Progress

The saga continues. With the paint mismatch problem we returned the shop ’61 Roadster to the painter. I had disassembled the chassis as there were no removable parts to take to the paint supplier to match the doors and lids. We thought we would have to repaint the whole car.

However, the painter had bought a new spray gun and remembered he had shot some test panels with the Roadster Aetna Blue paint. He took these to the supplier and got a match. Boy, was I relieved! He asked me to pick up the chassis while he reshot the doors and lids. The painter has limited room. This was a mistake on my part. While the Roadster was back at my shop I once again reassembled all the parts on the chassis.

A few weeks later the painter called and said the doors and lids were ready and I needed to pick them up as he was leaving on vacation. I picked them up and as soon as I got home I put the rear lid on the chassis. Paint mismatch! Too dark!

So we get to paint the Roadster for the third time. This time I will ensure the chassis, doors, and lids all stay together at the painters. I’ll bring back the shop ’64 Coupe which is at the painters in primer, and taking up space.

BJ finished up all the metal work on Chris’s ’59 Convertible D and we invited Chris out to see the repairs. We like to do this so there is no question of what will be under the filler and paint. Chris was impressed with his new floor pans, closing panels, front struts, and battery floor plus a lot more. BJ has now moved on to the rough finish phase which is using filler to blend the curves and set the gaps. We say rough finish as we only take it down to 80 grit while the painter goes to 1500 grit.

I continue to put parts on the shop ’56 Sunroof Coupe which is taking longer than usual as many parts were missing. Parts missing included seats. I decided to use the seats I had Autoweave do for the Speedster. These were spare Coupe seats I had and had planned to sell as an option in addition to the Speedster seats in the Speedster.

Since these were black they would match the ’56 interior. Then I discovered the seats which came with the Roadster were from a C Coupe. C seats won’t fit on the seat rails of an early B. I checked my inventory and all I had in complete seats was late model seats. Checked with Conway and he was out of early seats. Finally found enough seat backs, seats bottom and hinges to make a set of early seats. I had to order and rivet on the seat bottom rails as they were missing.

OK, all is fine and I go to install the nice Autoweave black seats in the ’56 Coupe. They are both passenger seats! How could I have missed this?

Well I’ll just have to sell the ’56 with this configuration. The only problem is the latch to move the seat back and forth will be on the wrong side for the driver. I had to change the tunnel rail to the one with notches for the latch. The way the last few months have gone I’m glad we aren’t into equities.

Observation

Speaking of equities, the 356 marketplace remains strong. Price reviews in the 356 Registry and on the Internet indicate many folks consider classic cars a better place for their money than equities. While I don’t see speculation or car flippers I do see knowledgeable people buying a vehicle they can enjoy and probably not lose money. The key here is knowledgeable. If you know someone interested in purchasing a 356, please coach them on the peculiarities of our cars; i.e. rust, matching numbers, color, etc.

Remodel

The kitchen cabinets are in. The new hardwood floors are being sanded. Paint and finish work should start soon. The whole house will need a cleaning when it’s done as dust is everywhere. It just doesn’t make sense to try and clean until the project is done.

Lawsuit

Many longtime readers of this newsletter may remember the New Jersey ’58 Speedster. This was the one that had been sent to Aspen for restoration. After four years and $42,000 the Speedster had not been completed and many parts were missing. A lawsuit was initiated and I get to be a witness next week as 356RESTORE finished the project. Details next month.

Vintage Racing

You may have noticed the newsletter has been short on vintage racing activity. With all the restoration activity and problems there hasn’t been time to prep the ’57 Race Car. It takes a lot of work to get a 356 Racer ready for the track. Plus Jennifer is not racing with me due to schedules at Sugar and Spice bakery. We hope to get in one race to keep our license active. If not, we will do Driver’s School next year and hopefully have the ’52 ready for racing

Events

Don’t forget the Rocky Mountain 356 Porsche Club event August 25th at Ed Carroll Porsche in Fort Collins. If you don’t get the RM356PC newsletter; call Rich Haggan at (970) 353-4867 for details. Reservations for dinner and motel need to be made by August 10th.

Since 356RESTORE is in charge of the swap meet call us if you are going to bring parts to sell and let us know your needs. Parts that sell well are options. Everyone likes to upgrade their 356.