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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

Four Speeds & Drum Brakes

By Tom Tate
NOR'EASTER Online - December 2002

Well it's closing in on the Holidays and I guess it's time to look around the garage and make sure that I'm ready for winter. Hose inside, shovels outside. The season sorta snuck up on me this year. Summer seemed like it didn't want to give up. Even fall in New England had more bright sun than overcast days. I guess the fact that the cars were running well made the time fly by quickly.

Of course when I say running well, that's a relative term. Let's see how busy the garage really was this year. In June the door latch on the 540 wagon failed, preventing its closing. Leigh said that it sounded like the back of the car was falling off. The relay died on the remote switch leaving the latch always open. This is BMW's idea of fail-safe I suppose. Probably better always open that always closed. The dog would really hate to jump through the back window all the time. Only two try's to fix. I got real good at removing the inside panel while upside down. First try was to find the problem and mouse it, the second was to do it right with the factory part. Next on that car was a broken cup holder. While we don't really use them, the fact that stopping the rattle required a quarter wedged into the holder, which then made it look trashy. Back to the BMW parts counter ("weren't you here last week for a relay?") to flash the BMWCCA card to discount my way into a $25 cup holder. Two screws and it's fixed. Question: do I throw the broken one out or put it aside to see if I can repair it later. Clue: I'm older now, the garage is crowded, and it's cheap plastic.

Next up is the Audi Quattro ice racer. This car actually sat all summer so what could break? Well there was an exhaust leak that needed attention. What I thought was a loose connection turned out to be hole in the center muffler. While I had it off I painted both the new part and the old rear muffler. I think that they last longer but if not at least it looks better from behind. It is a white car after all and I used white hi-temp paint that matched. Since I was already under the car and couldn't see that the gas filter was ever changed, I decided it was time. Nothing is ever simple on a 17-year-old car. In moving the gas line around to mount the filter it split where it's mounted to the chassis. I was tired of the chase so I sent it over to Kevin to patch up. Besides I needed the garage space and he would leave it in the lot for a few months. Great guy Kevin. Lots of space over there.

The '64 356C sunroof coupe needed a pushrod tube seal replaced so that engine came out and on the floor in short order. In the "nothing is ever easy category" the clamps on the S pipes actually hid a couple of spot welds. I guess that the previous owner either didn't want them to ever rattle or else figured that the engine would never have to be removed again ever. These cars are reliable but not that reliable. The sheet metal looked pretty poor so I pulled it all off the engine and replaced it with a set that had been powder coated. That change made the oil lines look old so off they came. And it wouldn't hurt to paint the oil filter canister and add some new stickers. Now it's really starting to look good except for the stains on the generator and the discolored pulley. Off with the old on with the new. As I start to slide the engine back up under the car I can see that the transmission mounts have soaked up enough oil over the last 38 years to make them look like black pancakes, the kind made with 8 year old Bisquick (don't ask me how I know). With the mounts off it's easier to clean the transmission too. I really don't drive this car in the winter but the next owner might so new heater cables were in order. The longest broken cable was hooked to the middle of a coat hanger. The ends were wrapped around the heater box control flaps. Very creative, but definitely not correct. All the wire under the transmission made it look like it was holding the transaxle in place. With the condition of the mounts maybe it was.

Next up was the'59 356 A coupe with a minor gas smell in the cockpit. The fuel valve is the clear choice as the offending part when this happens. It's also the easiest (read cheapest) place to start. The valve was damp with gas but the O ring looked good and didn't seem to leak. Valve off no leak, valve open leak. How tough could this be? Turns out that the rubber gas line leaving the valve had given up the ghost after 43 years of service. It allowed the gas to wick back up to the base of the valve to then run down the metal filter canister making it look like the valve was at fault. Very interesting. The larger problem was trying to get the gas smell out of the car and garage. Open doors and Fabrize spray did the job.

The gas smell was only out of the garage for about a week when Leigh asked if I had a gas leak in the garage. Been there, done that I thought. But after a dump run with Big Red (the BMW M6) I could smell it again and the '59 was sitting outside. A look at the Bimmer engine showed a split high-pressure line going to the fuel injection rail. Gee, didn't I just replace that last year? Yup, I did but with that same fabric line I just used on the coupe. Wait, that's not high-pressure hose. Oh well like I've always said I'd rather be lucky that smart. Well as long as I'm here I might as well change the oil and filter. Is this starting to sound familiar? Like I said, it was a pretty quiet summer.

Keep the Faith!

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region