'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[JTR70]

Hey John,

We did this for fun in the Hot Rod section a few years back: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/6-Hot-Rod--Modified-356/9578-Disc-Brake-conversion-kits-for-356.html I like those Willwoods! Agree Bruce can always put a smile on your face

Justin

[bbspdstr]

"What brand of disc conversion do you recommend? I rebuilt my original setup, but I am now rethinking my decision and want to install disc."

My avatar pictures the street version of my former racing Speedster. It appears to have drum brakes, but it has CSP front and rear sets hiding behind Russ Rodriquez's "Drum Skins"....spun aluminum shells that mount between the wheel and 5x205mm disc center stud flanges.

Below are the 'C' brakes 84255 had when raced. Those later 5x130mm patterned studs allow REAL Fuchs wheels but when restored, it got wheels from the late Alex Bivens that are also 6x15 and even lighter if not quite as strong.



Yes, Wilwoods are great, lighter and all that, but they are not "Porsche" for a 356.

Last two front drum-to-disc conversions I did were from Al Zim, just because we have been Friends(Quaker school) friends for a very long time. His kits are heavy and not that cheap, but they work just fine. I need to support Al as he ages......when I was in the Registry all those years ago, it was alleged that he was 104 then!

Bruce

[merbesfield]

[bbspdstr]

" And then there are the Skins thing you mentioned. Who makes those and how much $. And then again another added expense but might be worth it for the look."

The original and the vendor outlets:

https://fibersteel.com/collections/brakes

https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/4430.htm

http://www.sierramadrecollection.com/Aluminum-Drum-Covers-356-Speedster-Spyder-p18834.html

As for disc brakes on a Porsche 356, there was only one Porsche disc brake that was developed for racing and wound up on a few 356s. There is one behind the standard wheel below but I am being lazy and not removing the wheel, sorry. It's on a C-2. The standard wheel for a C-2, BTW, is made with a thicker center, 3.5mm vs 3mm.


The other disc used by Porsche starting in '63 C was an ATe design. OK, so it could be the Euro GM caliper that CSP has used, a Wilwood VW conversion kit or
https://www.carid.com/volkswagen-brakes/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuMDk6NPl3AIVQUCGCh3lbwtXEAAYAiA AEgJprfD_BwE
Tom, I guess I was meaning what Porsche used...and I never saw a Wilwood on a 356 until the VW guys made the kits that cross over to a 356 ....and this is where Ashley Page should be jumping in.....

BTW, the drum skinz look like this in a side view of my old Speedster:


Bruce

[Jbrooks]

John

Its fixable but not easy...

That is Exfoliation, its allot deeper than you have exposed. The aluminum is flaked and layered (like a wet phone book at has dried out) beyond what you can see in the photo. I see this in airplanes all the time.

It can be ground out and re welded, but that is a casting, it will need to be preheated to about 250F and TIG back in with argon, but I need to look up the rod.
Not just any TIG machine, but a pulse, high frequency, variable center square waveform machine.

You need a "AC TIG, 200-400HZ (higher the better) 60-100% pulse @ 4-5 time a second, with about 30-35% negative on the wave form, and about 150-175 AMPS. The casting will be full of contamination, the negative voltage will float most of the junk out of the weld bond.

Its not all that hard, but the steel ring needs to be removed and the wheel studs before preheating. Then after welding back into the oven and cooled slowly. It will want to warp since you are adding material in several spots. Also look at the spline for the axle for similar corrosion.

Call the local airport FBO and see who is the aircraft certified welder in the area, he will have the machine, tools and experience to repair them.

[Edwin Ek]

Sunset Porsche is a dealer in Beaverton, Oregon which sells all parts at cost + 20%. I called them in June of 2016 about these Fuchs brake drums for B cars. The list price then was $2032, Sunset's price $1333.

It sounds as though Porsche has lowered its price. So if you're interested, call Sunset for their current price.

[John Pierce]

I really like the look of the wider 5x205 bolt pattern for wheels. CSP makes front and rear disc brake kits for our Porsche 356's with this bolt pattern, but......they're quite expensive.... over $3700 for a complete set up. I'm not going to be racing my car when done, but it'll have an S-90 engine as original, which worked quite well with drum brakes. So I may stick with the drum brake set up. Either way I am going to restore the rear suspension and other parts, such as the axle tubes and bearing holders. People have pressed out the groove pin to separate the two parts then painted or powder coated them as below:



Can these parts be media blasted with glass beads or is that too aggressive? I can use a paint stripper and steel wool. What about paint to give such a nice finish? Prime and paint as usual?

Below is my axle tube and bearing holder assembly.








Thanks.

JP

[Phil Planck]

John
I would think the problem with media blasting same as other parts that convey oil - getting all the media out. Mayme you can seal each end. I cleaned mine on my bench grinder with a wire wheel. Did not powder coat. Painted like fCtory did.

[ukinusa]

When Jon Bunin did my transmission he was ADAMANT on not media blasting the tubes ... just saying !

[John Pierce]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Definitely no media blasting. I'll clean off the grease , use a paint stripper, and then some elbow grease to make them look good. It looks like the factory didn't prime before painting which provided little paint build up. Do you think I should go this route or prime and top coat? I could also press out the groove pin and disassemble them before painting. Good or bad idea?

Thanks.

John

[Don C]

I'd leave them assembled just prime and topcoat, my $.02.
John hope to meet you at Adam's open house.
Regards,
Don

[John Pierce]

Thanks Don. Looking forward to it.

[Phil Planck]

If your putting new rubber boots on, disassemble is what I did. There are ways to get one peice boots on without disassemble, but pretty hard on the boot IMO. Need a shop press to get the tube off, and careful alignment when reinstalling.

I primed my tubes before top coat.

[John Pierce]

Thanks, Phil. How hard was it to realign the pin groves when reassembling?

[Phil Planck]

Not that hard John.
I used a square that went thru center of notch to put a mark at the end of the tube and did same on flange. Lined up the marks and slowly pressed tube into flange so as not to overshoot alignment.