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Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:18 pm

Well, after 2.5 years of waiting I finally got this '63 356 B T-6 SC. I haven't had time to look it up, but I suspect it is mostly original. The owner took it apart back in 1974 and it has sat around in pieces and moved about around seven times since until I found it in a backyard in Carlsbad.
Anyway, here are some pix. There is some impact damage to the left front and some pan replacement in the front, but other than that it is straight and dry, crazy dry, nutty dry.
The engine is there, complete with all new valves, bearings, etc., but assembled "finger tight" so no parts would be lost. The heads have the rockers and valves and guides, but the springs are still in a wrapper in two columns. Interesting.

Here are some pix of the puzzle:

Sat Jul 28, 2012 12:26 am

Hello-

So where are you going to start?

Cheers,

Paul

Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:04 am

Nice find, the black plates and the wood wheel make it very cool. Keep us posted!

Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:30 am

I am still amazed that there are cars out there like this that have been in hiding. Are your plans to assemble or sell as is, just curious?

Sat Jul 28, 2012 4:48 am

I find there are always cars out there, but when the market heats up it seems like there are more because a lot more hit the market at once. Lots of us have a little black book of cars, even though we have not bought them yet. Lots of times this is because the owner is not ready to sell or his price is too high, but then the market gets white hot you feel more inclined to meet what may have been a too high price a few years back or you can throw so much money at a car the owner has a hard time saying no.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:46 am

MMW wrote: I am still amazed that there are cars out there like this that have been in hiding. Are your plans to assemble or sell as is, just curious?

My plans are to do a full restoration and keep it. It is very dry and I imagine mostly original so a perfect candidate. I have a '62 SO-22 Mosaic camper I need to finish first. Right now I am sorting and categorizing stuff before I box it up. I have ID'd most of the parts, but there are a few things that yet escape me. I have also found I am missing a few items, like the shifter, but the PO is still digging stuff out. I will be posting some pix later of the parts I cannot ID so hopefully you guys can tell me what they are.

What is the deal with the wood wheel? It has a "LL" or something like that stamped on it.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:59 am

Braukuche wrote: What is the deal with the wood wheel? It has a "LL" or something like that stamped on it.

Les Leston wheel.

Looks great! Was it originally Signal Red? ...almost looks orange in the interior shots

Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:14 am

Keep asking questions and posting progress here.

Things will turn up, like "don't ever use a rusty valve spring" or "that rocker assembly is a different type and ratio than one for that car."

I think that Brad Ripley once estimated that there are about 4,000 parts in an average 356, so as far as inventorying and being ready to reassemble, you have a tough row to hoe, but it's "one more saved."

All ya need is that rarest of P-tools...the "round 2it" I'm sure the PO could agree with the old saying "It's amazing how long it takes to finish something you are not working on."

Good find, good luck!

Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:27 am

jjjjack wrote: Braukuche wrote: What is the deal with the wood wheel? It has a "LL" or something like that stamped on it.

Les Leston wheel.

Looks great! Was it originally Signal Red? ...almost looks orange in the interior shots

Its a '63 so I figured it was likely Ruby red, wasn't that the red they offered in that year?

I found an SC badge in the pile of parts, and two holes where it would have attached but since SCs were only on the C cars I guess it was wishful thinking on the part of an earlier owner. I ran the engine numbers (616/1 and P610278 on the third piece) and it is within the range for the car, and clearly a normal. I haven't ran the gearbox yet But given the car was off the road for so long I think it is safe to assume it is all numbers matching.

Thanks Bruce, I am pretty happy, especially since I won't have to do any rust repair for a change. The right fender is a mess and that will take some welding, but other than that it is clean. There may be 4k parts in it and I have not taken apart a 356 before, let alone assembled one, but the similarities to the VW is so close that I am able to ID about 95 percent of the parts plus I have my other '63 B coupe to compare it to when it comes time to put humpty dumpty back together again.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:45 am

Braukuche wrote: jjjjack wrote: Looks great! Was it originally Signal Red? ...almost looks orange in the interior shots

Its a '63 so I figured it was likely Ruby red, wasn't that the red they offered in that year

Ruby was the standard red. Signal was a "special color" for that year and had more orange than Ruby:

http://www.stoddard.com/62-63paintsamples.htm

The door jamb tag should say.....

Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:58 am

Most people like a "find" story, so here is how I found this one...

