My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

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Dan Epperly
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My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#1 Post by Dan Epperly »

Short introduction. I have been posting off and on on the site for the past couple years which is about how long I have been Registry member and a 356 owner. Like a lot of guys I got interested in these cars though VWs. I started out with convertible bug back in '89 when my new German wife insisted on a convertible Beetle as a daily driver, which soon led to a bay window bus to go camping in, and then a split window Westfalia camper, and then a host of other VWs and finally about five years ago our first Porsche, a '67 912. Then I met my friend Pascal, saw his A coupe, and the hunt was on. Eventually, I found a 356 of my own, but the owner didn't know that. After keeping in tough with the guy through his brother for three years (and finding another B coupe through Craigslist) I landed this black beauty about a year and a half ago.
Having already yet another early Bug convertible to finish and a rare '62 Mosaic VW camper to do, the B sat in the garage, the sun slowly removing the crappy paint for me:

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The rest of the car sat smugly amongst piles of VW and Porsche parts.

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The car had been sitting like this (albeit under a car port and covered in tarps in the backyard of a house in Carlsbad, CA) since the Year of Our Lord 1973 when is was dismantled by the PO and his brother. The PO bought it about a year before (1972) from the original owner it is believed. The car had issues, which they addressed and which I have since discovered thanks to a gallon of JASCO paint remover.

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The car is crazy dry. The only rust repair of note has been in the front floor pans where they cut out the section between the pedals and rear pans and welded flat metal in. The lower door has some rust through. The worst of it is the front collision damage. The car was hit in the front, causing the front fenders to buckle. They did not straighten them out before they welded in an original donor nose (this was 1973 remember) preserving the buckle. They also didn't repair the crumpled battery box area. The nose donor was overlapped and the metal pounded in to create a trough which was brassed in and then filled with about 1/2 inch of bondo.
Oy vey.
Anyway, I have restored many a VW, many far, far, far worst than this, but its a 356, and I originally thought I better let someone else do the metal and body work, but after seeing the carnage, I'm thinking, screw this, I'm doing it myself.
My plan of attack is to finish stripping the car. I then need to slice out the nose, replace the wrinkled up battery box/spare tire well, straighten the front fenders, adjust the gaps, then weld the nose back in. Try and pound/pull the various dents adn then take it from there. Because they planned on restoring the car in '74 and thanks to various parts buys I have a lot of NOS stuff for the car so it should be nice when done. My intent is to post all my updates and either boor you or providing schadenfreude type entertainment for the experts.

Kevin Wills
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#2 Post by Kevin Wills »

Dan, looks like a great project. Looking forward to your updates. No detail is too boring. I am on the same road as you with my 62.

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Steve Harrison
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#3 Post by Steve Harrison »

Dan,
In reference to your first question,...Yes.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :)

Sounds like you've worked your way through a lot of vw restorations and that'll serve you well in your new project. Start a thread over in the project section and go to town! Post up pix and watch the cheering section ramp up. Everyone loves a good resurection story....

David Gensler
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#4 Post by David Gensler »

Echoing Steve, I'm pretty sure anyone who undertakes to restore a 356 is certifiable! :D
DG
David Gensler

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Jim Liberty
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#5 Post by Jim Liberty »

Dan, if you are in So. Cal., call or drop by my shop anytime if I can be of any help.

................................. Jim.
Jim Liberty

Brian Jones
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#6 Post by Brian Jones »

Welcome to the asylum !

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Adam Wright
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#7 Post by Adam Wright »

If you think about it, it's really no different than getting married and having kids.
1. You are going to work harder and longer than you expected.
2. It's going to cost far beyond anything you could have imagined.
3. You have both good days and bad days.

But in the end it is worth every minute and dollar you put in.
www.unobtanium-inc.com
Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

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Jim Liberty
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#8 Post by Jim Liberty »

Adam, perfectly said. ....................Jim.
Jim Liberty

Dan Epperly
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#9 Post by Dan Epperly »

Jim Liberty wrote:Adam, perfectly said. ....................Jim.
Thanks all for the supportive comments, and I will for sure be asking for opinions and advice as I continue on this path.
If the moderator feels this thread is best moved to "projects" feel free. I hate to start another thread on this.

John Ward
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#10 Post by John Ward »

Dan..
I too thought I was nuts doing my 62. At times I would just say "ARE YOU KIDDING ME !?! after discovering things after the paint was stripped.
Little by little I would see progress, and get a feeling of reward.
The point is........It`s really worth it.
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Rusty Willey
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#11 Post by Rusty Willey »

Yep, you're nuts! Just like all of us :D Good thing for you is that you have a VERY nice project to start with, DIG IN!!!!!!!!! :D :D
Don't hate me for driving Volkswagens.

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Greg Scallon
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#12 Post by Greg Scallon »

Hey Dan,
As Jim says, if you're in SoCal, give him a call. If, however, you're in NorCal, get in touch. I'm an old VW guy too.

Great project by the way. Fun stuff.

-Greg
'58 Speedster
'56 VW Deluxe Microbus 

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Russ Myers
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#13 Post by Russ Myers »

Crazy? Of course you are. Are you among fellow crazies? Yes indeed! Nice project car for sure!
 

Dan Epperly
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#14 Post by Dan Epperly »

Hi All,
Last week I finished stripping the car using Jasco stripper and sanding it down with 80 grit disc on an orbital sander. I used a propane torch to scrape off the bondo which was light on the rear and upper portions of the car, but heavy in the nose and on the lower doors and fenders.
To keep it from flash rusting I used phosphoric acid, known as a rust neutralizer but if you use it with a scrubby pad it taken any surface rust right off and protects the metal for quite a while if you keep moisture off of it. The car looks cool like this and a friend said I should leave it this way, but he's a little nuts so I tend to ignore him.
Anyway, the body from the leading edge of the door back looks pretty good. It when you get to the nose that the real problems emerge:

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So it took quite a shot to the front right. They replaced not only the nose but also the right fender, lapping it over the cowl and the rocker. My plan here is to cut out the donor section, clean them up, and butt weld them back in which reduce the amount of filler substantially. My order from Stoddard is en route, which is basically all the metal I need to repair the battery box. Right now I am doing some metal repair on the rear: sopme stress cracks, few small rust holes, hammer and dolling out some dents and using my stud welder to pull out a few more in attempt to get by with a small skim coat of filler.

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Jim Liberty
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Re: My first Porsche 356 project. Am I nuts or what?

#15 Post by Jim Liberty »

Please keep us updated as you progress, I learn something new with every restoration photo stream.

......................................................................Jim.
Jim Liberty

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