Finally found one... My 57 356 A

[roy mawbey]

Gill,

Just a point about the 2 separate brushes that contact the commutator inside the steering wheel column to transmit the power to the horn ring and the flasher. I mentioned on my 1959 car there is only one easily visable on the side of the column. I mentioned there is another one but it was connected internally in the column. I was lurking on the registry and someone advised the early 356A had the 2 holes just apart from each other for the brush inserts to fit in. They then mention for 1959 cars there is one as I have seen on my car on the side but there is another one it would seem on the top side of the column under the dash. It also looks like on 59 cars there are 2 separate commutators on the main shaft for each to brush to contact.

I have yet to get my head under the dash and find the one on the top. Never having a problem with either the horn or flasher I never found the need real to inspect.

I thought I would mention because my factory 356A workshop manual and supplement is not as far as I can see definitive about this point. Maybe I missed it Mike would know I guess?

Roy

[vwgillybilly]

Cheers Roy.

I keep plodding away with the bits & bobs, just restored the horns & got the nice hi/low tone back.

I have a spare pair of new repro two hole Bosch horn plaques, if any body needs some I'll stick them in the post for a drink!

Gill.

[roy mawbey]

Gill,

Nice job on those horns, they look super!

Roy

[Dave Lane]

I agree Gill. an excellent job on the horns good work

[911st]

Hi.
My 58 has two contacts on the steering column.
As I found out, when unfortunately I removed the steering shaft from the column to replace the oil seal in the steering box with a double lip seal.
The original seal had failed.
The horn contacts are spring loaded.
When I put it all back together again I must have sheared the end of the contractor off and the horn stopped working.
Oops. Replaced bush and now ok.

[vwgillybilly]

To be honest I have got to get my head around the bushes etc. On my car someone had put the horns on an auxillary switch which was mounted through the radio button hole.

For now I've just taken a direct feed from the horn relay feed in the fuse box, ran it to both horns & earthed it to the horn button through the steering column with enough slack around the bottom for lock to lock rotation, I also added to extra insulation to the wire to minimise any damage from rubbing. This is something I'll sort in the winter as I'm considering repainting the car anyway.

In the mean time I've narrowly avoided a potential catastrophe by removing a rubber fuel primer fitted by the previous owner, initially I left it fitted as when the car was stood for a while it helped with starting, however the plastic 1/8 NPT fitting split & caused a mommoth fuel leak. Luckily the car was just ticking over on the drive when I spotted it!

In the mean time I've been preparing for my bonnet filler conversion by making a fin out of stainless for the fuel cap as I managed to find a cheapish spare cap on eBay. The one in the picture is from my 61 Junior tractor which is the same as the 356.



Also could anyone tell me what this switch is from? There was one exactly the same in the blue 356 A cabrio at Duxford (to the left of the Speedster) which the owner seemed to think was original. I plan to use it for my foglights.







Finally, whats a genuine tidy 3 star Durrant mirror with new gasket worth? I'm looking to sell as I would like to fit some Talbot mirrors.



Cheers.

Gill.

[roy mawbey]

Gill,

That switch has screw type clamping for the wires. 356 A's were all from memory 'bullet' versions. Its similar in size to the windscreen wiper switch but that has a chrome bezel and your item has a 'knurled ring'. Looks period to me, and would serve okay as a switch for spots. I have a similar switch for spots I put on my car in the 70's. However the switch I used I seem to remember was from a 1952 356 I had in pieces at the time. I reckon your version was used by Hella on various 50's / 60's cars.

Roy

[vwgillybilly]

Finally bit the bullet...

[vwgillybilly]

It started with the bumpers, then I just though sod it & went the whole hog.

Several niggles started to bother me, the horrendous door gaps, the scruffy bumpers, the dodgy b-post repair & & various other areas of cracking filler.

