356 chassis

[neilb]

as some of you are aware i am rebuilding a 356 and not far off finishing the chassis, this is in regard to something Justin said, that maybe i should build chassis up for other people. now i was thinking of building another car after i had done mine, to sell on to try and make a little money.

my question is would it really be worth while producing a bare body with the hanging panels?

obviously it wouldn't be a porsche built body but i was thinking of those who do racing and the like, who would rather wreck a 'fake' steel body than a genuine?

i believe there is a company over in the US that builds speedsters from boxster shells (pretty sure I've seen that lol)

just thinking out loud at the moment...

[roy mawbey]

Neil,

You have the ability I am sure to fabricate and produce some really super steel chassis repair and body items your other thread shows that for sure.

But.. and its only really my opinion there might be more actual interest in producing some very difficult items not readily available from existing suppliers. Seen on here a few days ago some really nice work for example on rusted torsion bar area's. Problem is of course every repair panel required can vary in size ( with regard to rust damage ) from car to car. Car models themselves vary even with the shape of the part. Just the torsion bar area alone is different from the 'a ' to the later versions.

Its a complicated process,buying repro parts does not mean for the normal DIY guy that they will fit after removing the old rusted section. Just look at Justin's experiences. Bodies welded to chassis make the requirement for fixturization or jigs almost essential. If they were bolt on it would be different

Given an old 356 with all the normal areas of rust I am sure like Justin you could attack it and finish it. You would from what I have seen do an excellent job that's where I see your skill should be used. With your car though there is still all the outer body to get visually correct. Do you have the ' leading skills ' as well?

I have done this repair work and therefore able to say I do not have anywhere near the skill level I really needed but, am aware of how really difficult it is to do.

Neil as said above its only my opinion.

Roy

[JTR70]

Neil, From what I've seen you would be the guy to pull off a complete frame from scratch but I don't think it would be worth your effort in the end as the asking price would always be limited as its not an original Porsche or titled as such. I think a more worthwhile venture along a similar line would be to offer completely rebuilt frames with clean original Porsche title.

rebuild them and offer them for sale up to this point; not necessarily running but all frame work done to here.

The prices would certainly vary to year but I think a Pre-A chassis rebuilt up to the level of the above example could be worth as much as 40-50K. An A-chassis as much as 25-30K maybe more. Lets say its a B/C chassis A perfect jumping off point for a Pre-A back-date project or coupster. The beauty of it all of course is there's no complicated coachwork on your part unless of course you want to contract for it.
Anyway this was an idea I had rolling around in my head about a year ago. Got your gears working aye?

What do you think?

For sale: 1954-55 bare coupe chassis jigged and rebuilt to factory spec and detail. Ready platform to build your dream on. Clean 1954-55 Porsche title. $50,000 Wife and mother-in-law will load.

[911quest]

For sale: 1954-55 bare coupe chassis jigged and rebuilt to factory spec and detail. Ready platform to build your dream on. Clean 1954-55 Porsche title. $50,000 Wife and mother-in-law will load.

Don't short yourself that's a earlier chassis looks to be '51 or earlier. I'm impressed with the mother in law you could stat a new company and call it the urban in-law she would need some dreads to really pull it off.

[neilb]

roy, the finishing panel work is really the easy part of the job, i do general bodywork every day. panel fabrication is not my everyday job but i get what your saying. thank you

Justin, i was genuinely thinking of building another car after this one to sell, i have been asked to fabricate some outer panels for a guy who was fitting up his restored Heeley 100 in the next workshop to me, so he can modify a beetle to accept the outer panels to gain a fake convertible 356.

i must say i do like that picture of the early chassis! not to stereo type but one of the women does look a little like a shot putter lol, and there goes chivalry walking past without a second look if they need help lol

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Great pics. Seen the two ladies before, but the bare chassis, super shot. I tried to upload one Porsche themselves had a year or so ago and couldn't do it.

What if that German lady had tripped and dropped that chassis on her feet. Heath and safety at work, never heard of then I guess.

Still think the jigging of so many pieces would mean much investment to get the measurements all correct.

Roy

[JTR70]

I'm impressed with the mother in law too; she got the heavy end as that front beam assembly weighs noticeably more.

You can grab this copy Roy.

Neil, I have no doubt you'll have more 356 related work then you'll want to handle.

[Jonesy_356]

You can tell its genuine, because only two German chicks would be carting that around. Once dated a German girl. I was very scared of her.

[bbspdstr]

HA! I was married to a Russian girl...."Strong, like two bull!"

Seriously, the cars in the background appear to be split window 356s, so that early "pre-" A chassis could be that early.

The pictures of the Factory training chassis do not make the details clear, but most of them in that era had a pre-A side and an A side for comparative demonstration to new mechanics...(obviously not bodymen)....when the designs were morphing, evolving and becoming more accepted and sold in greater numbers.

Ten years ago Bill Jones displayed a training chassis at the Texas R-Holiday just like the one pictured, but I heard his son Bob couldn't wait to sell it...on eBay. Maybe that's the one.

-Bruce