I got a call about 2.5 years ago from an older guy about a bus for sale...actually an abandoned bus on a friend's property in Carlsbad on an old ranch. The owner wanted it gone, hence the call.
I drove up in my '67 912. The guy saw the car and asked if I was also into old Porsches. I told him I was looking for a 356 and he mentioned that he knew of one that has been sitting for over 25 years. I asked where, and he said, "In my brother's backyard under his patio cover." He asked me if I wanted to see it, and of course I said yes.
First we drove up to the ranch to look at the bus, which turned out to be a clapped out fat chick and since I only buy splits I told him I was not interested. We then drove over to his brother's to look at the 356.
His brother, an old retired firefighter was not there and basically used the house as a giant storage yard and workshop. In the back of the house he had several cars, including a '67 Beetle and the B coupe. The 356 was covered in several layers of decrepit tarps and surrounded by parts, some in boxes some lying loose. We lifted the cover and looked at it and I was thinking it was pretty rough, but solid and mostly complete. I asked what his brother was going to do with it and the guy said, ...nothing. He's 73 years old. You should buy it."
Well a call was made and I threw out a number, $5k, and at first the brother was interested but then hemmed and hawed and in the end said he would call me later.
Well, I didn't hear from him. I called the other brother, who is a handyman, and asked about the car but he said his brother was a hoarder and didn't like to part with anything, but reiterated that he should sell me the car and he would talk to him about it.
After several months of no word, I called the other brother back again and asked him to come over to my house to bid on some work we needed around the house. That summer he was there a lot doing this and that and turned out to be a real cool guy who we still hire to do work not only on my house but my mom's and my sister's. Anyway, this enabled me to also keep in touch and to keep some contact with his brother without being pushy.
Eventually I got to meet the owner of the car. We met at his house and I brought cash and again offered to take the car right then and there. The owner was very nervous and unsure of what to do, but he said the car was going no where and when he was ready it would go to me. His brother, a little upset about the situation told him, "You'll never do anything with it and he will." Then he looked at me and said, "What's going to happen is he will drop dead and I will end up calling you and telling you to come get it for free."
I think he was just joking.
Anyway, every few months or so I would see the brother of the owner over at my mom's doing work and we would talk about the car. Nothing progressed and then earlier this year I got a call from the owner, who is moving to Nevada, asking me if I wanted an old Porsche. I said YES and he said he would be out of town for a few weeks but when he got back he would trailer it down for the agreed price.
That was back around Easter.
Finally earlier this week I got a call saying it was a go and the car was brought down. The owner bought it in the early '70s for $3500, drove it for two weeks and then hit something, took it apart, did some bodywork, took the engine apart and had all the machine work done, and then let the whole thing sit for all these years.
He asked me yesterday if I was going to restore it and sell it and he seemed happy when I said no, I was going to restore it and keep it. He pat the old girl on the back with a smile and said, "well, here's your new home."

Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:48 am

Great story. We all dream of finding these cars :) . Good luck with the project

Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:33 pm

jjjjack wrote: Braukuche wrote: jjjjack wrote: Looks great! Was it originally Signal Red? ...almost looks orange in the interior shots

Its a '63 so I figured it was likely Ruby red, wasn't that the red they offered in that year

Ruby was the standard red. Signal was a "special color" for that year and had more orange than Ruby:

http://www.stoddard.com/62-63paintsamples.htm

The door jamb tag should say.....

Yep, Ruby would have been 6202 on the hinge cover plaque and Signal would be 6211. The Ruby is NOT the same as the vintage VW Ruby and if you got to a 356 gathering and see that all the Ruby cars are different, they are usually all correct! The good thing about Signal (often called "Retail red") is that a close-enough match is 900-series Guards red (027) still available today.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:35 pm

bbspdstr wrote: jjjjack wrote: Braukuche wrote: jjjjack wrote: Looks great! Was it originally Signal Red? ...almost looks orange in the interior shots

Its a '63 so I figured it was likely Ruby red, wasn't that the red they offered in that year

Ruby was the standard red. Signal was a "special color" for that year and had more orange than Ruby:

http://www.stoddard.com/62-63paintsamples.htm

The door jamb tag should say.....

Yep, Ruby would have been 6202 on the hinge cover plaque and Signal would be 6211. The Ruby is NOT the same as the vintage VW Ruby and if you got to a 356 gathering and see that all the Ruby cars are different, they are usually all correct! The good thing about Signal (often called "Retail red") is that a close-enough match is 900-series Guards red (027) still available today.

I have the hinge cover plate in front of me, unfortunately sprayed black like the rest of the car over the red, and there are two plates riveted to it: one has the number 82601 stamped on it, and the bottom smaller one has the word "Kunstharzlack" which my German wife translated as, "Artificial tree sap paint," I assume that means acrylic lacquer?
Was the paint code stamped or printed on the cover?
Thanks.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:28 pm

Braukuche wrote: the bottom smaller one has the word "Kunstharzlack" which my German wife translated as, "Artificial tree sap paint," I assume that means acrylic lacquer?
Was the paint code stamped or printed on the cover?
Yes that is the paint code plaque. The numbers were stamped. I suggest you clean the spray paint off it and look for a number.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:31 pm

It looks like you got a Speedster vin tag as part of the deal, 82601 is an A Speedster, a 56, they didn't put the paint codes on the A tags, just the "Kunstharzlack" plate, it wasn't until later that they put the actual paint code on there.
Call the owner back, ask him if he knows anything about it, he might have the Speedster buried in the backyard. Yeah people used to do that kind of thing with Speedsters, ask Bruce "The Speedster Burier" Baker!

Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:41 pm

Unobtanium-inc wrote: 82601 is an A Speedster, a 56, they didn't put the paint codes on the A tags, just the "Kunstharzlack" plate, it wasn't until later that they put the actual paint code on there.
Porsche did put paint code numbers on A paint plaques, my A coupe shows code 5704 and I have seen codes numbers on many A cars. But sometimes the codes were not stamped.

Braukuche, it appears the hinge cover plate you have is not the one that came with your B T5 coupe.

Sat Jul 28, 2012 8:47 pm

Case in point, this car is less than 200 away from the car in question. Like three card monty, is this your card?

Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:23 pm

Barry-
You are 0 for 2, his car is a T6, you're getting rusty!

Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:47 pm

Unobtanium-inc wrote: Barry-
You are 0 for 2, his car is a T6, you're getting rusty!

That pillar cover is painted the same crappy shade of black as the rest of the car, so maybe what I have is a radically updated earlier speedster!!

THe PO had a lot of junk but I think I would have noticed a Speedster laying around, who knows how this car ended up with that piece...