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Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:32 am

- back in 1988, we bought a 1954 Pre-A coupe for $1000 - removed the engine and sold it, to get our money back - then put a 1956 VW 36 horse in there - bolted right in - was a nice and familiar unit to have in the Pre A - used it that way for a couppla' years - finally sold it to get the money to put a better engine in our 1967 Sunbeam Alpine...

… miss that '54 - was the best 356, with VW simplicity.

Anyone else ever hava' cheapo-356?

Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:20 am

… no replies -

Guess mosta' you guys Overpaid for your 356s - easy to do.

Wed Mar 18, 2020 9:51 am

they're probably outraged and giving you the cold shoulder because you flipped the engine! :lol:

Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:32 pm

finster wrote: they're probably outraged and giving you the cold shoulder because you flipped the engine! :lol:

… that is so funny, to me - but installed a great runnin' 36 - a real reliable runner - which i'd do again... Porsche engines are so temperamental.

Flipped the steering wheel too and installed a '56 semi-batwing...

Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:42 pm

I lived in Hampton, VA and was bicycling to Buckroe Beach in 1977. Saw what I thought was a VW a Karmann Ghia in back yard. Knocked on door to ask if it was for sale - yup, $300. It had Karmann Ghia chrome bumpers with over-riders but it was a 1962 Porsche 356 Karmann Knotch-back coupe. It ran quite well but brakes needed going through. Original engine in it. I sand blasted and bondo'd the rust in fenders and doors and repainted it a brown color with redone tan interior. (No $ or internet back then to look for parts). I think original color was a dark blue. I found bumpers and an un-rusted pedal assembly in VA Beach. When I went to get them off that car it folded in half from rust. The knotch-back was rare (1961-1962) but unloved back then. Sold it on Panorama about a year or two later for $1700 when I transferred to DC area. I should have parted it out and made a bundle! Was give a 1958 VW bug running but needed clutch the same year. Nobody wanted old noisy German cars back then.

Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:46 am

^^ any old photos wolfgang?

Thu Mar 19, 2020 12:21 pm

Wolfgangdieter wrote: I lived in Hampton, VA and was bicycling to Buckroe Beach in 1977. Saw what I thought was a VW a Karmann Ghia in back yard. Knocked on door to ask if it was for sale - yup, $300. It had Karmann Ghia chrome bumpers with over-riders but it was a 1962 Porsche 356 Karmann Knotch-back coupe. It ran quite well but brakes needed going through. Original engine in it. I sand blasted and bondo'd the rust in fenders and doors and repainted it a brown color with redone tan interior. (No $ or internet back then to look for parts). I think original color was a dark blue. I found bumpers and an un-rusted pedal assembly in VA Beach. When I went to get them off that car it folded in half from rust. The knotch-back was rare (1961-1962) but unloved back then. Sold it on Panorama about a year or two later for $1700 when I transferred to DC area. I should have parted it out and made a bundle! Was give a 1958 VW bug running but needed clutch the same year. Nobody wanted old noisy German cars back then.

… great story - I just Googled, 1962 porsche notch-back coupe and that model appeared- nice one.
I once bought a blue 1962 Ghia vert and the floors were so rotted and put a plywood floor in it and drove it for years... painted it gray though.

Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:37 am

Bought my 1959 356A super for £440- but that was back in 69. Still have it though.

Bought a 356C in the early 70's for just over £200- and a 52 356 for £150 also in the 70's. The 356C is still running in someone else's hands restored now. The 52 356 fully restorable scrapped in the mid 70's!!

My brother had his split screen 1951 car bought for £110- in the 60's and run for 10 years and then sold we think to end up in Japan. He sold it in the 70's thinking he had done well to get £1,000. Mistake there!!

He also had a 356A again bought for around £150 in the 70's. Sold on after a year or so.

Of course when I paid out £440- for my car in the 60's that was a lot of money then for me to find. Lucky it was in good condition and still is.

Roy

Sun Feb 14, 2021 6:58 pm

I bought my first one in 1969, a 1959 coupe for $300. Very good condition except for no 3rd gear. Drove it for a few months shifting from 2nd to 4th before I rebuilt it. Traded it to a neighbor for his '59 Cabriolet (the one in my avatar) that wasn't running very well, I rebuilt that one and kept it for a few years, thought I died and went to heaven when I sold it for $1200. Owned a few more '59s and one '60 never paid more than $800. Sold the last one in '80 or '81. Those were the days that you could actually go to a dealer for parts.

Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:43 pm

Yeh 1969 was a good year, I bought a 1960 in 1969 but I paid $2100 for it, had to get a loan at a bank, but did I mention it was an RS-60 Spyder?

Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:59 am

alanhall wrote: but did I mention it was an RS-60 Spyder?

Nice, I would have paid $2200!
I'm always amazed when I think about pricing back then. In 1959 that coupe sold for $5500 new, ten years later, I paid less than a tenth of original price, don't think that would happen today.

Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:39 pm

I bought my first 356 around 70. A 60T5. Had a pretty known shop in Santa Cruz do a 1720, and lightened flywheel. Painted it rootbeer brown. That I picked up for $1,200.

2nd car I bought around 77. 356SC. White with a lots rust. Paid $2,100 Put a crap paint job on it, and sold it for big bucks 2 years later . $5,500

3Rd and current car a 61 T5, I bought in 2008 in Nevada City CA. Drove it for a coupla years then parked it till a month ago. All new brakes, fuel system, wheels/tires.
I'll start it up next week.
Fun cars, but not as simple to work on as a dub.
Brake shoe retaining pin :
VW $.80
Porsche $3.85
They look identical.

Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:38 pm

I pulled a 60' S-90 out of a Barn back in the 90's, I was 24 I think. Sold my *pristine* 58' Standard Microbus to get it for $5k.
I'll have to dig up a couple pics. I was into VW's and to lead the pack I had to be the one that stepped up the game in our clan!
By todays standards it would be a GREAT car. Zero rust and totally complete and running for $5k.
Once I did some learning I found that the engine was an industrial engine, and eventually went through it. I put thousands of miles on it - even a 1800 miles trip to So Cal and back.
Once torn down I found mismatched randomness throughout. Weight difference between two rods was like 26g or something.
I 'restored' it (lol...yeah) and decided to sell it rather than deal with all the bondo I found.

Only pics I have at the moment--

Engine rebuild! Slab of cement was really delux for me back then.

And crappy pic after I did the refresh and crap..