Thanks Dad: '56 Porsche 356A

[85RZwade]

All of Portlandia: who is that cool guy whipping around in the Porsche?

[pdxjim]

Just a quick update on my 356 project: (I'll come back and insert pics soon)

Everything and everyone involved have moved at a seemingly glacial pace, but the drivetrain swap is nearly complete.

Way back in June of '24 (two years ago), I sourced a 1969 912 engine to swap into my 356, replacing the original, numbers matching, engine.  The 912 engine has basically the same architecture, but bigger valves, bigger carbs, higher compression, stronger rods, bigger fuel and oil pumps, etc etc. Back then, Porsche never made comprehensive model year changes.  They just changed things randomly as they found weaknesses or better ways to do it. This new engine should be good for 1500 more RPMs and about double the HP/TQ as the original.

Of course, the "ready to bolt in and go" long block was totally fcuked inside and almost everything needed rebuilt, remanufactured or replaced. It ended up with 1720cc Wossner pistons/cast iron cyls, Elgin 7008 cam, fancy Wilhoit heads, Weber 40idf's on CSP manifolds, Bursch exhaust, lightened flywheel, etc, etc.

A couple mos later, I sourced a 741 transaxle out of an early '60's 356B from a guy down in NorCal sight-unseen.  This more modern trans is way stronger, has better syncros, and can be set up with a wider ratio gearset for longer legs on the highway.  It was promptly shipped off to Jack Morris in Spokane WA to be rebuilt, and modded to fit my early chassis.

Of course, despite being sold as "ready to install" it also was totally fcukered.  Bent mainshaft, shattered dif carrier, bent axle tube, etc. Anyway, Jack worked his magic and it came back looking beautiful.

Thankfully, I've been driving the car thru all this, and there's only been a few weeks of downtime. I also picked up a nice '88 BMW E30 325is, so that has been a fun distraction as well.

Back in May we did this: https://carfeinated.substack.com/p/my-dad-has-a-1956-porsche

[m in sc]

very very cool! meant to be used