The Resurrection of Foam Car - 63 T6B

[JTR70]

I was thinking the both of you guys must have gotten snowed out of your garages these last several weeks. Hope you can get back on her in earnest real soon Phil but I also know other projects do command attention.

WOW! That's a lot of snow John. Any worries of potential flooding as warmer weather nears?

[Jonesy_356]

hey phil! Dug your way out of the snow yet? How's foamcar going?

[Phil Planck]

Jonesy

Foam Car has been on the back burner since I bought a 912. The 912 engine and compartment have needed some attention. I did recently remove Foam Car's engine from my 55 coupe. I am thinking about doing a lot of Foam Car's mechanicals, since the chassis repair is done.
At least getting the transaxle and engine back in, as those should not be in the way of outer panel finishing and painting.

Phil

[Jonesy_356]

Sweet mate, sounds like you have a plan. Good luck with the 912. Keep us posted, always interested in your progress. Keeps me motivated - it's cold here now. Snowed at my place today!

[roy mawbey]

Snowing already I thought our summer seams already on the way out but snow, well I never. What area do you live in??

Roy

[Jonesy_356]

I'm in Canberra, not far from the so called Australian Alps, such as they are. Good skiing at the moment, for another month or so I reckon.

Jonesy

[roy mawbey]

Ah Jonesy,

All makes sense now although must say never thought of high mountains in Australia. Mind you I was not that good at geography at school, or anything else for that matter.

Sounds like a nice place to reside

Roy

[Phil Planck]

You guys are shaming me into getting back to work on Foam Car. Actually, I have been busy getting my PreA ready to sell(sold in Aug.) and getting the newly acquired 912 sorted out so it was mechanically sound. This took a lot more time than planned. The PreA had a lot of mods(including Foam Car's engine) that I reversed to get it back to near stock and the 912 had an unknown rusty gas tank that required repair, along with the fuel pump, along with a bunch of other project.

My latest plan is to get the running gear back on Foam Car car so that I can free up a lot of floor space and also have it more ready to move, sell, whatever if I don't ever get it finished. When that is done, I will begin the outer panel smoothing and gap finessing. I may sneak in some time to get the nose finished up also.

With that plan, I have resumed where I left off some time ago by finally testing the rebushed starter, which has been sitting in place for quite a while now.






The starter spun great so I cleaned up the metal and painted it black like the factory did:





I have found a bunch of pictures from my pre-digital days showing a lot of the foam which I will scan in and post so you will know why it is called Foam Car.

With the starter finally finished, it is time to get one axle tube back on. That has been sitting painted for a long time also.

Phil

[JTR70]

Hey Phil,

Glad to hear we helped to get a fire built under your ass again.
So you sold your Pre-A huh?? Did I read that right you also might be selling the foam car too?? I guess driving a civilized later 911 can spoil you. Sorry your pics didn't load please try again. Hope to see you making some progress soon.
Justin

[Jonesy_356]

C'mon Phil, that old girl needs some lovin'! Bring her back to life.

Jonesy

[Phil Planck]

Justin
Reloaded the pics and they now show up above. Should I clear coat that starter?

At this point I have no plans to sell Foam Car. But at age 72, and the slow progress I have made, when I go, the heirs will have an easier time unloading it if it is not finished, as there is no family interest in it. My goal is to be driving it as a complete, painted car(not silver metallic).

I enjoyed and cared for the PreA for 30 years and about 40,000 touring miles to 17 Holidays, both east and west. The new caretaker I think is going to finally give it a decent paint job and interior.

The 912 has been a fun experience with a familiar engine and unfamiliar suspension, which I am slowly rebuilding. My wife loves riding in it, something she grew not to like about the PreA. We made our first semi-long (1300 miles) trip in it last month to the ECR(East Coast Rendezvous), the 912 Registry equivalent of a 356 Holiday, only on a much smaller scale(30 912s).

[Phil Planck]

One nice thing about living in Michigan is you usually don't have to waste a Sunday afternoon watching the Detroit Lions. Made a little more progress on the transaxle. Got the retainer stripped and painted:



Removed throwout bearing and needs replacement due to pivot wear:



The cross shaft bushings were sloppy so removed cross shaft and bushings.

To get the cross shaft out you need to remove 4 roll pins(one inside another on each side).





The slots for the throwout bearing were also worn. Turns out I had a NOS cross shaft that came with my PreA 30 years ago. Never new what it was for until I removed the engine and recognized it. Here you can see the new one(right) and the wear on the old one:




I also cleaned the bearing/shock retainer and will paint tomorrow.

I assume I will need new roll pins, although the old ones look reusable.

PS - Anyone done this conversion? Worth it?
https://porsche356registry.org/article/29

[John Pierce]

Looks good, Phil. Glad to see you working on Foam Car. I believe Stoddard has the roll pins, which are cheap money.

JP

[Don C]

Phil,
Just a thought but you might want to remove the paint from inside the hex cover where it makes contact with the axle tube...paint isn't a good interface where parts rub against each other, that's what your gear lube is for.

[bbspdstr]

Phil, I followed the link and saw that article.....but my, how protective the powers-that-be are about all else seen on that page. I was "not authorized" access to anything else, even after "authoring" many of those tech things myself for the R over many years. Pay to play though now.

Reminds me to say thanks again, Justin.

Back to the later TOB, yes, that it predicated on clearances. Last I did that was on a conversion of a Type 4 in a '59. The trans case had the future lands for the next model's guide tube, so it was an easy drill and tap (no Helicoil, as the steel tang could be a disaster inside whereas aluminum chips just grind up if caught in a gear).

I'm hoping Jack chimes in on this. He likely has much more experience with this sort of thing.

-Bruce