Pre A SOS

[Phil Parry]

In 2012 I bought another lump of metal, which has now finally arrived in Blighty. Should be a 1500S but I bought a 912 engine for it while I hunt high and low for the right bits. A temporary rat look while I gather parts sounds like fun.

Here's a link to my photobucket album of pics plus a few photos below:
http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/PJpic ... t=3&page=1

[decapman]

I like the is of keeping it a Rat!

[neilbardsley]

Are you going to search for a 1500s engine? Could take a while? Bon chance.

[Phil Parry]

Yes, bonne chance indeed Neil. Not holding out a great deal of hope I must admit. I have a 1500 normal block. I have the carbs and ...erm

[Dingbat]

Hi Phil
good luck with the Pre A, I see it came with the nice instruments with hoods ect and some sixteen inch wheels, its worth trying to get the parts together for the engine as they work really quite well, I have a friend in Billericay with an Aug '53 1500 Normal which goes surprisingly well, you just have to keep an eye on the oil temp, as they have little pumps and little oil pick up tubes, Pre A's, well the ones built after Oct '52 or so, are very cool things to own ,

[Dingbat]

And a Telefunken, is the amp still present, mine used to make the clutch cable vibrate, you might want to look up "51 coupe" on here as he is big on pre A's and may have a lead on engine stuff..

[Hendrik Moulds]

There are few guys who can supply parts and have knowledge on the 1500 engines. If you want some contacts for particular items, let me know.

Nice looking project!

[Phil Parry]

Thanks Hendrik, thanks Dingbat. I will get in touch. I've learned some valuable lessons while restoring my B about getting organised in advance, picking up parts when I can, getting them cleaned up / powder coated and so on in readiness so that they don't delay whole project. And it's all part of the fun of course. I reckon I can take several years pulling an engine back together.
Cheers
Phil

[Phil Parry]

New Year New Project. We've been beavering away on my Pre A since the beginning of the year. We've long since dispensed with the rat-look idea and my plan is for a full restoration putting as much pressure on ourselves as poss to get things right.

Great progress so far. Car stripped and media blasted, gearbox stripped, gearbox, engine case, wheels (16") and brakes all vapour blasted and a huuuge list very slowly put together in dear old Excel of all the parts we need to buy, clean, plate, chrome and so on. All panels purchased and the car booked in to the very very talented Lionel's Bodyshop from Mid March.

I'll be scavenging for lots n lots of 53 model year bits and pieces in the next few months so if anyone has any hidden gems, I'm your man! Hendrik, I'll give you a shout if I may and take you up on the offer of some contacts for 1500 engine parts. We have S carbs and manifolds, the block, but not a lot else!

The car was imported to Paris by Sonauto in 1954 and we think it had arrived in the US by 1955. There is some suggestion that it was entered (albeit a no-show) in the 12 hour Sebring race in March 1955 by Gleb Derujinsky, who was Harpers Bazaar's fashion photographer and a keen racer, but I've not been able to prove the link definitively yet. I'm in touch with Gleb's daughter who thinks she has seen a photo of the car in its racing livery, but unless and until we see that, I'm intending to return the car to its original Adria Blue.

It left the factory with the following spec. I've no plans to chrome the wheels though - just doesn't work for me. That's something for the next custodian of this beautiful curvaceous old thing.
- Adria blue R509 / beige leather
- Aerial
- Radio
- Windscreen wiper system
- Fog lamps
- Chrome wheels
- Beck pneumatic fuel gauge
- Additional horn

We're posting frequent video logs on YouTube (search porschesos, S-O-S representing Southend-on-Sea as well as the car's cry for help). Learning a thing or two about editing photos and videos as well as restoring old cars!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk3Znk ... ix_raq2JsQ

Right, it's Saturday morning. Off to the workshop!

[jonno1]

One word. Bloody fantastic. Ok, 2 words.

[hot66]

must have missed this the 1st time round . Looks a great project

[roy mawbey]

Phil,

Actually very pleased you are going down the as original route. I like that colour as well. All being well it will end up looking great.

Nice photo's.

Roy

[Phil Parry]

There are worse addictions, but I think I have been lured in by the temptress that is aqua or vapour blasting. Just love the end result! Discovered some nerdly trivia today. Lemmerz 16 inch wheels have their info stamped in the rim as well as on the face of the wheel. Sudrad wheels don't - just on the face. Some shots below plus one of the amazing condition front hood and of the car when it came back from media blasting.

[cobber356]

Cool Phil
Will be watching this for inspiration for mine

[James Davies]

Looking great Phil! Car looks in pretty good shape after media blasting.

That looks a like a later '55 transmission case? I believe they were still using the smooth case 519 in early '54. The later case is a bit stronger though, so a nice upgrade.

My '53 1500S has 2/53 Lemmerz wheels as well. Mine was finished 7/53. I think they were stockpiling wheels!.

Fascinating that yours had an accessory Beck fuel gauge. I would be fascinated to see how it was mounted. Was it on a separate bracket under the dash board by the ignition key?

Also, a 2nd horn is an uncommon feature on '53s. Generally they had one horn hooked up directly to the battery. I suspect yours must have a horn relay then under the dash, right next to (of course) the voltage regulator, another oddball feature of early '54 Porsches. =]