Pre A Speedster Blue Speedster Restoration/Photo History

[Chad Comeau]

Since returning from the PRCC I have been working on installing my new wiring harness. I probably did not have to remove the original harness but rather repair the ends that required attention. Oh well I guess that is the price of education...

I also picked up a set of 16" wheels 20-Minutes from my house! It is amazing what people still have in their garage. The wheels are in excellent condition and still have the Goodyear 4-Ply tires (some still hold air).

[Adam Wright]

Chad, like Top Gun, there are no points for 2nd place, I was next in line for those wheels. Good score!

[Chad Comeau]

I am trying to do everything by the book. The front suspension is going together nicely!

The Book....

Me using the correct VW270a tool

[Chad Comeau]

The second owner saved every nut & bolt that was originally on the car. He also saved every piece of rubber. All of the extra parts and piece were stored in a very cool wooden box labeled "speedster parts." The original rubber threshold strips came in handy when I installed the new ones!

Original

New

[Chad Comeau]

The fun stuff or frustrating things you learn along the way...

Inner Tie Rods ends that connect to the steering box for Pre A Cars are 9mm not 12mm. The ZF steering boxes are 12mm the old VW steering boxes are 9mm. After ordering multiple tie rod ends I finally figured this out. Not sure if you can see the difference in the pictures. Some say to upgrade to the ZF box others say leave it alone. I am going to leave it alone for now...

On the bright side the original battery clamp cleaned up nicely...check out the marking looks like a "P" and "F"

[Larry Coreth]

Where are you measuring this 9mm & 12mm ?

[Chad Comeau]

Hi Larry;

The 12mm measurement is for the outer Tie Rod that attached the Front axle. The smaller 9mm measurement is for the inner tie rod that attaches to the steering box.

Chad

[Larry Coreth]

I meant where on the tie rod end ?
See photo, the threads are 10 & 14mm (arrows)
The taper is 13mm-14.5mm
I do not see any 12 or 9mm, it would seem we are not both talking apples.
Please could you be more specific.

[Chad Comeau]

11-24-11

The tranxaxle was loosely installed to transport it back from the paint shop. Last night I removed the transaxle added the rubber gasket to the front and reinstalled it. I also installed new Koni shocks. Everything is taking twice as long to put back together. Partially because I am cleaning every nut and bolt and secondly because I forgot how it goes back together

Vic Skirmants Rebuilt the transalxe

540 Marking on the Transaxle

7818 Transaxle Number Matching for this Car

New Koni's

Other fun stuff
All of the original parts that were removed during the life of the car were stored in these very cool wooden boxes

Carpet, rubber, dash beading etc..

Original felt for the gas tank

[Chad Comeau]

I spent a few more hours last night working on the speedster. The front brakes are now together and I also spent some time wiring the dash. It feels great to put parts back on the car! With any luck it will be ready to "sort out" by spring time!

Driver side front brake

Passenger Side Front Brake

Back of the tachometer date stamped 12/55

Back of the speedometer date stamped 6/55

[Chad Comeau]

I mounted the horn grills Friday night and they look great against the fresh Blue Paint! However I now have a new item to stress over and that is the location of the turn signal screws. Should they be at 12 & 6 or 3 & 9? The original and new horn grill rubber suggests 12 & 6 for the outer facing screws and 3 & 9 for mounting the turn signal base. I have looked through all of my vintage 356 pictures, magazines, etc and I see them mounted both ways! Any suggestions?

[Dennis ODonnell]

Mine are like yours. I have a pre-T2 '57.

[Larry Wilson]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Chad Comeau]

Larry & Dennis thank you for your response.

Larry the white speedster looks like it may be a 54. It has the blunt Nose Hood Handle which were only on 54 Speedster's. Thanks you for the reference!

Below is a link to a registry article the first picture of shows the lens mounted at 12 & 6.

http://www.porsche356registry.org/resou ... types.html

This stuff drives me crazy, I really need to just put the car together....these details literally cost me days. Hopefully the end result will be worth it!

[Charlie White]

Chad,

Here is a picture of a Speedster from a factory salesman's binder for 1955. It is included in the following website, but blown up here.

http://derwhites356literature.com/New35 ... pyder.html

CW