55 Coupe project
Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:37 pm
Well, I finally got to restoring the 55 coupe I have had for over twenty years in boxes. I bought it from Lowell Sivey back when I was twenty something when my brother in law called saying "Lowell has this car here, and it's all apart, and the guy has bailed,...get down here..."
I did, and bought the car that day. I wasn't a Porsche guy, but I was a car guy, and I thought the car was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, even in that condition. At the time, you'd easily spend twelve thousand dollars restoring a car that was worth ten. But I didn't care and figured this was the only way a regular schmoe like me would get to own something like this. All glassie eyed I brought the car home, joined the club, and then proceeded to college, girlfriends, vintage racing, more girlfriends,,..marriage,..aircraft mechanics school,..etc... you get the picture. The car sat with me for all that time and I never did anything with it. Over the time I never seriously thought of selling it, always making sure it had dry storage, and believe me, that was a challenge at times
So, I learn a few things along the way, restore a few cars, motorcycles, and finally a pre war wooden boat that took three years. The club's 356 restoration guide mentions somewhere in one of the articles that the only people more gluttenous for punishment than Porsche people were wooden boat people and it's true. So, I finish the boat, and it's finally the Porsche's turn. I check back in to the club and,...am I seeing the same cars? I can't believe it,...the old coupes are actually worth restoring these days. Yippee... I finally won one.
I started by looking up Lowell and find him in Ohio, still doing Porsche's. Go out and visit and, you won't believe this,..he roots through a box, and actually finds the key to my car, the one that I didn't get all those years ago. What a hoot. Well, I get started, with a lot of encouragement from Lowell, and the economic downturn affords me ample free time but no money to make progress. Things have moved fairly quickly since last August 09 and I'm now getting excited because I see the end in sight. There are a few things I still need to buy for the car but I'm just glad I got what I did when I did because it'd be a hard row to hoe now if I hadn't. So,.. here are a few pictures of what I've been up to.
I'll add a few at a time till I get up to the present. I'm on dial up and it takes a looong time to upload a picture. Here goes.
The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly:
I did, and bought the car that day. I wasn't a Porsche guy, but I was a car guy, and I thought the car was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, even in that condition. At the time, you'd easily spend twelve thousand dollars restoring a car that was worth ten. But I didn't care and figured this was the only way a regular schmoe like me would get to own something like this. All glassie eyed I brought the car home, joined the club, and then proceeded to college, girlfriends, vintage racing, more girlfriends,,..marriage,..aircraft mechanics school,..etc... you get the picture. The car sat with me for all that time and I never did anything with it. Over the time I never seriously thought of selling it, always making sure it had dry storage, and believe me, that was a challenge at times
So, I learn a few things along the way, restore a few cars, motorcycles, and finally a pre war wooden boat that took three years. The club's 356 restoration guide mentions somewhere in one of the articles that the only people more gluttenous for punishment than Porsche people were wooden boat people and it's true. So, I finish the boat, and it's finally the Porsche's turn. I check back in to the club and,...am I seeing the same cars? I can't believe it,...the old coupes are actually worth restoring these days. Yippee... I finally won one.
I started by looking up Lowell and find him in Ohio, still doing Porsche's. Go out and visit and, you won't believe this,..he roots through a box, and actually finds the key to my car, the one that I didn't get all those years ago. What a hoot. Well, I get started, with a lot of encouragement from Lowell, and the economic downturn affords me ample free time but no money to make progress. Things have moved fairly quickly since last August 09 and I'm now getting excited because I see the end in sight. There are a few things I still need to buy for the car but I'm just glad I got what I did when I did because it'd be a hard row to hoe now if I hadn't. So,.. here are a few pictures of what I've been up to.
I'll add a few at a time till I get up to the present. I'm on dial up and it takes a looong time to upload a picture. Here goes.
The Good:
The Bad:
The Ugly: