The Maestro is always amazed that there are a few 356 Owners out there who STILL use a 356 as their ONLY car! Or, if they DO have another car- their OTHER car is a 356 too!
Ergo, they must ALWAYS drive a 356- every day. Not a bad thing to do for a 356! If you want them to last, you gotta DRIVE them!
Anyhow, this Original Owner put some 390,000 miles on his 1965 356 C Coupe, which he drove every day across the Bay, to The City & County of San Francisco. And back, necessarily.
His second car was a '57 Speedster, which with its plastic Side Curtains as your only protection, is much less desirable to drive and leave in San Fran- especially on a rainy winter's day!
Since the Speedster is what he'd be a-drivin' when the Coupe was a-being rebuilt, the Owner understandably wanted the job done as quickly as possible.
Yes SIR! Said the Maestro.
A little History: During the 390,000 miles, the engine had been rebuilt three times. This would be Time Number 4- One Past The Charm.
The last overhaul had lasted 90,000 miles, which isn't bad really, but as Click & Clack of NPR might say "she wouldn't pull a hill no mo'". She all the signs of a burnt valve in #3 cylinder.
As the guy dropped off the gun-metal gray Coupe, for the half-million mile Powertrain Transformation, the Owner grabbed the Right end of the Front Bumper and wiggled. The Bumper wiggled like it wasn't attached to anything no mo'!
"Can you fix that too?" he asked.
"Hey, no problem", said and thought the Maestro. "Just a few bolts. I oughta be able to fix that pretty easily." (Uh, Oh, warned the Porsche gods, tapping their collective feet. He knows he's NEVER supposed to say that! They were about to give him an Education. Or a refresher course at least. Again.)
The Maestro Assumed the Position under the front bumper, and eyeballed the Bolts holding the bumper bracket to the bumper.
One "bolt" was actually a square 'Merican nut- stuck with misogyny in mind to a Metric stud! On one turn and stuck tight. Rusted too. The other half of the bumper bracket had the "regular" trapped metric nut in place, but the metric bolt was completely MISSING!
That meant that the bumper was attached on the right sight by only ONE thread of a mismatched metric/'Merican combination!
Which meant that the body shop that put the Porsche's bumper on sure didn't do many metric cars!
The shop didn't have a metric nut, so they forced an American one on- about One Turn of the Screw's worth.
The body shop also couldn't find a metric BOLT to fit into the trapped nut in the hole, so they didn't put anything there! which is Good- that way they didn't screw up the threads!
The Maestro calmly reached into his Tray of Cad Plated Treasures and withdrew the proper length 14mm ATF, 8mm Bolt that was the perfect fit for the bumper bracket trapped nut.
He was able to pop off the obviously wrong square American nut and replace it with a real 14mm ATF Porsche nut. That got the bumper guard back together again without rattling.
Because of the overly loose "bolts" that the previous Body shop used, the bumper "sat" on the bottom of the rectangular "cut-out" in the car, used for the Bumper Bracket to enter the Nose. Resting on the bottom of the cut out means the bumper has a hacksaw effect on the lower sheet metal of the hole- eventually sawing and dropping and sawing some more- especially if the frontmost bumper support bolts are loose, allowing the bumper to sag.
In this case, two of the Bumper-to-body bolts were American bolts (again), and very long- going alllll the way through into the battery box area of the car. But what the hell- they worked.
So, as the Maestro opened the hood to remove the spare tire to remove the nuts on the American Bolts that protruded in to the trunk area, he got a Big Surprise. For there was:
AN INCH OF WATER in the trunk!
AND several large PIRANHA made a grab for the Maestro's hand. By reflex, he recoiled Just In time.
Well, though the Pirana part is stretching it, the water part was true. The inch of water had probably entered during the heavy rains of the previous week. But where in the Front Trunk did the rain leak in from?
The Maestro inspected the hood seal. It Looked perfect. (It was.) Then he checked the drain holes in the bottom lip of the hood area. They were there and open.
Humnmmh.
He checked the battery box for having holes. No holes in the bottom.
Hummh, he thought. There's gotta be a source.
