Bentley Publishers Tech Session, Saturday, April 8, 2006
As President DiCorpo said in his email to the membership, our thanks go out to Maurice Inglesias and Janet Barnes from Bentley Publishers, Tim Rodgers for donating his 356 C Coupe for the Pre Purchase Inspections (PPI) and Alex Finigan from Paul Russell’s for an outstanding tech session on PPI at Bentley Publishing in Cambridge, MA.
Thirty members and guests attended. Bentley Publishers provided breakfast of coffee and bagels, plus gourmet pizza for lunch. Maurice was there to greet all TYP356NE members with a grab bag full of Bentley Publishers’ goodies. We received a Bentley Publishers’ coffee mug, pen and refrigerator magnet, plus a catalog of all the Bentley Publishers’ books and CD’s. This tech chair purchased both Rendezvous and Le Mans CD’s. Rendezvous was playing prior to the session’s start and mesmerized many with a wild ride through the streets of Paris in a Ferrari.
Tim Rodger’s red 356 coupe was deemed a driver by Alex. The floor pans, longitudinals, jack spur and already repaired battery box were solid, except for one hole on the driver’s side of the floor and bottom door skins plus a “paint chipped” passenger door were also an issue. Alex stated, “this car is better than I anticipated and could be a driver while Tim looks for a more solid car for the full restoration….Just put it in primer and drive it.”
Alex says a running car is more saleable than a car in boxes, which is almost worthless.
Alex started the PPI with the inside of the front fenders and the fender to door opening as well as door gaps. Tim’s driver’s door had a gap that needed to be adjusted but the inside of the fenders and the fender’s door opening was original: that’s good. The front clip had been repaired but done fairly well. The hood needed replacement as it was very rusty and not worth trying to save. Alex says beware of the gas station attendant who tried to help by pushing down on our hoods and bending them at the hinges. Tim’s hood was not bent, just rusty.
Alex says tapping on the metal pan under the car, all four fenders, doors, and hood would tell you a lot about the previous rust repairs. Leave the pick or magnet at home. Alex prefers to see a ten year old paint job versus one that is six months old, as the newer one may hide recently fixed flaws, while the ten year old paint job is “stable.”
Alex strongly recommends trying to start with a solid, non - rusty car, so members can begin to enjoy their purchase immediately. Once the restoration begins, the owner would be without a car for potentially years and many thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars, while rust repair was accomplished.
The engine is pretty easy to get repaired and running versus fixing rust in the chassis. Also, a rusty chassis is dangerous to drive. So, find a rust free car and enjoy your 356 driving experience.
Fixing the rust will soon get the owner to pay out more than the car is worth, so Alex’s advice is to buy a solid car and enjoy it.
Tim plans to take Alex’s advice and get the passenger door painted, fix the hole in the floor, get a new hood, redo the door bottoms, refurbish the brakes and get the engine running to enjoy driving the car so he can possibly sell it and get into a more rust – free car in the near future.
PS, There was some discussion on how to align your 356, so I point to a tech article on “string alignment” on the TYP356NE website in the February 2006 newsletter.
Tom Gentz
TYP356NE
Tech Chair
As President DiCorpo said in his email to the membership, our thanks go out to Maurice Inglesias and Janet Barnes from Bentley Publishers, Tim Rodgers for donating his 356 C Coupe for the Pre Purchase Inspections (PPI) and Alex Finigan from Paul Russell’s for an outstanding tech session on PPI at Bentley Publishing in Cambridge, MA.
Thirty members and guests attended. Bentley Publishers provided breakfast of coffee and bagels, plus gourmet pizza for lunch. Maurice was there to greet all TYP356NE members with a grab bag full of Bentley Publishers’ goodies. We received a Bentley Publishers’ coffee mug, pen and refrigerator magnet, plus a catalog of all the Bentley Publishers’ books and CD’s. This tech chair purchased both Rendezvous and Le Mans CD’s. Rendezvous was playing prior to the session’s start and mesmerized many with a wild ride through the streets of Paris in a Ferrari.
Tim Rodger’s red 356 coupe was deemed a driver by Alex. The floor pans, longitudinals, jack spur and already repaired battery box were solid, except for one hole on the driver’s side of the floor and bottom door skins plus a “paint chipped” passenger door were also an issue. Alex stated, “this car is better than I anticipated and could be a driver while Tim looks for a more solid car for the full restoration….Just put it in primer and drive it.”
Alex says a running car is more saleable than a car in boxes, which is almost worthless.
Alex started the PPI with the inside of the front fenders and the fender to door opening as well as door gaps. Tim’s driver’s door had a gap that needed to be adjusted but the inside of the fenders and the fender’s door opening was original: that’s good. The front clip had been repaired but done fairly well. The hood needed replacement as it was very rusty and not worth trying to save. Alex says beware of the gas station attendant who tried to help by pushing down on our hoods and bending them at the hinges. Tim’s hood was not bent, just rusty.
Alex says tapping on the metal pan under the car, all four fenders, doors, and hood would tell you a lot about the previous rust repairs. Leave the pick or magnet at home. Alex prefers to see a ten year old paint job versus one that is six months old, as the newer one may hide recently fixed flaws, while the ten year old paint job is “stable.”
Alex strongly recommends trying to start with a solid, non - rusty car, so members can begin to enjoy their purchase immediately. Once the restoration begins, the owner would be without a car for potentially years and many thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars, while rust repair was accomplished.
The engine is pretty easy to get repaired and running versus fixing rust in the chassis. Also, a rusty chassis is dangerous to drive. So, find a rust free car and enjoy your 356 driving experience.
Fixing the rust will soon get the owner to pay out more than the car is worth, so Alex’s advice is to buy a solid car and enjoy it.
Tim plans to take Alex’s advice and get the passenger door painted, fix the hole in the floor, get a new hood, redo the door bottoms, refurbish the brakes and get the engine running to enjoy driving the car so he can possibly sell it and get into a more rust – free car in the near future.
PS, There was some discussion on how to align your 356, so I point to a tech article on “string alignment” on the TYP356NE website in the February 2006 newsletter.
Tom Gentz
TYP356NE
Tech Chair
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