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Restoration Journal of a 1958 Porsche 356A Cabriolet
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Annie Gets Some Sun
Today, we bought tires and rolled her out into the sun for the first time since December of 2003. The tires were bought at Discount Tire a few miles ways. The tires are 195-60-R15 Barum Bravuris mounted on 5-1/2" chrome rims. When we were at the Gulf Coast Holiday a few weeks back, we surveyed tires and the car's look and selected the 195-60. Our rims are chrome 5-1/2" and the 195 gives them a little bit bigger diameter. These tires are directional and have a tread similar to the Goodyear Aquatread. Some may say that they are wrong for my car since they are not period correct while I think they are actually a safer tires. Since the front tires have so little weight, I am concerned with hydroplaning. With this type of tread, the water will displace much more quickly and in turn be a safer tire.
Earlier this week we installed the rear radius arms and completed the rear suspension. Setting the correct angle for the swing arms took some time. Once I leveled the car using the tunnel as my plane, I measure the distance from the ground to the center of the torsion bar and the ground to a point at the end of the radius arm on the same line. Using a little engineering I was able to figure that the relative vertical distance should be about 3-1/8". The following hour was spent with various combination of rotating the torsion bar within the fit in the body and then the radius arm on the torsion bar. Since there are 40 teeth in the fit in the body and 44 in the radius arm, there is quite a bit of flexibility to set the angle.
A couple of lessons learned. Install the swing arm and mount the axle tube to it before you install the brakes. It takes some prying of the radius arm to get the axle tube to fit correctly and the backing plate of the brakes get in the way. You should also attach the e-brake cable to the brake before you mount the brakes on the axle. The cable housing is pretty rigid and you need the flexibility to install the cable.
In all of this, I found that I had the e-brake lever on the wrong side of the brake shoe and that I had left out the spreader bar. I was able to change the lever quickly however I had to order another set of the spreader bars. I'm getting pretty good at installing the brakes.
I finally found a place to turn my rear brake drums. I called Ask Imports, a local VW specialist and legend in Houston, and was referred to Hare Repair near Richmond and Chimney Rock.
1 Comments:
Might want to check clearence when turning lock to lock, might scrub those tires...
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Monday, April 25, 2005
Gearbox Installed
We reached what I feel to be a pretty good milestone this weekend, we installed the gearbox (transmission).
It took me some time but I final got the gasket thickness correct between the sideplates and the axles tube plates. The left side only needed about 0.020" (2 gaskets) while the right side needed about 0.080" worth. Since these axle tubes were not the original, it doesn't surprise me that they required different spacing. I also received new axle boots and got them started while the gearbox was on the floor. Once we get the car on it's wheels, I'll put the boots in the correct position and tighten the clamps so that they are tightened in it's neutral position.
We have spent the past few months slowly installing all of the tunnel hardware and I must admit that I am glad that we did. Once the gearbox is in, it would be very difficult to feed through the wiring harness, accelerator and clutch cables, and the brake lines.
We did have a little problem as the transmission was going up. We found that we mistakenly pulled the wiring harness through the hole for the shifter nose rather than the correct hole for the wiring. Once we corrected that, we raised it, had it hanging on the hoop, and found that I had the hoop installed backwards. Back down we go and a I flipped it quickly. Remember, the hoop side with the larger boss goes towards the front of the car.
The brake assemblies with new shoes are ready to install and I have new wheel bearing and seals from Zim's. I am having trouble finding someone to turn the rear drums however. The splines are the same as early VW and all the shops I have spoken to have either lost the adapter for their lathe or have started to buy replacement VW drums since they have become so cheap.
I'm not real clear on how to set the rear alignment. Once we have the car sitting on the ground, I'll have to get a little help with that. Trailing arms are currently being painted and should be ready this next weekend. Hopefully next weekend we can roll it out of the garage for the first time.
1 Comments:
I am currently restoring a 59 convertible d.
The center console will be welded to the floor in the next week. My question is:
Where exactly is the wring harness routed while inside the console? i was thinking the pass side upper corner through the "inner tunnel"...
Also, where is the fuel line, brake line and tach cable routed as well? Is it through the other "inner tunnel" on the left side of the console?
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Monday, April 25, 2005
Safety Notes
I have always considered myself to work in a pretty safe manner. What I mean by that is I wear safety classes, gloves, and ear plugs as second nature. My father, a oil refinery machinist, preached safety to me when growing up and as my career developed in the oil and gas industry, safety has always been first and foremost. As we do at work, when we have a near miss, we tell others and hope that we can all learn from it.
This past week I was assembling the rear brake assemblies. As I was trying to install a spring that holds down a brake shoe to the backing plate, the spring slipped loose and hit me square in the eye. The spring came off with such velocity that I felt the impact before I realized that I had lost it. I came off with such force that it left a pretty good groove in the glasses. I have to say I was stunned. If I were not wearing my safety glasses, it's likely that I might have had some serious eye damage.
So here is my safety thought for the day; Always wear your safety glasses when working with springs. It doesn't matter which way the spring is pointed, it can ricochet off of something else and come back at you.
Remember, it's a hobby. Don't force yourself to work on something. If it is frustrating you becuase it doesn't fit like you want it to, walk away. Come back later when you have a clear head.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Gulf Coast Holiday
The Gulf Coast Holiday was a real blast. We were one of only a few couples that did not bring our own cars with them. I would estimate that a third were from Texas, the rest were from all over the country. The longest drive (in his 356) was a guy that drove from Maryland.
Theresa and I did not participate in drive on Friday. Instead, we made the rounds in Gruene, TX. That evening, everyone boarded buses (3 buses) for a private tour of the Alamo and dinner on the River Walk. The Concourse was set up for Saturday where almost 150 356's were displayed. My photos can be found here along with links to Bill Hamilton's photos. That afternoon we attended the swap meet and picked up a pedal assembly from Jim Kellogg and a 356A electrical book from Joe Leoni. The evening was finished with a fabulous banquet and award ceremony.  
My two favorite cars were both from Jones Autowerks - a '59 Carrera Coupe and the 356A training car. The '59 Carrera was a marvel of it's own as it is the grandfather of the modern day Carrera. 
The training car was great because it allowed me to take many photos of the way thing ought to be. It was used back in the day to train mechanics and was restored years later by Bill's shop. 
It was great to see so many 356's in one place. It was amazing to see many of the cars that you see on the web or in magazines. It was also great to meet some of the people that I have exchanged emails with over the past year and who have supported our efforts. I don't know if there will be a Holiday close to us again next year. Regardless of where it is we hope to have our car ready to go.
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Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Front Suspension Complete
Since January we have not made much progress. Just not much interest with the nice weather and our recent travels. We attended the Gulf Coast Holiday this past weekend and have come home with a renewed vigor to work with. More on the holiday will be posted soon.
I had the front brake drums turned and then installed them with new seals and bearings. At first, the guy at O'Reilly Auto wouldn't turn the drums because his guide book didn't list my car with the specs on how far he could turn them. I told them that all I needed was for him to just take a skim cut to true them up and clean off the rust. He looked at me as if I was from Mars. After a little convincing, he let me go back to the shop with him and turn the drums myself. He didn't want anything to do with it if they were too far out of spec and the shoes wouldn't fit. According to my books, each of the drums is now about 0.020 oversized - not too bad for 47 year old brake drums.
I finally bought a pneumatic right angle drill from Northern Tool to drill out the broken bolts at the rear trailing arms. What a difference the right tools make. Within 2 hours, I had all 6 broken bolts drilled out and the holes tapped.
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