August 2004 Newsletter

Porsches & Pastries
The sixth annual Porsches and Pastries will be held Sunday, September 19th from 11:00 to 4:00 at 356RESTORE. The address is 8356 N. Sunburst Trail, Parker, Colorado. Call for directions.

This may be the last Porsche & Pastries as BJ and Jen (the Pastry Chef) are adopting and will have other priorities next year.

However, we will have a fall 356RESTORE event next year of some kind. We are closing in on our 100th 356 repair/restoration and that will call for a celebration. If we don’t make 100 we will celebrate 90 something!

Newsletter
This newsletter has been going for thirteen years. Some of you get more letters from 356RESTORE than you do from your family. A few months ago our printer failed and those of you on the Western Slope and West Coast missed the July issue. (You could have received the recipe for a cold soup which corrupted the newsletter label file!)

If anyone misses a newsletter which goes out mid month, you can always read it on our website 356RESTORE.com. Most all the newsletters are there. (If someone would like to volunteer to type in the early newsletters a fee will be provided. They have to be retyped from the three column newsletter format to the website format.)

We have also added our website and e-mail address to the newsletter. We will also add this to those of you who get the newsletter via e-mail. The newsletter via e-mail saves us printing and postage and we appreciate those that get the newsletter this way. If you would like to get the newsletter via e-mail just send us an e-mail at TWINGRIL62@AOL.com. However, if you change servers we will not know unless you tell us. For seventy cents the post office tells us of address changes. For e-mail changes you have to tell us.

Gmund 2004
This was another great Porsche event at the Maybee’s. It gets bigger each year. Probably at least fifty 356s and a hundred other Porsches, plus Porsche tractors, good food and beer and entertainment. There were representatives from PCA and PCNA and many Porsche folks from out of state. Thanks to Sharon and George and all who helped make this a very fine Porsche day.

East Coast Holiday
Barb and I will attend the East Coast Holiday in Williamsburg, Virginia September 30th thru October 2nd. We have never attended an ECH and look forward to it. We will combine it with some vacation to visit friends we have not seen in a while. At the 1995 West Coast Holiday (Aspen/Crested Butte) our East Coast friends visited and we loaned them our ’63 Coupe for the trip. At a rest stop, Paulette asked how they were enjoying the 356, since they had been use to MGs. They said “fine” and she said “What are you shifting at?” They said 4000 RPM and she said try 5500. At the next stop they had these huge grins and it was hard to keep them off the mountain roads for the rest of the trip. They have promised us a sailboat ride when we go to the ECH in exchange for that experience.

PS Leave it to Paulette to help you enjoy your 356 to the fullest!

Progress
I finished the assembly of Michael’s ’63 Coupe and he will pick it up this week. He will do the mechanical work and then it will be off to Autoweave and finally on the road. I am amazed at the rusty metal we cut off this 356. We did the metal work a year ago and I forgot how much more metal work we did other than the front clip. We always save the cut off rusty metal to place alongside the finished 356 for a photo.

BJ finished the metal work, paint, caulk and undercoat on Matthew’s T-5 Coupe and it will be off for painting after some outlaw mods.

I will get back on David’s Coupe which had some lead above the left windshield opening which didn’t look factory. Sure enough when we melted it it was one inch deep covering a heavy hit. We think this was a race car that went off track and took a hit on the left fender, windshield and roof.

David will take the 356 back to Albuquerque prior to paint and dry fit all the parts. We are concerned that the right side windows won’t fit due to the collision damage.

Next will be Matt’s ’55 Coupe. It sure was pretty until we had it blasted and saw multiple repairs to the rear clip. It will need a new rear clip and fortunately they are being made but very expensive. Matt also needs some front nose work and right threshold repair. After Matt’s we “should” be able to get to the shop cars.

Tech Tip
If you have read my Restoration book you know I recommend the Optima battery. (*Book can be ordered from www.tpr-inc.com) The Optima battery has excellent cold starting amperage and it is sealed so you don’t get battery acid in the battery compartment. You can buy them at Peerless Tire, Jim Paris Tire and the Battery Shop.