You just gotta love this video.  If an ad comes up, click on skip ads and stick with this to the end.  It sometimes shows as two videos. 
​Starts with Jay in a different car, but hang in there.....  Full video is 12 minutes.

356 owners are a lucky bunch.  We have a wonderful hobby and good companionship amongst the group we enjoy the cars with.  Some of us are fortunate to enjoy all of this in relative good health.
On a serious note, I have changed the Home Page of this website.  I think most of us who own these cars can offer some help to others who are in need.  I felt it was time that I spoke out about this.
I bear the cost of this website and have asked for nothing in return, but I'm now asking that you consider looking at the two foundations I have listed on the Home Page, and think about making a donation.
Thanks for visiting this website, and considering helping others. 
As for this website, much of it is now upgraded with better links and photos.  Enjoy browsing the pages even if you have visited them before.

Miss April currently wears a set of Vredestein tires that are getting old, and after my research, I have decided I will move to Michelin tires.  I've had Vredestein in the past and they perform well, but they now say "Classic" on the sidewall in large font.  Makes it seem less original, and more like you are rolling on a classic tire remake.  Just my impression and I can't shake it.
So, Michelin it is, and I thought I better get my order in before inflation and trucking costs go insane.

​​I checked around, and the price for the tire is the same at all locations (the price of the tire is controlled) but there is quite a variation on delivery costs.  Next was to check stock, and oops, the 165SR x 15 XZX that I decided upon was out of stock at all of the 5 locations I checked- including Coker, who appears to be the master distributor for these particular tires.
I did find a vendor that included shipping at no charge if I was buying a full set, so that is a good savings, but of course they get their tires from Coker, and here is the amazing thing...
Delivery is 4 months away!  Yup, I placed my order in October, and will get them (hopefully) in February.  I confirmed this with Coker and others.
This is not a problem for me, the Vredestein will do fine until then, but wow, that was a surprise.  Just thought I would share this and if you know someone looking for tires, you might want to let them know.

I've been working a little bit on cleaning up my tool kit items, and on one piece in particular I thought I would share some notes.
The spark plug wrench is a Klein 21 and has a "tommy bar" to put through the holes in the small end so that the wrench can be turned to install/remove spark plugs on the road.  Inside of the large end, there is a rubber piece that holds the spark plug to keep it from falling out of the wrench during installation and removal.
I decided while cleaning the wrench that I would remove the rubber piece for better cleaning.  Glad I did because the wrench was full of dirt and all kinds of crud underneath the rubber piece (deeper into the socket).
Below is a shot of the cleaned up tool and I included a shot showing the rubber piece that I temporarily removed for cleaning.
If you want to see more photos of the complete tool kit, check out my Tool Kit section of the website.

September 19th of each year PORSCHE owners are encouraged to get their cars out and drive, in celebration of the birthday of Ferry Porsche.  Seems like each year I am busy and don't get the car out, but not this year.
The day started out with nice weather, so mowed the lawn and took car of other chores.  By lunchtime it was starting to sprinkle, and it turned quickly to rain, so I parked myself in front of the TV and watched the Seahawks lose a game in overtime- yuck!
Streets were wet, but the rain had stopped, so I got Miss April out for her first Drive Your 356 Day!  Hope others were able to do the same!
Today's photo is below.

Check out the Events Tab for some photos taken at the 2021 Bend event!

This last week I was able to move underneath the car to work on the sway bar bushings.  I believe they were original to the car, and in horrible shape.  Once I got them out, they were not only rotted, but they felt like sponge.  Really soft.  
The sway bar was coated in grease and when I gave it a full bath in gasoline, it cleaned up nicely.  I have read opinions about the original finish on sway bars as being some type of coating over bare metal.  Well, I might have to disagree.  I think often people with extensive knowledge on earlier cars think that the late 356's were the same as 356A or 356B.  Take a look at the photos and decide for yourself.  The bushings and the black painted sway bar sure look original to me, as did all the hardware with correct Kamax bolts.
The sway bar finish in black paint cleaned up nicely enough that I decided to leave it without repainting.  I did repaint the other fittings, but left the sway bar alone, and re-installed it- nicks, scratches and all.  Trying to leave it original as possible.
I also went to try and register the vintage California license plate for my car.  Nope, they were not going to let a person living in Washington display a vintage California license plate.  Nope, nada, no-way.
The solution was to buy a restored original Washington license plate correct for 1965.  Went in with that plate and everything went smoothly.  The California one will now be a wall hanger.  
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Title of this post is steeling the title of a song from the band Chicago in the 1970's, but it applies to the engine in Miss April.
I have now gone through all the carburetor linkages from the gas pedal all the way to the drop links for each carb.  They are in sync at all speeds and the full throttle is where I want it to be.
I did find that I was having a couple of issues with one of the carb floats.  Firstly, on the tab at the hinge, it was very slightly dented from the needle float valve.  The surface needs to be perfectly smooth, as shown in the photo below after all my cleaning and conditioning of the tab.  I also noticed that it looked like the float was slightly rubbing on the carb body restricting it from moving freely.  All is good now and the float level is rock solid at idle and while holding the throttle open for a long time (both are important).

All part of the engine "Feelin' Stronger Every Day".

Top photo shows the dent/divot when I first started working on smoothing it out.  Second shot is the finished version.
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Miss April is a runner!  Took the car out today and put on about 25 miles.  Pretty good performance- not perfect, but pretty darn nice.  It was a real treat to spend some time driving the car instead of working on it. 
There is plenty more to do before it becomes a real "driver".  Next week I will drive it to a paint shop to correct a bad spot on the drivers side rocker.  Once back from paint, it will finally be time to put the door panel on the drivers side, along with threshold materials and then door seals.  Once those steps are in the books, the car will look completed.  It won't be done though, there are lots of projects to do underneath- mostly steering and suspension.
Anyway, Miss April now enters a new phase of being a running car that is being worked on.  So much fun to be this far along now!
Photos taken today are below.