A Day in the Shop

December 13th, a Monday. Up at 6:30 AM; coffee, shower, dress, read paper and in the shop at 7:45. we are sort of in a lull as we have Rocky’s 356 at the painter, the Shop ’52 future race car at Blast Tech and the New Jersey Speedster at Autoweave. We’ve put the Shop ’56 Speedster together and will take it to Autoweave when we picik up the New Jersey Speedster.

So it will be a day of miscellanious projects. BJ arrives at 8:00 AM and I ask him to clean the floor mats for Rocky’s car, strip paint from some parts to prepare for the swap meet and start disassembly of the Speedster hard tiops so we can get them ready for paint. There is also some tranny oil on the floor of the storage building shich needs to be cleaned up. We pulled the brakes from the race car and sent them out for special racing shoes. With the rear axel nuts off a lot of tranny oil leaked on the floor. Since Al Lager will be dropping by to look at a car we need toto clean up the oil and look spiffy!

I tell BJ I’m off to evaluate a 356 at Eisenbud’s. A buyer in Michigan wants me to evaluate a local 356. I should be back around 11:00. Driving up I-25 is not a problem today but I’m glad I no longer have to do it everyday.

I arrive at Eisenbud’s and John is out front talking to himself (a funny habit). He remembers me even though it has probably been over three years since I’ve been to his shop. We B.S. for a while and then John brings in the 356 from out back.

The ’58 Coupe has a new silver paint job and I see the small star in the paint from a rock being rhrown by be the left front tire. The owner told me about this when he called to tell me the 356 was at Eisenbud’s. I told him how I use fibrous roofing tar to avoid this problem. He said he doesn’t like undercoat as it looks like you’re hiding problems. The evaluation of the 356 proceeds with John dropping by for more kibtzing. He is in a good mood and is fun to talk to. I finish the evaluation at 10:30. I found a couple of major problems and numerous small problems. The major problems were metal repair

Commercial

We hope you enjoyed Porsches and Pastries. We had over a dozen 356’s drop by and close to fifty folks. They all had good things to say about Jen’s pastries, which was a prelude to Barb and Jen buying a bakery in Parker. The pastry shop is located at Parker West II Plaza, 10471 S. Parker Road. The phone number is (303) 841-6181; they specialize in wedding and special occasion cakes (also minature pastries like we had at the party). Please call Sugar and Spice Bakery for your sweet needs!

Since the bakery is closed on Suday and Monday, I get to use my restoration skills on the walls, floors and ovens to help get it up and going.

Progress

We got Cal’s Speedster fixed up and drove it around the block! the trip indicated I need to do some brake and clutch work and figure out why it won’t start on six volts. Twelve volts will make it spin so it must be a flywheel or maybe a bushing problem.

Whatever, we will figure it out. This was the first time in fwenty five years the Speedster had been on the road.

Most of the time this month has been spent on Rocky’s ’64 Coupe. I had this 356 blasted with the glass in and the doors on. I thought I could save some time on the repaint. But I still needed to pull the glass and doors to do the best job. Which I did and then used paint stripper to clean the edges (actually BJ got this job). After stripping, the 356 indicated a dealer repair to the rear clip and left front. It was ORM sheet metal, has weld and lead work. My supposition is the 356 got rear ended and the left front was also damaged. The dealer work was excellent and needed no repair. However, there was very poor (by today’s standards) repair behind the passenger door. This was a crimp, pop rivet and bondo job. This was the worst area, the rest was the typical closing

Porsches & Pastry

Remember – Porsches and Pastry is Saturday October 23rd at 10:00 AM at 356RESTORE. Directions: (from the North) Parker Road (Hwy 83) south to Hilltop Road, left 1 and 3/4 miles to Sunburst Trail. (from the South) Hwy 83 north to Stroh Road, right onto Stroh to Sundown Trail then left onto Sundown and left to 8356 Sunburst Trail. Please call if you are coming (303) 841-2356 and have not let me know. If inclement weather you can drive your regular road appliance (J.J.). We have plenty of 356s here.