And then the Maestro spotted it! The Source of the Leak. And What did he spot?
Wanna guess? The Body shop that repaired the car had to replace the headlight bucket area. When they did, they pulled the headlight wires through, and pulled the GROMMET loose that protects the wires in the Vertical Side of the front trunk. Now both grommet-less headlight wire holes were open enough that water thrown from the front wheel could enter the trunk. But with no holes in the trunk, the water just STAYED there. And stayed there. And stayed there- rusting the battery box with every passing second. The Maestro got to it in time though, and only a general Brown discoloration was present. WD-40 cleaned that up nicely, and some paint will follow. Eventually, the Maestro pulled the 356C's engine and began the needed overhaul. And did he get a surprise! Instead of a 356C crank, there was a HKU Germany Repro crank (that's pretty good), a set of rather rough Repro rods with the "W Germany" cast/forged into their sides (that's bad), a Repro cam with one lobe badly worn (that's really bad), a set of ATE cam followers (that's good), with even the ones on the bad cam lobe not too badly worn. (that's good), a decent 200mm flywheel (also good). Then he found some oddball stuff- the driven side of both Oil Pump Gears was badly worn- about as badly as the Maestro's ever seen. That's Bad. Usually- especially in mechanical Tack oil pumps with the tach drive gear- the bearing on the tach drive gear wears out. The gears get catywhompus to each other and start mutually wearing each other badly. The resulting galling/spalling wear pattern begins at one end of the gear and walks its way down to the other end, getting worse as it goes. He's seen some Real Bad Ol Pump Gears, but THIS gear set had REALLY BADLY worn gear teeth. But then, this was not entirely unexpected given its 390,000 miles! As the Maestro was disassembling the engine, he also noted how oily it was. Mustave had a Big Bad oil leak somewhere. But the oil leak wasn't from the pulley seal, nor from the head nut or push rod tube seals. Nope. This oil leak was from the STANDPIPE that supports the Oil Junction Block where the Temperature and Oil pressure idiot light sender are attached. The standpipe is a steel fitting that screws into a thread hole in the oil passageway of the aluminum case. Now, Ifin fin one were to, say, OVERTIGHTEN the Standpipe, such as may have occurred during a Previous Overhaul, one finds that one can STRIP THE THREADS IN THE CASE! And the pieces of threads drop down inside the main OIL PASSAGEWAY! With all kinds of potential destructive possibilities. One of the previous overhaulers had Overtorqued things and stripped the threads in the Case and then "fixed" it with a turn and a half of Helicoil. Not such a good idea. The fitting leaked oil out underneath the Junction Block. From there, it was but a hop skip and a jump to the side of the case, to the Pulley for distribution of oil all over everything. The Maestro torqued the case together and got his Dial Bore Gauge out of its Constant Temperature Bath/Hot Tub. (This IS California.) And measured the Case. Hmmh, still standard, but about three thou out at the Flywheel Main,. Hummh. The Middle Main was more than two thou out. As was the #1 main. Looks like after almost Four Hundred Thousand Miles the Case will FINALLY have to be Align Bored. See, these thing DO last a loooonnnggg time if you take care of them and DRIVE 'EM! Oh, and the Real Reason the engine required a rebuild? The Problem? Yes, it was a burnt Valve in #3 Cylinder- probably from using a regular 356C, ATE 3045 a non-Sodium filled exhaust valve. The Maestro likes Sodium, having played with millions of pounds of it when he worked in the Nuclear Industry on the Breeder Reactor. Thus, he ALWAYS uses the SC/912 Sodium-filled exhaust valves. They're a bit more expensive, but they don't "burn" nearly as easily. THe engine also had an NPR Big Bore Kit piston set lurking inside, with #3 cylinder having a broken top ring that was verrrrrrryyyy close to "chunking" the top of the piston! Still not bad for 90,000 miles. The guy was actually LUCKY that the exhaust valve burned first - less damage was done to the head than if the piston had chunked! The oil leak played a role in all this, as the cooler was half blocked with crud on the outside, and the cylinder and head fins badly gunked up too. The engine mustave run pretty HOT! But