Porsches and Pastries
Preparations are under way for Porsches and Pastries October 15th. We will be celebrating fifteen years of restoring the Porsche 356 and the fact that we have worked on one hundred 356s. Decisions on food, drink and pastries have been made and items for the goody bags have been ordered.

The date is October 15th at 356RESTORE. It will be open shop between 10:00AM to 6:00PM so you come when you can. There will be a short presentation at 2:00 to recognize those who have supported us for the last fifteen years. We picked a date that didn’t conflict with other events but Colorado weather can be iffy in October. We will put a message on both phones if we have to reschedule. Phone numbers are (303) 841-6475 and (303) 840-2356.

West Coast Holiday 2006
What an event! One hundred and sixty two 356s from all over the U.S. We started with registration in Snowmass on Tuesday. The weather was great and you could hear the 356s arriving all day. The car wash areas were busy as the Concours was scheduled for the next day.

Wednesday was a short drive to the Concours site. What a sight! Over one hundred and fifty 356s in all the Porsche colors. There were lots of Speedsters and a few Carreras.

Judging was Peoples Choice with a few 356s entered in the White Glove Concours. We helped judge the White Glove. Mel Shapiro took first with his gorgeous black Speedster. Rosi Lohnert took second with her (Lucile’s) ’64 Coupe.

After the Concours mini tech sessions were held outdoors and repeated throughout the event so you could attend them all.

At the Concours a fellow was kneeling in the passenger side of his 356 and as he stood up his shoulder hit the windshield and he pushed the windshield partially out of the frame. He hoped I would be able to reset the seal as he had to drive back to Atlanta. I looked at the damage and said we would have to remove the windshield and reinstall it. We would need some cord and beeswax. Since the Concours site was at a ski lift area they found some cord and wax at the ski shop. I was a little nervous removing his windshield as I didn’t want to crack it. But his 356 was a Cabriolet and it came right out. We laid it on a bra on the ground and inserted the cord. By now there were twenty people watching! The cord went in easily and I centered the windshield in the opening and with assistance I pulled the cord and the windshield went back in perfectly.

Time from the windshield out to windshield in was less than five minutes. A new world record for 356RESTORE. Must admit I was a bit nervous but pleased with the results; it does not always go that way!

Thursday was the drive to Steamboat Springs. They left in three groups of fifty. They went over Independence Pass and on to Kremling for lunch. There was some spirited driving!

At Steamboat I gave a mini tech session on pre purchase inspections using Phil Carney’s Convertible D as the subject (Phil has a great 356, I could only find one problem). It started to drizzle during the tech session and we had scattered showers for the next few days.

Friday was a Funkkhana laid out by Miles Christensen at the Meadows parking lot. It started out slow but soon there were up to ten 356s at a time lined up to run the course. I was assisting with the rope around the pylon part and had to run a few times as blindfolded drivers came at me!

Saturday was a 356 car show at the Courthouse in downtown Steamboat Springs. It was well attended by the public as a 356 owned by Ron Hetherington was pictured on the front page of the local newspaper. Saturday night was the banquet dinner on top of Mt Warner. What a sight of Steamboat at night as we rode the gondola down after an excellent meal.

Sunday was an early morning Swap Meet and then departure. We did real well at the Swap Meet (finally sold those backing plates we’ve been hauling to Swap Meets for years).

A huge thanks to all the Rocky Mountain 356 people who have worked for the last two years getting ready for this event; your hard work was greatly appreciated by all who attended.

Progress
We got the ’57 Shop Sunroof Coupe off to the painter and brought the Shop ’58 Coupe into the shop for disassembly and preparation for media blasting.

Reassembly on the Shop ’57 Speedster is almost done and it will be off to Autoweave. Let’s see, we have three 356s at Autoweave, one at the painters and one at Trevor’s. It appears we will be real busy for a while.

The next 356 into the shop will probably be a Shop ’64 Coupe for disassembly. The Shop ’58 Silver Outlaw, Shop ’64 Slate Grey Coupe, customer’s ’55 Coupe and customer’s ’59 Cabriolet will be coming back soon and we have to finish the customer’s 356s and prepare the Shop 356s for sale. Still to be restored are the Shop ’64 Coupe, Shop ’58 ex-race car, Shop ’61 chopped Outlaw and the Shop ’61 Coupe.

We haven’t done any 356 racing this year as the local tracks have closed due to land development.

The new tracks in Salt Lake City, Utah and Hastings, Nebraska hosted Vintage racers. While we didn’t attend due to time constraints, BJ did as a corner worker and indicated they are both great race tracks with a few startup problems. We hope for a new track in eastern Colorado and perhaps in Breckenridge. Bill Frey and I will probably run the Pueblo Enduro in October. Last year we took first in D production. Racing a 356 keeps you young!