West Coast Holiday

The West Coast Holiday in Sedona, AZ was well attended with over 200 356 Porsches. Barb and I had planned to take the ’63 Black sunroof Coupe but while getting it ready we found sparklies in the oil. So it’s rebuild time. We took the ’62 Twin Grille Roadster which is not as comfortable-no insulation, lots of wind noise. No problems, we did 1,800 miles with less than one quart of oil. The engine ran cool which negated the needed heater; it was 28 degrees when we left. At Sedona it was in the high 80’s.

We put 150 356s on the road Friday for a long drive and then lunched at a State Park. It was quite a sight. I would guess half the 356s at Sedona were open cars. Plenty of Speedsters and Convertibles. there was only one other Twin Grille Roadster and very few Pre As.

The Concours was Peoples Choice and held on the golf course. Beautiful sight! When I judge Peoples Choice, I pick on feature which allows me to narrow down the field. For example on T-6 cars there should be two rubber washers on the two studs underneath the front of the hood handle. If they weren’t there, I went on to the next 356.

Drive Your Porsche

You may not get this in time but if you do, Sunday, September 19th is Drive Your 356 Day! This is an international event celebrating Ferry Porsches’ birthday. Barb and I will probably drive the ’63 sunroof Coupe which we are getting ready for the drive to Sedona, AZ for the West Coat Holiday (Sept. 30-Oct 3) or we may drive the ’57 Carrera Coupe which is now running and running strong. the sound of a 356 Carrera is like no other sports car. Or we could take out the Twin Grille Roadster (but Barb would have to be the driver!). There is still the ’58 Coupe Race Car to pick from, but probably not the best choice for Sunday driving in town. It is great to have all our 356’s running and tough to choose which to drive; it has been a long time since all work!

Years ago, Road and Track reprinted an article on flashing your high beams. As I remember it, 356 owners only initiate a flash at other 356 drivers. All other Porsches and Sports Cars must initiate the flash to the 356. While this custom has disappeared and you only get an occasional wave, I still follow the R & T protocol. However, I do flash at neat Hot Rods and pretty girls.

Porsche and Pastry

If you missed Ferry’s birthday or not, plan to drive your 356 or other to the 356RESTORE for Porsches and Pastries on Saturday, October 23rd. Our daughter-in-law, Jennifer, who was an excecutive Pastry Chef at Minneapolis Hilton wants to try out some pastry recipes here in the high altitude. We will start at 10:00 AM and there will be plenty of good pastries and maybe a few rides in the Carrera. But I probably won’t let Jennifer drive the Carrera as she is already faster than I am in the Race Car.

Progress

Jim H picked up his ’64 Coupe after we did some paint repair. This was the 50th 356 Porsche we had restored in the last seven years. We took some pictures with the number 50 and a wreath on the hood (like the factory 500th 356 picture) but it was too dark for this newsletter. However, the picture hangs on our wall. Actually, we finished Jim’s 356 last year and he did the final assembly; by now we are on 54.

We’ve got Cal’s Speedster 99% done, installed my Speedster engine and should fire it up this week. I’ll have to borrow a muffler from another 356. Cal is running late on his engine but will be ready by next Spring.

As I indicated, we got the carb problems solved on the Carrera (Thanks Les Long!) and it runs strong. We may enter this in the historic race next year.

The New Jersey Speedster has be loosely assembled to determine the condition of parts and what parts are needed. Les Long is doing the engine and we have an appointment at Autoweave in mid October. We should wrap up the unusual project by the year end.

My Speedster should be back from the paint shop this week and then the reassembly fun starts. (It really is fun, my favorite part of restoration). We disassembled the Vail ’64 Coupe and took it to Blast Tech. It looks like moderate metal work wo we should finish this on by year end also. This is my last customer commitment dso next year will be primarily shop cars.