hey, 90,000 miles outa your THIRD engine overhaul ain't too bad. Though the Maestro likes to have 6-digit longevity before the rebuild can really be used with "successful" in the same sentence. In any event, with a rather nice "C" cam from an Industrial Engine, a "hemi" cut on the "C" heads, all new valves and guides and one of the last new Big Bore Kits in the Universe- shimmed to produce 8.8:1 compression- this engine will "pull hills" once again. That's 'cause the owner: Kept the 356 Faith! P.S. Removing, rebuilding and reinstalling BOTH the Engine and transmission, along with the Disk Brakes was a LOT of work. It took the Maestro most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, just to re-install everything. The guy wanted to pick up the car on Tuesday, and by George, on Tuesday morning, the Maestro was conducting the first full dress test drive of the rebuilt Powertrain. With some trepidation, the Maestro fired up the New Engine. It fired up and ran just fine- no real surprise since the Maestro had previously fired it up on his test stand, adjusted the carbs and timing and ran it for an hour. The Maestro doesn't like surprises AFTER the engine is installed. The gearshifter attached to the new Transmission appeared to find all the gears. With the new Boudon tube, the clutch was smooth as silk. The Maestro eased the shifter into Reverse and backed the car out of the garage. So far so good. He selected First. The car moved forward. Down the Airport Test Track the Maestro went, slowly at first, shifting carefully through the gears. They all worked. Good synchro action. Decent power. He stopped off at the nearby gas station, filled the tank up with Chevron's finest Supreme, adding, of course, a third of a quart of 2-stroke oil to the gas tank BEFORE he started pumping the gas. And drove off, experiencing Happy Motoring. For all of a mile, when the 356 suddenly STOPPED! Just like you turned off the key! BLAAAAAAHHHHHHH went the car. Into Shock went the Maestro. And a terrible feeling of Dread cometh over him, for he was deeply saddened. "After all this work, the car just STOPS???!!! Porsche gods I beseech you- How can this be??? But it was. Most Certainly. Reality Stopped. Broke down by the Side of the Road. The Maestro had no choice but to coast to a silent stop by said Side of the Road. And the Owner's coming to pick up THIS car in an HOUR! Hanging his head, he thought about applying for that McDonald's job that Mrs Maestro always wanted him to get. But no, pulling himself together, he opened the door, dragged himself out of the Driver's seat and pulled the rear deck lid latch. Go to back of car, open deck lid. Inspect for some obvious defect. Immediately spot the Power Wire to the Coil hanging loosely in the air, a quarter inch away from the coil. After 30 years, the Coil Wire chose THAT time to loosen and pull out of its clamp. Ah, those Porsche gods, always clowning around with the Maestro. Reattach wire quickly. Drive car back to shop. Cut off old exposed wire. Strip a quarter inch of insulation to expose new copper wire. Insert Virgin wire into cleaned clamp. Crimp with electrical crimping tool. Reattach to coil. Problem fixed. Heave Big Sigh of Relief. And: KEEP 356 FAITH! P.P.S. The Original Transmission on the car had gone 390,000 miles, and the Owner's mechanic had mentioned that he found not one but TWO Bolt Heads resting on the transmission drain plug magnet the last time the oil was changed. Needless to say, the Owner was concerned. Now, a loose Ring Gear Bolt Head or two roaming the transmission sump at night is bad enough, but it is also a Sign of something much worse! For it is most likely that there are OTHER Ring Gear Bolts that were also loose! And ifin the Ring Gear Bolts come off, you can ruin the Ring and Pinion which is $1800 or so if still available! (Yeah, there are others available, cheaper, but check out the Angle of the Spiral on 'em compated to an Original. Anyhow the Owner wisely decided to have the Maestro's Transmission Subsidiary, The Wolfman, do a Transmission Overhaul on it too. The Wolfman called with the autopsy results. They were Amazing! At first it was thought that 2 of the Ring Gear Bolts had broken off (This was Fairly Obvious as there were 2 Bolt Heads in the bottom of the transmission. Both the bolts and their associated retainer had miraculously missed all the Expensive Things inside when they parted company with the Differential