Werkstatte

This year's 2023 Stoddard All Porsche Car Show and Swap Meet was a treat--a warm and sunny weather forecast help bolster numbers of vendors and showgoers, and Mother Nature delivered!   We had well over 100 car show entrants.   Les Checel's purple 993 placed third in the show, while Ben Pallazzo's Kiln Red 911 took second.  Chris and Debbie Moore brought "Cashmere" and it took top honors in the show.  We also had seminars, including Vic Skirmants talking 356 Transmissions and Adam Wright on how to find and buy project cars!  

Next year's event will be held June 7-8, 2024.  Like this year, after the literature show on Friday, we will head over to Pete's Custom Coachbuilding for a Barbecue!   We are planning on adding some additional events during the day on Friday.  

A gorgeous GT4 Cayman next to a Karmann Hardtop 356.  

Vendors took advantage of the sunny skies and cleaned out their collections! 

This was a neat backdate project we saw. 

The Franklin 356 built by Pete's Custom Coachbuilding was in attendance, gathering many, many onlookers.  

An aluminum-bodied, Volkswagen-powered Grumman postal van prototype! 

Adam Wright waves his schtick around.  

A stunning Amethyst 993 took third.  

Ben's Kiln Red 911. 

The Moore's win overall. 

Here are a few tips to properly using the Factory or our P863 suspension pan jig for the 911 or 912 to replace the lower front suspension pan.   

Before you do anything on the car, you must first mount the pan to the jig.   This is best done on a large, flat surface with the pan flipped upside down.   

Next, prop the "back" of the jig up so that when the front is sitting on the pan, the jig's back pads are parallel with the working surface.  

Next,  thread the four torsion bar mounting bolts in just a little bit.  Do not thread one in and expect that the rest will all just line up--they will not.  You can put a little bit of weight with your hands on the center of the "U" of the pan to flatten it slightly-this can help you thread the bolts in that first bit without cross threading.  

As you tighten the bolts in an alternating sequence, the suspension pan will conform to the "shape" of the jig and its pads.  The pan is flexible—the jig is not.  

Once the pan is mounted securely to the jig, you can flip the assembly over and bolt the four rear pads to the existing holes in the car's chassis for the steering rack cross tube.  Once you are certain that everything is lined up torqued down, you can start the welding process!   

Buy Suspension Pan Stuff Here. 

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.