Special early 1964 features on 1965 cars

[Dr_Danger]

My car circa 1969-1970 with foglights and talbot mirror even though it was not ordered with them

[one-two]

Wipers are now original SWF silver :-) As I understand the the wipers siding was quite sporadic , the first AFN RHD (Demo) car 300474 had wipers to the drivers side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps0f4783a9.jpg
301503 is to the passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...pse8b4376c.jpg
301929 also to the passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps38d89e3e.jpg
302117 also passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps32fe1b38.jpg
302146 drivers side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps432ed0c5.jpg

However the originality book says it should be to the drivers side ... so my feeling was that early RHD cars were on customer request rather than pre planned and often ended up various configurations

The conventional view on this is that, as with LHD cars, RHD wipers initially parked on the passenger side. 300474 may have been an exception due to its earliness, but I am not sure there were any others originally supplied that way

[NeunElf]

Wipers are now original SWF silver :-) As I understand the the wipers siding was quite sporadic , the first AFN RHD (Demo) car 300474 had wipers to the drivers side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps0f4783a9.jpg
301503 is to the passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...pse8b4376c.jpg
301929 also to the passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps38d89e3e.jpg
302117 also passenger side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps32fe1b38.jpg
302146 drivers side http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps432ed0c5.jpg

However the originality book says it should be to the drivers side ... so my feeling was that early RHD cars were on customer request rather than pre planned and often ended up various configurations

What is the difference between '65 steering wheel and '66 please educate :-)

You have a steel-framed steering wheel. I guess the aluminum-framed wheels coincided with '65--I'm personally not too aware of when that changeover happened.

It's not that Jacques is so sharp-eyed he can tell the difference between black painted steel and black painted aluminum in a photo, the aluminum-framed wheels had s strip of aluminum exposed on the inside of the steering wheel.

April 1965 Brochure


October 1964 Brochure--note the 356 headlight switch and ignition switch

What really strikes me about your car is that it has a locking steering column with the ignition switch on the left (inboard) of the steering wheel. Conventional wisdom is that all the RHD cars (and many USA bound LHD cars) had a non locking steering column in which case the ignition switch had a black plastic bezel. I don't know when Porsche started making a steering column lock with the switch on the right of the steering column but it wasn't 1965.

That small brass ignition switch bezel is only used in 1965 911s with locking steering columns.

Does your Kardex or CofA mention that locking steering column done installed the factory? If the Kardex shows an ignition/door key code beginning with "FL" the car left the factory with a locking steering column. A "K" indicates non-locking (it's same key blank as a 356C).

[Dr_Danger]

Well, I have to find the right steering wheel now

As for the rest, the more I learn about early RHD cars the more I'm convinced that the early conversions were quite haphazard things and were exactly that - factory conversion and if the customer has tight time restrictions then consistency wasn't there yet. My clock is also on the left of the instrument binacle where it should be on the right, it's almost as they just took the wiring and looked how far is it going to stretch.

[Dr_Danger]

P.S car left factory with FL code

[one-two]

I think you may be in danger of confusing the factory with whoever else has worked on our cars over the following 55 years

[Dr_Danger]

I think you may be in danger of confusing the factory with whoever else has worked on our cars over the following 55 years

Well that has to be always taken into account but the variety and inconsistency of early RHD cars from factory is also a factor.

[moito]

...the difference between black painted steel and black painted aluminum....

the steering wheel mounted on #96 has black anodized aluminum with a slightly brushed finish ... not painted...same for 113 and other `64 i have pics of

[NeunElf]

Well, I have to find the right steering wheel now

As for the rest, the more I learn about early RHD cars the more I'm convinced that the early conversions were quite haphazard things and were exactly that - factory conversion and if the customer has tight time restrictions then consistency wasn't there yet. My clock is also on the left of the instrument binacle where it should be on the right, it's almost as they just took the wiring and looked how far is it going to stretch.

The aluminum (aluminium to you) framed steering wheels had a reputation for flexing, vibrating, and breaking.

My '65 (# 301382) now has a steel-framed wheel. It was involved in a significant accident before I got it and also has a non-original left front fender and left side door. I suspect the steering wheel might have needed replacement then, too.

[NeunElf]

My car circa 1969-1970 with foglights and talbot mirror even though it was not ordered with them

Foglights were standard on '65 and '66 911s so they normally wouldn't appear on a Kardex or CofA.

You usually do see the Webasto heater included in the list of options even though it's also standard equipment. That seems to be because the Kardex included the Webasto serial number.