September 24, 2012 | Research & Identification | 0 Comments

Remembering Hubert KinzlerBy Harrison McCaugheyI learned recently that a good friend, Porsche master mechanic and racing buddy has passed away. Very few people who entered my life have had as much positive impact as he did. And yet I wonder if he  understood how much he touched so many in such important and long-lasting ways.  He was one of a kind.I first met Hubert during a period that I must confess, was one of the low points in my life, sometime during the later months of 1969. I had been attached to a Navy attack squadron the previous year and it was during this period I traded a 1966 VW bug for a 1962 Porsche 356B S-90. As would soon be pointed out to me, I had made a significant blunder by making such a “deal”. I confess that I hadn't any idea of what to look for in a used Porsche (rust you say?) or how well it would handle (I just sold a VW bug and we all know how they handle). The engine looked a lot like a VW. I needed advice, and based at a naval air station in north centr...

May 22, 2012 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 4 Comments

Carrera Oil Lines by Bill Sargent The text below should help those wishing to assemble 356 Carrera Argus type soft oil line ends onto the stainless steel braided oil hose.  The process I use is based on instructions from Warren Eads (Sypder Sports) as well as discussions with Gerry McCarthy and Jim Ansite.  Shown below are the three parts of a carrera small soft oil line hose end. They are the original German "Argus" type fitting with a smooth collar. Current AN type fittings have flats on the collar for a wrench.  Hose end fitting sources:  Warren Eads (Spyder Sports - http://www.spydersports.com) can supply the original Argus type fittings.  As of 2010 Spyder Sports could also supply pre bent hard oil lines for the 356 carreras, however additional bending is required to fit the hard oil lines to a particular car.  Jim Ansite (Ansite Inc - http://www.ansiteinc.com) and Peter Hoffman (Classic Parts - http://www.classic-parts.com) can both supply the Argus hose end fittings with ...

May 12, 2012 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 3 Comments

By Adam Wright In the global economy we live in today most of the 356 parts we sell get shipped. While this is not big deal when you are selling a switch or a knob when you sell a complete motor it can get complicated. When I sell a motor I always crate it for free, for two reasons. The first being it is good customer service, the second being a damaged motor at the other end doesn't do anyone any good, me or the buyer. Years ago I had to crate my first motor and my first few crates were not very impressive. Big John commented once early on that I must be a graduate of the Dr. Seuss School of Crate-Building, because my crates were rather cartoon like, but they worked! Over time I have perfected a quick method for crating a 356 motor. I have never had a crate fail me and I have sent them all over the world, so this is a tired and true method. Step 1 You have to first get a pallet, I normally get one from Bargain Outlet, they put them out when they are finished with them, so they...

March 9, 2012 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 3 Comments

By David Jones I find that the link behind the fan shroud is a good place to start. This would be pushrod #6 connected to bellcrank #5 in the drawing (shown below). Disconnect both carb downlinks before starting. Make this rod as long as is sensible with the ball connector for the pull rod down to the trans bellcrank as high as possible without fouling any other component. Now look at the connection at the trans bellcrank end of this pull rod #4 and make sure it is aligned with the connection on the bellcrank such that they are almost in line with each other. You may have to lengthen or shorten this rod to make it align and it is also possible that it is the wrong one if it seems impossible to align as Porsche made about 4 different lengths for different models. Once pullrod #4 is set the bellcrank #3 should be positioned such that the arm that attaches to the pull rod from the pedal linkage is at about 10 to 15 degrees before the vertical allowing a decent arc of movement thr...

December 10, 2011 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 2 Comments

By John Willhoit The twin pipe "Sport" muffler that some of the vendors sell is actually a muffler that was made by Dansk for the early T1 cars that has no S pipes going through the bumper guard. I guess some marketing person at Stoddard had the idea to sell it as a "sport" muffler since they could sell more. That's been going on for 25 years or so. The outlet pipes have restrictors and this muffler has been proven to not make the same power as a stock, later type muffler (see this article). If you have an early car, buy a stock 356A muffler and add extensions to the stock outlets.The Super Sound muffler from Dansk does in fact have larger pipes inside the muffler, and a larger cross over tube, so it does (should) reduce back pressure and (should) make more power. It is sold with two chrome resonators (very stupid looking BTW), and without these resonators your engine will be really loud and back fire on deceleration. We used one of these mufflers on a car, and the only way to mak...

