Twentieth Anniversary- Porsches and Pastries
If you go to 356Restore.com and click on the newsletters, you will see the first 356Restore newsletter went out in October 1992. This newsletter announced the start of 356Restore a shop specializing only in the restoration of the Porsche Model 356.
To celebrate our twenty years we will have a Porsche and Pastries on Saturday September 22, 2012. We hope to have gifts, some stories and surprises. And of course plenty of Porsches and pastries.
In twenty years we have helped over one hundred and twenty Porsche 356s get back on the road. We will have more details in future newsletters.
We Learn Something- Porsche 356
After thirty years being around the Porsche 356, we still learn new things. We got an E-mail. A guy is looking for lug nuts but he wants the ones with 23mm flanges. We E-mail back that all Porsche 356 lug nuts are the same and Stoddard should have them for around five bucks.
He E-mails back that lug nuts with 23 mm flanges were used up to 1959 and then they went to 26mm flanges.
So we go and check our inventory and we have thirty nine 23mm lug nuts and thirty eight 26mm lug nuts and probably more in the race and tow parts box. We will do a trade with this guy.
But will your 356 go faster and perform better with the correct lug nuts? What if you have mixed size lug nuts? (Bill, check the racecar!)
This is why 356’s are fun , you continue to discover new things.
Progress
Working on both the Shop ‘58 Cabriolet and Kirk and Kelli’s ‘60 Cabriolet (Happy Car) we discovered they both had PPP. That is Parade Princess Problem. The Cabriolet is used in a parade to drive the Honorary Princess. The top is down and she sits on the folded top and of course bends the rear top frame strut to hit the body.
We have only been in one parade (without a Princess) and it is not a 356 event. You go at the speed of a walking horse (hopefully you are in front of the horse). You are in low gear with the clutch in and out and your eye on the oil temp gauge.
The Shop ‘58 Cabriolet is waiting for carpet and top installation as is the Happy Car.
We just finished almost all the reassembly of the ‘60 Cabriolet. It was typical i.e. average time to install the exterior door handles was thirty minutes. Fifty five minutes on the driver side; five minutes on the passenger side. Same with attaching the rear bumper to the body. Average forty five minutes. Driver side one hour fifteen minutes, passenger side fifteen minutes.
BJ got the front clip on the Shop ‘64 Coupe. Since the 356 had been hit in the front left, the left fender was bowed out. Fortunately, we had part of a NOS left fender. So BJ had to position everything, tack it and check measurements using the hood as a jig. But of course the hood was bowed. He used our trick of putting the hood on the floor with waxed paper under the hinge and nose area and stepping on it with bare feet. It worked and the hood became a good jig. It took about week to get the “front clip” installed. The Shop ‘64 Coupe will be off to the painter soon. It will be another of the Signal Red with black interior Porsche 356s.
The Wyoming ‘58 Sunroof Coupe will then go into the shop for its major metal repair. It is on our frame dolly since so much metal was removed but the 356 is still fairly square.
Events
RMVR– Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing held its first race of the season on Mother’s Day weekend. Over 100 vintage racers were trying out all the improvements made over the winter. The race was held at High Plaines Raceway (HPR) out by Byers, CO. The race track continues to improve, now with showers and a new viewing area on the back straight and there is a kids play area.
The next race at HPR will be July 21-22 and will be the Race Against Kids Cancer. This was well attended last year and while all RMVR events are free to spectators a voluntary contribution for the charity would be appreciated.
RMVR will be featured at the Concours d’Elegance at Arapahoe Community College on Sunday June 10th. There will be many RMVR race cars with history. The Concours is the big event in Denver for car enthusiasts and will be the 29th Annual. Porsche is always well represented; so plan to bring your 356!
An event we plan to attend this year is the 26th Annual 356 Club of SoCal Concours at Lantern Bay Park on July 15th in Dana Point, California. This is a very scenic location overlooking the Pacific Ocean. While the Denver Councors is for all sports cars, Dana Point is just for 356s. There will be hundreds.
Tech Tip
When washing your 356 for spring events and the Councours don’t forget to open you quarter window and dry under the rubber seal. We have seen many 356 with rust damage in this area. Tire pressure for the 356 should be lower in front than the rear. The pressure and difference is a personal choice. Pressures recommended in the Owner’s Manual have been superseded by today’s tire technology.
Grandpa News
Alex surpassed her reading goal and finished up a huge presentation on China. If you did not know, 5 Chinese Yuan = 0.79 US Dollars and fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco CA not China. Alex wants to know why she has to go to school for two more weeks if everything is done.
