A rare chance to undo a wrong done 45 years ago

[Larry Brooks]

I bought my first 356 in 1974. It was a 1962 356B T6 Notchback, #201688. Great car that I drove hard while in college. After about three years (1977) I thought I had broken the crank. It still ran, but it was making some bad noises. I didn't know much about working on them, but had rebuilt the top-end a couple years before (1975). At that time I was intimidated by the idea of splitting the case so I just put on one of the first sets of NPR big bores(maybe the first set sold in USA) that I got from JC Whitney right after they appeared in their new catalog. Had the heads redone and the car ran fantastic until what I thought was a broken crank 50,000 miles later (1977). In retrospect I've decided that it was much more likely that the thrust surface of the main bearing had just worn to the point that the crank lobes were making contact with the case. But it could be a broken crank. I just remember that the flywheel could move quite a ways and so could the front pulley if you pulled on them. I don't remember checking to see if both ends were going the same way each time you pulled.

Before I took the plunge of tearing the engine completely apart a 1960 Super motor was advertised in the local nickel ads for a low price so I bought it. And when the guy offered me $200 for my old engine I accepted the offer and that was the last time I saw my cars original engine - UNTIL TODAY. I've regretting separating that car from its original engine for many years. I bought the car from the original owners nephew so I'm confident it was the original based on what they told me at the time. I traded my Notch on a 1968 911L Targa a year after I replaced the engine (1978).

I came across people who had seen my car in Portland after I sold it and then talked to a fellow who owned it at a Bull Session in Seattle about 15 years ago. Lost his contact info before I could ever get in touch with him. Then 2-3 years ago I saw the car at Matrix Integrated in Portland while having some work done on my Cabriolet. Time had taken it's toll, but overall it was still a decent 356. It was originally Champagne Yellow from the factory and through my ownership. After I sold it it was painted Red while it was in Portland and later while it was in Seattle. But when I saw it at Matrix it was white. I must say it was a good looking car in it's original Champagne, not so much in white. Maybe if the current owner got the matching engine he might bring it back to its Champagne glory too.

If anyone knows who currently owns #201688 please put them in touch with me and I will try to help them get their cars original engine back. It is part of a small hoard of early Porsche parts that the guys daughter inherited and wants to sell.

[Doug McDonnell]

Won't the people at Matrix help you contact the owner?

[Larry Brooks]

Won't the people at Matrix help you contact the owner?

Exactly what happened, I called them yesterday. George called me back after he spoke to the owner who gave him permission to give me his number this morning. I called him and he will verify the original engine number when he gets home tonight and can look at the COA.

[chris romney]

Outside of the fact that it's definitely the right thing to do, I would say the current owner of your old notch owes you dinner

[Larry Brooks]

Well it is official. The engine number matches his COA. Working on acquiring it with the rest of the parts hoard.

[Larry Brooks]

The owner of my 62 Notch came by and picked up his original engine today. I am very pleased that I was able to fix a mistake I made so many years ago and reunite the car with its engine. It worked out very well for me too. I made what I thought was an "all the money" offer for what I thought was a small hoard that it was part of because I really wanted to fix this. It was difficult to look at the parts because the only way in was up a 12' ladder and since there was no power inspection was all by flashlight. We had no idea how much was stuffed up there and what we thought was 4 pickup loads of parts turned out to a be a full Uhaul truck and 4 pickup loads. There was also a whole lot of NOS and rare parts because it appears the owner hid the good stuff under other stuff. My guess was to keep employees from helping themselves while he wasn't around. From the newspapers wrapped around much of it he packed it away almost exactly 45 years ago and the doors were locked when the shop closed around 40 years ago. Heres a picture of the NOS 356 body parts he had hidden:

[Larry Brooks]

I just dug out a picture of my 62 Notch from around 1975 for the current owner. I wanted him to see how the car looked in it's original Champagne Yellow. Now that he has the original engine he's talking about taking it back from it's current white. I've always thought Champagne was one of the best original colors on Notches. Sorry about the picture quality, it is a picture of a picture.

After losing a couple hubcaps on a very twisty road called Skyline Blvd I popped the other two off and ran it that way. The Pirelli CN36's made the car stick better than the caps . Yes, that is a slide-on chrome door protector. My girlfriend kept opening the door into things and chipping the paint.

[George Kehler]

Great story !! Wonderful that the two of you’all got together !!

[Mark Sabbann]

Nice story. But how did the 'daughter' with the parts stash and notchback engine come into the picture? Just trying to place all the players here.

[Larry Brooks]

Nice story. But how did the 'daughter' with the parts stash and notchback engine come into the picture? Just trying to place all the players here.

She is the daughter of the man who owned the shop. She and her siblings inherited the property when he died a few years ago. They decided to sell the property so they are cleaning out everything in preparation. I heard about it through the local grapevine. I was one of at least seven Porsche guys who looked at the stash.

[chris romney]

Well done all the way around.

[Mike Horton]

… you miss that '62, don't you... ?