356

Thanks to Tom Perazzo, I discovered that one of my front lower trailing arms (aka suspension lever) was bent. Anything over .008″ is considered bent. Mine measured .010″ in one plane and .018 in another. Also have a cracked bearing race on a different arm. While searching for a good used replacement, I found there […]

Have the original drum brakes. They appear to be in pretty bad shape. One side of the car was inexplicably painted black. Outer edge of one separating from the main part of the drum. Sent a photo to Martin Willis at The Machine Shop, who has an excellent reputation for repairing and restoring drum brakes.

Car has finally been stripped of every last nut and bolt. With help from friends and neighbor got the dolly on the trailer and strapped down. Made it the 2 hour journey to American Stripping in Sacramento without rattling to pieces. Got a brief tour while there. They will start with plastic media to remove

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

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