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65 SC Coupe Recovered from the restoration barn

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  • 65 SC Coupe Recovered from the restoration barn

    Guys it’s been a while since I posted anything. Life gets in the way

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    Have a new “Back to the Road” project. Very nice signal red over black, 1965 SC coupe that has been off the road for 5-6 years. Mostly all there, recovered from a restoration project that went too long. Nice dry Karman Body car. Matching numbers and appears to be straight and never hit. It came via an estate sale, the previous owner had started five 356 restorations at the same time then passed away. Local Dr. bought it, sight unseen from a auction broker and contacted me when it came off the transporter. Engine out on a pallet, interior in boxes, T-5 seats missing all the closing tin, but overall nothing too hard to locate. So far it needs a battery box repair and passengers floor. There is a 1/2 thick fiberglass in the floor. Looks OK from the bottom , tap test fine and no flex, but must have had a real problem to have that much fiberglass in the floor. I could carve a corvette from it.

    Took the engine and put it on the test stand, pulled the plugs, mystery oil in the holes, ran a compression test and leak down. Compression was a little low but leak down was 95%+ on all for. Figure the compression was just dry rings from 5 years of setting out of the car. May have been rebuilt but no data on the engine. Adjusted the valves set the points and timing fired up after a few attempts. Has Webers that were dried out and a couple plugged passages, but finally cleaned up. The engine fired up good oil pressure and finally took a carburetor tune after about 30 minutes and getting warmed up. Here is Richard the new owner running his engine on the bench.



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    Swapped the T-5 Seats for a very nice set of T-6 with Eric Lenius and picked another chrome wheel for a spare. After looking for seats for a week of so I found a local 356 guy and restorer who is doing a very well appointed 60 Rutter Coupe, S-90 with GT Fuel tank, Rudge wheels fog-lights and many other options. So it worked out for both of us. The seats were redone a couple years ago and have perfect chrome and are in super shape. I cant say enough about how helpful Eric was in this. Converting the seat pans or the floor rails would have been a pain.

    Stuffed the motor, now working the fuel system and tank and brakes. Tank is rusty and fuel valve is plugged. Pulled the cup off the strainer and it had 1/2 in of aluminum dust mixed with bad gas in the bowl.

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    But over all the car looks good, it was painted with single stage, but not wet sanded or cut yet, Original rubber everywhere and was not disassembled when painted. Not a bad job, just not correct for a restoration. It will be passable from 5 ft. But overall another tub heads back to the road.

    More to follow thanks for looking.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Jbrooks; 08-25-2021, 12:10 AM.
    Pushed around since 1966.

  • #2
    What a great place to jump into a stalled project ; I'm sure you have it up and running in no time John. Looks like it will make a nice driver. The '60 coupe sounds like an amazing find. Any shots of it?
    Justin Rio

    Comment


    • #3
      Justin

      i offered an invitation to Eric to join and post on the site. I don’t have any photos of the T-5 coupe, but I do have his Irish green SC.


      Todays update on the Red SC. Got the fuel tank ready to reinstall and rebuilt the fuel cock with a new kit. All went well, reworked the front bumper, including the inner attach points and anchor nuts. Stripped and prepped for paint. Spot welds on the inner anchor channel went better than planned. Here’s Bob checking the alignment. All is well

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      Rebuilt one seat recliner that would not unlock. . Not too hard the pivot point nut had backed out a little and the holding gear was not engaging. Easy fix after watching “ Mikes Restorations” link below. He did some seats a couple years ago, best job ever.

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      Hope to have it on the road tomorrow, install the gas tank put the wheels back on in the morning and we are off. Shift to the bigger shop for a battery box and new body Shatz in the outer wheel wells .

      thanks for looking
      Pushed around since 1966.

      Comment


      • JTR70
        JTR70 commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks for inviting him John.

    • #4
      Well guys its alive and drives well.

      We had tuned it on the bench last week and stuffed the motor. Then it would not crank Thursday. Would almost turn 1/4 of a revolution but the compression would stop it. Acted just like a weak battery, Metered everything and could not figure it out. Fired right up on the test stand. I measured the trans bushing, has a new battery, starter, clean terminals, just no crank in the car. The car came less a starter and a few other minor thing were not in the boxes.

