Captain Nemo's 356 A

[admin]

Why Captain Nemo?
Because it looks like it has bin on the bottom of the ocean for a while.
Thought of scrapping the whole car after the chassis came back from the stripper.
The amount of bondo that cam of this car was shocking.






The new sheet is not done by me,but previous owner.
just tag welded,wonder what would have happened if anybody would have run this on the road

[admin]

A few more,to rub myself in..

[JTR70]

Hi Dave,

Very sorry to see this.

I just can't believe this is the same car. You just never know what you're in for once you get past all that shiny paint. Just based on the back seat shot I don't see any thing frame related that is savable and can be welded to. I imagine the front is about the same. If that is the case you're essentially starting with front and rear torsion housings and recreating out from there. What is your plan? Find another chassis?
Again very sorry that you're in this position.
Justin

[badsix]

wow, that's bad. now i'm not one to give up on anything, but I think I would get a six pack and a chair. set there and drink the six pack and say i'm throwing in the towel on this one. good luck on your decision.
Jay D.

[admin]

Hi Justin
Thanks,yes unbelievable this one.
I expected it to be bad,but never to be in this state.
The front torsion,dash area,foot wall are usable,all other pretty much crust.
I did the six pack sit down,over tought already and think i will start and see how far we come.
Working now on a set of Cellete molds for this chassis wich should be ready after the weekend

[roy mawbey]

Its frightening to think just how many 356 cars will have been purchased in good faith looking nice and then the owners thinking they are okay and then driving them. Only the serious guys strip them for media blasting. I do feel very sorry you, some of the rust you would not, or anyone else not have seen, until the interior was wet everywhere inside after a very wet drive in rainy weather. I hope you didn't pay a lot for it, just where is there any sound areas to weld to?
If you have studied Justin's restorations you will see its many years of work not months and thats just for the chassis and bodywork. Out of interest, how bad is the torsion bar and suspension areas front and back? I presume even worse than the rear inside views??

Really think about it before moving on.

Roy

[Trevor]

Keep in mind everything I'm going to write is from the point of view of a guy who bought a car cut up in 3 pcs to save it...


Hi Dave -

If you have any beers left from that six pack, I'll crack open a cold one with you. Let's talk about the facts - that whole rear chassis is swiss cheese. Somebody lied and took your money. Here's another fact, it can be fixed... and I bet cheaper that we presently all think. My prediction is that the whole restoration process of these 356's is about to change - big time! Witness this post by Mike DeJonge, owner of Restoration Design: https://www.facebook.com/PorscheAutomobileRestoration/posts/1419213321537902

These cars are going to get back halfed much more economically and quickly. Previously there were a couple of options:
1. Take the car to a high end coachbuilder - they make all the parts by hand and weld it together.

OR

2. A restoration shop or very skilled enthusiast, buys all the stamped parts he can find and goes to a high end coach builder to have them modified to fit the car and also have the high end coach builder make the parts that are not available stamped.

Now, we are going to have a third option:
3. You buy the back half of the chassis from Restoration Design; a restoration shop/very skilled enthusiast welds it at the longitudinals.

The question becomes one of money. What is RD going to charge for the back half of the chassis? Mike's already commented on FB on another post that the entire T1 Speedster chassis they are going to offer is targeted to be at a price point of $30,000 USD. So how much can a back half be... $15K, maybe less?

I think it was Bruce who said there is no such thing as a parts car anymore. And it is Jack who has said to me, we are lucky that we live in such times where these parts are available.

This car will come back to life!

[admin]

Hi Trevor
Your words give me good faith,thanks for them.
I will just go ahead,for sure it will be a long project.
For sure i will match the time line of Justin's private project.
Finalized the pickup point fixing,an start cutting today.
As this is my first 356 project i can need all the advise from this forum!

[Don C]

Nice work on that tooling, are you a machinist? With that type of ability you should be good to go.
Best Luck!
DC

[roy mawbey]

Yes looks like good fixturization there. Its all about datum points and those look professional to me.

Something tells me you have more experience than I first thought, pleased too your time estimations tally with reality.

This could prove to be a very interesting thread indeed.

Roy

[badsix]

what Roy said^^ with knowledge and good equipment you can do almost anything. looking forward to following you on this.
Jay D.

[admin]

My work is clothing manufacturing and distribution.
http://www.glamorous-international.com/
https://www.morato.it/nl
But i have a mechanical background and friends who are handy also.
Might somebody have some info on strengthen the longitudes?
I read that Wilhoit and Emory have a way to do this,but i did not find any visual of this work.
I presume its not by adding more of the brackets like in the photo?

[Don C]

Dave,
I saw that a long time ago on one of Wilhoit's build photos. If I remember right he eliminates the heat pipe supports and adds a diagonal the full length of the longitudinal. I think this was done only on open top cars... I might be wrong. I don't know what he does about the heat pipe... eliminates it?

[admin]

Hi Don
Ok,that could work.
But i would like to keep some heating if possiblle.
A photo of this mod would be great,i will have a look at the Wilhoit site.
Thanks

[Phil Planck]

Ron Roland recommends this to strengthen the longitudinal. Don't know how much it helps. I did it at the rear brace only, but could be done at front also.