The Official 356Talk Forum

Does anyone know how many 356 C/SC's were ordered with outside ambient temperature gauges?

Not many, I've only ever seen a couple, and we've had lots of C' and SC's.

would this count as one, or is that a separate category? It has the clock to the right of the glove box.

Without the Kardex for cars with the gauge it would be difficult to determine which had the outside thermometer installed at the factory and which were aftermarket or dealer installed. And I'm not sure the Kardex would show it in all cases.

I have never seen data. I know of two. One in Michigan and one in Italy. Both are Euro cars. Also there were at least two different locations for installation. http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... 13&t=31961 and: http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... =1&t=27574

Hey Doug, that is only half an inside-outside gauge. It's missing the white needle. Can't believe people are out in their 356 taking pictures at -24C

Jules car was in a pole barn and about 30 degrees when I took the picture so I assume it didn't work.

To my knowledge an outside only thermometer was not used until later with the 911s. An inside/outside thermometer was an accessory for the 356. It could be installed at the factory (usually on the COA) or at the dealer. The dealer installation instructions are in the very back of the workshop manual under accessories. Those instructions specify mounting in the clock hole and then moving the clock to a new hole on the right side of the dash near the grab handle. Factory installation could be the same or mounted in the center alongside the clock. Those holes would be cut out prior to paint.
Both VDO and Motor-meter gauges were used. In any case, they were very rare.

The factory would re-position the clock to the glove-box area when a temp gauge was fitted where the clock usually is found. Most after-market installations did not position the clock by the glovebox. It may be considered a factory installation if such a re-positioning is found. The factory installation would have also shown professional wiring and the hole for the clock would have been nicely done, not simply drilled out.
Perhaps these clues can help establish the number of factory installations vs after-market.

All,

Also see the following threads:

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... 13&t=31961

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... =1&t=27574

Dick Milstead

My clock has been professionally re-positioned to the right of the glove box and it wasn't done at the factory. Not sure that that positioning could be used to definitively establish a factory installation. I still think the Kardex or possibly the COA would be the best source of info.

Wes,
I would presume that Dealerships or even "DIY guys" also installed thermometers using the instructions in the workshop manual. That's why instructions were included in the accessories section of that document. The Factory certainly didn't need to be told how to do it. The gauge was also an orderable part through the local parts department so it could have been done at any time after delivery as well. That is perhaps why in some cases only "outside" units were installed since if done in the 900 series era since was what was being installed in 911s and 912s.


Based upon the information in the dealer accessories catalog my belief is if you custom ordered the O/I thermometer far enough in advance (6 weeks I think) they could install it centered in the dash next to the clock if you wanted, as is seen in some of the pictures. If added once the car was started, then they could only move the clock to the right of the glovebox and put the thermometer gauge where the clock normally was located or it could be added in that way when received by the dealership. Back in the day, dealerships often did "custom work" for the customer both before and after delivery.

Dick Milstead