Vintage Racing
It’s hot! 102 degrees. We are at PPIR and it is the last race for Group 6 on Sunday. Les is driving and I’m crew. We are second on the grid. Les should be first but in the morning race the number two car jumped the start and went on to finish first. So this is our chance to show a 356 can beat an Alfa. At the flag the Alfa with a well known pro driver and driving school instructor takes off. Les tests him with late braking in turn Five. The Alfa is a little slow to respond so in turn 9 heading to the banked straight, Les does it again and gets in front. Now it is a 20 minute dog fight till the end. And Les wins!
This is what vintage racing is all about and you can experience the same thrills this weekend at Second Creek Raceway. RMVR will have a charity race on July 21st and 22nd. Your entry benefits KIND-Kids in Need of Denistry.
To get to Second Creek take I-70 east to Tower, then north to 88th. Turn left (west) and you will see the track in a mile.
I plan to run the ’57 Carrera in the Historic Group at this race. I tried last year but had brake problems and withdrew. Glad I did as we found significant problems with the suspension after the race.
Our regular race car, the ’58 356 “Company Car” had a problem at the Mountain View 356 Club driver’s ed event. BJ was driving when the carb spring hung up and the engine over revved. The rev limiter rotor was not in place as it failed last year at Pueblo and had not been replaced.
So we spun the flywheel off the crank and Trevor is checking damage. Hope to have the Company Car back in action soon as both Bill and Jen need one race to keep their license current.
Progress
We added a ’64 Coupe to the schedule for a friend. Michael had this 356 painted and the interior done years ago but had not had the time to put it together. Putting them back together is the fun part of 356 restoration so we made room in the schedule. It took 55 hours over two weeks but went together real nice with just a few problems. I’ve mentioned before how you can spend a few hours on one door and a full day on the other. But we keep learning on each 356 we do and are now approaching 70 356’s back on the road. With Michael’s ’64 finished we turned back to the Shop ’60 Coupe and Keith’s ’60 Cabriolet. BJ is putting the finishing touches on the Coupe and it should be back on the road in a few weeks. We think we have someone interested in buying this Shop Car. The Cabriolet needed just a little more welding and fitting of the doors and lids. For an abandoned and stripped 356 it also will get back on the road. This 356 has VW running gear and I am out of B drum brakes. So if you have spare B drum parts give me a call. It is surprising how small VW brakes are compared to Porsche. We also hope to finish the Shop ’56 Speedster: get the Company Car back together and do some maintenance on Barb’s ’62 Twin Grille Roadster and my ’63 Coupe. Plus the New Jersey Speedster and Hawaii ’54 Coupe should be heading home and then Rhomes Roadster also needs finishing.
So just to ensure we stay busy we bought another Shop Car. A ’64 Coupe. Typical rust but complete with tool kit and European heat system. This will be a winter project. I will probably have BJ do it as he did real well with his ’64 Coupe.
Our Web Site
356RESTORE.com has been up for a month and created good interest. We are getting 8-10 calls a week for advise and parts.
We are going to rearrange our parts business. When you call we will take your needs and see if we have what you want later and then call you back. We will probably ship items once or twice a week. The calls, part search and shipping is getting in the way of restoration work. But our prices are the best, so please call.
We also can use more parts, particularly A stuff. So let us know what you have to sell. 356 parts should be on the road not on the shelf.
Shop Break
BJ and I will be out of the shop July 27-30th. We will be at the Rennsport Reunion at Lime Rock CT. This is a vintage race and Concours put on by Brian Redmond (champion Porsche driver). The Porsche factory is sending over a lot of vintage Racers and it should be a repeat of Monterey in 1998. Details in the next Newsletter.
About 30 Newsletter recipients signed up to receive this newsletter via the Internet. If you signed up you will receive an e-mail mid month telling you that the newsletter is on the website. Then all you have to do is go to 356RESTORE .com and read the latest. Print out if you want a hard copy.
Tech Tip
For a long time I thought you should have original equipment parts on your 356. But when the price of shock absorbers got up to $60-$80 each I looked for alternatives. On the Internet I learned that NAPA had gas shocks that fit the 356 for less than $25 each. We put these on BJ’s ’64 Coupe and are happy so far. Part numbers – 94064 and 94022.