      Richard bought a new starter and it was DOA, solenoid worked, but motor would not spin up. Spent a day full chasing that down. Go figure I have not seen a NEW Bosch starter in years, NOS in the box and dead. I took the one on the engine stand and got the car running. I let Richard change it out, he will be a good custodian for this tub. Learns quickly and is not afraid to try. The grin on his face in the first hard turn was something to see. Its not his Perius for sure. Handles like a 356, not a shoe box and the Clock still works.. So third owner, never hit mostly original 356SC back together.

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      Got it out for quick Sunday back road test drive of 8 miles. (No Tags). Brakes are good, stops straight, no strange noises, strong engine, pulls very strong in 2nd gear. Has a bad shift coupling but I have a tool for that. Combo gauge needs overhaul. Fuel sender reads 19 ohms to 195 so its correct but the gauge only indicated to 5/8 full and stops. Oil temperature indicator is bad so the instrument will need to go out for repair. Temp meter will not move, meters open instead of the 200 ohms as normal. Now just a couple minor things, replace the heater cable, weld up the battery box. Paint the front bumper get it up on a lift to remove the old undercoating and inspect the underside better, The floors look OK except for a fiberglass repair on the passengers side. Looks like it had a Hole / soft spot about 10 x 10' right in the center between the seat and toe board rail. PO just taped up the underside and cast the floor with about a gallon of resign. The repair is plenty strong and solid so it may remain for a few months.

      Next is remove the original undercoating, formic acid bath and epoxy prime the underside, reseal all the seams with 3M seam sealer and after that a Wurth Body Schutz in the wheel wells and under-body.

      Finally out of the shop for a wash and touch up of rock chips and scratches in the paint work but over all an 8 out of 10 for a SC. We were only able to attain a horizontal velocity vector of 65 in the gravel driveway. Now awaiting the tags and insurance and get it ready for the club meeting on Saturday morning. Another tub back on the road after a five year rest. /
      Last edited by Jbrooks; 08-30-2021, 12:03 AM.
      Pushed around since 1966.

      Comment


      • #5
        Interesting story well done and a good account on how you got it running. How odd a NOS starter that no doubt looked new but did not work. It was good you had the bench starter to prove! I bet that fibreglass so thick would last for years but just look so wrong.

        Roy

        Comment


        • #6
          Well had it out again today, made it to the gas pump. Put 6 gallons of alcohol free gas in it. One gallon at a time Checking the gauge. Had a Leaking bead on one wheel, stopped and got that fixed.
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          then got it up to 80 MPH and solid as a rock….. then the oil pressure light came on at 5K in 4th gear. OH CRAP!!! . Clutch in , Shut down, pulled over. Plenty of oil on the stick, no leaks, no strange noises. Started back up nursed it home. Will put the real gauge back on tomorrow,, hopefully the speed just scared the original switch to death and did not shear the tang on the oil pump gear or the slot in the cam gear.

          but it’s solid, new shift coupling and oil pressure switch tomorrow afternoon , the; go put the fresh front bumper back on.
          Last edited by Jbrooks; 08-31-2021, 03:05 AM.
          Pushed around since 1966.

          Comment


          • JTR70
            JTR70 commented
            Editing a comment
            Yeah, that would have been scary for sure. What's the plan for this car, Keep and enjoy or flip it?

        • #7
          Justin
          No its a keeper, he plans to drive it. Making up a list of the rubber bits an covers now. We get it back to close to original. Only showing 35,000 miles. After looking at it close it may be a low mileage car. clock works, and the rest looks pretty good. Back to work.. got and oil pressure problem to look in to.

          Good day today. the oil pressure is a 40 ohm short in the green wire to the light, not a pump. put in a new pressure switch anyway Now to find the chaffed or broken wire touching the ground some where. Replaced the shift coupler went as predicted, shift lever tight and proper now. coupling tool still works. Trans shifts like glass, Made up the rubber seal list to get them on order, overall a good day.


