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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:13 pm
by Joe Ruiz
Split Windshield dash........

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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:16 pm
by Joe Ruiz
My early Split coupe.......

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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:22 pm
by Joe Ruiz
This split coupe is in hibernation in a barn.....

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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:25 pm
by Joe Ruiz
Radium green split coupe with rare bench seat..........

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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:28 pm
by Joe Ruiz
Another '51 Split coupe purchase........

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Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:51 pm
by Jules Dielen
early morning shot. Open house at deluxe customs in Tempe AZ

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:29 am
by David Green
After 16 months of cleaning, sorting and rebuilding systems - and with the help of many of you - it's done (as much as a 64 year old car is ever done) and here's its story:

In 1953 my good friend's 23-year-old uncle bought this new 356 series America coupe from Jack McAfee Motors (the LA Porsche dealer) and it remained in the family for the next 63 years. He and his wife and their car quickly became fixtures in the Southern California Porsche world and the 27th member of the Porsche Owners’ Club, the number displayed on the cast aluminum front plate. They were active in the club’s leadership, social events, autocross and at least one Mexican rally. When the engine made some troubling noises in1974 he parked it awaiting a rebuild that never came to be. It was stored in various places, including a garage in the San Fernando Valley that collapsed around it in the 1994 Northridge earthquake but miraculously left the car undamaged and then moved to a storage building near Palm Springs, California where the dry environment preserved much but decades of heat, dirt and sand baked into oblivion everything made of rubber, some of the interior and the paint. I’ve know about the car for 20 years, tried to buy it for 10 and in February, 2016 the family agreed to sell it and I became the 2nd owner. I retrieved it from the storage building along with seven bins of original parts, factory supplied manuals and a trove of documents since new.

The 55 hp 356 series America was Max Hoffman's idea for a less expensive, de-contented model that differed from the Super with one, not two, sun visors, radio delete, corduroy interior, plain wheels, no folding rear seat back, no passenger seat recliner and cost $3,300 v. $4,200 for the 70 hp, "loaded" Super.

With the exception of a 1970’s wrong color paint and my replacement of seals, wiring harness, headliner and seat covering, the car is almost 100% original: engine, trans, body metal, glass, instruments, lights, switches and knobs, carpet, corduroy interior panels, floor mats, wheels, spare tire, tools, jack and even the wood fuel tank dipstick and complete documentation starting with the temporary registration that was taped to the windshield when it left McAfee's lot.

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 11:44 pm
by Frank Hood
Congrats David! And thanks for sharing your story.
Frank

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 8:07 pm
by James Davies
Glad to see it back on the road David. Looks fantastic!

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2017 9:01 pm
by George Kehler
Unbelievable story and great that it has stayed in the family !! Congrats !! George

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 2:21 am
by Donald Zingg
Great job David!
Question about the fuel tank cap on your car - -
Did you polish it to make it shiny, or is that how the original finish normally appears?
I need to restore a gas cap for my car but I have no idea what the plating finish should be - -

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:07 pm
by David Green
Donald,
I just cleaned off years of dirt and grime with Simple Green mixed 50/50 with rubbing alcohol and then a little metal polish on a cloth. These photos accurately show the finish.
David

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 5:40 am
by Jack Stenner
Beautiful '53 David. Love it!

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:25 pm
by Spencer Harris
She looks terrific David - congrats!

Re: Post you PreA photos here!

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2017 11:57 am
by Curtis Batchelder
Before, 1979....