The Official 356Talk Forum

Weird A&*ed mirrors now replaced with correct for C Durant mirrors as of yesterday evening. One step at a time.

Doug,

Don't drive off without closing that hood!

No worries Eric. I disconnected the battery maintainer and hand pushed the car outside to work on it then hand pushed it back inside. I refuse to start the car for 10 ft of movement. Just seems like the correct thing to do.

So I have put off dealing with a very slow starter until now because I have difficulty getting to starter and back up again. So MY son the carpenter agreed to be my younger body:>) He loves driving this Outlaw and although a carpenter he is a graduate of Auto mechanics school. He jacked the car up, removed the passengers side rear wheel and then we found a rather unique "Sign of the Turkey". The starter was held in poorly by lower bolt only. The upper hard to reach bolt that holds the starter as well as the motor in was missing completely! As in not there-just a hole! Needless to say the starter torqued slightly when power applied to it. Removed old starter bushing with a tap, installed new bushing with my special bushing tool and ordered new "Helper Bolts" from Ab @ Afterwerk. More to come after they arrive.

In the meantime maybe install some cool 3 point seatbelts some guy on Whidbey sent you! wink-wink

Doug,

Can I ask what is a helper bolt, and what is its purpose.

Many Thanks.

Doug,

That all makes sense.

When I purchased my car a number of years back it came with one of these bolts.
Not as pretty as Ab's, very crudely welded, however now I know what it is.

When I get around to putting the engine into the car a set of these would be handy.

I could have installed the starter with regular bolts as Luke was here to help me but that isn't always the case. I am frequently working alone so decided to install the helper bolts as I have them on my other car and they come in handy on occasion.

New starter and bushing in and car starts like a good 356 should.

For a poor man's helper bolt, put a ss hose clamp on the head of the bolt. Has anyone developed a helper bolt that also resists being pushed back out of its hole when trying to put the nut on it? I always loop a length of safety wire around the bolt before starting the nut and that seems to work, but I can't help but think that there should be a better way.

My tip on keeping the helper bolt from pushing back in when starting the washer and nut is brought to you by my son. He just stuffed a rag up in the small space where the bolt head is, started the washer and nut, then removed the rag. Simple solution and it works. One of those "Why didn't I think of that?" kind of solutions.

Pending sale to a nice younger guy with a VW history. He is probably anxious as he agreed to sale 2 days before leaving for a 2 week work commitment in Germany. He has had this fuel filler door on his desk for about 10 years to remind him that some day he would own a 356.

Congrats on the sale! Anyone who has a filler door on their shelf like that has got to be a good and loving owner. Hope to see him here.