We also finished and returned Fireball Knowalski’s Race Car. Besides the dramatic fire damage, the door was also bent in the middle. Fireball said they couldn’t get magnetic race numbers to stick on the door and suspected heavy bondo. As a result, I dercided to replace the door with one of my good spares. We compared the weight of the doors and his weighed seven pounds more than the replacement! Glad we didn’t have his door blasted, it would have taken hours to get the bondo off. Plus the door is probably unrepairable. Normally

Progress

We finished all the metal work on the Shop ’56 Speedster. Then it was paint, caulk and undercoat the bottom. I waited till we had it down on the tires to set the door seams. But the cross bracing worked and there wasn’t much work to get the seams even. We use a paint stir stick to measure the door seams; after paint you get a factory clearance.

While this is a shop car, it will be a complete restoration with original white paint and black interior/top. It will probably sell in the 35-45 thousand area. I’ve had folks express interest but am not taking names. I was embarrassed on the ’58 Cabriolet by the confusion on who was the first to say they wanted it. For the Speedster, when I’m done, I’ll set a price based on how I feel about it, then I will sell it.

Cal’s Speedster is back from Autoweave and we installed the windshield and the dual brake master cylinder. Next is to secure the seats, check out the electrics and since Cal doesn’t have his engine ready I’ll install mine so he can get in a little fall driving. After all it’s been twenty years!

Cal’s Speedster is a Pre-A and had a 1500 badge on the rear. His was really faded from gold to almost bare metal. Nobody sells a 1500 badge but one of my customers said he was at an antique show and a guy had a machine that would gold plate badges. He saw it done on a Cadillac in the parking lot! I gave him the 1500 badge, he sent it to the guy and we got it back in perfect gold plate for $10! (Happy 70th Cal, from Bob and Jim).

About a year ago I took about 40 various Porsche badges and painted them gold. I sold them for $1 – $5 at a swap meet. I figured folks could use them for wall decorations as with the paint they wouldn’t work on a 356. We sold them all and now I discover the $10 badge plating special.

The New Jersey Speedster will be back from the painter in a few weeks and it will be reassembly time. I am going to delay work on the Shop ’64 Cabriolet as it is a huge metal work job. Instead we will start on the Vail ’64 Coupe which has been wanting work for ten months. I said I was slowing down customer work! However, the vintage racing 356 Fireball Coupe is here and we will do some door and quarter panel repair before the blistered Coupe gets a repaint.

Norm’s ’54 Race car went to Bill’s for electrical wiring and we hope to have it ready for the October Pueblo race. (It has only been two years as a part time project in my shop!)

Vintage Racing

Speaking of vintage racing, the 356RESTORE race car did well at Second Creek races with Bill and Jen driving. However, we had just put on a deep sump and they had just repaved the track. Jen put two wheels off in turn three and scraped the bottom. She told me but I didn’t think to check the sump. When Bill took it out he lost a sump stud and dumped oil. We don’t think we hurt the engine as there was still some oil in the engine and filter. Now it’s helicoil the sump and fabricate a skid plate.

Japan

One of my customers is finishing a long 356 restoration project and had some left over parts. He put some on the Internet auction site (E-Bay) and sold a few parts. One part was a 356 oil canister which was bid up to $101 and went to a guy in Japan (he paid $35 shipping). When Steve told me this, I said I had seven oil canisters on the shelf and had only sold one in the last 10 years. We took a digital photograph and E-mailed to the guy in Japan. I said I would sell them for $75 each plus shipping. The guy in Japan immediately responded with his Mastercard number and said he would buy them all! His e-mail concluded “I will become number one collector of oil can in Japan!!”

Since then I’ve checked with other vintage racers and because we use various oil cooling systems with remote filters on the 356 race cars I can probably find another 20 oil canister for the guy in Japan. Then he can be the number one oil can collector in the world! Proceed to the bow of the Titanic, Toshiyuki!

