What a long strange journey it’s been. After two years, almost to the week, of off and on weekend work, the assembly is finally complete.
Had I known the state of the engine I was starting with, I may not have attempted this project. So many wrong parts. Not just unoriginal, or date code incorrect. Parts that were not meant to be on this engine. It made the process not just more costly. It left me without a reference for how things were meant to be assembled in several cases. I also had to second guess everything I had to work with (i.e. is that hole supposed to be there?). The only good I can take from it is I had to learn a lot more about the subtle differences in various Porsche parts (i.e. models of 356, 912, and even VW).
Evaluating what I started with, the only things I was able to keep:
- 3 pieces of case
- Heads
- Camshaft
- Carbs and air cleaners
- Generator
- Fuel pump and a couple fuel line segments
- Oil pump
- Distributor and drive gear
- Oil filter can
- Fan shroud, and a couple pieces of engine tin
Regardless of the outcome, in order to get where I am today I am indebted to:
- My father who found the car in the first place, and provided me the opportunity to tear it apart and see if I could make something of it
- Harry Pellow (aka The Maestro). I feel like I made a friend even though I never met him. His books and videos guided me along in a way that made it seem achievable (for better or worse).
- The Porsche 356 Registry community, who were mostly patient in answering my often banal and sometimes tedious postings
- Parts vendors like Stoddard, Sierra Madre, and Klasse 356 that continue to make parts available so that it’s possible to restore these cars
- Service providers like Elgin Cams, 356 Carb Rescue, ABC Parts Werks, and Ollies Engineering, whose value in knowledge of these cars is hard to measure
Tomorrow we will try to fire it up. Keep the faith.
