58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

Thank you Jack! I removed it this afternoon and will pass it on to someone with a T2 in need of a liner.


Thanks for the lead and the link too! I'll get into contact with him for sure, the minute you described the "pinpoint" detail that changed my mind. Aside from the cream color I'm liking that lower right corner sample. Looks closer still to Roy's original example.
Thanks again Jack!
Justin

11/1/15
More small details.

A few years ago I found this original delete plate in good condition and in the hard to find color of grey/green to match the knobs. A few light scuffs to the paint but the plastic face polished up great. Note the hallo discoloration around the "Porsche". Must have been some sort of applied barrier to insulate the gold leaf from the paint. Its aged discoloration is now a great authentic tip off detail.

I had rounded up original mounting pins. centering washers and clips through my other radio delete purchases through the years.


Looks right at home. The dash medallion and the ashtray housing are original to this car and were restored by Victor Miles; he is so worth the money!

It was extremely fun playing around with this but am running out of things to add before the headliner and harness take precedence.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[DG58INNM]

Justin,
As usual, I've been following quietly along in the background. 58367 looks fabulous. I'm so happy (and more than a little bit envious) that you to have finally turned the corner and entered the "fun" stage. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to see the finished product.

BTW, 104006 is missing its glovebox lid liner. I'd be happy to buy yours if no one else has spoken up.

Take care,
DG

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

As you requested I attach 6 photos of my original headliner. Thought a few more might be useful to see how they did it back then. Please be aware my photo flash shows up every discolouration and made area's much lighter than they are as its much more a light tan colour than white now.

Yours (or Jacks) assumption is so correct its a pin point texture for sure. U20152/RF is so close. Better explanation than mine!

Remember the separate pillar pieces that look now so tatty on mine are on the central pillar at the bottom end covered by the red side upholstery. Probably that alone has kept it in place for 56 years. The front in places has lifted from under the original windscreen seal so make sure its under it! The top join on the front side pieces looks as though it could have been neater. When it was new I guess it blended well.

For 36 years my car has been in an integral garage to the last 2 houses I have owned. So little condensation. Before that my first house had a separate garage and it was there for 10 years. I believe the foam in the front seat uprights and the foam? under the headlining was affected by that moist winter weather. I get powder from the seats and the roof at times. But... the smell is so 1950's
it helps the originality if nothing else

The pic's need no explanation below.













Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks very much David! I greatly appreciate all of your support though these last few years. As a token of my appreciation I'd be happy to donate that liner to 104006 with my compliments. I'll email for you address. Thanks again!

Fantastic group of photos Roy, thank you!! I remember that seam in the sail panel. I also remember the pillars being wrapped separately and remember they went over the headliner at the joint. Your pics seem illustrate that the B-pillars were wrapped first and the liner is layered over top. Is that correct there? Thanks again for providing this info.
Justin

11/4/15
Handbrake restoration

T-handle along with the operating shaft/cable was sent to Victor Miles for chrome and CAD plating.

Locating the hole for the roll-pin was a little dicey as I really had to crank it on tight to realign them again. I thought I was going to crack the handle but this is how it came.

I was motived now to get the housing stripped and repainted.


A small holdup was the limiter washer hole was nearly worn out and was barely able to grip the shaft to continue doing its job.

The idea of sacrificing one of my 10mm sockets soon came to me to repair the washer.

It of course fit perfect and there was no chance of this happening again as this section is case hardened.

Had to locate and orient the new piece with the tab ear then drill the hole to size.

Had a really nice press fit

and a few tack welds on the back. Its not going anywhere especially for what its asked to do.

Everybody's ready for reassembly.

Double checking the this little mechanism before I load it into the housing. Thanks for looking! Justin

[John Pierce]

Very ingenious fix!!


JP

[Don C]

Ditto!

[Jack Staggs]

I don't see the thin shim.

[JTR70]

OOH! Thanks for pointing that out Jack. I've had this unit and the one from my '56 apart and have never seen or noticed the buffer shim you described.

