TC/914

Thank you SO MUCH for this thread ! ! !

I'm in the midst of trying to reassemble my SC and forgot everything abut what it looked like when it came apart. Just your pic of the trailing arm seals in the beam was priceless. I asked everyone everywhere which side faced inwards, flat or tapered and NO HELP at all. Now, at least, I can see that the flat side faces the beam.

You rebuild/restoration looks just TERRIFIC, please keep the pics coming.


TC

jayster

Very nice indeed. I am envious of the tub you started with, looks like minimal metal work was required.
I am currently doing a '57 coupe, and a '60 S90 sunroof coupe, for a customer, and restoring my old
"E Production" racecar.
Nice job there, keep us posted.
I may post pics of my work, but wonder if there is a conflict as I am a shop.?

cal44

I am late to the game here but......those wheels. Aluminum? If so, where can they be purchased? I love em'. Mike

bleucamaro

Thanks for the comments!

The tub we started with had extensive rust repair done on it including lower door skins, rockers, sills, and I think part of the floor. We were lucky to buy it with the bodywork and paint completed, and from what I can tell, a pretty good job done. You should start a build thread on the car you're doing. I think as long as your customer doesn't mind, and you aren't whoring yourself out with comments like "bring your car to Jayster's and we'll give you a sweet deal on awesome restorations" the moderators wouldn't have a problem. Hopefully this thread and others like it serve as inspiration to others as to what can be done to preserve and enhance these cool little cars, and even though you do this for a living, the more encouragement and publicity created, the better.


The wheels are CNC machined billet aluminum, they're made by West Coast Haus (who I believe is now defunct) and I don't think are available new. keeping your ear to the ground and watching ads in The 356 registry you might be able to find some. These ones are 6" and weigh a whopping 11.5lbs.

As an update, the car is now on the ground and has actually rolled, WOW! I'll try to post some update pictures this weekend.

jcnesq

I think West Coast Haus (Alex Bivens) is still around and still has the wheels. They did move in the last year and may have closed part of what they were doing. See http://www.356wch.com/

bleucamaro

More Update:
The car has the transaxle re-installed and the rear suspension is done, along with all the brakes.


And the hood handle and badge were installed.


The trunk was painted and prepped for gas tank install.


And the gas tank was modified to accomodate the new fuel fittings, and then painted.


The tail lights and rear badge was installed.



And the front grilles and turn signals were installed. The grilles still need a little adjustment in the fit, but pretty close right now.




And most recently, the side trim "deco's" have been installed with new rubber, and the bumpers are being prepped for install with new decos. Also, the headlights were installed with new lenses and housings.

500

Really, really nice work!

Raynald

Hello,
can we have more pics and information about this nice restauration of BT-5 356 ?

Thanks
Raynald

guydawger

What a beauty there Bleu, she is gonna whip some necks for sure. I may still beat you down the home stretch though as the my 53 is at Bursch getting her new pipes.

guydawger

Uhh... I just noticed how old this thread is Bleu and Im assuming the little car is done. How about some finished glamour shots for all us pervs.?

bleucamaro

Holy Moley, has it really been a year since I've added anything to this thread?

Ok, I'm sure I'll miss a bunch of stuff, but I'll try to get a decent update in.

Since the last update here, the interior has been done, twice. The glass was installed, headlights installed, the bumpers hung, more parts bought, and the engine has been sent to and returned from Competition Engineering, and then assembled.

Here is the car after it came home from the interior shop the first time, with dash-pad and door panels done. The seats and carpeting needed some reworking, and aren't installed in this pic.


Here is the very filthy car sitting outside of Ted Blake's shop, where they fixed some mistakes that the original interior shop caused, and applied their expertise where we felt ignorant (dialing in the parking brake, and installing the glass without breaking it). Anyway, its enough to get a flavor of the red interior.





And here is the assembled engine at home on the engine stand. The specs, are pretty much as follows:

• 1883 cc
• LN engineering Aluminum "Nickies" cylinders
• JE pistons
• Ported & unshrouded heads
• 40mm intake valves
• Titanium retainers
• Comp Engineering valve springs
• SX-2 cam - intake: .375" lift, 254° @.050, exhaust: .375", 260° @.050, 106°lobe separation (+4°)
• 9.5:1 compression
• Super 90 crank (only because it was perfect)
• Super 90 rods (only because they were perfect)
• Full flow oil conversion
• Billet Al oil cooler
• Provision for additional external oil cooler & filter

yeah, I know we move at a snail's pace, but to make an excuse, there is another project being worked on concurrently, that makes things even slower.

After visiting SEMA show last week, we learned quite a bit, and will be redoing the fuel plumbing to improve safety and reduce problems from sloshing, all while using the stock tank.

FlatSix911

Excellent progress photos ... keep them coming ...

JPP

Nice project! Looks like you're in the home stretch with all the details coming together nicely. Really like the Aetna Blue/Red combo, a classic german combo from the '60's ...

n9013c

Rumor has it that the S90 project has been delayed due to work being done on his more muscular big brother. Work to resume on the S90 next week after we clean up the messy shop. Right Bleu!!

bleucamaro

That's right boss.