356 T-1 Rebuild

[John Pierce]

Gordon,

Happy Holidays to you also! Beautiful picture.


John

[JTR70]

Thanks Gordon! Great photo of you guys with the car! The stance and wheels are perfect it really turned out beautiful! Merry Christmas!
Justin

[merbesfield]

Excellent pic Gordon.

[bbspdstr]

Gordon, great pictures! I am doing a T-1 with 5607 and gray. If you could tell me please what brand of paint through which you found Aquamarine metallic? I am having trouble with most vendors "getting it right" and while I spoke with John Willhoit about his sample and how close it is to my original sample and the car I am ready now to paint, he forgets which brand he used for his sample! I'll keep 'networking' until I get it right. I am at 7 samples from three brands now, and counting......

Thanks,
-Bruce Baker

[gkw]

Bruce, I used PPG two stage and was able to find a good original sample on the door
which I buffed out and matched on the paint store computer.
It came up with a GM color that was close and the computer adjusted from there.
Hope this helps, Gordon

Last photo is of the original paint and spray card with new color.

[admin]

Gordon,

in any case I missed it, please appologize, but can you give me details on the tire sizes you used in front and back? Whats offset (and size) do have those rear wheels?

Thanks in advance!

Tom - Onassis Porsches

tom@onassisporsches.com

[bbspdstr]

Gordon, thank you very much! PPG was one vendor not tried. We tried various DuPont color lines, Pro-Spray (a Brit-based company that has old Porsche formulas in single-stage but in acrylic-, not poly-urethane) and a new-to-me company, DeBeer (a Valspar subsidiary).
The car is a '57 but the paperwork from the Factory shows it was painted the '56 Aquamarine metallic.

Counter to the prevalent flow now of 356s, it was brought FROM Europe to the US a few years ago, painted it's original 5607 over a prior red paint done even earlier after a wreck. (We can see this when stripped, of course.)

An interesting past but with the owner now of over 20 years, in Europe and the US, focused on how it was when new.

While we all recognize that if we were to go to a 356 gathering all the 5607 cars would be a slightly different color just as the Ruby red cars would be, etc, the Willhoit sample of 5607 is what the owner wants...and just maybe PPG can supply that.

Thanks again,
-Bruce

[John Pierce]

Gordon,

I was going through your build again and was admiring your handwork sewing the leather seats. Can you provide the manufacturer of that heavy duty sewing machine? Are you interested in parting with it? With your skills you could go into business making seats.

John

[gkw]

John
It is an Adler 267 Heavy Duty leather machine. It was new machine when I bought it 25 or so years ago, it was pricey but well worth it. Its like
any good tool,
buy it once and it will last forever.
Looking at your metal skills you should not have any problems with
the interior.
Thank you Gordon

[gkw]

Tom
145's in the front and 165's in the rear with 5 1/2 rims
and I can not remember the offset.
The 165's were too large for the front, ran too close to the wheel well.
Gordon

[gkw]

I added an auxiliary fuel pump to aid starting after long periods of sitting and
I was pleased with the results.
I run the electric pump with a mini starter button and it takes only a few seconds
to fill the float chambers. This is nothing new but I thought I would post it anyway.
Gordon

[John Pierce]

Gordon,

I plan to do the same. Can you post the specs on the pump you used?

Thanks.

John

[JTR70]

Smart upgrade Gordon, thanks for sharing. The car's bodywork looks beautiful BTW. I hope those wheels above it are securely attached the wall.

[gkw]

John,
The brand is an Airtex E8902 and it is 6 volt with 2 1/2 to a 4 lb.
range. Comes with a pre filter ans 5/16 hose fittings.
Google it on the net for the best price.
The instructions want the discharge elevated from the suction end
to keep air from getting trapped. It runs nice and quiet.

Justin,
I had the same thought the other day and put a safety strap on the wheels. Gordon

[Jonesy_356]

Gordon,

finally got around to reading through your entire build. Well done Sir. Mostly, thank you for your advice about not being afraid to have a go and then re-do if you don't like it. I would prefer to learn to do things by trial and error, rather then paying someone to do it and never learning that skill.

Great job, great car, hope you enjoy it, it's one of the nicest I have seen.

Jonesy