Werkstatte

The Stoddard Swap Meet (36th Annual!!) will be held this year on June 2-3 here at our Highland Heights location.  Sell your stuff, buy our stuff, look at other people's stuff.  It's all good! 

Question:

I have a 356B, 1962; it's a T-6 body. It had a gas tank with the bottom-mount sender. I bought a new tank which has the sender on the top. Along with the tank I had to purchase a new sender. I fit the sender in the tank but now the fuel level in the dash instrument goes to the end - it doesn't work. What do I do now?  - S. Turner, Cypress Beach, CA. 

Answer:

It sounds like there is a ground problem. Take a look at the wiring diagram below. You’ll see the sender is grounded on one side; the ground is actually made through the sender screws. You may have had your tank powder coated and the screws may not be making a good ground.

The new top mount sender is an entirely different design than the old bottom mount sender. As you see above, the new sender is the float-arm type. If you were to measure the new sender, the resistance reading is 200 ohms in full position and 6 ohms in the empty position. The older bottom mount sender was 107 to 2 ohms and the dash instrument had a red “R” hash mark for tank reserve indication. Ideally, you will want to have your instrument recalibrated, however your present instrument will still give reasonable fuel level readings.  

As for wire connections, you can connect the same wires as were used on the old bottom mount tank.  Remember, the brown wire is always “ground."  

General notes: In the wiring diagram for your car, you can count thirty-five places where components are grounded. Some components need to touch a good clean mounting surface. In the front trunk, on each side, only a sheet metal screw is supposed to make contact for blinker lights and horns; be sure there is good contact there.

Specific note: 356B T-6 vehicles using the bottom mount sender also have unique markings on the fuel level gauge. 

Regards,
Brad Ripley

Our 2022 All-Porsche Car Show and Swap Meet was this past weekend. We had solid turn-out, great weather and there loads of neat cars in our parking lot for the show.  

Friday night's literature meet was mostly held outside.  The weather was beautiful, so the tents weren't even needed!

There were a lot of 914s in attendance.  We counted at least 18 that were lined up, including several 914-6s  

This Rubystone 964 Carrera RS was just imported to the states.  Very, very cool car. 

Dan Mainzer's Smyrna Green 356B was stunning in the sunlight.  

This 1969 Signal Green 912 captured second in our Peoples' Choice car show.  It is owned by Maureen Arata from New Haven, Indiana. 

Chris Moore's Cashmere won best in show.  

Cashmere's interior is as nice as the exterior.  

We liked the period correct BBS alloys on this G-Body.  Rad!

Mike Immarino's 356A Coupe was third in our Car Show.  Always a favorite!

The 2022 Central PA region of the PCA had their annual swap meet at the Carlisle Fairgrounds.  The event was packed—we sold a variety of "scratch and dent" items and saw a lot of great deals from other vendors as well.  The weather was excellent—not something that can be said for every CPA swap meet.  

Our next event is our own Stoddard Swap Meet on June 3-4th.  We'll have plenty of more deals and 10% off all regular orders as well. 

Register Now - June 3rd and 4th 

Automotive Reisen in Burr Ridge, Illinois has wrapped up the restoration of this 1955 Pre-A Speedster, which was used as a race car in the Midwest with the SCCA, mostly competing at Road America in Wisconsin. It had been wrecked numerous times and rolled at one point.  The work included removing pounds of body filler that had been used to "fix" prior damage.  

The customer chose to keep the upgraded disc brake and they present a neat look with narrow 356C wheels painted body color.  

After a year or more of worldwide turmoil, it's nice to get back to what we love. Looking at some sweet Porsches, finding bargains on vintage parts and talking to our friends from around the country.  We've been holding our Stoddard All-Porsche Car Show and Swap Meet since 1987 and this one had the most cars on display that we can remember. They were wrapped around the parking lot and they were accompanied their owners, both young and old.  

The vendor count was solid, but we were particularly happy with the show turn out.  Plenty of neat Porsches, from early 356s through the latest models.  

Our 2021 Stoddard Swap Meet starts tomorrown evening.  We have received the Nicolas Hunziker designed shirts and they're available for sale!

You can see a video of Nicolas painting the original design by clicking here.