New 356C Project

[Shuie]

This isn't nearly as cool as the Speeder/Seahawk project, but I'm really pretty excited about it.

I trailered this numbers matching '65 C Coupe project home last week. This is a pretty ambitious project for someone like me to take on, but A LOT of the hard work was already done by the PO. Almost all of the parts have been prepped, powder coated and organized in boxes for final paint and reassembly by the PO. I'm pretty sure I have every part for this car stored in boxes.

The sheet metal was phosphate dipped so I can see everything that still needs to be cutout. Perfect doors, decklid, hood, roof, etc.. The car has never been hit hard or bent anywhere and the sheet metal is really better than I could have possibly hoped for in a project car at this price point. Rust pinholes and some of the minor patch work has already been done and then filled w/lead throughout. I still need to do what looks like some pretty straight forward work in the floors, battery box, nose, outer rockers, door latch posts, & engine bay. The nose may be a little tough, but anyway, you get the picture.

Time to go buy a welding machine, some books, some more tools, and some lead filler

[kaisen]

Wow!! Congrats Shuie!! That looks very cool. Blood, sweat, and tears, as they say.....

[enzo1]

Nice! I'll be following your thread cause 1 of these days......

[yel911]

Any 356 project is cool....

[Seahawk]

Shuie,

Very nice!

I'll be following this with interest: I plan on driving the Notch for a few years and then, If I decide to keep it, invest the time and money in an interior redo and then, returning the car to its original black.

Best of luck and post as much as you can.

[Jagshund]

Don't forget a welding helmet. Welding with no eye shielding won't get you very far.

Gloves are optional.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by 1968Cayman

Don't forget a welding helmet. Welding with no eye shielding won't get you very far.

Gloves are optional.

No they are not!!!!! And long sleeve shirts and high neckline shirts, etc for the UV.

[speeder]

Are you already a good welder? Hopefully better than good?

If not, I would find the best sheet-metal welder in your part of the world and contract him to do those repairs. You can really easily destroy that shell with a welding torch. Too much heat in one (1) spot once and you're done. The shell will twist or tweak in some other way and the whole thing is worth sheet.

If it was me, I'd practice on rusty Chevy Chevettes or old refrigerators or something for a looong time before taking a torch to that shell. But that's just me. That is WAAAAY more of a project than the one I'm working on and the one over here is a labor/time-intensive endeavor.

Get a library of good 356 books and read about mistakes that others have made before you. The collections of 356 Registry articles books that I refer to on the other thread have lots of stories of guys ruining the cars back in the day when they were only worth $5-6k restored. Usually with welding torches but occasionally with other tools. Good luck and I'll share anything I've learned if you post it as a question here. I have zero body work experience, though.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by red-beard

No they are not!!!!! And long sleeve shirts and high neckline shirts, etc for the UV.

I rarely wear gloves when tig welding or when welding with a torch. I do wear them when mig welding most of the time.