My '57 parts manual certainly confirms that there is supposed to be one. Maybe its stuck against the housing? I'll hunt for it tomorrow and make sure either way that there is one in there. Its so nice to have guys who actually know what their doing keeping all of us who don't on the right track. Thanks again! Justin

11/5/15
Installing a few original sections of sound deadener.
Bruce, is going to think I'm crazier than I already am but that's okay. My Dad always described 356's as having a unique smell to the interior. Aside from age and mildew I think part of what creates that ambience are the faint fumes from the inboard petcock and the Tar/paper sound deadener. To help recreate some of that old effect I decided to install a few perimeter sections of old original Tar paper I carefully harvested out of that '58 hotrod that was here some time ago.

I only got a few sections out in one piece I always meant to harvest more but I ran out of patience for it so these threshold and rear kick panels are all I got.

The residual tar on the back I was going to reanimate with heat but I also thought it best to bridge the adhesion gap with some fresh stuff. I found this asphalt based patch repair at the local hardware store. Its mixed with solvent so it can go on cold like calking then eventually hardens once the solvent leaves.

Coated the backside generously with it.

Once coated it was heated with a sort of controlled burn to get it all nice and warm and gooey. The solvents from the new stuff really helped this process along BTW. Once it was thoroughly hot I blew it out and quickly put it in place.

First section in. Once its up to temp the paper is very easy to mold and work with and very much had the consistency of a chocolate brownie.
Once positioned several smacks from my dead-blow hammer ensured good contact with the metal.


Threshold sections on.

along with the rear kick panel.

Finishing up with the right side. Silly effort yes, but they went on great and look original because they are and that great Tar smell that I remembered working on it as a kid is back as well too. Looking for that shim for the handbrake tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[merbesfield]

I have to say you got Balls! I don't think anything could convince me to put that tar crap back on the inside of my car after all my repairs are complete and it is freshly painted. I will be using some modern equivalent. Something like a Dynamat but not necessarily that brand. They also have numerous versions. I am sure they all would be equally a PIA to remove, but old tar? No way. Has to be new tar LOL. Thanks for posting.

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Replacing that original 356 covering over a super restored surface is brave and its really understandable why some could not do that or, would have to have new material. But I personally get the point. Your dad is correct these old 356 have a smell all to their own. I have had numerous people with no 356 knowledge sit in my car and say what a nice old smell your car has. That covering is going to be covered anyway with carpet. Likewise those floors will have similar covering put on it. One of my door handle plastic estuchions cracked some years ago and I replaced it with one from my 1952 car. Slightly different but I often look at it and wonder who its first owner was

Also 40 years ago I completely stripped the underneath of all the factory underseal which was in need of replacing. I spent probably weeks doing it. Eventually I even had a sander on the floor bottoms that came up really bright and the surfaces with my welded repairs looked good. I then double coated with a heavy zink paint and then
two coats of black 'Hammerite'. Looked perfect. Then it took me a week to decide to underseal it! I wanted really to leave it all in gloss black but went ahead and covered it. A good decision for sure
all these years later.

You have to go with how you feel with restoring a car. That's the hobby part, everyone has their own idea's and that's what is great about doing this type of work.

Roy

[JTR70]

Mark, I'm looking into that dynamat myself for the rest of the cabin but I've heard that its on the heavy side so maybe used sparingly.

Definitely Roy, once the interior is all buttoned up none of this will show. I just wanted to add these pieces in to help with that old Porsche ambiance. Thanks again you guys! Justin

11/7/15
Searched high, low and in every box and bin at the shop today looking for the missing handbrake shim.

The closet shim I could find was a rear axle shim but the OD was a bit too big to fit into the housing. Then I found one a few MM's smaller in OD that fit perfectly in the housing but had a pretty large ID.

You can see here its a touch smaller which is what I needed.

Its a nice snug pressed fit in there though.

Though narrow it will still perform the job of giving the locking collar a surface to ride on. It will work and should last forever with the amount of action this unit will see.

Okay, time to put it together again.

Assembled.

Ready to mount in the car.


Mounted in for good.


repaired limiter tab maxed out against the housing wall with T-handle oriented in the proper horizontal position. So relieved that turned out right.

