Filling Holes on a '61 356B

For those who couldn't care less how their 356 left the factory!
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Ken Tuvman
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Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#1 Post by Ken Tuvman »

Mine was raced at an earlier point in time and whomever sold it removed (2) instruments and (4) switches from the dashboard - we know the car didn't come with these holes!

So, the goal with this car was / is to make it a daily driver and make things mechanically sound before any cosmetic work like exterior paint and new rubber. So far it has a 1720cc motor with Shasta components, a new clutch, new tires, blasted and painted wheels, new seat kits and upholstery as well as reverting to a points driven distributor, stock Zenith carbs, and a rebuilt fuel pump and all new brake components as well as fuel tank treatment.

Over the past 2 days I enlisted the help of some friends and we now have a working clock and oil pressure gauge in the two large holes in the dash. Next will be finding some switches and perhaps one or two jewel lights for the smaller holes.

This is a fun project and I now have about 600 miles of Porsche time under my belt!

Pictures of my good friend Niel Petersen, a retired mechanical engineer seen here enlarging a hole for the clock and fabricating a bracket for the VDO OP gauge. Nice to have friends with talent in these areas!
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Craig Colaluca
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#2 Post by Craig Colaluca »

Always wanted a VDO outside temp gauge but won’t make a new hole for one.
My car has heated seat elements under the leather which I highly recommend. That may give you a good excuse for switches to fill those holes.
76 911S Coupe
91 964 C2 Targa
92 964 C2 Coupe
76 BMW 2002 (my handsome son’s car)
66 Mercedes 230SL Pagoda (my beautiful wife’s car)
Greenville, SC

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Phil Planck
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#3 Post by Phil Planck »

Ken

You should be so lucky that you have nice round drilled holes. My 63 (Foam Car for you oldtimers) had a nice fog light switch installed for I dont know what. I removed it years ago and found a hole had been punched through the dash. Here it is where I have partially bent the metal back in prior to welding up:
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Phil Planck

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Harlan Halsey
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#4 Post by Harlan Halsey »

Those holes were probably made with a chassis punch or a hole saw. It is trivial to make disks and TIG weld them in. Even easier to make a good sized hole, say for a temp gage, and not that hard to disappear it should you change your mind later. If you make the disks, any decent TIG welder can do it in a few minutes.

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Jules Dielen
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#5 Post by Jules Dielen »

quick fix would be a few chromed plugs from Ace Hardware to fill the holes?
Jules

Water pumps are for windshield washers only.

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Jules Dielen
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#6 Post by Jules Dielen »

Craig Colaluca wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2020 1:22 pm Always wanted a VDO outside temp gauge but won’t make a new hole for one.
My car has heated seat elements under the leather which I highly recommend. That may give you a good excuse for switches to fill those holes.
Ken, you can easily replace the clock with an ambient temp gauge. Same size hole and you can always get the time from your cell phone (most likely a lot more accurate as well :) ).

Routing the capillary is a bit harder- not the most flexible of lines and a big clumsy sensor at the end.
Jules

Water pumps are for windshield washers only.

Craig Colaluca
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Re: Filling Holes on a '61 356B

#7 Post by Craig Colaluca »

Thanks for the info Jules!
76 911S Coupe
91 964 C2 Targa
92 964 C2 Coupe
76 BMW 2002 (my handsome son’s car)
66 Mercedes 230SL Pagoda (my beautiful wife’s car)
Greenville, SC

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