Carrier. Turns out, the guy was even LUCKIER- 'cause once the retainers were removed it t'was Obvious there weren't just TWO of the Ring gear Bolts that were broken. There were FOUR broken Ring Gear Bolts. And several OTHER bolts were hand-tight- (or, if you prefer, hand-loose!) Had this had been a 356A or a 356B transmission, the Ring & Pinion would have been "Toast" long ago. Both the 356A's and 356B's have only 6 Bolts holding the Ring Gear to the Differential Carrier. And, in this case, MORE THAN SIX bolts were broken or loose! But 356C's have TWELVE Ring Gear Bolts. So though more than 6 Bolts had failed, several hadn't. They fortunately still held the fort and kept the Ring gear on! There was even the very beginnings of "fretting" between the Ring Gear and its Carrier from being looser than it should have been. If the Owner didn't take action soo, the Ring Gear would have catastrophically failed anywhere from 5 to 500 miles (certainly within 5,000 miles)! This Owner was blessed by the Porsche gods with the Wisdom to overhaul the Transmission EXACTLY when it was needed! That's why 356C Transmissions can go 390,000 miles (and maybe if you are REAL lucky, or have treated her Really Right, 500,000 miles) between rebuilds! 356A's and 356B's with only 6 ring gear bolts have a Life Expectancy of 140,000-180,000 miles before the Ring Gear Bolts break and/or or the Differential Carrier cracks. This 356C had the hexagonal 12 bolt carrier pieces with the "half-circles" cut out around 6 of the ring gear bolts. And it was almost the LAST 356C built. (OK, So, then when the Hell did the Factory use the completely Circular 12 Bolt Carrier anyway? In the "SC's only? Carreras certainly.) It also had an active, operating Murphy's Machine Shop. The "shank" of one of the broken bolt heads unscrewed itself enough to touch the Aluminum Side Cover of the Transmission! Having broken off, the tip of the shank of the broken bolt was an excellent cutting tool, and proceeded to machine concentric circles in the aluminum side cover. That by itself is not so bad, but the machining chips cut by Murphy's Machinists were distributed throughout the transmission as myriads of maundering aluminum particles. Fortunately, the gears are tough, and all was OK inside. In fact, the Wolfman told the Maestro that the gears were the best he had seen in heap many moons. And whatever the guy was doing to the transmission, maintenance-wise, KEEP DOING IT! Not bad for 390,000 miles. This 356 lasted so long because the Owner DID treat her right- driving her most every day like she should be driven- some 20+ miles each way. Freeway and City. Back and Forth on the Freeway. Every day. Nice Combo. She responded by going to the Moon and almost back to Earth on her Original Transmission, and broke down at a convenient time, before expensive damage was done. One overhaul every 100,000 miles on the engine. One Transmission overhaul every four engine overhauls. Yeah, that's about right for a good 356. In the long run, it's nice when they both engine and transmission need a rebuild at the same time. That way both should last problem-free until the Millennium. After that? Le Deluge. After that? Who Knows. KEEP THE 356 FAITH! P.P.S. Well, as long as the Maestro had the chance, he thought he'd relay what things wear noticeably in 390,000 miles. 1. The Flapper Valve for the carb hot air system was cut 2/3 through by the Vertical Tubes which support it. 2. Likewise, the hole in the Vertical Tube supporting the Flapper Valve was worn to a Large Oval from a much smaller circle was the Vertical Tubes 3. The Clutch Boudon Tube wore a semi-circular groove in the steel part of the Left Hand Front Transmission Mount (the Donut like one), from 30 years of rubbing against it. 4. Likewise, the steel covering of the Boudon tube was worn through buy rubbing for 30 years against the Left Front Transmission mount. 5. The pivoting/rotating sections of the Heater Boxes had worn out or worn big holes through. Should have been replaced, 6. One J tube had the exhaust pipe wear through the front of it (inside the part that transfers heat the exhaust pipe to the air, to serves to serve hot air to you. This is a common problem- the Maestro's seen it many times before. 