Twentieth Anniversary Porsche and Pastries
Our twentieth anniversary celebration will be Saturday September 22nd. There will be gifts, freebies, great food and drink and hopefully lots of Porsche 356s. There will be one more newsletter before the event to confirm plans. This is a family event and an open house so come whenever you can, we will start at 10:00am and party til dusk.
Progress
BJ has been doing excellent work on Sam and Sally’s ‘59 Sunroof Coupe. The whole right side has been restored and the floor pans installed. With the floor pans in we moved the ‘59 Sunroof Coupe off the frame dolly so we could put Jim’s project on the dolly.
The Shop ‘63 Cabriolet in Silver with Red interior sold and went to Austria. The Shop ‘64 Dolphin Grey Coupe with Blue interior sold and went to Australia. Both sold at market prices. The other Shop ‘64 Coupe is at the painters and the Shop ‘58 Cabriolet is waiting for its top and engine.
We mentioned a ‘56 project 356 that had just arrived. We will now refer to it as Jim’s project rather than by model. The reason is that this newsletter is on the internet and subject to searches. Since this model 356 is popular and we will be describing some major restoration issues we do not want to concern future buyers. As you may recall this happened on a Roadster we restored that had issues (latter resolved). A potential buyer found the mention of the Roadster issues in our newsletter and backed out of a purchase agreement.
So Jim’s project is on the frame dolly. It is probably the most challenging restoration we will do; although Barb’s Twin Grille Roadster was probably as challenging but that was twenty five years ago. Jim’s project is complete, just terribly rusty due to being under a plastic tarp in humid Ohio for forty years. It came with an incorrect engine which probably needs a major rebuild but we were able to find a ‘56 engine in Florida which may work. We also received the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from Porsche and this was a White 356 with Red interior and a bench seat! The Bench seat makes it very unique although we heard of another with this option. With the popularity of the 356, we have some excellent vendors that provide metal panels for the 356 as many have noted, the 356 started rusting when it left the factory. So we ordered lots of panels and one vendor provides a complete welded together battery box. This saves a lot of time. Some panels are just not available such as inner lower front panels which we needed. However, little of the chassis changed from 356A to 356B and we still had the 356 B coupe parts car. We cut out the left side from lock post to hinge post including the longitudinal and rocker. We had this media blasted and with the project on the frame dolly, tacked this part in place.
Having Sam and Sally’s ‘59 Sunroof Coupe here has been a real help. We can just take a measurement or trace a panel. One issue with using a Coupe hinge post is that it is different than Jim’s project. So before installing the left side piece on the dolly we had to make it look correct i.e. the windshield frame structure is different. While cutting chassis panels off the 356 donor car we had some luck. We were able to remove the tunnel brake line and it is usable. This is important as no one makes this seven foot line. You have to make it out of smaller lengths and there are issues with connectors inside the tunnel. When it comes to brakes an original brake line is preferred.
With the left side tacked in place we rebuilt the right side inner longitudinal and test fit a rear pan. It fit good but we can’t install it until we receive the heel plates. (We never knew what those panels were called but found them at a vendor site. They are the vertical panels at the rear seat area. When we test fit the rear floor pan we also test fit the replacement tunnel and used it to position the replacement front bulkhead; The panel where the pedal cluster/brake master cylinder attached.
As you can tell this is one big jigsaw puzzle. We also test fit the front floor pan but hesitate to tack this in until we have the front structure rebuilt with replacement diagonal and struts. This work could not be attempted without the frame jig/dolly. We are waiting on delivery of the replacement front cowl and fenders. We already had a complete nose so we hope to have everything tacked or clamped in place by Porsche and Pastries. We have not yet thrown out the rusty metal removed and we will display it with Jim’s Project.
Tech Tip
One 356 issue is fitting the male part of the C hood latch. It is designed to open if the pull wire breaks. So there is a sweet spot you have to get just right. This issue was discussed on 356Talk and someone pointed out there is a hole in the latch to align the pieces and use a nail of a drift to secure the position while adjusting the pull wire clamp. Another 356 knowledge gained after only thirty years. Works like a charm!
Grandpa News
We all started third grade this week however just one of us attended class. Jennifer worked on the clothes and supplies, BJ and Alex went and looked at new desks and maybe a new computer for her room, Grandma was going thru birthday wish list and seeing if they needed to be school items. We all have a very busy year ahead of us.