          Called Tom Perazzo at zalexindustries.com and ordered new set of Toe Boards with a trap door on the passengers side. He makes the best ones available, CNC router cut and perfect. The door allows you access to the smugglers box with out removing the entire board. Good for accessing spares and road trip tools. And at $120.00 bucks you cant repair your old ones for the price. if you don't have these you are loosing money.
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          Thanks for looking
          Last edited by Jbrooks; 09-01-2021, 03:27 AM.
          Pushed around since 1966.

          Comment


          • JTR70
            JTR70 commented
            Editing a comment
            Really like that trap door option Tom makes a nice product.

        • #8
          Awaiting a couple parts, but made it to the first car show Saturday. Need a few more things, quarter window rubber, couple cable seals and boots. Petty stuff, nothing to keep it off the road.

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          this week we will:
          Replace the battery box, heater cables, heater box flappers, and valves. Fresh air valves, and heat sliders. Quarter window rubber. PO had tried to remove the wires for the combination gage and broken off the temp cage lugs, so mail that to Hollywood Speedometer Saturday afternoon.

          But it’s finally together, it’s been washed and looks good for a couple feet. A couple rock chips and scratched to work. Then clay bar and finally cut and polish the paint. Also finish removing the original undercoating, then formic acid wash, epoxy prime and Wurth shatz the underside and wheel wells.

          thanks for looking
          Last edited by Jbrooks; 09-06-2021, 02:14 AM.
          Pushed around since 1966.

          Comment


          • #9
            OIL LIGHT WIRE…..

            well the simplest circuit in the entire car, turns out to be a challenge. You would think a powered 6v bulb looking for a ground would be a slam dunk. Well this one has 40 ohms to ground, wiggle the solid green wire from the sender behind the dash short goes away.. put the meter on the gage end seems like the short is under the dash.

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            WELL WAIT……put the meter in the engine bay, the wire shorted at 40 ohms, wiggle the wire, it stays shorted. Go back to the gage move the wire one way, shorted, move it open.. brain cramp pending… then…. Wait I have two problems.

            I HAVE A SHORTED WIRE, WITH A BROKEN CONDUCTIVE PATH IN THE SAME SHORTED WIRE, go figure the wire has broken strands about 6” behind the light bulb, insulation is good but I can open and close the circuit by moving the wire, and a short somewhere else toward the back. Still chasing it but may be time for a new wire or locate the spare Carrera Wire they used to put in the harness.

            more to follow
            Last edited by Jbrooks; 09-08-2021, 12:09 AM.
            Pushed around since 1966.

            Comment


            • JTR70
              JTR70 commented
              Editing a comment
              Nothing's ever that easy is it? I may have a donor length of that wire if you need some John. The car is definitely in capable hands.

          • #10
            Well guys I figured it out. The 40 ohm short was between the oil pressure light and through the temp sensor to ground. The wires back in the engine compartment were melted a little right inside where the chafing cover turns into wires. And there was a broken wire right at the light spade in the dash. So with the engine oil cold, there was enough resistance in the temp sensor to keep the oil light off. The temp gauge was broken, PO had snapped off both bullet plugs on the gauge, so temp gauge was inoperative, but the sensor worked. As the oil got warm the sensor resistance goes down, eventually low enough in the short to get the oil pressure light to come on.

            What a pain, but some selective heat shrink and new spades we are back on the road. And open and a short on opposite ends of the same wire. I love 356’s

            So the green wire to the light, was shorted to the green with black stripe wire to the temp sensor in the back. The light was grounding through temp sensor. The giveaway was the resistance changed over night. And putting the meter on the green wire spade and wiggling the wire, it’s would open in one directIon, short in the other. Crappy crimp at the spade. But all is good now.

            Next I’d the battery box repair and maybe a set of floors.. Richard tried to carve the fiberglass to fit the toe boards and made a ugly hole in the passengers side, lots of exfoliation in the floor. Looks like Mike DeJong Restoration Design will sending a set of floor boards soon.

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            Last edited by Jbrooks; 09-12-2021, 11:22 PM.
            Pushed around since 1966.

            Comment


            • JTR70
              JTR70 commented
              Editing a comment
              Yeah, that's more realistic find on the bottom of an old 356. Will it require an entire floor?
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