The Up-Fixin' a 1956 Porsche Speedster thread

[wdfifteen]

And so it begins.

It wasn't my intention to start in on another car so soon after finishing my VW. But circumstances dictated pushing the schedule up by 6 months.



A few days ago I took the engine out. I had already pulled the carbs and sent them off to 356 Carburetor rescue to be rebuilt.



On a soggy fall afternoon we pushed the car out of the summer shop. Before shoving it down the hill to the winter shop, I had to take a picture. I love to look at this car. I just do.



Here it is in the cramped - but warm - winter shop. You know what they say about skydivers jumping out of a perfectly operating plane? That's how I felt. Why take apart a perfectly (OK, "adequately") operating car?



One hour later.



Speedsters are so simple. This will be a lot easier than fixing up the VW. Easier, but with the Porsche tax, way more expensive.



Before I started I was on the fence about replacing the windshield. It had been trying to come delaminated for years and was still holding on.



While taking it off I did something to the windshield that caused it to crack. The decision for me.

[Seahawk]

Sweet Baby James...please. please, please keep posting about your Speedster.

Best.

[gacook]

That is a very cool car, Patrick. What's the end game--just restoring it to its original glory, or what?

[Macroni]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Sweet Baby James...please. please, please keep posting about your Speedster.

Best.

I agree this will be a cool thread......

[911boost]

Summer and Winter shops, and a Speedster.

Are you adopting?

Subscribed.

[Dixie]

The best part about old cars is they're so easy to work on. Keep posting.

[2porscheguy]

Oh good lord....I'm SO following your rebuild! I be SUBSCRIBED!

[herr_oberst]

I lived vicariously through the VW rebuild, every nut and bolt was familiar, but this'll be like watching someone restore a Chris-Craft or a Beech Bonanza. I can't wait to follow along!

[Scott Douglas]

Since it is still early in this thread I will post this picture of my brother's Speedster for inspirational purposes.
I think his is a '58, but I could be wrong. I can't keep track of them all.

[DonDavis]

Sweet

And Patrick’s Speedster is in good hands.

Looking forward to the upcoming loveliness.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

On a soggy fall afternoon we pushed the car out of the summer shop. Before shoving it down the hill to the winter shop, I had to take a picture. I love to look at this car. I just do.

You would be crazy if you didn’t. It’s a gorgeous car.

[DonDavis]

Btw, what’s the overall plan?

Paint?

[stealthn]

Still one of my favourite Porsches, sub’s

[LWJ]

Wow. This is like porn...

[pwd72s]

Any chance this is mike Robbins's old ride?

[wdfifteen]

No, it's not Mike's car, though he did help me rebuild the transmission. I miss him.

I guess I should add some backstory:

In 1973 I saw this 1956 Speedster advertised in Road and Track and it was only 50 miles from me. The asking price was ridiculously low, so I jumped on it. It came with a spare body and a Glaspar fiberglass hardtop. It was in running condition, but the engine was a tired 1500S from 1953. I paid $3000 fpr the package and sold the body for that same amount and sold the hardtop for $300, so I basically got paid $300 to take this car off the guy’s hands.
Right away I installed an engine out of a ’64 356.
A short time later I pulled the engine out of a wrecked 912 and built an autocross engine for the Speedster. I added a Z-bar and some sticky tires and I competed in autocross a couple of times a month for about 10 years. It was ratty, but fast.
Sometime in the 1980s I gave it a repaint, new interior and soft top, and spent the next 40 years just driving it and enjoying it. It got another repaint in the early 1990s.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by gacook

That is a very cool car, Patrick. What's the end game--just restoring it to its original glory, or what?

“Restoring it to its former glory” would be an apt description of the project.

I’m not doing a “factory original” restoration or trying to win any concours trophies. To me its “former glory” would be returning it to its heyday, when I autocrossed the wheels off of it and generally drove it like I stole it. It needs paint for sure.

I expect this to be a year-long project and I'm going into it with some trepidation. I go in for back surgery November 16 and the surgeon says I'll be out of commission for 3 months. The plan is to disassemble the car and get it ready for the paint shop before Nov 16. Steve The Painter doesn't know exactly when, but he'll be ready for it this winter. So I'm expecting a flurry of activity for the next 3 weeks and then not much happening until Spring. Hopefully all will go well, but my worst fear is something will go wrong and I'll have a car sitting in the shop in pieces for years.

The “to do” list is (so far):

Strip and repaint body

Thorough cleaning

New Windshield

Rebuild Carburetors

New Starter

Refurbish Brakes including install dual master cylinder.

Restore Steering wheel

Upgrade Lights to LEDs and add 3rd brake light

Restore Horns

Rebuild tachometer

[wdfifteen]

One little fiddly bit that has been driving me nuts for 50 years is the tachometer. The engine is out of a 912, with a 6000 RPM redline. Pegging the tachometer is impressive to passengers, but it has always bugged me. So I'm sending the tach out to be recalibrated and have a new, 6500 RPM face put on it.

[ZOO]

What a great project! I wonder if you are the Pelican with the longest owned Porsche (or any other brand, for that matter)?

[pavulon]

Couldn't you keep the original tach and substitute with an appropriate Porsche or high quality reproduction for similar or less money? Seems original parts might deserve to be preserved when mostly painless to do so, no?