Hi- New member and new to the 356 community.

[BattleRabbit]

Hey, I'm a new 356er with a 1962 356 B that is formerly my grandmother's car. I'm at the lower end of the spectrum for 356 people(I can imagine the 20 and under club is rather small here!) so I really have a lot of learning to do before I undertake this project.

Like I said before the car is a 1962 356 B. The car was stored in a small barn partially exposed to the elements from about 1984 till 2005 when it was moved to a slightly better storage situation with my uncle in Connecticut.

Given the storage situation the car for sure needs floors, an engine rebuild, and everything needs to be sandblasted. There is very little rust through on the body other than the floors, and only one major dent just ahead of the passenger side door.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how the car looks, the pictures are from 2007, but not much has changed since then:

Yours truly trying to look cool with the car


Stripped, as it has been for several years now

The engine coming out. It can be cranked by hand but not started or turned over.

A small idea of the poor state of the floors

One Chris-power!

For all its issues the panel gaps on this car are still tighter and more consistent than those on my 1998 VW. So time for a few questions:

1. Where is the best place to get floor pans? This site has said temporarily unavailable for some time now.
2. Brakes: Upgrade to discs or are the drums adequate for normal driving, and some more aggressive driving? If not, what is the most cost effective/performace effective option for an upgrade?
3. HELP. I need to know where to start!!!

[ArcticOne]

Chris

Best place to start is at the 356Registry web site (356registry.com).

Lots of help over there on their forum and talk section.

You should be able to get the floor pans at either Stoddard, NLA or even on the bay.

Good luck with the new ride.

jb

[gshiwota]

Chris - Congrats and good luck! I bought my 356 when I was 15 y/o so I know what it's like being one the youngest owners at a 356 club meet - I'm 33 now and still on the young side at meets!

As for parts, I relied heavily on Stoddard for sheet metal parts for my car. I bought floors, door bottoms and battery box sheet metal for my car. The stampings were great and the installation (according to my body guy) was relatively easy.

I agree with the last post that the 356Registry is a great site for information. However, be warned that the 356 scene lurks with 'purists' who'd rather have you sell a kidney to pay for date matched wheels rather than resort to installing any non-authentic parts. Remember that the car is yours and you should do anything you want with it.

I listened to the purists and made every effort to restore mine back to original condition. It came out great but I'm now planning on upgrading the brakes to discs and replacing the stock motor with high performance VW engine to make the car more drivable.

My car looked similar to yours when I started my project. Aside from paint and transmission work, I did all of the work on my car myself. Feel free to email me if you want my 2 cents on how how to tackle your project.

Gabe
gshiwota@gmail.com
---------------------------
'61 356B Super Karmann Notchback
'82 911SC Targa

[mede8er]

Dude....this is the best place to start your Porsche experience....tear that sucker apart and try to fit it all back together...you'll get plenty of help from the various forums available...

Practice your welding on something other than the car.......

[BReyes]

Those are some great ideas.

Is there a school (College, High School) in your area you may attend a class or two or more. Its been said to fill your library before you fill your garage- get/borrow some books. You could be taught the trade with just redoing this car. All ready have a major, it could be a Minor sort to speak. Either way the best way is to do it yourself (if your friends want to help ...). First you need to have a budget. Easy because you would work for the next several years, so that should be enough if you work hard. Great story!

You start with the motor. Find an industrial anodizer company for nut and bolts. Take your time find a good one willing to do it and so not as to cost you into thousands. Let your teacher or drop it off after you have saved some money. Have your motor professionaly rebuilt. If it is still good reuse it.

Each electrical item/wire firmly labeled, cleaned/tested readied for reinstallation.

Each suspension item refurbed (new rubber, grease, finish).

Perform all bodywork/paint/restoration.

Reassemble car for its final time.

Order interior upolustery, install it yourself.

Detail the car.

By this time your beard has probably grown, you may be a little tired, but you should have all your fingers and toes when you are done.

FWIW keep it stock. It is your story sharpen your pencil...

Regards,

[billybek]

Being your Grandma's car, you want to do this restoration right.
The car looks like a great candidate and worthy of throwing some cash at it.
I have brought some rusty VWs back from the scrap yard so I can tell you this, rust repairs take time, lots and lots of time. So don't get discouraged when the project doesn't seem to be moving along, all those little steps are what make it a great job in the end.
My dad was a weldor, so I didn't have to learn how to weld on the cars. It takes a lot of practice to be able to do passable welds.
Enlist the help of others that know how and learn from them. Join the PCA....

[Rusty 356]

Chris, I'm sure your are in the minority when it comes to 356s. Your car may be titled a 62, but it is a T-5 not a T-6. I think that is good news for the B cars. The gaps were tight and the cars, in my opinion were just a bit neater than the T-6. That said I have 3 T-6 cars. You've gotten good advice from the forum so far. Mine is that you should take a lfe time membership in the 356 Registry, www.356registry.com. Check out their forum and enjoy the ride. If you get in trouble check out all the literature on these cars.
Best of luck and grandma was one cool chick.

[Rusty 356]

One other thing, don't leave that front lid open, lift all the way up and test that both latches release when lowering. That will keep the kinks to a minimum.

[Raynald]

Hello Chris ,
Your project is verry nice !!
I begin a restoration of a BT5 presently and I am back from Hershey with many parts !
You can see my project in évolution at:
http://s551.photobucket.com/albums/ii467/raynald356/?albumview=slideshow
and if You want to watch other projects, for me it is a lot of good information.
http://buc356.skynetblogs.be/
Good Work !

Raynald

[Dwright944s]

Chris I envy you so much, I would love to have a 356, but I'll settle with my 944S. Yay for under 20 Porsche owners.

[bxtech]

Nice car! Great project! Looks like you're moving right along on it! For sheetmetal replacement parts I've always had good service with Restoration Design. Their website is http://www.restoration-design.com/ They also carry repro trim parts, bumpers and other restoration parts for Porsche.

Thanks for posting. Keep us updated on the progress. I would love to see how it comes along!

[ddddyyyy]

I agree with BattleRabbit








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