Project: 1963 356T6 Coupe #212230

[YC Cheng]

I have really enjoyed the Registry and it is about time I started contributing. I am just a novice wrencher who has primarily only worked on modern era cars. This time I wanted to learn some new craft and experience the ups and downs of classic car restoration. After talking with a bunch of folks smarter than me, I settled on a matching number 1963 Porsche T6 that I sourced off the internet. My goal is to have a clean driver, mostly original, that I can take on the road to meet great people and sights.

So the story begins...

I have had the car since early this year and I will try to catch you all up to the current progress. If you know any history on #212230 please share it with me. I would love to know the lineage. I bought it from a gentleman in California who had the intention to restore the car. I am guessing the car sat in his garage for some time and the project was more than he wanted to handle. He had several boxes of parts new and old, plus a bunch of manuals.

Below you can see photos of the car. Basically it came from the factory in exterior Ivory with a Brown leather interior. Sometime in its life it got a new driver side front corner welded on, a ton of filler, fiberglass in the floor pans/front battery box, a new blue interior and painted blue. After some adjustments the engine ran surprisingly strong, visually it looks stock with the original "coffee cans". But maybe you can tell me if it is modified. Let me know if you see anything interesting and please enjoy the photos.

[YC Cheng]

Delivery and initial photos - The paint in person is far worse than the photos reveal. But it looks like it has a ton of the original parts including some fancy Talbot side mirrors.

[YC Cheng]

Here is the closer inspection. A lot of fiberglass on the floor, this should be fun to peel back the onion.

[C J Murray]

Welcome! For a "novice wrencher" you seem to have lots of tools and bins and such. Very good because you will get to use them! The car looks good, much better than most people start with. Best of luck and I hope you enjoy the experience.

[YC Cheng]

Checking the numbers








I think these look good

[YC Cheng]

CJ, Thanks for the kind note. Here are more detailed photos of the underbody and engine. I engine bay insulation/paper looks original? Should I keep it?

[Adam Wright]

My first 356 was 212104, with engine 609835, so not far from yours.

I worked on it in an alley in Brooklyn, looks like you will have a better setup for getting to work.

Enjoy the car!

[Vic Skirmants]

Welcome. You still have the original longitudinals; note the drain holes. Try to save them if possible.

[C J Murray]

Your side spears are not listed on the COA but I do like them. You will have to decide what to do there. The key pouch looks like the original that came with my '67 911S so be careful with that as it may have a high value. Tinted windshield is rare and might indicate a hot weather original owner. The car is relatively unmolested. It is just suffering the usual body structure issues. Not a bad starting point.

[YC Cheng]

Wow such good eyes. It is an original key pouch and I had missed the drain holes until you just spotted them. As for the tinted windshield do you think it came from the factory or dealer with it installed? It is a tinted strip on the front windshield about 4 inches wide from the top?

[YC Cheng]

Adam with your 212104 we were probably in the factory at the same time

[YC Cheng]

I was so excited to drive the 356. I have never driven or rode in one and I have waited a long time for to give her a spin. The car was so raw, immediate and mechanical. The noises, smells and sensations were intoxicating. Really something very special and I can see why you all fell in love with them. But this car was in bad shape and it scared the hell out of me. Starting the car and running was fine, but stopping was a whole different story. In fact my first thought of the brakes was at the stop sign and it was already too late. How stupid am I for driving a car and not testing the brakes in a safe place first. I pressed the brake pedal and not much happened, it seemed like the only thing stopping the cars was wind resistance and the fact that I stopped pushing the gas. the car eventually came to a stop and I quickly turned around and took her home to adjust the brakes. I got the brakes to a usable shape but I need to take her to a professional to sort out any other issues before I killed myself. I looked around the Registry and decided that The Stable in SF was the best place to get some professional help. the first thing I saw when I got there was a beautiful notchback in the factory color for my car. I knew I was in the right place.

[YC Cheng]

Brian at The Stable did a new purchase inspection and we decided that the goal was to make the car safer. I know it is probably not necessary and ruins the whole stock configuration but I wanted a to error on the side of safety for my 356 driver. I asked for a 911 dual circuit brake master cylinder, Wilwood front disc brakes, rear brakes adjusted and new brake lines all around. The tires had no wear on them at all but they were cracked and hard, so we replaced them with Vredesteins on 4.5 inch rims (going with the wilwood disc brakes enabled me to keep the stock 4.5 inch wide lug nut pattern). To round up the rest of the work, Brian replace the Tach cable, fuel filter, rebuilt the turn signal switch, aligned 4 wheels and fixed a draw on the battery. All in all a job well done and she's great to drive.

911 Brake cylinder



Front disc Brakes



Old vs new tires

[YC Cheng]

As you could probably see from the previous photo, Brian warned me that the steering coupler needed replacing. I ordered the kit and installed it when I got home. Kind of scary how worn it was.

Old




New

[Jim Liberty]

YC, WELCOME, and you have come to the right place. My everyday driver is a '63 #213913. I happen to like the big drum brakes on these late "B" cars. Mine came to me with a color change too, and I restored it back to the original Slate Grey. That said, I added GT seats, and painted the dash Red. I'm comfortable with the non standard changes, as I intend to keep the car.

.....................................................Jim.