Upcoming Events

Labor Day at Steamboat Springs is gone but RMVR and the BMW Club will be racing at PPIR September 3rd, 4th and 5th. PPIR is halfway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, right off I-25.

There will be Balloon Launches in the mornings, art shows, concours and of course plenty of racing.

The Rocky Mountain 356 Porsche Club has a tour to Estes Park on September 11th, contact Chuck Fishback at (303) 466-0157. The big event this year is the West Coast Holiday in Sedona, AZ, September 30 to October 3. This may have been sold out but contact Mike Wroughton at (602) 362-8356 for information.

RMVR will have a race at Pueblo Oct 16-17, contact me for details.

RM356PC has been awarded the West Coast Holiday for 2000. It will be called the Drive of the Millennium in Durango CO July 5-9, 2000. Details to follow.

Progress

The Shop ’56 Speedster metal work is almost done. My son, BJ, has a good eye for the 356 curves and has pulled the right rear collision damage back to the original shape. All that is left is the longitudinals, fender brackets and rear closing panels. Then it is off to the painters.

We picked up the Shop ’64 Cabriolet from Balst Tech. This 356 had a lot of rust damage hidden under bondo. It is close to one of the most challaging (worst!) 356’s I’ve restored. It looks like two or three previous repairs due to the brazing, welding and fiverglass. Somebody even used the expanding foam to for the upper fender contour. Then they bonded over it with of course the rust underneath. The extensive rust damage is on the right front fender top. But I happened to have an OEM piece on my partds shelf. I also have a left front middle finder piece on the shelf. Usually if I need a right piece, I have a left. Or if I need an A piece I have a B!

Cal’s Speedster got hung up at the upholstery shop due to some minor problems but should be back next week. We got the front sway bar welded on Norm’s ’54 Race car and it will be off to the painter for touch up to some damage when rolled off a trailer at the roll case fabrication. So it is finish the Shop ’56 Speedster, do the final work on Cal’s ’55 Speedster, start the metal work on the Shop ’64 Cabriolet, start reassembly on the New Jersey ’56 Seedster and start disassembly on the Aspen ’64 Coup.

Time Change

One of the things BJ does is clean up the shop a couple of times a day. As a result I don’t have to spend Saturday mornings cleaning the shop. So I’m going to cancel Saturday afternoon Open Shop until Winter. I am enjoying my Saturdays without 356 activities.

Progress

It has been a month of car shows and metal repair. My son, BJ, has joined me in the shop. He and his wife, Jennifer, moved here from Minnesota with BJ now doing all the grunt work i.e. grinding, sanding and cleaning parts; we are making good progress.

We finished the metal repair on the Shop ’58 Cabriolet and sold it to Miles C who plans to restore it as a joint project wth his Dad.

We started on the extensive metal work on the Shop ’56 Speedster. We pulled the transmission to bet beytter access to the metal. BJ discovered a piece of metal when he drained the tranny oil and then some epoxy sealant on some of the case cracks. So the tranny is suspect but sitting in the garage is another 519 tranny that came as part of the Carrera deal and it should fit right into the Speedster.

We put the Shop ’64 Cabriolet in the shop and BJ started disassembly. I told him how a 356 will “talk” to you and we think this is a low mileage car. Wear on the hood hinges and door mechanisms are minimal. The Cab is complete and many parts reuseable. But even before blasting I can see fiberglass repair on the inner longitudinals and a flat brazed in the floor pan. The front struts were fiberglassed; so it will be a typical restoration.

Showtime

We cleaned up the ’57 Carrera Coupe and trailered it to the Charity Concours in Arvada. This was a new site and the turnout of cars and spectators was excellent. The event raised over $30,000 for United Ceribral Palsy.

