an old brick built shed and outside toilet too so i now have a ton of space for parts, and general diy stuff leaving the garage clear....so clear in fact i bought myself a new workbench, vice, rolling tool cabinet, air cut off tool, and some storage for odds and ends..with a little more paint on the walls and floors i've given myself a fighting chance of finishing this project in a fairly small space!

i also removed a high-top transit full of junk!!

should have pics of clearout and kit by tomorrow for sure!

for now heres another concept sketch:

gone for blue, removed bonnet handle and replaced with small badge, also moved the indicator units into the headlights as they prob will be vw units anyway...this meant i could use these neat offset airducts that i found on a racing website! other changes include removing the speedster scripts and adding the pegasus decal and headlight grilles...more food for thought!!

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:26 pm

right, finally got the garage finished, its a joy knowing where every tool is!! i also tested my new compressor which works great!...heres some general pics of the garage, car/chassis etc

the next jobs are to lift the engine onto my new engine stand and sort out the lifing of the body.

the main problem is that the shell is too heavy for me to lift on my own and it will require a fair amount of off and on'ing to get the chassis and sub frame right...my solution is to fit a steel girder from wall to wall as there is a decent ledge on each side of the garage walls where they meet the roof. this will allow me to hook up a hoist in the centre of the garage which i can attatch to the shell via 4 decent fixings. this technically should mean i can raise and lower the body to suit myself and by myself!!........well....in theory! haha, i'm mainly concerned about not putting unwanted stress on the body but i think its do-able!

i'll be sure to keep you guys informed!

abzadams · Post by **abzadams** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 3:55 pm

It's going to look magic Joe. You should think about having a through bonnet filler like Simon Hambly's, infact I think he was selling one at one point, dont know if he still has it or not - he's on here.
Keep poping out the sketches, they're great!

joedirt · Post by **joedirt** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 4:33 pm

cheers bud, will do!!

does anyone have any advice on the sub chassis?....the actual shortening of the pan isnt a problem as its common practice and i have a few books covering the subject!

the main problem is that to give me some sort of safety and to keep the body nice and rigid i need to create my own sub-chassis as the kit i got hold of didnt have one...well technically it did but it was a hideous space-frame chassis thing...on the same topic it turns out my shell is a legend shell which has the built in fibreglass floors and was built by terry sands. all i know about him is that he went bust? and is a bit of wan@er aparently...obviously with little information and an unkown shell(as i cant find anying on its construction etc) the subframe will be down to me!

the shell is thick and seems fairly good except for the main flexing point which is just behind the doors to the rear, this part could really use some sort of subframe pref running to the rear and fixed at the bumper mounts. the body will require a fair amount of cutting to fit the vw pan and theres a small voice saying body drop it a few inches whilst i'm there!!

if anyone has any advice or opinions on the subject feel free to chip in, it would be greatly appreciated!!