7. The steel part of the Right Rear Transmission Mount had separated from the rubber middle. But that happens all the time too. The Transmission did have a Rather Interesting modification- the Guide tube that the T/O bearing slides on is normally held by studs. Sometimes the studs are replaced with bolts, but here the studs were replaced with countersunk screws, that when seated, were flush with the front edge of the Guide Tube. Why is this Significant, I hear you cry? Because if this modification is done, a 912 Throw Out Bearing will fit with NO MODIFICATION! Which means you can easily use a 912 T/O bearing, which the Maestro knows is CHEAPER and more readily available that a 356C T/O bearing! He also thinks it's a BETTER bearing! Cheaper and Better, a rare and nice combination. (Normally even if you replace the studs holding the Guide Tube with 6mm bolts, the 912 T/O bearing STILL requires some "modification- specifically, grinding downb of the supporting area of one of the "dowel pins" that make up the "ears" of the 912 T/O bearing. This grinding down is not too pretty, nor fun, but is normally required.) BUT with the countersunk screws in the Guide Tube, enough clearance is gained to all use of the 912 T/O bearing with NO MODIFICATION! Good idea. Gets the Maestro's Seal of Approval. P.P.S. The Maestro doesn't like working on cars. R&R'ing the Transmission is working on cars. Ergo, the Maestro doesn't like to R&R transmissions. The Bespectacled Beckle, having three kids in college at the same time, likes to R&R Transmissions. But this was a 356C with Disk Brakes, and even the Bespectacled Beckle wanted no part of it. " Disk Brakes. Ugh." So the Maestro if he wanted the job (and he wanted the job) had to do the R&R HIMSELF. The Removal isn't too bad. But the Emergency Brake cable system on 356C's. Geez! The Time & Trauma lies in the Reinstallation. For it is never JUST the Transmission. It's ALWAYS something else too! MANY other things! In this case it was the Boudon Tube. The Heater Cables. The bad transmission mounts. The VW starter where a Porsche should be, making for tight clearances between Pan and top of starter. Sometimes NEGATIVE clearances. (How do you tell a VW from a Porsche Starter. Well, you'll note that the Solenoid is always attached closer to one Starter mounting bolt than the other/. In VW-land this angle is greater that the Porsche. Or, if you prefer, the Porsche solenoid is CLOSER to the bolt hole on the starter than is the VW. It really helps to have both the VW and the Porsche starters to compare and visually memorize the viva la difference.) Ah, Another item to add to the Case History and Broken Parts Video Tape Comparing Starters to find the Real Porsche Starter among the VW imitations But Transmission Installation takes three days, usually. Because you gotta clean everything underneath of all the crud so that it can't get into things important. That takes time. Then you gotta clean, strip and Powder Paint the front metal trans mounts. Likewise Clean Strip & Powder Paint the Big Hoop that supports the trans. Clean (at least) and plate (ideally) all the bolts that hold everything together, keeping track of all the special ones- like the little conical bolt that holds the U-joint to the shifter rod protruding from the front of the the transmission. (Oh, and while we're there, let the Maestro pass along to you a Wolfman Trick or two, since he hasn't written his book yet- 1. - When you're removing the Transmission, do NOT remove the pinch bolt that holds the FRONT of the "U-joint to the shifter rod inside the tunnel. Instead, remove the funny square-headed conical bolt that holds the REAR of the U-joint to the linkage protruding from the nose piece of the transmission. Once loose, use the gearshift lever to 2nd of 4th to pull the U-joint off the trans linkage. Then, when you're refitting the trans, simply guide the U-joint over the protruding transmission linkage and reinsert the square headed bolt. That way, you don't have to Binary Search on where the gears are! 2. A better way than just madly tightening down bolts as you attach them is to put the nuts and washers on the Front Trans mounts so they're loose. Get the Trans hoop aligned with the holes in the Body. Start the two Big Bolts at the top of the hoop into the body. LOOSELY. Then, pick up/rotate the trans up and forward so the studs of the Front mounts slip into the slots in the body. Stick 17mm ATF nuts and washers on the front trans mounts hand tight. Don't tighten them down yet. Get the Axle tubes lined up with the Trailing Arms. (Sometimes a scissors jack is nice to have to jack up