There were ten 356’s on displany and four were judged and all won awards. Mark Kutner took first place with his beautiful ’59 Sunroof Coupe. He did it his way to his gigh standards and it is a great 356. Since 356RESTORE did the metal work and installed the sunroof on Mark’s ’59, we shared his accomplishment and offer sincere congratulations on a job well done. (Editor’s note: Jim was presented the Entrants and Judges Award for Favorite Porsche for his ’57 Carrera.)

We also showed the ’57 Carrera at the local Parker Country Festival. There were about eighty cars mostly American classics and only one Porsche-so guess what-the Carrera recieved an award in the Special Interest Class. Seems as though our Garage Queen has real spectator appeal.

The major drama was getting the ’57 Carrera on the trailer and back to the garage before a huge hailstorm hit. We made it with only seconds to spare thanks to some help from other car enthusiaist.

More Help

Les Long in Ogen, Utah is nearing his retirment from the Air Force and is expanding his 356 engine guilding efforts. He calls his shop Air Power Racing (nice play on words). He recently drove down and delivered the engine we will use in the Shop ’57 Speedster. He picked up all the engine parts for the New Jersey ’56 Speedster and will rebuild two engines for the Doctor who is pleased his 356 is finally getting restored. That Speedster body is at the paint shop getting repairs to the earlier incomplete paint job

More Work

A guy called and wanted me to look at his ’61 Cabriolet. I said I would look at it but make no promises to do the work. He trailered it over and was it a mess. No floor pan and every panel dented; not from collision but like someone/something just pounded on it. No top, engine, interior nor parts were there. I told him there was at least $5,000 in metal work and lots more time and dollars for missing parts, paint and interior. I said I hoped he didn’t pay more than a few thousand for the roller. He said he paid $150 for it at a salvage lot. So he beats my $800 ’52 Coupe bargain. His Cab turned out to be a ’59, one of the first T-5 Cabs. The gas tank which was the only part still with the car was dated 6/59.

Speaking of my $800 ’52 Coupe, I finally got some tires on it and off the trailer. Surprise, the axel was modified and a 741 transmission had been installed. The pan and longitudinal are in great shape shape. somebady was goint to make this a race car and that is what I will do since it is missing the engine and everything else.

Ongoing Work

I plan to pick up Cal’s ’55 Speedster at Autoweave next week. I have to do some brake, suspension and electrial work on it. Cal is still working on his engines. The New Jersey Speedster should come back.

356 Travels

Mike McDonald of Levenworth, Kansas called. He had a family reunion in Salem, Oregon and decided to drive his 356. We fed him supper and provided a bed on his outward trip. He put 4,050 miles on his Coupe, only used 1 and 1/2 quarts of oil and averaged 28 MPG. He only ran into snow (6 inches) in Durango on his return trip, of course he camped out.

If you plan to travel to Sedona, Arizona Sept 30-Oct 3 for the West Coast Holiday make your room reservations now! The event hotel (Poco Diablo) is sold out and other rooms are going fast. It looks like the excitement of Monterey last year will carry over to Sedona.

Progress

Cal’s ’55 Speedster is at the upholstery shop (Autoweave). I have a few things to do when it comes back and then it is off to Cal’s for engine installation. Speaking of engine installation, we got the rebuilt engine and tranny into “The Company Car” and hopefully it will be ready for this year’s vintage racing season. My daughter-in-law, Jen, will drive this year and Bill and I will also share driving responsibilities. With 10.5-1 compression in the new engine we have to run racing gas at 105 octane and $2.40 a gallon. The price of 356 fun just got higher!

I also got some work done on Norm’s ’54 Racecar and all that is left is front sway bar, wiring and engine installation. The New Jersey Speedster has gone to the painter and I will start assembly when it gets back.

The next project will be some metal work on the Shop Cabriolet so Miles and his Dad can start their restoration project. Miles will need a soft top for the Cab and has done a nation wide search. The average asking price for a Cabriolet top is over $2,000 and it may still need restoration. So if you have a spare Cabriolet top, make it part of your retirement plan.