November 21, 2011 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 5 Comments

By Craig Stevenson, Volume 30 -1 May / June 2006In an effort to make your 356 more comfortable for the future, let me share an upgrade that will not  interfere with the originality of your car and will give especially great advantage to those haunted with leg and hip problems. In my years of working on 356 cars, I have seen several owners having to sell their cars simply because they just could not use the standard shift clutch anymore. Automatics? Please!The simple answer is to replace the 356 throwout bearing with an early 911 type. You cannot, however, just swap the bearings. First, the transmission must have the guide tube-design throwout bearing type 741 used from 1960-65. Sorry about  those  who have early A and pre-A cars, but for those who are utilizing the later 741 boxes in A cars... lucky you!This may seem like a lot of hassle, but let me explain the advantages. The 901 throwout bearing has a much longer center collar that rides on the bearing guide. The bearing is better...

June 18, 2011 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 0 Comments

By Ron LaDow(originally published in Vol. 31, No. 4, 356 Registry magazine) If you wish to print this article for reference, you can download it as a PDF file, click here. In beverages, carburetors and other matters, we all have our favorites; I'm partial to Zenith carburetors. The 32NDIX (type NDIX, 32mm throttle bores) were fitted to more of our cars than any others. Whoever worked out, or lucked into, the transition circuitry in these things did us all a favor; no flat spots from idle to wide open. The type NDIX has also been in production longer than any of the stock 356 carbs (until 2005) and they are available at 36mm throttle bores to compliment our aftermarket big-bore kits. Sooner or (mostly) later, they will need attention. But before you decide to rebuild them, make sure that's what they need and what you want. "Zenith problems" are like any "carb problems": 90% of them are directly attributable to something other than the carbs. Carburetors are mechanical objects ...

May 13, 2011 | Troubleshooting & Repair | 0 Comments

By Paul ChristensenWhen we rebuild our trusty little engines correctly, we send parts out to be inspected and reconditioned. Often the reconditioning process means removing metal from a surface to expose a new smooth surface for better sealing or contact area. Items that need attention include rocker arms, cylinder head surfaces, bearing bores, cam followers, flywheels and so on down the list. With reconditioning in mind, I would like to bring some attention to the flywheel and clutch surfaces.Depth gage from clutch surface to friction surface, and the Porsche Spec’s book.When the flywheel is reconditioned, the proper method is to remove just enough material from the clutch friction surface so that you have a nice smooth area for the clutch disc to contact. A like amount of material must be removed from the surface that the pressure plate mounts to so that you have the correct depth which is 24,0 mm (.945”) on the 180 mm clutch and 25,0 mm (.984) on the 200 mm clutch. This is the st...

March 23, 2011 | Research & Identification | 0 Comments

By Roy Lock, Robert Laepple, and Charlie WhiteDownload the PDF file Porsche Factory Service Bulletin List.pdf  Within the triad of Porsche factory technical information, the Workshop Manuals and Parts Manuals formed the base. These two manuals were openly sold to all at local Porsche dealerships and continually updated and revised. Service Bulletins (SB’s) are the third component of technical documentation from the Porsche Factory. SB’s distributed only to dealerships and contained ancillary information which did not appear in the two sister manuals. Many were destroyed or discarded after use. Because SB’s were only sent to authorized Porsche dealerships, they are less known and to this day are mystical and in some cases, folkloric in stature. The surviving original SB’s are rare. However, because these did not share the notoriety of the other two legs of the triad, SB’s are not as valuable except to connoisseur collectors. SB content ranged from administrative to technical in nat...

March 23, 2011 | Safety & Driving | 2 Comments

By Gordon Maltby Reprinted from the 356 Registry magazine Let's assume we're all in agreement that seatbelts are a good thing. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a small, light car designed half a century ago is just not going to afford its occupants the kind of crash protection found in a modern car. Knowing that, there are still some things we can do to these little beasties to tip the odds in our favor. Short of installing a roll cage, one of the most effective self-preservation tools we can bring along for the ride is a set of seat belts. Better than lap belts only, are three-point belts, and (if you remember the late sixties and those stationary shoulder belts) it's most convenient if they're retractable. There may be some compelling arguments for not installing belts in a 356, but the only one I can think of is authenticity, or keeping a "look." Consider then, that Porsche did offer seat belts as an option, or a retrofit beginning in about 1957 [see photo at right s...