the trailing arm to make mating with the Axle Tube easier. Now don't forget to put the Rubber Shock Bumper on top of the trailing arm. On 356A/B these are held with 2 Bolts, but on a 356C they're held with THREE bolts. And the Bolt Heads that go from the outside on a 356A/B, go from the Inside Out on a 356C. Go Figure. Anyhow, you'll find it easier to get one of the axle tube/trailing arm bolts on, maybe without a washer at first. Use it to draw things together enough to get the other two bolts on, hopefully with washers. Then use those other two bolts to draw thing together enough so you can take out the third bolt and put a washer on it. Repeat on the other side, but don't tighten them down yet either! Make sure the axle tube is RIGHT up against the "stop" provided by the alignment bolt in the trailing arm. A Block of wood helps to coax the axle into position. Check everything- make sure the Bouden tube goes under the Transmission bell crank and attach it to the guide support midway on the transmission. NOW, go back and slowly tighten up all the nuts and bolts. And don't forget the Ground Strap on the Front of the Transmission. CLEAN IT and the area it bolts into first! Now, hook up the U-joint by putting the square-head bolt in and the SAFETY WIRE around it. And again, go around and re-torque all the Big Bolts- including the two at the top of the Hoop! Now, on the New Transmission: it helps to use a LITTLE grease on the Guide Tube. And on the Throw Out bearing's "ears", and the "U" shaped cut outs of the Cross Shaft. And the Cross Shaft bushings would like a little lube too, thank you. And the clutch cable would like some. The Starter bushing and Starter shaft also. Don't forget a one-molecule thick layer on the end of the main shaft for good luck. BUT NO MORE THAN THAT! Oh, and while you're doing the transmission, you gotta look at the Bell Crank pivot for the carb linkage, as the plastic bushings have usually long since disintegrated into dust, to be replaced by Rust. And much friction. It is amazing how much better the engine feels when the carb linkage is right! And then you get to fix the Heater Cables whose ends currently end in rigged-up Cotter Pins attached through spark plug screw-on ends to operate the heater as little as possible. All this is part and parcel of doing a "Transmission rebuild". It's a lot of "working on cars". Not building engines which s is what the Maestro REALLY likes to do! Sigh. April 15th's such a Bitch. KEEP THE 356 FAITH! The Maestro Disk Brakes. The very thought of them sent a chill down the Maestro's spine. God, he hated Disk Brakes. Not the brakes themselves- they're great- even better than good 356B drums- it's just working on them is a Major Pain in the Gluteus Maximus. But sometimes it's just gotta be done. Like when you're doing a transmission job on a 356C, you gotta deal with the Disk Brakes. So, let's assume you've got the transmission installed, and the Naked Axle is staring you in the face. How do you proceed? First, get a 356C seal kit (and it's GOTTA be the 356C kit, NOT the 356B kit!) with the seal, and the Big and little "O" rings. Don't forget the shim/spacer/oil slinger! Put the shim/spacer/oil slinger onto the axle shaft and push it all the way up against the Wheel Bearing. Then install the small "o" ring up against the shim/spacer/oil slinger. Now comes the tricky part. Pull out on the axle shaft- GENTLY! It should pull out about a quarter inch. Do NOT rotate the axle shaft or the Trunion Blocks inside the transmission may fall into a terrible position and require disassembly of the axle tubes to fix! So, pull out the axle only until enough of the Wheel Bearing is exposed to slip the Big O ring over the bearing. Push the Big O ring as far onto the wheel bearing as possible, And grab your Emergency Brake plate with the Emergency Brake shoes installed. Make sure the 1" hole in the Emergency brake plate is facing the rear of the car so that the Emergency brake cable can attach to it! Slowly and carefully guide the emergency brake plate over the axle shaft. Don't bang it against the Wheel Bearing and cause the Big "O" ring to pop off! Sight through one of the 4 bolt holes in the plate to line the plate up with the 4 holes in the Axle housing. Again, try not to let the plate hit the wheel bearing. Thread one of the 14mm ATF bolts with washer attached into the axle housing a turn or two. Then screw another bolt (with