My new project ...

[Lightweight_911]

Although the rear rollcage (a copy of the Factory 356 competition cage) had been fabricated/painted & installed, I decided that I wanted to add a horizontal harness bar to provide the best possible angle & anchorage point for the shoulder belts of the 4-point harnesses I planned using.

A suitable length of matching diameter steel tubing was bent to shape & welded onto the roll cage, enabling me to trial-fit the harnesses & take the relevant measurements prior to sending them off to FDTS for re-webbing.

The Speedster seats/frames are now installed & the car is pretty much 'finished' (in terms of KK's input) - it just needs to go for final fine tuning/rolling road set-up.

Once I have the harnesses back I can fit them & bring the car home.

There will still be a lot of things for me to do on the car - some of which I'm undecided on so may well be canvassing the opinions of the DDK collective ...

[Lightweight_911]

That looks lovely Andy. Maybe i might get a lift in this one......!

When I was down at KK's yesterday Paul told me that he's had several enquiries as to whether the car is for sale & could probably have already sold it many times over ...

The plan is to keep/use/improve the car over the next couple of years but plans can always change !

[hot66]

Andy, the car looks amazing in this shot ... I've become a bit of a closet fan over recent years of the later 356's and yours sums up exactly what I'd set out to achieve myself if I'd gone down the 356 route. Love it

& after lowering (not quite the same camera angle I'm afraid):







...

[Lightweight_911]

Thanks Dave/James - always good to hear that others agree with my line of thinking ...

Here's the current rear view with the std engine lid:

[Bootsy]

Stunning! Love the lowered ride height - looks just right.

[964RS]

Lovely car Andy.

[jamie]

My want-o-meter is bouncing off the redline.

[KS]

Mmmm, late models. Love 'em

[210bhp]

Nice Andy, real nice.

Must say I'm a fan of the non bumper higher ride height but looks cool low down too.


Regards
Mike

[Darren65]

Lovely car Andy, lovely colour

You're actually quite good at these projects!

Cheers,

[jury]

Lovely Andy !!

Haven't forgotten about the little side project Just still abit tied up at the moment....

[Lightweight_911]

OK, I suppose it's time to bring this thread up to date.

When I posted last, the car was waiting to go for final engine tuning - although the car started promptly & ran well there was a slight hesitancy when accelerating from low revs. It was discovered that one float had a small puncture so both floats were changed & ignition/carb settings optimised, resulting in a couple of bhp more than Factory specs.

The spare engine lid which I'd bought & had louvres stamped into had been painted along with the fabricated blanking plates for the std exhaust cut-outs so these were fitted.

Here's the comparison of std & louvred engine lids:





& in this shot you can just make out the blanking plates covering the exhaust cut-outs below the bumper:




At this stage it's worth re-iterating my philosophy for this car - I wasn't looking for a fully restored perfect-looking 356 - I wanted a reliable, presentable, car that was subtly modified along Factory competition lines but opted to start off with the std engine & to remove anything superfluous/lighten the car wherever possible.

[Mick Cliff]

I'm not usually a 356 fan but that is rather nice Andy.
Well done (dare I say 'as usual')

[Bootsy]

[KS]

It's OK (for a Beetle).









OK, I lied. It's F****** great!