One of the items that needed to be addressed on this 356 and any car that has been sitting for multiple years is an overhaul or rebuild of the braking system. In this case it is a custom set up of Ate 924 front calipers, stock 356C rear calipers and an Ate dual master cylinder for what I believe would be an early short wheelbase 911/912.

Necessary tools for this job are a synthetic lubricant for reassembly, WD-40 or something similar for cleaning up caliper piston cylinders, a grease gun or hydraulic gun of some sort which can transfer hydraulic pressure, a set of caliper kits, and ideally a tray of some sort to retain any liquid which comes out of the calipers as you disassemble and reassemble them.

Part of the reason why this 356 features 924 front calipers is that it has a 924 front steering rack. This was so that when it was running the 2000 mile La Carrera PanAmericana race the stock torsion bars would not become compromised, and instead it has McPherson strut front suspension. Attached below is a video of the whole process. If you or someone you know has a car like this or just an interesting old sports car or a vintage car be sure to shoot me an email at cameronsluther@gmail.com.

These are a set of Italian built Weber IDF downdraft carburetors which are mostly seen in Porsche four-cylinder applications. They belong to a 1964 356C, but are not factory items on this car. This is a custom built car for the La Carrera PanAmericana race in Mexico and part of that is that it got these Webers for increased performance on this 2000 mile endurance race. The car ran the event in 1994 and has largely not been driven since that time. I am bringing the 356 back to roadworthyness and part of that is going through and disassembling, cleaning, and re-gasketing these carbs.

Here’s the car. I will do a full length feature on its backstory and the man who conceived it. Below is a link to a YouTube video in which I rebuild the carburetors. If you or someone you know has an interesting vintage sports car or any vintage car with a cool story be sure to email me at cameronsluther@gmail.com.