washer), carefully, diagonally opposite. Install the other two bolts, also carefully. Slowly tighten down each bolt a turn at a time until all 4 are snug. Torque 'em to 18 ft-lbs with a torque wrench. Note that it is impossible to see whether the Big O ring has fallen off the bearing and is somewhere down inside things. Here you need to keep The Faith. Repeat for the other side. OK, the emergency brake backing plate is attached. Now comes the fun- attaching the emergency brake cable. Take the castillated nut and the washer(s) off the emergency brake cable where they're been sitting since you disassembled things months before. Guide the emergency brake cable through the hole in the Axle Tube and into the hole in the Emergency Brake backing plate. Note the two butterfly-like parts that operate the emergency brake. Note the clever design. Now here's the fun- with one hand, push real hard on the emergency brake housing so as to compress the one inside butterfly. Once compressed, attach a pair of Vice gripes onto the cable housing where it is coming through the hole in the axle tube. That way you don't need 3 hands! With your hands now free, use one to compress the second butterfly so that the emergency brake cable can come through the center hole in the butterfly. Your other hand attempts to put the washers and the castellated nut on before muscle fatigue sets in on the first hand and the butterfly flies across the garage. Oh, and if you don't get the emergency cable to go through the hole in the butterfly, the butterfly will push the emergency cable back into its housing and you'll have to use needle nose pliers inserted through the spring between the butterflies to pull the cable out again. Note: it helps to have an itty bitty vice grip to compress the butterflies, so as to free yet another hand. Keep trying. Eventually you'll get it. (Or your hand will be permanently cramped up. Whichever comes first.) Once you DO get the castellated nut onto the emergency brake cable, tighten the nut up until the cotter pin can go through the nut. Don't go too far. Just enough to get the cotter pin in. OK, the emergency brake cable is installed. Don't that feel WONDERFUL??? Get out the dust shield. Clean it. Note which way it goes- the big cut-out is obviously where the caliper goes. It should face towards the front. The little "bulge" at the bottom of the cut-out in the dust shield is where the emergency brake cable fits, and should face same. Slip the backing plate over the inside of the axle housing and tighten down evenly the four special SHORT 8mm bolts with 14mm heads. (These bolts are especially short so that they won't protrude and hit the rotor. Don't use any other bolts unless you shim them with enough washers to just come out flush with the weld nut! Torque these bolts to 18 foot pounds. Now comes the Trick: take the big disk brake hub and rotor. First, inspect the inside of the hub for crud. (The 356C the Maestro was doing had a 1/8" thick ring of barb-b-qued transmission fluid just on the inside of where the emergency brake shoes rubbed. Some crud surely got on the emergency brake shoes. So a little open-air sanding on the emergency brake shoes was in order.) Clean out whatever crud you find, and marvel at the clever way the Factory deals with leaking seals by collecting the leaks in an annular ring formed as an integral part of the center hub, with a little tube leading to the Outside World just in case the leak becomes a flood. Same design as had the 1955 356A- way back when! What an innovation! In this case it didn't work terribly well, since there was a bad black build up of boiled trans fluid allll over the inside of the hub. The outlet tube was almost plugged from crud deposits. Anyhow note too that the hub has a concave section machined into its end to accommodate and squeeze the little "o" ring. So, Put the disk brake rotor on, and tighten the axle nut to 400 ft pounds, ideally with an impact wrench! PUT THE COTTER PINS IN THE AXLE NUTS! You don't want one to come off and take the brakes with you, like one did to the Maestro in a '64 VW. (What happens when the Axle Nut comes off 'cause the clown left out the cotter pin? Yes- the Axle nut first unscrews itself and falls off. Then the Brake Drum come off the Axle, taking the appropriate wheel with it, necessarily. When you see your rear wheel pass you by, your first instinct is to PUT THE BRAKES ON! Putting the brakes on immediately causes