FOLLOW UP

Well, I got a call from Germany. The guys who were here last month told their Dad about 356RESTORE and he will be out next spring. He is looking for a B Coupe and I may sell him my Black ’63 Sunroof Coupe. I don’t drive it that much and it would be nice to think of it on the Autobahn at speed.

STEAMBOAT / MONTEREY

Steamboat was great! I was proud to see one of the 356’s I worked on honored in the program and with a parade lap. Norm also did well in his race. It may be the last race for number “52” as the crash box transmission needs to be saved. Bill was also there with his ’63 Coupe which I got ready for Steamboat. While he didn’t race, he did drive it for the first time since 1980.

So I was pretty proud of my efforts. So proud, I bought another 356. I’m working on Bruce’s Convertible D and he had his Coyote race car for sale. I always liked this 356 so we made a deal. No! I won’t be racing (my eyes and concentration aren’t up to it- I know, I’ve been on three race tracks). But we may have a few guest drivers next year.

Next August 14-17, Porsche will be featured at Monterey! It was supposed to be this year but Porsche bowed out due to the Boxster introduction. It will be a great event and we’ve already made reservations. You should too!

PROGRESS

At long last, we finished Mike’s ’64 Coupe. This 356 got a complete front clip (from the windshield forward), a rear clip, driver front floor, battery box bottom, sides and front, longitudinals, thresholds, rockers, closing panels, lockpost and other repairs I forgot. We are returning it to Mike in primer as he must fit everything before we paint. With so much metal work we will probably find problems with fit. It is a lot easier to fix this in primer rather than paint!

I’m doing the same thing on Ron’s ’60 Cabriolet. Ron has a mix of Cab and Coupe parts so I plan to fit everything prior to paint.

Warren’s ’65 Coupe will be next into the shop after Ryan does the color sand and rub out. I will need to install the glass and new rubber and make it pretty. This was a scratch and shoot job that had a lot of bondo over rust and really should have been blasted. We expect the Shop ’64 Cab back from the upholstery shop and also Dr. Jack’s Sunroof Coupe down from Vail. So we will be busy this winter, but I have to slow it down. Rather than 8-10 356’s a year we will probably commit to half that. The reason? Ryan is getting burnt out and my rent for the storage area just jumped to $750/mo. So we will have to stay in barn storage, build parts storage over my garage and slow down the number of 356’s.

TECH TIP

I find myself dry fitting everything on a 356. I used to assume parts would fit but now I check out everything before assembly. I must use my metric tap and die set many times a day. I continue to be dissatisfied with reproduction parts. For example, for the Shop ’57 I needed door wedge receivers. This is a simple aluminum part but the suppliers were out of stock. So I got some rough originals from Carquip and back ordered the repros. Six months later the parts arrived. They wouldn’t fit! The holes were misaligned and the depth was too shallow! I’ll save them for a lockpost replacement job. The repro recievers will probably fit on a repro lockpost which doesn’t fit too well anyway!

SHOP TRUCK

The 3 year lease is up on the shop truck so I will get another S-10 Blazer. I checked into the Tahoe but they are so much in demand the dealers won’t deal. With the S-10 Blazer I get a good lease plus the benefit of my GM card. Yes, I use a GM Mastercard for all my 356 parts purchases. This saved me over $1000 on my new lease. I think it’s great that GM is funding Porsche restoration.

PARTS PRICING

I don’t have fixed prices for 356 parts. I price them based on the 356 and the owner. When we lived in Minnesota there was an old man that lived on a nearby farm. He had an outdoor privy and we use to stack hay bales around his house for warmth. He must have been in his late eighties. He could no longer drive a car but still had his tractor. One day I drove him into town to have his tractor starter fixed. He had $5.20 for the repair. This is what they had charged him fifteen years prior for a similar repair. When I picked him up, the repair shop had charged him $5.20. When I questioned the repair shop owner it was not a question of charity, but respect. So that’s how I run my business; respect for the 356 Porsche and respect for the owner who cares.

356’s For Sale

I get calls on 356s for sale. I know of a nice Roadster and an outstanding SC Coupe. give me a call 840-2356