Overall I'm really pleased with what I've found, the floor is amazing as is the rear bulkhead area & inner skins. The brown in the pic isnt rust - just old adhesive. The cills are mint & it seems the previous 'restorer' ran out of steam. Literally a couple of days work would have addressed the issues I now have to tackle. The filler I have dug out do far isn't really that thick, just the repairs beneath aren't great.

The car will be returned to silver with red vinyl interior as per COA. However I'm debating a Carrera (ish) clone with Ali bumper decos & perhaps louvred lid & through bonnet filler. It's the look I've always loved but I'm conscious it's a matching panel numbers car so I'm hesitant to cut a hole in the bonnet & re-skin the kid.

I'd be keeping the interior stock as I like the comforts. All the bright work will be fettled & re done.

I'm interested on opinions on the direction I take.

Cheers.

Gill.

[hot66]

Your car, so build it for yourself not the next owner. To be honest most of what you propose is bolt on anyway

[vwgillybilly]

That's what I thought!

As stated earlier the car was originally silver with red leatherette interior.

So, as per usual I've gone gung-ho as I find if I can chop & change between the body / interior I get less bored!

The focus of the resto is to create a nice driver / occasional show car, if it turn out better then bonus! I simply don't have the time & resources to do a full blast & strip etc. I will take the car to the primer / wet flat stage & then contract out the paint job. Plus the car has had one attempt at a resto & fortunately the welding aspect of that was good - shame about the prep & paint!

So, no filler in the roof, deck lid, rear quarters & rear panel, (aside from the lower b-post), both doors & most of the wings. The bonnet and front panel have both had a small repair so I'll see what's needed there. One headlight bucket is wonky so I may have to cut that out.

The interior was 8-9 out of ten & the headliner 9/10 so I decided to attempt to spray the brown vinyl with dye. My logic was at worse it'll need a re-trim anyway. The results are amazing...











It comes out quite shiny at first but I found a light rub with fine Scotchbrite gave it the perfect satin finish. Some vinyl treatment & honestly you wouldn't tell. There is no way that it will rub off as the dye penetrates the surface. Good preparation is massively important to get a good key though.

Some other random pics...

New mirrors



Genuine VDO 100mm bezels - these are superb & quite easy to fit.





Starting the rub down...



Starting to get the gaps...



More to follow.

Gill.



It's had a decent welding job in the stated & the floor & cills are all good.

[roy mawbey]

Wss that Vinylcote you used Gill? Those coatings do work well. Gauge looks nice.

Roy

[vwgillybilly]

Cheers Roy.

The dye is made by VHT, I've used about 8 cans thus far so about £100 - better than £800+ for a re-trim.

The gauge is my spare combo gauge that I practiced on. Just got one small kink in the bezel that's barely noticeable, the others should be mint hopefully.

I could do with picking your brains on some measurements please. I'll send you a pm over.

Thanks.

Gill

[vwgillybilly]

Some more progress...

Chroming & gold plating is just about finished. I was lucky that I found a good local company in Sheffield called Alpha plating for the smaller bits such as bezels, however they couldn't accommodate the door frames so they have gone to Prestige plating in Mexborough. Luckily they can also plate Mazak so I could resurrect the early pre-A style door handles & correct early VW interior door handles.

The pop outs are all built up (nightmare) & most of the bolt on stuff is now ready. Ordered 2 x front wing repair panels & 2 x rear quarter repair panels along with a Carrera 5 louver deck lid so the deadline of March for the repaint is still achievable if I crack on with the welding before Christmas! I managed to prep the bumpers & trial fitted the Carrera Ali trim (nightmare). For those with shabby looking gauge bezels please be aware that 100mm VDO replacements are available for about £10 each - I managed to source mine on ebay.de.

Questions.

1. Would my car have had the front indicator base wedges or would the bezels have been flush fit? It is a 1957 T1.5 A.

2. What is the correct colour for the steering column, indicator switch housing & gearstick?

Random assorted pics... The later original rear badge is now for sale.





Original silver paint behind the gauges, I also found traces behind the door latches.



Cheers.

Gill

[vwgillybilly]