roche

just started tearing the coupe apart a couple weeks ago. since selling my 993 i've been pretty tied up at work but have managed to move all my landscaping equipment out of the garage for the winter to set up a makeshift workshop to start on the car.

some history: i bought the car about 9 years ago before my son was born so that he and i could have some "bonding" time in the garage. well, the car, a 1958 super coupe is in pretty good shape, not the original color, but all there. we plan to strip the entire car, pull the engine and gearbox and redo all the suspension pieces. the car was originally orange with black interior and we plan to take it back to that color combo.

we're planning on a mild outlaw outcome...nothing irreversible. bump the motor to a 1720, slightly lowered, no overriders, center pea-shooter exhaust, dark wheels w/ no hubcaps and speedster seats........details may change over time, but that's the plan now.

my son is absolutely loving helping me. as soon as i get home from work, he's asking if we can go work in the garage........

here are some early pics.......updates to come over the next year......

the last pic shows the last three digits of the VIN written in chalk on the passenger door. that's from the factory 51 years ago...pretty cool!

gonzilla

That's so cool!!! That's gonna be a great car. What a great idea. Enjoy every minute of it!

AOW162435

Awesome! I look forward to following this.

Consider cleaning around the three digits on the door and then clear-coating over them. Such a neat bit to find.


Andreas

Cincy_Ron

Subscribed. This looks like an awesome project. What part of Ohio are you in Roche?

JPP

I agree, need to preserve that for sure and the factory orange overspray. I had a factory original paint orange 58 speedster a while back, paint code 5711. It's a beautiful color and looks great on the organic shape of the 356. The factory has a history of piping the interiors of cars with the exterior color which would look awesome on your car. Maybe a set of Speedster seats in black with orange piping ... Keep the pictures coming, there's a few of us bathtub lovers here.

luftpirate

What a great father son project. I'm sure your son thinks you're the coolest dad scraping away on that pan. Good luck with the build, finding those personal touches is always exciting.

bleucamaro

Excellent father son project there! When I was a kid I loved working on cars & the plane with old dad. We're still very close and I still love working in the garage with him.

That 1720 should be pretty petty when you're done. Any detailed plans with that?

Are you going to keep it drum brake, or convert to disks?

Oh, Good Luck!

JPP

Hey Roche,
I saw these engines in L.A. last spring at a swap meet. They are 912 motors done by Willhoit Auto Restorations, built to 1950cc's with twin plug heads putting out about 165 horspower. Zero to 60 times around 6 seconds in a 356. They have one with electronic ignition they've been running in a car for 3 years now with no problems at all. Here's a video of one on a dyno bench. When you open the link, wait for about 20 seconds for the WMV file to open a new video window for Windows Media Player ...

http://www.willhoitautorestoration.com/1925.wmv

roche

just up the road from you a couple hours in lima. i think we traded PMs back in the summer when you were interested in hearing my fister stage IIIs on my c4s........

roche

same thought i had on saving the "943" on the door.

roche

no real detailed plans on the engine yet...a buddy of mine and fellow 356 registry member has three 356s and is an expert with the mechanicals. we're planning the big bore kit with a set of solex carbs and velocity stacks. probably will make somewhere around 100-110 hp. i've only planned to rebuild the stock brakes...hopefully that will be adequate.

cal44

If you do the brakes correctly they work well. These are big brakes in a light car. A dual master is a good way to go for an upgrade, kits are sold.

roche

some progress from tonight. still scraping the floors and got the front light out. hopefully i can have the interior stripped, motor and gearbox out and the new floors in by the end of winter.................

MSHii

It's admirable that you're doing that with your son. I wish you two many great times in the car when you're done.