Dilemma

We refer to our cars as ’55, ’59, ’64 etc. What am I going to refer to as my new truck I will get later this year? ” ’00, Zero-zero, or 2000″? Anybody have an idea?

Parts

Some 356 parts are going NLA: no longer available. I mentioned Cabriolet tops but A bumpers, Speedster door tops and upholstery beading are also NLA. This turns 356 restoration into a time consuming and expensive effort. While some parts go NLA for awhile, they use to come back on the market. Now I am seeing more parts disappear. I am backing off on selling some of my NLA parts as I will need them for future restorations.

However, I recently sold a fuel sender and made someone’s day. Fuel senders have a date stamp and out of my supply of seven I had one dated 11-57. This matched the date on the guy’s gas tank and made his 356 more original. There appears to be a lot of 356 owners who have restored their car and are now swapping out dated parts to get closer to originality. I get a lot of requests for dated wheels and also recently for dated hubcaps Not my cup of tea but I appreciate the enthusiasm of the hunt. In addition to dated parts many body parts were identified with the 356 serial number. Usually the last two or three digits of the serial number. Some of these numbers were stamped, some in chalk, some in crayon. One owner found thirty body parts with his 356 serial number. I have seen and taken pictures of the last three digits on body panels i.e. rear clip, quarter panels. These must have been done in crayon and the grease stained the metal.

There has been one ID mark that has baffled me for years. On some rear deck lids on the left side you will see one or two initials. This is mostly on A’s and some B’s. It first caught my eye when I saw JK, my initials. My guess is that this could be the initials of the fabricator. Does anyone have a better guess?

Also while it is a secret, I should share the secret number. On the right side door hinge post (behind the removable plate) you will find the complete serial number on B’s and C’s. I think Pre A’s and A’s have the secret number in the engine compartment but have not done an exhaustive search.

Brakes

I recently ordered a dual master cylinder kit for Cal’s Speedster. The kit included a can of ATE Super Blue Racing brake fluid. I compared the specs on the can with my favorite brake fluid-Ford High Performance DOT 3 brake fluid. The Ford brake fluid has better specs. Its minimum dry boiling point is 550 degrees, the ATE is 536 degrees and the standard is 401 degrees. You should bleed your 356 brakes every year. Now is the time to do it (or have it done). It is a two person job unless you have a one person bleeding kit. I use the Eezibleed kit. It utilizes a spare tire with 20 psi. The tire forces air through a plastic bottle with brake fluid and into your master cylinder and through a special cap. Works great! Remember brake fluid can damage paint so be careful.

Tech Tips

I’ve been light on Tech Tips recently so here are some. Feedback from owners working on a 356 project indicate my suggestions to buy a good metric tap and die set is a good idea. A tap and die set should include a tool to measure thread pitch. You also need a tool to measure hole size. With these tools you clean threads on all your hardware and replace damaged hardware.

Eagle Hardware has a good selection of metric nuts/bolts but don’t believe the markings on the bins. Check size, length and pitch with your own tools. The folks who fill the bins seem to use a “looks close enough” approach.

Also, belts that measure 14mm across the flats (ATF) are no longer available. If possible try to save all your 14 ATF belts.I have disassembled hoods and found a mix of 12-13-14 sizes. 14 ATF belts were original, so at least use the same size.

Speaking of hoods, if yours doesn’t consistently close, it could be problems with the star wheels on the hinge or weakness under the hinge pocket. With the hood open, look carefully at the metal below the hinge pocket. It should not be torn. This can happen with repeated attempts to force the hood down. Torn or weak areas will need to be welded. But first the hood will have to be positioned correctly. To position the hood you have to ensure the hinges work correctly. This involves checking for burrs and worn spots and hand filing the star wheels and catch. You should be able to cycle the hinge at least a dozen times without hangups. Do this outside the car. With the hinges working and installed you can position the hood and repair under the pockets. Use pencil marks on the hinge to close in on your adjustments. It you are lucky, your hood is original and the index holes will line up.

