Tony's 356b

[tonycoke]

I always wanted a 356 since my parents had one when I was 5 or 6. I finally got one, a 1960 356b #110270. A T5, just like theirs.
I saw it on eBay and didn't win the auction, but I ended up getting the car. It looked good, normal rust, but the previous owner dousched the fuel system, put new brake lines and wheel cylinders as well as new tires on it.
I drove it back to Dallas!







Here it is parked next to it's brother, the ghia.

[tonycoke]

I can't really afford the car, but I'm going to try and keep it a little while and fix somethings before I have to sell it.
I would like to prime it and lower it pretty quickly, because I love that look.

There are some electrical gremlins, I have to fix before I can drive it.

[tonycoke]

Well crap, I thought I was posting in the restoration category.


It started running like ass and I had to clean out one of the carbs. I learned an important lesson. Break the fuel line loose, then pull the carb off the manifold to remove pressure before removing the line all the way.

After that, the shift linkage broke. Mine was a rag joint? Not sure what you call it, but it looked like a steering linkage. The ones I am finding on the net are way different and expensive. I made something work for now out of a piece of tubing, but eventually I would like to get the correct part in there as well as new shifter bushings.

While messing with the shifter, I noticed an axle boot with a big hole in it, so I replaced them both.

That's about where I am at now....
Time to figure out why the tail lights, blinkers and low beam headlights don't work.

[George]

Tony as far as lights are concerned clean all connection and grounds for them. one of the most causes for light problems is corrosion. Good luck and Happy Holidays. George

[JTR70]

Hey Tony,
No problem! got ya over here with a click of the mouse. Thanks for adding your project!!! Looks like all the typical stuff; kinked hood and rust in all the usual spots. Do you weld? Do you have a shot of your shift coupler? I can't really afford my car either but I just figure a way to. I hope you'll get to enjoy it for a least a few years. Like George says its mainly bad grounds and correded contact points. You said you liked the primer look; black primer? Thanks again! Justin

[tonycoke]

Thanks, I knew it would be easy to move forums for ya.

I weld a little. I have a friend who is pretty skilled at it, if I can't cut it.

As far as primer goes, I like the fact that it comes in different colors and if you don't like it, spray over it.

[JTR70]

Great Tony, I'm glad you have someone to help you along with that. The single most important piece of advice I can give you concerning rust repair is to make all of them look exactly as the factory originally installed them. If you change it like seam welding over spot welding or even improve it you are killing the future resale value of your car. If it does not look factory the first thing your new buyer is going to do is ding you for the amount of money it will take to hire someone to put it right. So repairing your car improperly is a HUGE waste of your time and money. You would be miles ahead just leaving the rusty panels alone versus an incorrect patch. Just an FYI and Speaking purely from past experience. Keep us posted! Justin

[tonycoke]

Thank you so much for that advice Justin.
I was planning on saving money, buying the metal and making it look factory.
But after you saying that, I'm not certain it is worth my time at this point.
If I did all that, I'm afraid it would sit too long.

Instead I think I will just spot weld patches in where needed without altering anything. This will keep the battery from falling out etc.., and be easily removable when the next owner or myself is ready to make it look factory.

I suppose I will cut back to where the metal is good then shoot it with self-etching primer, cut a patch that overlaps a half inch and put a few spot welds in. Then some seam sealer and some primer?

[JTR70]

Hey Tony,

If your plan is for temporary patches to keep the battery from falling out etc. Just keep the "ease of removal" as the most important rule when installing your repairs. Ed Hyman made a good observation on the structure around your front suspension. He thinks it might be to rusty and weak to be safe. Do you have any detailed pics around the torsion tube areas so we can see how rusty you might be? Justin

[tonycoke]

I looked briefly around the suspension and everything looked fairly solid, but I will get some good pics soon.

After some hours cleaning grounds, and using a license plate to cover the hole under the battery, I figured out most of the problems are coming from the blinker switch. If I leave the switch in the high beam position, the brake lights, headlights and right blinker work. Next, I'll see if I can clean that switch up some.

After I figured out the light issues, I had to drive it. Started up, ran fine, for about 5 minutes. Four exits from my house, I coasted in to the Joes pizza and had a few beers and waited for my friend. She towed me home with her Jeep lol.

I believe it is the fuel pump now. I looks like it has been rebuilt before, but I will pull it off and have a look. If the car was 12 volt, I'd be tempted to put a little electrical pump on there and leave the original as is.

From another thread.... I have transplanted some fuel injected 5.0's into a jeep, mazda rx7, and a '64 galaxie. I've also done some after market fuel injection stuff and wired up an ls1 into a mustang.

Merry Christmas every one!!

