New to the Registry-Building two A's

[Rusty Willey]

Charles is a genius, and is right. My car is crooked and will never be a nice A. Right now my drivers door doesn't want to latch, I wonder if it has something to do with that day when we cut it open and used 2X4's and big hammers to bend it back (mostly) then welding and lumpy beginner lead work? Guess I should have just parted it out truth is guys like Charles and their grumpy attitudes helped to motivate this build. You always want to prove the naysayers wrong. At this time in my life I am absolutely amazed that I ever found the time, money, or motivation to build this thing. If you guys haven't noticed I still haven't even given this thing the Spring tune and new parts Where is Charles when I need him? Likely he is refining his expert technique and sniffing out other hacks like me to uncover

[Rusty Willey]

Finally made it down to the shop!!!!! I was actually planning on digging into my Single Cab, I have been driving the piss out of it without any real tune up time so I drove it down and was going to give it some serious front suspension love as well as some brake work, engine tune etc..... then noticed a fuel leak from the tank UUUUGGGGGHHHHH Dawning on me that working on my 356 and giving it a good "Spring" now Summer tune up is going to be way easier and I get to roll around the sporty rig as my daily driver for a while!!!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!

[Mark Erbesfield]

Finally made it down to the shop!!!!! I was actually planning on digging into my Single Cab, I have been driving the piss out of it without any real tune up time so I drove it down and was going to give it some serious front suspension love as well as some brake work, engine tune etc..... then noticed a fuel leak from the tank UUUUGGGGGHHHHH Dawning on me that working on my 356 and giving it a good "Spring" now Summer tune up is going to be way easier and I get to roll around the sporty rig as my daily driver for a while!!!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!

I know how you feel, believe me. I have three projects plus all the usuall, work and family. I often look back at the work I have done and wonder how I ever accomplished it and will I ever finish it. Just keep pecking away and keep on posting so the naysayers will look even more foolish. Love it. As you said, many of the negative types don't have a clue what it's like to build your own ride. Serious pride. Take care.

[Rusty Willey]

Just finished tearing the rear apart to raise it up one outer spline, I'm tired and dirty as hell and I don't like how it looks also used the stock adjusters to raise the front up a couple inches as well. Now my tires look small and my rig looks like I am ready for some offroad!!! Guess I just like the looks of em low. Wish there was a finer adjustment I could have made in the rear but I bet with this height I can run the old set of Porsche rims on bias plys I had when I started driving this thing if I want to spice up the driving a bit I'll post some pics tomorrow

[Larry Coreth]

Rusty,
There is a finer adjustment! Did you read your factory shop manual ? Had you looked closely you would have noticed that the torsion bar has 44 splines on the outer end and 40 splines on the inner end. This means one spline on the outer is 8.166° change while on the inner it is 9°. Now if you turn the torsion bar one spline on the inner end in one direction and the trailing arm one spline in the opposite direction you get a change of 0.833° in the direction of the inner spline change. This gives approximately a 6mm (0.25”) change in ride height at the axle. Pretty small increment.

Also you may want to review the factory recommended trailing arm angle setting for your car. This will usually give about 0 to 1/2°posative camber, while a 2-3°reduction from this setting will give about 1/2° negative camber.

[Rusty Willey]

Uugh!! Would have rather had the rear down an inch or two but I am not taking it apart now Going to grab some longer shocks from the parts store, mine hold the rear up way too high now

[Larry Coreth]

Rusty,
Unless the shocks are gas pressure, i.e. the shock will extend itself off the car, or the shock is bottomed out at the normal ride height, unlikely, a standard shock will not affect the ride height as they are only a damper to minimize the oscillations of the springs (torsion bars). So changing shocks will only empty your wallet and not change the ride height ! Suggest you get the correct shocks from one of our usual vendors, Koni, Boge, they will last you for ever.
If you want it right you will have to bit the bullet and do the trailing arm angle per the manual. You may also consider reading the article I wrote about torsion bar adjustment, on the Registry website under http://porsche356registry.org/resources ... epair.html .
Riding around with the rear up in the air with positive camber will scare the crap out of you in the first fast curve you stuff it into as you realize you are looking in the direction where you had just come from !!! Word to the wise DO IT RIGHT.

