This is my 1956 Porsche 356 A 1600 coupe. Well, technically it's my dad's. But my dad knows nothing about fixing cars, so I figure if this car ever get back on the road it's up to me to get it there. **(I have had 2 offers for the car so far, but please take note, it isn't for sale.)** The plan is for myself and my friend Will to co-own the car, and co in halfsiez with the cost of restoration.
I REPEAT: IT IS NOT FOR SALE.
It's mostly original, other than some VERY 90s "upgrades". It has a Panasonic tape deck that I have never heard, as the last time this car ran I was 4 years old. It also has some crazy fleece seat covers, and a small, white rubber-rimmed GT 3 spoke wheel. I have also never seen the original wheel, as when the car was bought it had the wood rimmed wheel from the 1956 550 A installed. This wheel is very rare and worth some money, so it now hangs on my wall where it wont rot. The engine, although still a 1600 as it should be, is somewhat of a mishmosh of 356 parts from various years, and maybe even some 912 parts. I'm assuming the previous owner (not my dad, the guy before him) did this as power upgrades.
The motor itself is shot: I am 90% sure the block is cracked, so I will need to find a replacement. The main thing stopping me from working on it is that the latch to open the hood broke off. I can't figure out how to open the hood without it, so until I get that one figured out, the car will just have to wait.
Sorry I don't have any better pictures, I will have to scan some more. That was the only one on my hard drive.
**Update!!**
With the aid of some needle nose pliers and some canola oil (to grease my hands), I got the bonnet open! Thats when I found out that to take out the motor, it goes through the bottom....great...
**Update!!**
I got the engine out of the car, and it's a mess! It was covered in leaves, which made it pretty much impossible to get to those beastly little bolts behind the fan shroud. Oh well, it's out now. I took it to the Porsche shop where I work and dissasembled it and found out that it has three problems. Firstly, the intake manifolds had filled with water over the years of sitting, and corroded like you wouldn't believe. Hours of cleaning later, I realized that they had enough dings and imperfections that I really need new ones. Next, when I got the barrels off, I found a hole in one of the pistons, as well as a missing chunk, and the ring was fused to the piston. *redneck voice* Well there's yer problem! Finally, after tugging on the piston arms, it became apparent that two of them were a bit loose. All of this would not normally seem like good news, but it certainly is an improvment over the assumption of a cracked block! So here is how I figure it all went down:
-The oil cooler glogs up, restricting flow. (It's pretty nasty at this point.)
-The oil heats up, in turn heating up the whole block. (Remember, air cooled!)
-The heat accentuates the issues with the intake manifold/carburators, and the car leans out.
-We get detination in cylinder number 2, melting/blasting a hole through the piston.
-Lots of smoke billows out, and we get very confused/embarrased.
-The car finally quits. (Although it went for far longer than it should have been able to with that damage!)
So the parts I am going to need are a piston kit with barrels, intake manifolds (and probably carburators, preferably larger ones from later years OR 1956 models, but it's hard to see that happening) new bushings for the piston arms (or whatever it is that wears out on the crankshaft, I don't really know the name). If anyone out there knows where I can get some of these parts for a good price, let me know, I would be very interested! I'll get some more pics up as soon as I can.
