Post your PreA photos here!

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Joe Ruiz
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#61 Post by Joe Ruiz »

Split Windshield dash........

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Joe Ruiz
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#62 Post by Joe Ruiz »

My early Split coupe.......

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Joe Ruiz
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#63 Post by Joe Ruiz »

This split coupe is in hibernation in a barn.....

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Joe Ruiz
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#64 Post by Joe Ruiz »

Radium green split coupe with rare bench seat..........

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Joe Ruiz
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#65 Post by Joe Ruiz »

Another '51 Split coupe purchase........

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Jules Dielen
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#66 Post by Jules Dielen »

early morning shot. Open house at deluxe customs in Tempe AZ
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Jules

Water pumps are for windshield washers only.

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David Green
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#67 Post by David Green »

After 16 months of cleaning, sorting and rebuilding systems - and with the help of many of you - it's done (as much as a 64 year old car is ever done) and here's its story:

In 1953 my good friend's 23-year-old uncle bought this new 356 series America coupe from Jack McAfee Motors (the LA Porsche dealer) and it remained in the family for the next 63 years. He and his wife and their car quickly became fixtures in the Southern California Porsche world and the 27th member of the Porsche Owners’ Club, the number displayed on the cast aluminum front plate. They were active in the club’s leadership, social events, autocross and at least one Mexican rally. When the engine made some troubling noises in1974 he parked it awaiting a rebuild that never came to be. It was stored in various places, including a garage in the San Fernando Valley that collapsed around it in the 1994 Northridge earthquake but miraculously left the car undamaged and then moved to a storage building near Palm Springs, California where the dry environment preserved much but decades of heat, dirt and sand baked into oblivion everything made of rubber, some of the interior and the paint. I’ve know about the car for 20 years, tried to buy it for 10 and in February, 2016 the family agreed to sell it and I became the 2nd owner. I retrieved it from the storage building along with seven bins of original parts, factory supplied manuals and a trove of documents since new.

The 55 hp 356 series America was Max Hoffman's idea for a less expensive, de-contented model that differed from the Super with one, not two, sun visors, radio delete, corduroy interior, plain wheels, no folding rear seat back, no passenger seat recliner and cost $3,300 v. $4,200 for the 70 hp, "loaded" Super.

With the exception of a 1970’s wrong color paint and my replacement of seals, wiring harness, headliner and seat covering, the car is almost 100% original: engine, trans, body metal, glass, instruments, lights, switches and knobs, carpet, corduroy interior panels, floor mats, wheels, spare tire, tools, jack and even the wood fuel tank dipstick and complete documentation starting with the temporary registration that was taped to the windshield when it left McAfee's lot.
Attachments
1953 - Dash from Driver Door copy.jpg
1953 - Driver Side copy.jpg
1953 - Front from Above.jpg
1953 - Pass Side from Above.jpg
1953 - Rear from Above.jpg
Engine - Complete 1 copy.jpg
1953 - Tools & Fuel Stick copy.jpg
Last edited by David Green on Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Frank Hood
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#68 Post by Frank Hood »

Congrats David! And thanks for sharing your story.
Frank

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James Davies
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#69 Post by James Davies »

Glad to see it back on the road David. Looks fantastic!

George Kehler
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#70 Post by George Kehler »

Unbelievable story and great that it has stayed in the family !! Congrats !! George
George Kehler II

1955 Coupe
1971 911 S
1997 993 Targa

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Donald Zingg
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#71 Post by Donald Zingg »

Great job David!
Question about the fuel tank cap on your car - -
Did you polish it to make it shiny, or is that how the original finish normally appears?
I need to restore a gas cap for my car but I have no idea what the plating finish should be - -

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David Green
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#72 Post by David Green »

Donald,
I just cleaned off years of dirt and grime with Simple Green mixed 50/50 with rubbing alcohol and then a little metal polish on a cloth. These photos accurately show the finish.
David
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Jack Stenner
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#73 Post by Jack Stenner »

Beautiful '53 David. Love it!
53 Coupe #51576

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Spencer Harris
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#74 Post by Spencer Harris »

She looks terrific David - congrats!
Spencer Harris
San Joaquin Valley, CA.

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Curtis Batchelder
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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

#75 Post by Curtis Batchelder »

Before, 1979....
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Currently...
Currently...
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The first night as an owner.
The first night as an owner.

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