DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

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Glad to hear you've been driving/enjoying your 356 Karl ... & good move on fitting the harnesses (same race-inspired style that I fitted to my 904 & 356 C).


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Be aware that if you want to compete, you will need 4 point full harnesses.
JW

Thanks chaps.
Neil, there are holes in my rear quarters where there used to be a more normal style belt. There are measurements in the 356 registry book if you need to place them, but I'm sure you know that.
Cheers Andy, how is your Burgundy T, have you done much more to it?
Thank you Jonathan, it was nice to meet you and 911 hillclimber at Shelsley after all this time. I think I have a spare 4 point harness in the draw, but I suppose it will need to be within a certain date too?

Karl

No, dates on belts are only an issue if your car is classified as Sports Libre - the class that Graham’s Lola runs in.

JW

PS - yes it was great to put faces to names and cars at Shelsley Walsh in the Summer.

Back at the end of summer, I managed to buy a new steering wheel. My original one is 420mm, so I bought a 400mm wheel.
There was nothing wrong with the old wheel, just you do feel a bit like a captain of the ship.




I found one in a suitably scruffy condition to match the rest of the car, but it cleaned up well.







Just using T cut, I took the top coat off the centre part, as it was not quite correct in colour, but underneath it was a better match.



Now, don't let the girls tell you size doesn't matter. What a difference. It's only 20mm smaller, and I was wondering before I bought it, will it be worth the money? Well, I'm so happy I got it, the driving experience is made more enjoyable, a little more sporty in feel, and less elbow flapping.




There's just one problem, the indicator cancelling doesn't work, so that will need sorting. But in general a very a happy purchase.



Karl




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Sounds like a worthwhile 'upgrade' Karl - that small reduction in diameter can make all the difference as you've discovered.

It's the same when you swap a std 911 400mm wheel for a 380mm 914 version.


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Never underestimate the difference 2cms can make

Karl,

Well done on all the work, I was lucky my car had a 400mm diameter steering wheel from new. This size was always supplied on the Speedster. I agree with you the smaller wheel feels nice to drive with. I noticed I made some comments on your resto over 12 years ago so you never gave up Karl to get it as you wanted it

Congrats from me

Roy

Cheers, Roy. I don't think I'll ever stop tinkering with this thing...

And just to prove it, I've done some more.
Firstly I changed the rear number plate. The letters were too big, so I wanted proper number plate text, because I had made the old ones up, in a similar vein to Porsche script .
For the old letters, I had made a stencil and sprayed it, this time I thought I'd hand paint it.
I should have practised first, with my pin striping brush, because it was trickier than I thought it would be. In my defence, it doesn't help having large cracks in the surface.
It's a bit rough, or a LOT rough, but it goes with the look of the car.
I also injected more Dinitrol rust converter down into the cracks.
Because the old letters didn't come off as easily as I'd hoped, the background black was more grey primer. So I painted a new black back ground plate also.
Over all, I think it looks ok.

Karl











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Ive added the injection photo



I made my first journey of the year out to Caffeine and machine and coming home in the slight dark discovered one head lamp bulb had blown.




So like David James, I used it as an excuse to put LEDs on the entire exterior lights.
I tried to purchase cheap ones from China, but they only seem to provide 12 volt.
In the end I bought the 6 volt versions from ClassiccarledsLtd.
£157 was quite steep but the peace of mind of a lower current running through the wires is worth it, especially as there are a couple of signs of over heated insulation in places.
Whilst doing this, as some of the more eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed, whilst painting the rear plate, I refurbished the number plate light. The bracket was rusty, so cleaned it and gave a light coating of primer. Originally it's bare metal i think, but as no one sees it, I thought I'd coat it in something to stop the rust.







In the centre should be the reversing light, but in my ownership, there has never been a bulb there, because there is no wire from the reverse light switch. I had considered fixing this, but thought by adding a red bulb here, and feeding a line from the brakes, I could have a third brake light for a bit of extra safety. This worked wonderfully.



Oh and I added some headlight grills that happen to have been sitting in the garage for 20 years. I guess I could call them NOS.
They were a bit loose, so I added some rubber tubing to the tabs at the top..... that'll do.
And knocked out a dent in the headlight rim, but not completely. Don't want to make it too nice.









Thanks
Karl
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Great update Karl - I think the new typeface on the rear plate looks better & the hand-painted finish is totally in keeping with the style of your car.


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Karl, I agree with Andy it all looks fine for your car!

Well done

Roy

Thanks Andy and Roy.

I did a bit more to it, to make it more bearable to drive in, as the noise inside was deafening.

I had stripped the paint of the rear of the interior many years ago when I had new floors put in, so it was due for some paint now especially as my garage seems to be retaining more moisture than ever.





It took a couple of days cramped up in the back of the car, cleaning off the surface rust.
I also fixed a broken bolt for the rear seat upright. The bolt sheared off trying to undo it. Luckily the broken face was quite flat, so with a centre punch and a couple of drill sizes to just under the thread size, I then tapped a new thread. Because of the close vicinity of the bolt to the rear upright, i could not use the standard tap handle. With a bit of patience I slowly worked a new thread with the tap held in the jaws of my drill.







I tried to sand a much as possible, but I had to draw the line somewhere, not getting every tiny morsel of rust off, because I wanted to attend Classics at the Clubhouse, especially as I cannot make the big DDK weekend this year.







I had bought some Rustbuster epoxy mastic to paint on the bare surface.
Applied with a sponge roller, to give a nice finish, but I had overlooked the chemical process of the paint started to melt the sponge of the roller. It drooped, so I cut off the end, and was able to carry on.








I was very happy with the finish, as it will end up under some carpet one day any way.




That takes 7 days to cure fully, but that is 2 coats, and I only gave it one. So 5 days was enough I thought to then be able to put the Silent coat sound deadening in.




As with many jobs, I thought I'd get it done quickly, but to stick them in and roller them flat took a lot longer than anticipated. I managed to get enough in for the trip, but I still need to finish it off.



Thanks
Karl











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Nice work. That epoxy mastic is good stuff