Most of you who read this section regularly know that the progress is slow.  I try not to rush jobs, and to do the best job I can on each part- trying to treat that single part like it was the very last item to do on a perfect restoration.  
I reported a while back on the gas tank and showed the top side insulation mat.  Well, here is what it looks like where the filler neck goes through the fender.  I will be the first to admit this is not done perfectly, but after fussing with it for several days, I am calling this portion DONE.  
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At long last, the assembly of the door and quarter windows is complete.  All new chrome and all new rubber.  I think the finished product looks great!
One quarter window is installed, and the fit and finish is as it should be.  Works perfectly!
Picture below shows the other assembled glass waiting for installation.  Then it will be on to the front windshield and rear glass.- also with all new aluminum trim and rubber.
The time spent to assemble all of this was not tracked, but I can assure anyone who is considering this, these parts take patience and lots of it.

   Ok, not the kind of seal to the left.  Not the guys in the US Navy either.  The kind of seals that we are talking here are the rubber items between parts on the 356.

I'm now very close to the end of ordering rubber pieces!  Anything left is parts that I have forgotten to order or thought was good enough to reuse.  Everything else is here now that today's shipment has arrived.
When the chrome comes back from the shop, I am then in fully into the assembly portion of the project. 
Whew!
 You can also see the identification tag laying on the receipt.  Mine was totally trashed and replacement was a must! 

You can tell from previous Blog posts that I have been sending out all the chrome bits to be re-chromed.  So far, so good.  I was even successful in taking apart the door handles and removing the grub screws that hold the inner door lock cylinders.  All parts will be original and re-chromed.  No reproduction parts!
For my last batch of parts I removed the glove box lock, and in preparing this part I needed to remove the key cylinder/tumblers as well.  I removed the set screw, inserted the key, and started to remove the cylinder.  That's when everything went wrong!
Somehow the key got stuck in the lock, and it took hours of fiddling with it to get the key out.  In the process, one of the tumblers fell out- but I found it!
At this point the keyway assembly would not retract from the lock, and also would not turn.  Something had jammed up.
It took another couple of hours, and some forceful moves to get all the guts out and separated.  Take a look at the small springs and tumblers in there.  They are so small, and once they migrated into the wrong place, they locked the whole thing up.
I have now sent the two parts out for chrome work, and when returned, the whole box of small internal parts will go to a proper locksmith.  A locksmith is where I should have started!
So, do as I say, not as I do.  Unless you are a locksmith, do NOT take this lock apart.  Door handles, ok.  Clock ok, turn signal switch ok, Glove box lock, NO!

My organization of parts and boxes of parts might be a little less than stellar.  Perhaps because I have all the books and manuals and have done most of the restoration work before on other cars, I rely a bit too much on memory.  However, sometimes this organization fails me when I absolutely cannot find a part that I know I have.

I was getting another batch of chrome ready for Art Brass this week, and could not find the reflector chrome consoles- the small base that the rear reflectors mount too.  After looking for over an hour, I threw in the towel and was communicating with friends about the missing parts.  I wanted originals to re-chrome, not reproduction, and was disappointed about losing the parts.

Then, an offer came from Bill Waite, who is also restoring his Irish Green C coupe.  He offered his original reflectors to me, for FREE!  Reminds me of the saying the 356 Registry has/had:  Come for the cars, stay for the friends.

​Many thanks to Bill and a little tribute song below.