[Rusty Willey]

Sorry, didn't give enough info, I had SUPER short shocks on the rear. With the new ride height adjustment they didn't work at all. I put on a pair that are about three inches longer and they work great!!! I already am warming up to the new ride height it isn't really that much higher but rides really nice and has no turning problems or dragging issues, this thing is ready for some offroad!!!. I think I am ready for some drive time. Bled the brakes, checked allignment, new tranny boots, sorted out some electrical to fix my idiot lights, new distributor and swapped out the old carb for a smaller simpler one Fixed my door problem ( a bit) and I think that's about it. Needs a good cleaning though.

[Trevor Gates]

Cool, looking forward to pics.

[Rusty Willey]

Here ya go!!!! Awesome weekend, lots of fun and lots done!!!

[Adam Wright]

Two things you never want to see in the same place, a can of PBR and a pry bar big enough to pull a tooth out of a dinosaur, nothing good can happen here.

[Rusty Willey]

That made me laugh out loud!!!! Right about that Adam, nothing good happened. Actually nothing at all happened with that bar thankfully but that pic leaves a lot to the imagination!

[Rusty Willey]

Holy Cow!!!!! I am having 356 overload!!!!!! I only drive old VW's and always have 3 or 4 cool rigs to roll around so I am used to a lot of thumbs up's, questions, insults, and old stories from back in the day. I am only a couple days back into this rig and either I forgot how much attention a 356 gets or things have been unusually exciting for me. TONS OF QUESTIONS!!!! Really cool, a guy walked by after I parked, complimented my car and told me about how he made the interior, by himself, all by hand for Porsche for the first 911!! Can't see a reason for lying so I took it for true. Anyways, I am loving this thing again. I have a tranny leak even though I put on new boots, gotta check if it slipped. Also have a dragging break pad, don't know if it is a swollen line or more likely a tired or dragging spring. Little problems. Life is good!

[Rusty Willey]

About time for a yearly update!! I have been enjoying the hell outta this rig I presently own four vintage drivers, this and my 58 Singlecab have snatched up all my driving time,, 73 Thing and 66 Bus have been sitting around mostly I moved from Telluride to Durango CO and am happy as hell to be outta a ski town and in a place where I can drive my cars year round (mostly ) a few days the 356 should have stayed in the driveway but I drove anyways My rig is a bit rougher around the edges and needs more than the lousy tune ups I have given it but it still is a solid daily driver. I made an industrial rear seat so I can stuff and haul things in the back easier, cut the dust covers on my rear shocks cuz they are too long and are sticking at full compression, replaced another broken clutch cable!?!?!?? (3 in 3 years?) always am messing with my crooked drivers door but mostly I just turn the key and drive!!!!!

I have that other 59 Coupe, trying to get inspired to build it but I have a few VW builds ahead of it in my plans presently? I did order longitudinals and pans for it last summer as well as a pair of 60 seats I might use for it but it still sits.............

I rarely find the time to go to car shows let alone enter them but I did both at Pagosa Springs this weekend. It was sooooo much fun chatting it up with all the American car guys! I won first in class for Rat Rods and got to parade through the show with all the other winners in their beautiful cars better yet I found a guy who has a 60 Coupe in progress I offered him all of my extra B parts for his build and he showed up at my house today to check out parts with a gift of a steel dash top that fits and maches my car almost perfectly!!!!!! I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!

The WCH is only about 4 hours from me his year, I really think I might have to sign up for the fun!!!!

[Rusty Willey]

AAAAAHHHHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!' I just tried to submit my post but couldn't because I had too many smiles ONLY 10 ALLOWED!!!!! Can't I be REALLY excited???