Right Hand Drive 356

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Sorry guys been really busy.

I decided to not install an aircon. Got that sorted with a fan.


Got the car cilajeted.




Drive up the car for a local Porsche meet. Car travelled well to a 100mph. It was in Melaka about 150km from KL.





Drove back to Johor (home) which is 350km. On the way there met a 993tt and a 930 and a 911 3.2. Convoyed back to home at 100-110 mph at 4500rpm. Am smitten with the car.








I have a few questions.
What happens when you overfill the engine?
How many litres do you need for an oil change?

One of my carbs isn't that great. Was told a carb cleaner would work. Any recommendations?

[roy mawbey]

Murugesh,

I think its time you bought a drivers manual for your 356. It will give you the important things to do ona regular basis and show you where they all are. You need that book in your car just in case it stops running and you are away from home.

The engine has a dip stick and 2 lines scribed on it the oil shou;d be between them. The crankcase has a bolt on the bottom to drain the oil. If its over the top line drain some out. If you are filling it do it slowly and check as you go.( 4 litres of oil approx at oil change )
I use a standard HD multigrade 20-50 oil. Used to use a straight SAE30 grade for many years.

Your carbs are mechanical items with jets. I have never used a carb cleaner except to clean the outside castings. Buy the book and clean and check the jets as well as all the linkages.

Buy a repair kit so you have gaskets. Remove covers and you should always replace gaskets! Your carbs should be syncronized to work together. Read up on that subject.

You know what I am going to say next Murugesh,

Buy the Book !! look on forum websites or internet.The ' Elfrink '
book is helpful as well.

Roy

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Thanks Roy. Not very mechanical. Going to change that.

Just ordered the books. Will keep you updated on how it goes. Someone told me Porsche makes classic oil so will look into getting that.

[JTR70]

Thanks for sharing Murugesh! Sounds like it was a great trip! Averaging 100MPH huh ; you were really pushing the old girl! What did the 911 owners have to say about your car?
Justin

[neilbardsley]

One of your carbs isn't great but you averaged > 100mph! Listen to Roy about the owners manual. Changing oil is simple (even I can do it) and it will make your engine last longer. In fact after driving your car that hard I would be tempted to open the oil filter canister, pull out the filter and have a look to see if you had anything in there? After checking your oil level that is

Lovely car.

[S.J.Szabo]

Mr.Nidyananda:

I hope you will not take this as... pushy (bossy?), but given your apparent level of mechanical experience, and given that none of us would like to see you have an "Oh-oh" moment if it could be avoided, I would like to make a couple of (helpful) suggestions.

Get your carb problems sorted out before you flog the engine; there are several possible ugly outcomes from not doing so.

If you have not done so already, change the oil in the gearbox and engine immediately. Assuming you have not done so, there is no telling when or what was last put in there. Plus, it is a good idea to look for signs (metal shavings or larger bits, etc.) of the cars past life. The suggestion about the filter is a good one (hot tip: a common plastic turkey baster works very well at emptying the filter canister (which should be done with every oil change)).

Given you apparent wheel/tire size (and assuming a "C" 4th gear), its a safe bet that you should be getting about 19mph/1K rpm. Since it is unlikely that your mechanical tach is very far wrong, your speedo is lying to you.

Finally (finally!), I'm glad you are enjoying your new-to-you 356, but perhaps you should take it easy on the revs (and running with the big dogs) until you get a better feeling for its condition and abilities. Its almost 60yrs. old, and unless you bought it from your original-owner brother, there is no telling just what has been done to it in the past. When you buy an old car, it is wise to be very skeptical of everything the seller has told you about it.

Take your time; get to know the rascal. A little caution now might save a lot of grief later.

Just what is meant to be a helpful suggestion from another voice of experience.

Unless, of course, I'm talking out of school, in which case you should ignore this old geezer's lecturing.

PS: The Elfrink Manual is a good place to start.

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Hi guys, i guess the flogging got to her Accelerator cable rod came out of its place and accelerator had no spring back.(I am trying to explain in as simple as possible terms) The throttle linkage was taken off and re-assembled by a mechanic friend who has been working on the car from my home.

Car has been grounded for the last 4 days, it had to be towed back home and we are working on it slowly. I also removed my rear luggage rack.




On the carbs, the car was misfiring on cold starts. The carbs are clean(i thought that was the problem,maybe i am listening to many people), however. Car has been tuned and It is not as rich as before. Hoping that solves the problem.

Few problems now.

1. Battery was changed on Thursday. Fitted in a DIN55 battery. However whenever I start the car the orange generator light, at the tacho keeps lighting up. When i start driving it goes away. My car has been converted to a 12V but is still running a dynamo. Is there something wrong? I am using a 'new era' regulator. Could it be problem with the regulator.

2.Starter cranks but car doesnt start. Hope it isnt the flywheel. The engine was rebuilt 1900 miles ago so I highly doubt it. Hoping it just is the starter motor.


I have ordered the manual.Awaiting for it to come. In the meantime, how often does gearbox oil have to be changed? What parts should I always carry in the car and what parts should i stock keep at home.

Mr.Szabo,

'suggestion about the filter is a good one (hot tip: a common plastic turkey baster works very well at emptying the filter canister (which should be done with every oil change)).'

I dont understand how the turkey baster works.

All in all thank you for the comments guys. I owe you all a lot for helping me out. I apologise in advance if i ask too many questions. I am just a little lost

[neilbardsley]

If you take the top of the filter canister (I think 19mm bolt) then pull the filter out and there will be some oil in the bottom of the canister. Use the turkey blaster to suck up the oil and see if there is anything left in the bottom which isn't oil. If it's pretty clean put the filter, or a new one back in, and put a little clean oil back in.

