Are These Porsche Parts

[Patrick Ertel]

At the time I bought my '56 coupe the gentleman I bought the car from gave me a box of parts. He had owned and raced several Porsches - the '56 was the newest - and it was definitely a mixed bag. I took out the parts that interested me and put the box back on the shelf. This was in 1973. I'm sorting through it now and most if it seems to be pre-A Porsche stuff, but these three items aren't familiar to me. Are they Porsche parts?
The distributor rotor came in a plastic box and says, "To fit Marelli 66203/5" and "made in Germany." The socket that fits over the distributor shaft is only about 1/2" deep.

[Joris Koning]

Hi Patrick,

You have a set of pre-a fresh air vent hardware. Not easy to find. I am sure some of the pre-a guys will jump in and give more particulars.

[Spencer Harris]

Looks like one is similar to my 55 valves and the other is similar to my 58 valves. I'm not sure when the changes occurred, but Rick Albro will know all the specifics.

'55 Fresh air valve assembly.

CIMG9316 (Large).JPG (194.25 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

'58 Fresh air valve assembly.

CIMG9283 (Large).JPG (163.16 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

For reference air valves from a '53.

CIMG9057 (Large).JPG (152.69 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

[Rick Albro]

Pat I see two different styles of vent locking mechanisms: You have one 54-55 style assembly and a partial A style assembly. see below, ...My image of the 54-55 style has the wrong knob attached... one can see the insert and protruding nut at the bottom of the knob. The image is a "B" style knob in which the nut fits inside the "hump". Early "A" style knobs did not have a brass insert... this change occurred late in 57. So a 56 car would very likely have these parts associated...

The 52-53 style was probably used until March or April of 54 and changed when the knobs changed... the change from the 54-55 style to the A style seems a little less definite...Usually the remaining clues from the car will tell you which style you should have. The change from the A style to the later style probably occurred when the knob style changed... another post, see links below, and a few owner survey responses pin points the change to late 57 so a 58 model year change... are there any original cars that define these changes better?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46505
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51815

Fresh air vent evolution.jpg (288.95 KiB) Viewed 1209 times

mechanisms.jpg (314.25 KiB) Viewed 1209 times

[Patrick Ertel]

Thank you for all the replies. The early, flat one will go up for sale since it isn't correct for either of my '56s. Did Speedsters even have these vents? Mine '56 Speedster doesn't have them at this time, but that doesn't prove anything.
I don't know the value of them, so I'm in the dark about pricing. I haven't found any recent sales to go by. Any guidance?
Patrick

[Donald Zingg]

Did Speedsters even have these vents?

It never was in the build plan. The first couple dozen Speedsters had the air inlet hole in the hinge post with the valve disk bolted shut. Then, the valve disk was deleted and the vent hole was covered by a sheet metal patch.