OK, it has been a long time since my last entry. Way too long. Sorry.

Time away from work hasn't been as free as I thought it might be. There are just too many things to do. That doesn't mean I haven't been working on the Porsche; I have, really. I wish more than I have, but I don't feel too bad about the amount of time I have devoted to it versus other things. I'm climbing Mt. Rainier for a second time in June with my brother and two close friends, and I have had to step up my exercise and training regimen to insure a successful trip. That, coupled with spending extra time with my daughter, and a few snags in disassembling various parts of the car, has slowed me down. What has really suffered has been the car journal, though. I'll try to be better.

So what have I done in the past month and a half?

• I got my new "C" engine from Florida. It is in very good shape. I need to get a few miscellaneous bits of engine tin to finish things off, but otherwise, I'm very pleased with the purchase.
• I have disassembled the front shocks. They took quite a long time because the lower bolts were frozen into the control arms. I needed to use heat and a nut-splitter to finally get the left one off. Very frustrating and it took way too long.
• I finished exterior trim removal. The last bits were the door handles, the hood trim/seal (I took the hood off too), and the decoration strip where the door meets the glass. These strips are held on by several very small screws which were all thoroughly rusted, and most stripped while trying to remove them. Remarkably like the screws holding down the hood seal, I might mention. I had to search all over trying to find some "micro" screw extractors at Sears (hey, if I strip the extractors, at least I can get them replaced) and even with those it wasn't easy. I was able to get needle-nose vise grips on some of them. Job done.
• I went to an old business associate's house to do some sandblasting (ok, a lot of sandblasting) in his media blasting cabinet. Lots of engine tin, seat rails, garnish rails, heater cans, air cleaner housing, etc. I still have some other pieces to go but man did that feel good! Going from a rusty hunk of crap to a shiny silver piece of metal is fun.
• I have cut all the pieces and purchased an 8" caster wheel for my "3rd wheel dolly" which will go where the transmission sits and allow movement of the car without a rear axle. I need to remove the transmission to get some final measurements on the front tranny mount hole locations, and then weld it up.
• I throught about and partially disassembled the steering system (tie rods, etc) but then put it back together. Hard to move the car if the front wheels don't want to track together. I will need to mask more carefully for blasting, though.
• I got a bunch of spare parts from Zim's Autotechnik. Al Zim has been in the business for a long time and has good prices. Clutch kit, new shocks (man those originall Konis were rusty!), new steering coupler, plug wires, 6v H4 headlamp bulbs, etc. It was the first of several "big orders" that I anticipate. I see Stoddard's and Tweeks next on the list.
• I've decided on a color scheme for the car. Ruby Red (Signal Red was just too flashy for my tastes on a classic) with Fawn leatherette and oatmeal carpeting. I was thinking about going with real leather but that both wasn't original equipment on the car and it is a whole lot more expensive. No need.
• I ordered some plating supplies from Caswell Plating. I will be replating most of my fasteners and other things like seat rails with zinc plating. This will be cheaper and more fun to do for small quantities than sending them out. I can also do cadmium-look parts with zinc chromate (that gold color). I also got a small amount of gold solution to replate the rear emblems. It cost less than buying new emblems to do this and restore the original ones! Plus it will be more fun.

So where does that leave us? I do need to get the transmission out still. Any day now, I keep telling myself, I will tackle it. That, and the shift mechanism, are really all that's left to remove. I have decided to leave the steering box/brake system in place and just mask very carefully. I will be overhauling both of these systems completely after blasting anyway, and it is much easier
to leave them on. I need to get the 3rd wheel dolly welded up and installed, and then I will get the car blasted and driven to the body shop. While car car spends some unknown amount of time in the body shop getting the nose repaired, I will work on cleaning up all the parts that I have removed. I will then reclaim the car to weld in the battery box, longitudinals, and floor pans. Then the car can
finally be painted, and I can begin reassembly.

Did I mention I am a bit afraid I'm not going to get it finished in time for the 356 Holiday in September after all? That's OK. I will still try to get as much done as possible, but if it isn't done, we'll drive my Audi TT to Asheville instead. In many ways it is a spiritual successor to the Porsche 356.