[neilbardsley]

"2.Starter cranks but car doesnt start. Hope it isnt the flywheel. The engine was rebuilt 1900 miles ago so I highly doubt it. Hoping it just is the starter motor."

I'm not the best at this but you need spark and fuel to start the car. Therefore if your engine is cranking when you trying to start then it's one of the above.

To check the spark take each lead individually off a plug and see if you get spark between the lead and sheet metal. If not then start to trace back. Next look at dizzy which could be the problem that your points need adjusting. The dwell angle should be about 50. I suggest cleaning all the points in the dizzy and adjust and you may solve your problem?

To check the fuel take the pipe off after the pump and put into a tub and crank the engine. If you don't get fuel then start going backwards too.

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Car has started but the thread of the fuel pump was stripped,so the mechanic suggested to flare it out.(i have left it to him)

My dads fren who has 2 A's suggested i use an electronic fuel pump and keep the mechanical one as a show. And to change my distributor to an electric one. This makes the car more reliable.(in his words) guys would appreciate your comments

Ordered some parts from Pelicanparts got the whole bearing set and a steering damper and a link pin and king pin kit. Hoping this solves the wobbly at high speeds. Will post more updates in near future. Hoping i can use her by this weekend.

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Oh i have a question. My car is a RHD.

Did RHD cars have red and amber beehive lenses or were they both red? My car came with both being in red so am just curious?

[roy mawbey]

European cars had amber and orange Some cars in the USA had both all red.

I like an red rear stop light. Over here all are red on the stop light.

I converted my lights so the amber is just a single pole bulb for indicator direction and the red to a double pole bulb for stop light and rear red light.

What is normal in Malasia?

Roy

[neilbardsley]

Car has started but the thread of the fuel pump was stripped,so the mechanic suggested to flare it out.(i have left it to him)

My dads fren who has 2 A's suggested i use an electronic fuel pump and keep the mechanical one as a show. And to change my distributor to an electric one. This makes the car more reliable.(in his words) guys would appreciate your comments

Depends that you mean by an electronic dizzy. You can replace the points with a magnetic which will mean that you have to spend less time checking/setting points. Plus this can work in your current dizzy body but this still means that you have to check your advance curve. Lots of people do this and report good results. I think it's an easier solution if you have a 12v car. However, you can go for a complete change like 123Ignition which use optics and electrics to time and advance. The advance of this is not have to check the points and having different (even programable) advance curve available. I have a BR18, with normal points in my 356, and a 123 in my 912. Both work well. However, when the day come that the BR18 needs replacing/servicing I would probably replace with the 123 unit.

[S.J.Szabo]

Mr.Nidyananda:

Hmmmm... One day you're running with the big dogs, and the next day it has a bad hangover. See what I mean about 60 yr. old cars?

Well, slow and easy does it. Let's get back to the basics first.

When you get a new old car, change all the fluids immediately (don't forget the brakes, and check the steering box), examining them carefully for signs of condition of the mechanical parts. This is a key part of getting to know your machine, short of taking it apart to do so. However, I will note that some folks (myself included) are not comfortable until the engine and gearbox are apart, revealing the truths of their history, but this takes an advanced level of expertise or a very fat wallet. At any rate, once the fluids are fresh, you can start the clocks on in-service replacements accurately.

Anyway, this is where tricks like the turkey baster come in. As noted above, it is used to neatly suck the oil out of the filter can until the small steel stand at the bottom is revealed. Remove the stand and suck out the rest of the oil. Then, using a clean paper towel, wipe the bottom of the can thoroughly so that it is clean. Carefully examine the towels for chunks, etc. amongst the goo. When finished, replace the stand and filter and slowly fill with fresh oil till the can is full. Cap it and put the remainder of four quarts (U.S.) in the sump.

I can't tell from your description the nature of your fuel pump problem, but I will offer this:

I would respectfully suggest that you should get all the original (current) systems functioning properly before you start changing stuff, so that 1)you know that everything works as it was designed to do, and 2)when you change the parameters of an unsolved problem, you will make finding the root causes all the more difficult.

When properly sorted, the original mechanical configurations will work very well in the operation of the vehicle. Once you get it running right, you can take your time to investigate the appropriateness of various changes in configuration for the sake of longevity/reliability/ease of operation. But let me be clear about this; the 356 will perform very well for quite a few miles with just its original systems.

My best advice at this point is to get it running right, just the way it sits now, while trying to learn what it takes to keep it that way. Not so many people know this, but it is very satisfying to efficiently complete a successful tuneup. You have no idea how proud one feels after synchronizing a pair of carbs.

There is more to enjoying old cars than pushing pedals and steering a wheel. That's what new cars are for.

[Murugesh Nidyananda]

Mr Szabo,

You are certainly right. Car is on the road once again but well some issues here and there. Certainly does give me a headache to figure her out.

The car is running again with a modified electric fuel pump. However car feels sluggish. Wondering is it the pressure or accelerator cable which was not tightened to be as taut as before, due to it coming off.Not sure if it is distributor contact points?

http://www.stoddard.com/356-1/cables-pedals-levers/pedals.html

Been looking here, and thinking i should order a whole set of stuff to make it new again, especially all the accelerator components and a throttle linkage. Can anyone lead me to where i can get a new throttle linkage for the 356?

Seriously contemplating putting in a distributor from 123. Is this a wise choice?

On a positive note, i have stripped the carpets in the boot.