'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[John Pierce]

Nice Behr fresh air blower set up!

[bbspdstr]

Hi John, thank you.
Actually, that tubing connects to an Eberspacher BN-4 gas heater, as the 4-cam cars had no other heat source for the cockpit. Same ducting though for the fan-only option.
Regards,
Bruce

[John Pierce]

Bruce, do you know of a source for the exhaust for the BN4? I used to have a name of someone who was making them, but can no longer find it.

[bbspdstr]

I have a stainless one here made by Urs Gretener. Nice work. I can get you his number or maybe sell you the unit I have. I found a nice original for the C-2 I have pictured.

Not cheap but well made. Over a grand. The problem is about the heat resistant ring for the exit hole in the battery box that the exhaust passes through, if it's actually working......and the one in this C-2 is NOT ever going to actually work. Decreed so by it's owner.

I had a NOS unit ($600...in '8 that went in my '63 C-2 "for show only." It never was intended to be shown in the middle of winter and it eventually went into a collection in Florida.

I had a C with an original Eberspacher and it could cook you until well-done when working, but I dressed for warmth anyway, as it was as safety-prone as any potentially lethal devise can be. I would tinker with it, get it working...and the next cold day it would be something else blocking the function. I gave up and just let the thermal transfer from the exhaust do what it could. I drove a Speedster every day before the C became a "family car" in the mid-'70s...so I was used to dressing as if I was going skiing...no matter where I was headed.
-Bruce

[John Pierce]

More trunk parts.



Gas tank left outside for many years.



With cruddy smelly old gas inside......but no leaks.



The tar insulation protected it. What's interesting is that this is a B T6 top-sender tank and is painted black. The experts say that it should be grey. But that looks like original black paint underneath the tar. My car is a Karmann and was built in August of 1962 so maybe they hadn't switched over yet.



I cleaned out all of the old gas, media blasted the outside, then put a couple of gallons of Evaporust inside the tank, placing the tank in different positions to fully rid the inside of any rust. Then epoxy primer.



I ended up painting it grey. Rustoleum Industrial 7581 Light Machine Grey is an exact match.



Zinc plated the gas tank hold downs.



The gas cap was also rusty.



Lots of old gummy gas residua on the inside.



Nothing that media blasting and zinc plating won't take of.



Nice as new.



New gasket.

Thanks for following.

[JTR70]

Really nice work on all these small parts John! I'll need to step up to the home plating system that both you and Tom are using. I can really see the difference there. Thanks for sharing some of those details.

Justin

[John Pierce]

More front end small part restoration. Sure does suck up a lot of time.



Emergency brake bellcrank. Rusty like the rest of the car.



Cleaned up nicely with media blasting and Evaporust.



Epoxy primed and painted.



Emergency brake pull assembly. The pull rod and innards were plated with my Caswell CopyCAD and the outer assembly was media blasted primed and painted. The handle on my early T6 was still chromed so that'll have to get redone.



Inner assembly. I had initially painted the pull rod, but the inner pieces have a very tight tolerance and the paint buildup was too much so I went back to original and plated it.

Thanks for following.

[bbspdstr]

I cleaned out all of the old gas, media blasted the outside, then put a couple of gallons of Evaporust inside the tank, placing the tank in different positions to fully rid the inside of any rust. Then epoxy primer.

John, I have not been able to join in lately but if I had, I would have and still will again endorse the Caswell gas tank dealer. Half hour working time but a thixotropic epoxy ((of fluids and gels)having a viscosity that decreases when a stress is applied, as when stirred, as in: thixotropic paints......from Greek thixis the act of touching + -tropic).....TMI?
It is a clear epoxy that has shown to be totally resistant to all forms of gasoline/alcohol.

I wrap the threads of the exit bung with Teflon tape, as I have yet to buy a die for chasing that size/pitch and a thread file is clumsy and the epoxy likes me to work too hard if ANY seeps on there. The Caswell sealer really seals; small pin holes, seams and especially (light residual) RUST.

No comebacks and the rehab of an original tank costs about that of a repro. (Really great if it's a bottom sender tank.) The repros are great.....IF they get the etch treatment and the Caswell sealer, otherwise those are soon to rust internally, as they have NO coating.

More front end small part restoration. Sure does suck up a lot of time.

Thanks for that quote. The time spent on making a nice, complete restoration is what sucks, cause it's an unknown that gets expensive. It needs to be spread around so that if anyone using a time/materials professional is "surprised" at how long the preparation and assembly of 'the details' takes...as you show here in your thread.....it will show a lack of understanding, naivete or they just don't want to or have the ability to pay for what they expect. It's like "I just want a 'driver'".... when what they really mean is "I really want a 'show car' but only want to pay for a 'driver.'"
That's just a curmudgeon being blunt.
Bruce

[JTR70]

Man that Caswell system does a nice job Everything is looking great John!

[John Pierce]

Onto the wiper system. The washer hoses were all dry rotted and replacements are available. The washer foot pump was still pliable and readily cleaned up. The rest of the system needed a bit of work as the rust worms and Bubba really did a number.



Lots of surface rust, but no pitting. The wiper posts had a lot of Bondo stuck on them and in the threads where they stuck up through the cowl. One of the arms was also bent, probably during removal.



The motor still worked!!



Posts all crudded up even after removal of the Bondo.



The center gear shaft had grease on it to protect it. You can see that the arms are painted an off-white color while the body of the assembly is a camouflage-like green.



The assembly was media blasted, epoxy primed and painted the appropriate colors. The motor housing was cleaned. The hardware was cleaned and zinc plated.



Good as new. All new rubber to hold it in place through the cowl.



Ready for another 55 years of service.





Thanks for following.

[Don C]

Come on John you're not gonna drive that beautiful piece in the rain are you! Terrific job!

[bbspdstr]

The better question to ask John is what method of removal did he use to get the arms off without breaking the usually narly nearly 60-year-old plastic grommets...?

Those used to be fairly simple...decades ago. Now they are hard and fragile and need TLC and coaxing to come off intact.....and that begins up under the dash just to remove the system.

What are the chances someone will reproduce those in nylon or another flexible strong material? It seems as if it's an Ab Tiedemann product that's needed.

Bruce
PS, Don....rain will be so impressed by John's results that it won't get near that 356. If it does, the wax and Rainex will make it just run off any and all parts of that lucky car...lucky in that it has John doing an over-the-top spa treatment......ah, restoration.

[John Pierce]

Onto the hand throttle assembly. My car was one of the last to have this.



Doesn't look too bad using the 10 foot rule and a covering of black paint



The car lived outside and these parts looked like they were at the bottom of the ocean.



Dismantled. I was surprised the OEM rubber tubing was still present.



The wonders of several days in EvapoRust!



Mock up.



Cable assembly filled with old grease and rust.



Rusty with pitting, but in areas behind the dash and won't be seen.



EvapoRust for the save. I was able to polish the bezel.



Media blasted and CAD plated. Looking like new.

Thanks for following.

[bbspdstr]

Or, pressed for time, I bought one the same as one of these for a '62 in the length for my A:

http://www.sierramadrecollection.com/356B-60-63-/Pedals-Shifter-Parking-Brake-Assembly/Pedal-Cluster/Hand-Throttle-Cable-660mm-356B-T6-356C-62-65-p32231.html

I always liked that "fast idle" on whichever 356 I was driving longer distances 'back in the day'.....as we called those "cruise control."

Bruce

[John Pierce]

Bruce,

I saw that on Sierra Madre, but didn't think it was worth $300!! Easier to restore. I like the old school cruise control also.

JP