My 356 Cabriolet Latest and Hopefully Final Options

Sounds great, but what is the car in the photos section of your profile? That one looks pretty terrific with the hardtop, and in white. Is that a Specialty car too?

Good one Herb!!!! Those pictures are of my IM that I sold a few weeks ago. I was going to try and have them transferred to the new owners profile, but I will go ahead and delete them if I can??

It looked like the lines of an IM, but what threw me was the dash. My IM (2002) has a different dash configuration. I really hope you are thrilled with the new car -- because the old one looks like it was pretty great.

The old one was great!!!!!! No regrets owning it, but by the time I did everything to the old one that I wanted, it would have cost me more money then building new.

I also ran out of options with mechanics in the area so I really needed the newer style engine, and the automatic was going to be a must have within a couple of years with my left knee being bad and all.

Steven, after spending some time on the SAW site and going over your build I think you will end up with one sweet ride. At one time I thought that Intermeccanicas were the 'top of the heap' in 356 replicas, but I've changed my mind. I thing that the SAW 356 is the way to go. Tube frame, superior suspension, mid engine, very low maintenance motor and heat when ever you want it, all under that beautiful 356 body.
I see that your garage has the two 'most important' items....tool chest and beer fridge!
Ron

Thanks Ron....and as mentioned I have a couple of surprises yet!!

And now I really don't need the tool chest...most everything I need for the car can be done with a mini tool set....as for the beer fridge I still need it!!!!!

Did anyone else notice under the owners cars on the SAW site the flared speedster pictures now include a picture of the rear trunk area....very handy.

Steve; when will it be delivered?...

Steve,

You may have already found this, but just in case? Charlie White has ran a great site on 356 Literature for some time. He also has kept up a color sheet.

He recently updated his site and there is gobs of great info. Of particualr interest to you may be his extensive & excellent section on radios in 356s. It tells how to ID the correct radios, the year/type by the code plate, proper mounting, face plates, etc.

For others, his new and improved section on paint is the best site or source I have found.

Jim

(You can start from this link and explore the site.)
members.aol.com/_ht_a/derwhite/Derwhites356LiteraturePage.htm

Jim,

VERY cool site...

It does look like some good information.......I bought a 1959 blaupunkt radio Frankfurt which looks to have been available in years 56-59, with the big ivory buttons and sent it up to S and M. I know it isn't the exact year I'm going for but the model appears to be correct, but hey I have an engine where the back seat used to be so I think I'm ok with it.

I'm hoping to make Carlisle!!!!!!!!! If nothing goes too horribly wrong and the planet alignment is correct we should make it.

Steven,

It would be great if both you and John H show up at Carlisle in the SAWs. Many of us haven't seen one in person yet.

EC Bruce, I would wager that if the car is ready, Steven will be there with it ;-)

I in fact may just take delivery at Carlisle!!!!!!! But if they build it I will come. Couldn't resist the field of dreams reference being from Iowa and all?

link to pictures of trunk area on SAW

www.specialtyauto.com/bills_356a_flared_cabriolet.htm

Just enough room for the WRX intercooler!
Ron

Steve, that trunk is very cool. I am busy looking at Racks and deciding what one I can put on and pull off easily while you will be stowing your gear in a trunk! That's a real nice feature.

I like it for groceries....I used to get groceries in my IM and the bags would be in the back making all sorts of noise while I drove home.

I haven't given the WRX much thought since I made the decision to go with the 2.5 SOHC, but I have considered doing some nice polished and ported heads next winter when I'm not driving it?? This should bring the HP up to about 200+ with pretty nice torque to match. They aren't cheap however $2200 just for the heads. I figure a total of 2600 to do the entire job and some engine detail at the same time. Thats my end goal and will avoid the turbocharger and problems that you can self inflict from turbocharging.

Well, after many months of research, 48 changes or alterations to make it exactly the way I want it, and many hours of searching for just the right parts that I wanted to find myself........the search is over and the last parts are headed for SAW. Hopefully, the car will make it to body and paint in time and then its going to be to close to call for Carlisle. I have a lot of special parts going in to this car and that slows things down a little, but I am still confident that I will make Carlisle.

Well the top is being made and the body is being prepped for paint, but here are couple of pictures. Will we make Carlisle?

Oh and this is the first picture with the doors hung!!!

Lookin' good Steve! Is SAW still doing VW pan based cars? I noticed the floorpan in the background.....

That is a shortened and ready to go VW pan, but Steve quit building pan based cars and then later quit building VW engine based cars. This would save someone time money and energy to make one, if they are looking for one?

I know this isn't really in order, but here is the picture of my engine/drivetrain just before being removed from its donor. I think it was an outback? I have the EJ25 engine with automatic transmission.

That SOHC looks much flatter then my DOHC. It's really an easy motor to work on. When you pull the intake runners off, all that spaghetti on top comes right off with it and it looks bare like a VW longblock. Does SAW do anything to freshen up the donor motors?

BD

That's cool, you gotta just watch the temp gauge on the EJ 25's more closely than not. These motors must not be allowed to overheat an iota, or you're in for problems. Some SOHC engines develope an annoying coolant leak on the drivers side front of the head for some reason. The head gasket problems are mostly with the DOHC but not unheard of on a SOHC. But they are good motors, you can hardly hear mine at idle at 178,000 miles. They are smooth and have some guts to them. I'd love to see what a WRX turbo would do in a speedy.

BD

It just depends, but my engine and transmission has had the 30,000 mile items and all the filters, fluids, belts, and such changed. He also cleans it and shoots some silver paint on the engine, but honestly wasn't completely necessary. He will do the things that need to be done and do the basic mainenance regardless.

