Performance - Custom - Trick 356 parts

[Craig Richter]

Really....darn day jobs.

[Don C]

I know what Ashley is saying. Someone in the past mashed my gas tank cap fitting. I couldn't find a replacement so I machined one out of billet. Someone said I should produce them, maybe if I had access to a CNC lathe it could be done in quantity but the price would be astronomical.

[356JAGER]

Ashley,
Are you going to do a run of those grilles ? A matched set to the lower grilles would be a nice touch. Sweet work and appearance.
Cheers,
Joel

[tperazzo]

I know what Ashley is saying. Someone in the past mashed my gas tank cap fitting. I couldn't find a replacement so I machined one out of billet. Someone said I should produce them, maybe if I had access to a CNC lathe it could be done in quantity but the price would be astronomical.

Great job on that! So you're going to weld that on the neck?

[Don C]

Hi Tom,
No, it's a light press fit into the remaining 1" of the old filler. If you look close you can see the step in the new end. I will probably use JB Weld, or maybe a Loctite product, when I do the permanent install to insure no leaks. Not crazy about taking flame to a gas tank. A friend suggested running a hose to a car exhaust and filling the tank with carbon monoxide while you do any welding/brazing, might work but sounds a little sketchy!

[AMP]

Very nice job on that tank neck!

[JTR70]

Nice job on that Don, are you a machinist by trade?

[Don C]

Thanks for the nice comments guys!
Justin, I'm retired now but spent over 25 years in the machine shop trade. I have one of those crappy Smithy lathes / mill in my basement and with the long winters here spend a lot of time manually hogging material...good therapy!

[Don C]

Ashley, you might find this interesting as you are in the braking business. My cars disc brakes never seemed right. Upon dismantling the calipers I found 2 frozen pistons that someone tried to remove, messed them all up, then left them. I removed them using a grease gun and luckily the caliper bores were OK. I read a lot about people having trouble bleeding these calipers and after seeing the ratcheting "widgets" inside the pistons I thought that was a great place for air pockets to get trapped. I needed new pistons so I decided to make some out of stainless steel but in a conventional design with the open side towards the brake pad and no "widget". They work great, are easy to bleed, no dragging of pads when you release the pedal, in other words like a simple conventional caliper.







[attachment:2]DSCF4990.JPG[/attachment]

[attachment:2]DSCF4990.JPG[/attachment]

[AMP]

Ashley, you might find this interesting as you are in the braking business. My cars disc brakes never seemed right. Upon dismantling the calipers I found 2 frozen pistons that someone tried to remove, messed them all up, then left them. I removed them using a grease gun and luckily the caliper bores were OK. I read a lot about people having trouble bleeding these calipers and after seeing the ratcheting "widgets" inside the pistons I thought that was a great place for air pockets to get trapped. I needed new pistons so I decided to make some out of stainless steel but in a conventional design with the open side towards the brake pad and no "widget". They work great, are easy to bleed, no dragging of pads when you release the pedal, in other words like a simple conventional caliper.







[attachment:2]DSCF4990.JPG[/attachment]

[attachment:2]DSCF4990.JPG[/attachment]

[356JAGER]

Don,
Is that tank filler SS billet ? Sweet work.
Cheers,
Joel

[JTR70]

Nice work on those barrels Don! Maybe Ashley can confirm; the tops of the original pistons were not milled perfectly at square correct? A slight compensation angle which had to be indexed in the caliper was added so it drove the pad in square on the rotor as pressure is applied, Something like that????

[Don C]

Joel, not SS but mild steel.

Ashley & Justin, I considered milling in the step but in all the brake systems I've encountered, cars and motorcycles, I've never seen a step like that so I decided to try it without the step. I now have 3,900 miles on these pistons / calipers and there is no taper to the pads whatsoever. The only problem I encountered was a squeal while coming to a complete stop and this was solved by applying "brake squeal compound" to the backs of the pads. The picture is one I just took of a rear caliper and you can see the pads are wearing even. Granted, the rears get less wear but I'm sure the fronts are just as good.

[356JAGER]

Guys,
Just FYI, the filler and cap was the same on 356 T-6 cars, 911's and 912's through 1977. There must be a lot of them otherwise clapped out or salvaged
with good filler parts. As to welding them, a removable ring to align the parts
to tack in a few spots prior to welding and some dry ice in the tank to prevent any potential for combustion would do the trick.
Cheers,
Joel

[Don C]

Never heard of using dry ice, what does that do fill the tank with CO2?
Joel, you'd be surprised what people are asking for used pieces like that, you'd think they are made out of platinum.
A 3" long slug of 2.375 mild steel cost me $9.87. The time I spent...don't ask.