You’ve restored your hood and hinges, put in a new hood seal but the good sets too igh. This is probably due to the reproduction hood seal which is too thick.While you should get all your rubber seals from International Mwexantile, you may want to bet the hood swal from Stoddard or Tweeks. I believe they come from Taiwan. They won’t last as long but they are thinner.

Show Time

I was invited to show my recently reacquirered first 356 at Prestige Imports. This was part of an RMVR event. The silver with maroon racing stripes, right hand drive, bent sunroof, Carrera 356 just glowed under the show room lights. I had a lot of nice comments and was very proud to share my first 356.

Progress

Almost all my time has been spent reassembling Cal’s Speedster. This is going quickly as all the parts were cleaned/painted and all the hardward had clean threads. Of course, some original parts were unuseable and had to be replaced with reproductions. There were the usual problems with fit and finish of reproduction parts. I’ve learned to live with this and don’t bad mouth reproduction parts any more. They are close enough and without them these projects would take years and big bucks.

We had an issue on Cal’s Speedster with a mix o ball bearing and roller bearing on the suspension and brake drums. Since we are running both Rudge Knock off wheels and standard 3 1/4 inch wheel it’s important the brake drums with their bearing are all the same. We found VW parts suppliers have the ball bearings and races we need. Another issue is the price of 5.00-5.25 X 16 inch tires. I thought they would cost about $50 a piece. But the best price I have checking dealers and mail order shops is about $100 a tire with tax and shipping. Anybody have a good source for these tires?

Cal’s Speedster should get to Autoweave in the next few weeks. It will get a tew top, dash, side panels, half tonneau, full tonneau and rebuilt Coupe seats. Autoweave is presently working on the Speedster seats. Cal is going to have options for wheels, seats and tonneau cover. He will have lots of different looks.

I mentioned Michale’s ’56 Speedster last month. Here is the sad story. Four years ago he sent the 356 out here from New Jersey to be restored by a guy in a remote noutain location. When the guy lost his shop I agreed to porvide storage and shope space. The 356 was to be finished in a few months. the car came here with lots of parts. The body work was completed and very well done. The Aquamarine paint had a lot of scratches and rub throughs. The guy basically abandoned the 356 at my shop. He has not been seed and does not return calls. Legal action is being taken by the owner who has paid $42,000 and after four years does not have a finished 356 Speedster.. So I have agreed to finish the car later this year.

Time Out

As expected we took time out and did not het out a newsletter last month. Barb and I treated the kids to 10 days in Maui for a family vacation. This time we didn’t see any 356’s but then again when you are out fishing and snorkeling or sunning on the beach you shouldn’t expect to see any 356’s. We did see pleanty of humpback whales, dolphins, pilot whales (very rare) and sea turtles.

BJ and I watched the Broncos’ playoff game at a Maui Sports Bar and Cuba Gooding Jr. bought the whole house a round (about 100 folks, movies must be good).

Progress

Prior to Hawaii, I started preparing parts for the Registry Swap Meet in L.A. This has been getting bigger each year and since I did well in Monterey last year I thought I would get ready. This involved blasting, cleaning and painting lots of parts. I do this not only to sell parts but to have clean parts on the shelf for restorations.

I put about a month into parts and modified my race car trailer with side panels that could be used as tables. This worked out real well with a tarp to protect from weather and visiblility to the rear. Barb and I left on a Wednesday and stopped in El Paso to help Scotty Visnenski select and price parts. Scotty has no market for 356 parts in El Paso and was hoping to do well at his first swap meet. Some of you may remember Scotty from RMVR racing. He and his wife, Eileen, are real fast with Yellow Dog racing.

On Vacation- check back in Feb.