The exhaust is a combination of custom tubing with some components like the catalytic converter,and the headers being factory. The original stainless exhaust headers are utilized, so I am paying to have the custom parts and the heat shields on the headers jet-hot coated. Also I am having a full flow dansk 356 sport type muffler installed with dual tips modified to accept the exhaust from the suby.

It wouldn't necessarily need to be Jet-hot coated, but I wanted to spend the money on it now rather then later, rust on exhaust is common here in Iowa and makes things look junky within a couple of years.

Bill,
I have heard that these engines can run a little hot? Do you know what the normal 75mph cruising temperature is on your coolant? I have heard as much as 220 is sometimes seen on freeway and faster speeds?

But we will have a better idea of what these run when John reports on his trip.

I have noticed that on any modern engine that overheating it even once is a big no no....you will damage the heads at the least if you get too hot.

When I first got my car it had bad head gaskets. The gauge went up and down like a roller coaster. I pulled it and did a top end on it and it runs smooth and cool. The needle comes up almost 1/2 way on the gauge and stays there steady. One quirky thing I discovered is that aftermarket thermostats will not work right on these motors. The temps wander. I put a Subaru Thermostat in and it's rock steady. I think it runs around 185 mostly. In fact I used mostly Subaru parts on the rebuild as the aftermarket doesn't support many parts.

BD

How did you know the head gaskets were bad? Was it the usual leaking or something else?

The thermostat position and style is a little different, so it doesn't surprise me that aftermarket therostats might not work right?

When you start finding oily residue crap in the coolant recovery tank in a Subaru, it usually means blown head gaskets. The temp gauge wandering up and down indicates trouble also. Subaru is on their 4th updated version of headgasket so far. They seem to be holding in my case. Most of these problems were with the DOHC motors. I guess that's why they went back to SOHC.

BD

Thats part of the reason I requested the SOHC. I had heard on other message boards that it is a little less prone to trouble then the DOHC version. I also noticed that on customer reliability ratings the years from 99 and before were just ok, but from 2000 on they have excellent ratings on reliability. Thats exactly what I'm looking for, and the extra power of the 2.5liter engine won't hurt any.

But I do wonder how much gas mileage I lost going up to the 2.5 vs the 2.2. It will be interesting to compare my numbers to Johns once I get it? I have always liked good gas mileage cars, even before gas reached a dollar a gallon.

I can only think you should get good mpg with it. That Ej25 shouldn't even have to breath hard to propel a light Speedy down the road. It should rock in your car really!(considering how it does in my Outback Wagon)

BD

Here is a good picture of my rear overrider tube being put on. Its not in its final position yet, this is the picture of it while they are adjusting it and making it fit right.

... any recent updated completion projection?
Has he become any more responsive to your inquiries?
Hell, you got bumpers. If there's an engine under that lid, drive it out and sub the completion.

Well it looks like the second week in June. Which is only a little behind schedule. I really think we could have made Carlisle if he would just had sent the front overrider tube at the same time that he sent the rear tube. He says next week, but he has said that many times now? I guess the guy I bought the tubes from actually makes the front ones??? I hope he has made them before, because we originally had a guy that said he would make them and never did. He was the one we couldn't even get a response from most of the time, the guy were waiting on now responds, but has had trouble actually coming through, I wish I new what the problem really is, but he says the tube is at the chromers.....god I hope so? We have the car being delayed by one part, although it is an important part!!!!! It was one of those things I wanted to upgrade from my old car and is a pain to get and install. I'm sure people can't understand why Henry charges so much for a couple of tubes, but it is a lot of work fitting them and getting them right, we have the added frustration of waiting for them.

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear you're having some small problems. We're all excited about keeping up with the progress of your project and to see the final results.

I'm sure the wait will be worth it, your specifications list looks fantastic. I've seen some other 356s in the background of your various update shots, does SAW have a bit of a backlog on cars now? Can we expect to see more of the hot little Suby tubs running around here soon?

-Jeff

So are these over riders something that will be readily available on future SAW cars and you're blazing the trail by having the adjustments made? Or are yours a one of a kind?

You're definitely like me. When someone says they have or will do something, I take them at that and expect them to perform. Sadly, lots of people don't subscribe to that principle.

-Jeff

PS - Is it just me or is SAW a bit stingy with the digital photos? I was kind of hoping Jim Ward's experience with Henry and the boys at IM would be similar to what we'd get to see of the SAW build. :)

I think that it's about time management Jeff, not being stingy. SAW is a small shop and staff and yet maintains quite a divers product line. If there are pictures you have not seen and would like to, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do.
J2B

I would agree with John on the pictures issue. As for the overrider bars, I'm sure the intent is to offer the overrider tubes in the future, but in exactly what configurations I'm not sure.

The single bar in the rear was only put on cars in the middle part of 56 until the first part of 57. The single bar was replaced by the more common double bar in the back. Even cars that originally had the single bar rear many times have the dual bar rear, because the factory didn't even offer the single bar for repair or replacement after they started making the dual bar style rear overrider. Only people interested in trying to duplicate the 56 would want the single bar and even then most people like the dual bar more. Its just a rare option, so I think demand will probably dictate the dual bar overrider. I think this is why Henry's cars are almost always the dual bar style.

The front bar has two options also, with the "low mount" and "high mount". Although the "high mount" came in after the 57 year and wasn't as well liked by most people? What SAW finally developes and offers is yet to be seen. The front tube "low mount" isn't that hard to find, but the rear ones and especially the single bar are harder to find. I think will know more about what SAW decides in about a month.