I’ll soon be trailering our 356 chassis to my home garage so that I can work on it in earnest. Our route will be from Missouri to California, mainly along interstate 40. We’ll be stopping at Ollies and California Motorsports (CMS) in Lake Havasu City to drop off our 914-6 engine and transmission. I am very fortunate to have …
The 356 Super 90 had no tires, and I needed to get it rolling so it can go on a trailer. It won’t be driven any time soon, so I was looking for the cheapest option I could find. The local tire shop Nathan’s found these, and I got all four including mounting for $300. …
Even thought I’m elated that the engine fires up and idles, there is some room for improvement. If I try to increase the revs too quickly, the engine wants to die. Looks like there’s a general 3 step approach. Stoddard has a handy online Tune-up Specifications page for most of the pertinent numbers: Adjust the …
I don’t know how I neglected to post the obligatory before and after. Ideally these would have been from the same angle under the same lighting. Oh well.
Everything is assembled. Engine is mounted to a Zalex Industries running stand. New battery sourced. I’m finally at the point of trying to fire this engine up. With a heavy blanket and fire extinguisher nearby, I tripled checked the wiring and attempted the initial fire up today. It was both exciting and extremely nerve racking. …
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. …
I continue to be frustrated / amazed at how parts from a single manufacturer do not simply bolt together. I purchased a factory Porsche exhaust. Installing it may have been the most physical activity I did this week. In theory, it. Should have been as easy as sliding the mounting flanges over the bolts and …
I believe, nay badly hope, I’m purchasing my last engine part. I had put off the battery purchase till the very end, in hopes of getting a fresh one. I landed on the “red top” 6-volt Optima AGM battery, based on user reviews, 356 Registry forum posts, and availability. I was able to get it …
I finally broke down and bought a new oil bleeder / filler / breather. I had really hoped to restore an original. Not only did I hope to stick with theme of using original correct for the car parts where possible, but also save several hundred dollars. I had two candidate parts that appeared to …
I finally got one of the air guides (aka dual flapper boxes) installed. It was quite a fiddly bit. I undoubtedly marred my paint, which is frustrating. First it wasn’t obvious to me how it fit between the fins of the head. I was going to have to bend some metal to get it to …
