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Restoration Journal of a 1958 Porsche 356A Cabriolet
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Locked Trunk Lid - Bonehead Tip of the Week
Like an idiot, I locked the trunk lid closed. We were trying to set the depth of the retaining pin and had to open and close the lid several times. Only we tried once too many and the lid locked and was hopeless to open. We could pull on the release cable and feel the spring pull it closed so I knew I didn't have a broken spring or cable. My assumption was that the catch pin (mushroom shaped pin) was not straight and the pin lip was catching on the side of the locking mechanism.
So how was I to get into the truck from the underside and work it loose? I had lunch with a 356 buddy this week and he suggested going through the tie rod cover. At least if I damaged it I could get another. This was a better idea than my plan of cutting a hole in the battery box.
I started by cutting notches in the back of the bolts on the underside of the tie rod cover. Fortunately, my bolts were 1/4" longer than they needed to be. The notches allowed me to back them out with a screw driver into the trunk. I had success with 3 of the bolts but the 4th was damaged in the process since I didn't get the notch in the center. As a result, I had to cut out the weldelet nut on the 4th. Once all the bolts were out and the cover off, I was able to reach into the trunk area and unbolt the locking mechanism.
I'll leave the tie rod cover off until I get the lock working like I want. Once I install the cover, I will go back together with notched bolts in the event that my cable or spring breaks. I think this will be easier access than Porsche's emergency access hole.
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Sunday, February 18, 2007
Another 356 Returns to the Road
Wiring Harness from YnZ....Too much to admit.
Body Panels from Zims and Restoration Design ....Wow, that was expensive!
Misc hardware and seals from Stoddard.......Do I own a share of the company now?
Paint and Body by Hamilton Classics........WOW!
Maiden voyage around the neighborhood........Priceless!!!
Today we drove Annie for a lap around the neighborhood for her first taste of the road. What a great feeling this was. I'm working on an engine issue right now and if things go well this week, we may make a trip to the Sonic next weekend.
Another Porsche 356 returns to the streets!
       
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Friday, February 16, 2007
Vintage Texas Black License Plates
 We registered Annie today complete with vintage "black plates." We are now legal to cruise - within limitations.
When I was researching the process to use black plates, I found very little support and everyone had a different understanding. The following is my process and opinions (disclaimer: I do not work for the state of Texas and this information should not be considered legal advice).
When you buy your car, get it titled. Many people buy cars based on a bill of sale and keep their car for years this way before it hits the pavement. I recommend that you title it as soon as you get it home. The title is your proof that you are the rightful owner of the car. If you decide to sell the car in the future, people would trust you more if you have a title as opposed to a bill of sale. If you buy a car on a bill of sale, each state has a process obtaining a title. You can contact me and I will offer more detail on how I obtained my title.
Once it is titled, get insurance. Contact the vendors such as Hagerty, Leland West, J.C. Taylor, etc and get an agreed value policy. You can read more about this type of insurance on the vendor's websites. This insurance is cheap and well worth it. Even if it is years before your car hits the street, you are continuing to invest money into your project. Don't leave it to your homeowner policy to protect you car in the event of a fire or theft.
Once you are ready to drive the car, you will need to have it registered. In Texas, we have a choice of Antique and Classic plates. In either case, the car must be 25 years old. Cars with Antique plates are limited to "use exclusively for exhibitions, club activities, parades or other functions of public interest. Vehicles displaying Antique plates may not be used for regular transportation or carry advertising; however, the vehicle may be driven to and from a location for routine maintenance." The definition of routine maintenance is up to you. The advantage is that the car is not subject to the state inspection. The registration sticker is small and nonintrusive and is good for 5 years ($50).
Cars with Classic plates are not subject to limitations on usage. You can drive them anywhere you would drive your daily driver as often as you wish. The downside is that your car is now subject to state inspections and the cost of registration is higher. Your insurance will also need to be adjusted for this level of driving activity.
With either an Antique or Classic classification, you can use a black plate. The plate must be the correct year and must be in good condition. You must also own both of the plates although only one needs to be installed on the car. The registration office will verify that the plate is not currently registered to another vehicle. The plate you use does not need to be an unused or previously unregistered plate. Just find a clean set of plates worthy of your car.
The process was easy and I much prefer the look of the black plate on my car rather than the state issued plate. It's a nice touch to the whole restoration process.
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Friday, February 16, 2007
Window Frames
 I installed the passenger side window frame assembly last week. Like any other window frame assembly, it's a puzzle to put together and your arms will be a pretzel before you get it figured out.
My only real challenge was that the channels for the glass had to be cut to fit becuase they were too long. These channels bolt to the bottom of the doors, which I had replaced, only I did not position the door bottoms low enough. My suggestion for replacing door bottoms is to install these channels so that you know the correct elevation of the door bottom. I only have the passenger side window assembly, if you have a driver side available, please let me know.
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Friday, February 16, 2007
Wiring Complete
We spent this past week finishing up the wiring. My complements to YnZ for the great job on the wiring harness. They really made this an easy job.
Early in the project, we made the decision to replace the original wiring harness. The previous owner was selling parts off of the car and cutting the wires to remove the components. Between the missing and short connectors, the fact that a bunch of cutting and welding was going to take place, and a whole bunch of splices and bare wires, we made the investment into a new wiring harness and yanked out the old.
Back in July 2005, we pulled the wiring harness throughout the car. At the time, I really thought that this was going to be a mess. It was actually really easier than I thought. All of the wires came out to the right length and to the right locations. All of the connections were well soldered or crimped. Only a few connection had to be changed from a bullet connector to a spade or vice versa - minor details. A nice detail is that the wires all match the original color codes.
The documentation from YnZ leaves a little to be desired. If you use their documentation along with a color wiring chart, you can figure it out. If you add in Joe Leoni's reference books, it gets real easy to figure out what goes where. Cyberwerkstatt also has a nice site for 356 electronics.
We complicated things a little by replacing the wiper assembly with a T6 wiper assembly. I also received a quote from Palo Alto Speedometer only to find that all of the gauges were junk and not worth rebuilding. YnZ also added for me a 3rd brake light connection so that I can install a LED brake light in the engine grill from Top Serve.
It's kind of cool now to turn out the garage lights and light the garage up with the car.
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Friday, February 02, 2007
New Shiny Parts
 Assembly is underway and seems to happen in short increments. Every time I turn around there's a small screw, seal, knob or other part that I am missing.
A couple weeks back we installed the hood seal with success. We followed the instructions in the registry's Technical and Restoration Guide (volume 1). There are many other references with the instructions but this was the most complete. Rather than detail the process, I'll let you buy the book (you should already have one at this point). The only deviation we took was that we did not glue the seal, we only screwed it down. One other detail that should be added is that the screw spacing should be about 6".
 Other small parts are now being added daily such as hinge covers, Porsche scripts, Reutter tags, door seals etc. We have installed all of the switches and related wiring and the gauges have been sent out to be rebuilt. I also received new Ruetter ID and paint code tags from Zim's. They have the original size stencils to stamp these out.
This evening I sprayed the final coat of undercoating in the fender wells. Once this dries in the morning I plan to paint over the overspray that is on the rockers and suspension.
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