[JTR70]

Hey Tony,

Glad to hear your making some progress on it! So it left you walking and acts like its starving for fuel? It may very well be the pump but also check the tank and lines for sediment and shallack build up which is also very common. Are you running one of those clear plastic inline filters before the carbs? Merry Christmas! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Tony,

The advice by Justin I would follow regarding rust repairs. You are correct also in regard to the time frame. So many start and think it will take 6 months and by themselves it takes years. Once you start cutting it goes back and back before the good metal is there to take the weld. The battery box will need replacing in the future but you could plate over the holes. The underview of the chassis does show some bad rust that has taken hold on the longitudinals and the struts that support the suspension area.

Maybe areas could be plated that would be cut out in the future but would make it safe. I bet the rear underneath area is similar to the front. It has to be safe, but the cash to do it is the sticky point.
I think you have to come to a conclusion on what you want. A runner you can enjoy and not worry about or a restored car that anyone interested would buy. If the longitudinals have really gone no doubt the floor has too. The rear area near the torsion bar also might need the work. Make an assesment and establish a budget on the panels you can buy. Only then can you decide.

At least with panels it cuts down fabrication but take my word, making parts takes time and effort. Just look at the strut work by Justin under the front fenders

I reckon with a good selection of photos a good idea can be given on whats needed and maybe a rough idea of the time factor.

The car looks pretty good on the body maybe the underneath is better than I reckon, I really hope so.

All of it can be done on this car, its clear its a saver for sure but better to be warned before you start. A final point to do the work underneath do you have the space to do it? And a spit on which to mount it? Access is so important.

Roy

Roy

[tonycoke]

Got a chance to work on the 356 a little bit.
The good news is I found some fuel issues. There is a problem with the fuelcock in the Aus position, and there were no gaskets on the fuel pump, just rtv. Can't wait to see how it runs with proper fuel pressure. Waiting to get a metric tap and die to clean up some threads before I put it back together.

I snapped some shots of the rust in the front of the car.
Please take a look and advise!
Thankfully, the rear torsion area is very solid with no rot.

Passenger Side:










Driver's Side:

[JTR70]

Hey Tony,
Great to see you back and thanks for the update. Actually your car seems to be in pretty good condition as far as I can tell from the photos. The floor pans appear to be solid for the most part. The longitudinals of course are shot but the rust is certainly not as bad as alot of cars you see getting rebuilt these days. These closing panels actually make up a "tube" on both sides of the car and are actually the backbone of its strength. However because its a coupe you have the triangulated support of the roof so you could get away with putting it around easy for while but I would not wait too long. When you do actually repair them I would recommend doing one side at a time and not opening them both up together just to ensure there is minimal chassis flex or movement. Again being a coupe eliminates alot of this danger but I have heard of coupes sometimes changing shape slightly under the load. Do the weakest and most rusty side first. The rusted out side runners behind the front torsion tube are nothing to be really concerned about provided the "inner" wall-flange is not rusted out. Can't tell from the photos. The reason I say these runners are no big deal is because they were actually later add-ons that factory started installing sometime in mid-late '57. All pre-a and early T1 1956-early57 cars like mine don't have them and they get along fine without them. However you will want to fix them. Here are some photos of this area.

The bottom of this reinforment was gone on this speedster much like your car but the inner wall was also shot. I'm putting in a new perimeter section here.

The upper portion was fine so it made no sense to replace it all so I just put a new bottom on it and grafted it in.

Here's my very early 1957 coupe which never had these reinforments; meaning your car is still structually sound provided that the inner walls are not rotted out. Hope this helps! Justin

[tonycoke]

Got the 356 back on the ground yesterday after some work.
I put an electric fuel pump on it and bypassed the mechanical. I drove it a couple of times and it ran better than ever, then it dropped power. Probably something easy like trash in a carb or spark plug wire fell off. Even being low on power, it still runs well enough to make me feel good lol.
I pulled the starter because it was clicking, but not engaging, suspecting the bushing. The bushing looked new, so I took the starter apart and cleaned and painted it all nice. When putting it back together, one of the long bolts going through was starting to strip. In the end, I just ran down to Zim's and got a rebuilt one and a new bushing for peace of mind.

Then I reinstalled the new axle boots I got from Sierra Madre that were leaking. This time i used a little bit of RTV around the ends and made sure everything was square and it appears the leaking has stopped.

It was also leaking gear oil out the driver's side wheel. i pulled the seal housing off and replaced the large rubber o-ring and put a little RTV between the backing plate and housing and it appears to be fixed as well.

It's nice to be able to chronicle what I do on this website, otherwise I'll forget!

Next up, I'll pull the blinker switch off and see if I can't fix some of those gremlins.

But I'm driving it!!!