the Slave Cylinder to pop its seal and all the brake fluid to run out on the ground. NO BRAKES! Yanking on the emergency brake now only operates on ONE wheel- a great way to cause a spin or roll-over. That means that the ONLY of slowing down is the two square inches of shock mount that is a-grinding itself off down the road at 70 MPH! (See "The ABC's of Porsche Engines" for details). Now, back to the Disk Brake calipers. Try prying the caliper pistons apart with a wooden wedge. But, please be careful- a sharp screwdriver can ruin things. You don't need to expand the pistons too much just enough to get the caliper over the rotor. Once the caliper is on, alight the bolts holes- shining a flashlight into the holes helps for alignment, Tighten each bolt evenly, a turn or two at a time, and though you're supposed to torque them to 48 ft pounds, you can't possibly get a torque wrench in there to do so. So, you gotta use your Calibrated Arm. Do so. That brings us to the Brake lines. It is damn difficult putting the brake line bolt on the clamp because the Trailing Arm is just too damn close. But it is possible, You gotta use the Brake Line as an additional arm. Snake the rear brake line around until it is approximately positioned inside its support. Rotate the brake line end fitting up to above the caliper. Install the brake line bolt with copper washer attached into the banjo fitting. Push the bolt through enough to get the second copper washer on. Now very carefully guide the brake line until the bolt is over the hole in the caliper. Grab the bolt and push in towards the caliper. (Or, push a feeler gauge around the bolt, grab the feeler gauge when it comes out and use the feeler gauge to pull the bolt into the caliper- all while your third hand is controlling the brake line.) One can spend many happy hours doing this, but eventually it'll work! It won't work is you've already hooked up the brake line to the support on the Axle tube however! You're down to the short strokes now. Put the brake line clamps on the axle tube- the bolt hole in the clamp should face the rear of the car, and the brake line should be held in the front of the axle tube. Arrange the clamp loosely so that the rubber hose part of the brake line pair goes up against the clamp. Attach the fitting from the metal brake line into the rubber brake line. Now, carefully tighten down the clamp, making sure that nothing bad is happening to the brake lines. Once tight, get the little wedge piece that slips into the slot in the brake line and tightens things together tight. Now tighten fully the clamps and the brake lines. Repeat on the other side. And don't forget to bleed the brakes. And after all this, the Maestro was proud to relay to you that: 1. The Best Way to compress the Butterfly Springs of the Emergency Brake is with a needle-nose Vice Grip from the Price/Costco Vice Grip Collection ($14.95). 2. The Best Way, maybe, to install the Brake Line Banjo Bolt is o put it on the CALIPER BEFORE you put the caliper on! The Maestro wasn't certain that the brake line could be made to snake around the Axle Tube and attach into its little spring clip ifin one attached it to the Caliper beforehand. Then the Maestro called Kaptain Klack, a Charter Member of the Inner Circle, to inform the Kaptain of the Maestro's newfound knowledge. "So, said t he Maestro to Kaptain Klack. "How do YOU put compress the little Butterflies to put the Emergency Brake cable on?" "With a Vice Grip." Said Kaptain Klack. "Uh, yes, that's Right, of course, with a vice grip," said the Maestro. "And, how do you attach the Brake Line Banjo Bolt onto the Caliper?" asked the Maestro. "I put the Brake line Bolt onto the Caliper before I put the Caliper on the Rotor." "Why, that's Amazing, Kaptain Klack", said the Maestro. "I wasn't sure you could snake it through the Axle Tube Area. "No, it'll snake through OK." Which is why the Maestro doesn't claim to be an Expert on other parts of the Car. Just the Engines. And why you, having read this far, are thusly rewarded for having: Kept the 356 FAITH! The Maestro
Use these if you do not have a frame compatible browser
Home ||
Feedback ||
356 Groups ||
356 Calendar of Events ||
Spotter's Guide ||
The Maestro
356 Photos ||
Monterey Photos ||
356 Wanted ||
356 Conditions of Sale ||
356 Cars for Sale
356 Parts ||
356 Books/Videos ||
356 Shops ||
Pacific NW Region PCA
site maintained and designed by Paul Greene /mejor.com