Locks and releases like its supposed to.
One more small component added making the car just a little closer to being completed. Back to color sanding tomorrow.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[Phil Planck]

Justin
Great detail shots and work. I can relate to you looking for parts in the shop. I have been looking for the throttle bell crank for Foam Car for 2 days now. I did find a heat shield that goes between the muffler and oil pump that I can't use because of the PreMat full flow filter. I wanted to put it on the 912 but had not been able to find it. Guess I need to look for something besides the bell crank and maybe then I will find the bell crank.

I bought 2 rolls of Dynamat for Foam Car years ago. Other products are now available. Will have to make a decision at some point.
Phil

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Have taken the pics yoy require for the headliner uprights.

I make some points below for you to reference against the photos.

1). first photo shows the windscreen right side upright. The upright is covering the top headliner. Note !!! the top join is folded over then stuck down over the main headliner. Over 53 years the stuck down piece on these uprights has sort of swelled up or come unstuck. The front windscreen side on the left(pic 4 ) is still stuck and looks flat and in good condition.

2). Please be aware the uprights sides are hidden under the seals on the windscreen and quarter lights. The bottoms captivated by the red upholstery on the bottom ends and the quarter light hinges. Look for the screw holes before sticking it down just to make it easier to fit tghe hinges.

3). The red back seat has nothing to do with the headliner (pic 5 ) but please note on t2 cars the space between the seat bottom and the seat upright has a vinyl insert not carpet! Seen so many cars with new carpet there! Maybe T1 cars did have carpet you should check!!











Roy

[James Davies]

Justin, very cool use of original tar paper insulation on your car! Glad to see this being done properly! These cars need all the tar (and tar paper for A models) in the interior floor area to deaden the sound, as without it, its like being in a tin can. I've seen several high-dollar restorations done in the past year where the interior undercoating was not done properly. Kinda crazy to go through all that effort and not do it right. I recently rode in an unrestored original-paint '57 coupe, and I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was. Much quieter than most of the restored cars I've ridden in.

As for that Old German Car Smell, I know exactly the smell. I think it comes from the interior cushioning in the seats. There is coir mat (coconut husk and glue) that forms the shape of the rear cushion and provides some of the padding, some horse hair, and then there is the cotton rag which provides the very soft padding in the ridges and edges. There's also a good amount of burlap (or perhaps it is sisal weave?) holding everything together. Anyway, whatever is inside these seats, it smells pretty nice after 50 years!

A friend of mine gave me a ride in his 1955 coupe a couple years ago and the interior smell of the car took me back to my childhood when my father drove me to school in his 1955 Beetle. It had that same Old German Car Smell. Shortly after our ride together, he got a new set of front seats for the '55 coupe, ones that had been done up at one of the popular California Porsche upholstery shops with all new materials. The Old German Car Smell was gone. =(

I think the popular California Porsche upholstery shops use foam and perhaps other non-traditional materials when they restore seats. Probably "better" in terms of durability and feel, but not the same. Here's a nice article on the restoration of some '53 seats using mostly original padding materials.

http://upholsteryjournalmag.com/articles/0408_f3_porsche.html

[JTR70]

Thanks Phil! yes, no bigger pain than to not being able to locate a part that you know you have seen at some point in your shop.

Thanks Roy! A touch out of focus but I can piece the details together from there. Thank you for taking the time!

So glad to hear that you appreciated that effort to reinstall some of the old paper James. I've had a couple of original fatback seats apart and am familiar with those layers you've described. Well if you think a lot of the signature scent comes from the front seats I'm in good shape.

I scored this original pair for this car some time ago.

As they are nice shape and the right color I see no need to ever recover them unless the stitching gives way. However, these will end up in storage as I'll be running GT seats in it for the most part.
Thanks again guys! Justin

11/9/15
color sanding progress

Proceeding very slow and carefully but the right fender, hood and cowl area are blocked and initially polished to my liking.

Finally got the clear reflection I wanted after several rounds of sanding, polish then resanding the areas I wasn't happy with, then maybe doing it again for a third or fourth time. This is partially why its taking me so long. Rick definitely put enough clear on; thank god.
The florescent lights are tough, You'll find more blemishes and mistakes in the paint then you ever will in sunlight.

doesn't give the feedback of a dark solid color but you can make out the clear details of the plastic's reflection in the cowl's surface.

Gradually moving on to the left side next. Thanks for looking!
Justin