Porsche 356 info help.

[savaden]

I have always liked the look of the T5B with the smaller windows and round nose hood, similar to the A. Drawbacks are you have to open the hood to fill the tank, like the A. The B brakes have finned drums and tapered bearings as opposed to the As with ball bearings. The the front spindles are beefier. The engines in any of these cars are likely all rebuilt several times over by now and usually people upgrade the performance at the same time so I would not base a buying decision on what hp the engine originally had. Also the normals had the best torque curve in middle rpms where we all drive most anyway. The SCs and 912 motors have noticeably more kick, though.

B vs C comes down to disc brakes vs drum brakes. Well setup drum brakes are a joy and have a progressive feel. They are not the best choice for racing or extremely hard driving. The disc brakes are just like early 911 brakes. Pretty much exactly the same, without vented rotors. Drum brakes that have sat unused a long time can get rust issues that are impossible to fix. The corrosion develops between the iron liner and the aluminum drum. Other than that, they are more expensive to refurbish and have to be adjusted like any drum brakes.

The 356 got progressively heavier as time went on, and more touring car oriented. The driving experience is different. The driving experience of an A coupe is different than a Speedster or a C coupe. In fact, what you want is to be able to get a good solid driver in that price range, and you want to be able to test drive it. You want it to feel right, and many cars don't due to various circumstances such as previous crash damage that is hidden by bodywork. That is why it is so important to have any car inspected by an expert. Pictures lie. Buy the seller.

SV

[Jules Dielen]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...ml#post9636313

looks to be a winner? no affiliation.

or 80k buys you something like this too:

Gives me the most thumbs up i have ever received in any car ever driven.

[Frank Beck]

Looks like something pulled out of the desert behind Jim's house in Maricopa.


Find any rattlesnakes in there Jules?

[Jules Dielen]

no snakes yet. Been mine for 10 years.

[tomlin]

Lars,

I am struggling with the same issues as you. Here is an old discussion on T5 vs. T6:

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/...hp?f=1&t=19305

Edit: A nice 356 model overview:

http://www.mejor.com/356/356picar.htm

Greetings from Sweden.

[Jules Dielen]

T5 is and will likely always be your cheapest way into a 356. Careful with the early T5s with the single mount transmission mount. It is irreplaceable. The engine sound is the same for any 356

[joegt3cup]

Their is a nice lite ivory 64 on Pelican.

[lars1965]

nice with all your input :-) how will a well set up 356 b TB6 1600s behave with 120-130 km/h down german autobahns, compared to my 1966 swb 911 also in very nice condtion?

my 911 swb is not super stable in sidewinds , high speed, how are the 356`s in those conditions?

[Jules Dielen]

define 'high speed' .

No stock 356 will like being pushed to 160km/h, your 911 can handle that all day long. I drove my A from Monterey to Phoenix and did 80-85mph all day long and it felt great (the car, my back is another story).

Stability isn't an issue at 120 or 130km/h, it gets a bit vague at 150km/h. Your 911 will have much better braking performance than a Bt6.

[Frank Beck]

Their is a nice lite ivory 64 on Pelican.

Somethin has to be up with that C on Pelican... otherwise it would have been gone before you could say "mohr rust than you can imagine."