black944 turbo

Congrats and good luck. Could be a great car, but a ton of work there.

DaveCarrera4

thanks! I'm pretty sure most barn finds involving a 58 year old car are a lot of work. :-)

black944 turbo

Btw, I would love to see more pics.

ECS Tuning

+1

Glad to see it went well and congratulations on getting it out.

doublecabmel

I wonder if it's the correct engine and trans. What are your plans?

DaveCarrera4

for now, research a bit more about the car. I will try to get the engine this weekend. It was apparently raced by the original owner named Kathie, according to my uncle. I'll find out if the engine matches the chassis next, then probably in the spring, a full inventory of what's what.

DaveCarrera4

Got the motor today, also found a bumper and the spare wheel. Turned the motor sideways and a quart of water poured out, the back upright and a pint of oil came out. Hope it's ok. Trying to find out if numbers match.

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sparkplug93

Do you or will you have pics of the engine? I would really love to see what an engine like that looks like after that many years. Also great job on the extraction, glad to see the body come out in one piece.

DaveCarrera4

Here is an engine shot.

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96_Impreza

This was our '55-'56? Continental Coupe 1500N around 1969-1972. #53733 to the best of my recollection, wish I'd kept some doc's. It was our daily driver, hauling wife, three kids and a standard poodle for a few years.
.

doublecabmel

From what I can tell that is the correct engine. It has the correct Knect air cleaners, and the 4 hole pulley, and the black coil with correct Bosch sticker. Nice work! Make sure you sign up for the 356 registry

DaveCarrera4

I certainly did. Looked at the frunk of the car again today. All horizontal surfaces are very thin and rotted thru in many places. Did get a few good shots of the nameplate, but it is super rusty and the SN is lost. Fortunately I do have the serial number from the door jamb. Took apart both headlights and cleaned them up, a few holes in the housing, both VW lenses broken, would the '55 have had VW lenses?

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tcsracing1

high 5 for a nice score and great rescue!

doublecabmel

VW lenses were a common replacement for the Porsche Hella lenses. Actually both lenses are made by hella. It was a standard joke of how many vw pieces you could put on your 356. Obviously they are not the correct part, but they are the same- only cheaper. The original headlight lenses are impossible to find. I have VW ones on my 58 speedster. I'll probably get the repros

overrestored

The headlight glass lenses on a Continental we're clear... with a little "halo" circle in the middle. QUITE rare actually. one year only. Not marked vw... but some 1955 VW "barn door" busses share them. The Continental Script side badges are EXTREMELY rare now. You could get probably 4 figures each. HIDE THEM! The rims are also worth about 1k each these days. The turbo rings... if they are also
big money... blah blah blah. (Be EXCRUTIATINGLY careful removing the little t-bolts that hold the turbo rings to the wheels. soak them in penetrating oil for a week first! You will not find replacements)

I restored 53821... a green 356 Continental sunroof coupe with wire wheels about 15 years ago... it was in Excellence in May 2004... (issue #128). Lots of tough parts to find if they are missing. Body bits can be restored... new bits welded in... etc. Parts are getting pretty expensive now though. Restored right it is a 200k plus car. Resto cost... I'd bet 125-150k these days if it needs a lot of welding. Get that thing properly blasted... and some good primer on it... and then put it in dry storage while you locate the bits you need. It is a project worth taking on! Congrats.