General update, 356 work, oil-burner, the borrowed 911

The Porsche 356 progress has gone pretty well so far, I'm gathering up the receipts and pictures to put together a bit more coherent picture, but here is a quick list of interesting items:
* completely stripped and re-coated the underside, engine compartment, trunk interior
* cut out and replaced all rusted areas, including floorpans, kiddie seats, battery tray, some engine compartment areas, and other small damage on the roof, doors, decklid
* reinforced area around bumper mounts to prevent sheetmetal damage in the event of a small bump
* stripped complete inside and outside, re-painted the inside, need to finish bodywork on the outside first
* waiting on last body panel (left front fender) to arrive
* aligning body panels, trunk, decklid, doors
* engine is rebuilt, spinning now, test fire in the coming weeks, SC grind on the cam, slightly oversized pistons, heads cleaned up

In other car-related news, we purchased a 1987 Mercedes 300TD with 250K miles, a nice seven-seater wagon in pretty good shape. The turbo diesel isn't fast, but it's fine, and the car handles great. We've driven it all over the Bay Area with no problems.

Last, over the summer we exchanged our Eurovan for a 1968 Porsche 911. It was a great car to zip around in for the summer, but I don't think I want to buy one anymore. Now we are back to the Eurovan, and the 356 should suffice for any Porsche-related desires.