If your unit is quiet when pulling and loud on decell then chances are excellent that the pinion nut has come loose. This is not remotely uncommon as our friend in South Africa had the same issue a week ago in another thread.

For a first whack, and without any special tools, I'd say lock on the handbrake and tighten the nut about as much as you can with one arm and a 12" wrench. Take it for a ride and see if it's better. If you like it, reach in with a punch and stake the daylights out of the nut. If it is merely some better, you could try making it a bit tighter. It is not as though you are going to hurt anything as the horse is already out of the barn.

Brute force is a big favorite, or failing that, unbolt the top of the dipstick from the back of the cylinder head (easily done while the car is on the lift by reaching up behind the inner fender) and bringing the whole thing down together.

All the usual oil filters had the inlet on the outside with the exception of the early 356 filters which put it in at the bottom because of a check valve inside. If your center tube is hollow, plumb it so pressure goes to the outside. Generally they did it that way so sludge could settle to the bottom of the canister.

You most likely have a 3.54 now, which should be stamped ever so lightly on the face of the diff carrier in between two bolts at the 11 o'clock position. That works OK and the car will cruise at 70 without too much fuss if your tires are as tall as possible.

The inner groove on the crank pulley is part of the damper assy and will still be there after you unbolt the outer one.

Anyone who gets the PS will want that outer pulley and the outer one on the water pump as there is no other convenient way to drive the PS pump.

Sure it was a pain, but you will be so glad that you did that later on. The car is looking really good.

In overdrive, your effective final drive ratio will be 3.15, 2.81.and 2.54 for those three ratios. The 4.54 will give you unparalleled flexibility on back roads and in town, but is a bit busy on the highway. The 3.54 with overdrive will lag on steep hills, even on the interstate. That's the combo I had on my 50 Super in college days. 3.9 is probably the best compromise. 4.1 was the usual ratio with overdrive on those cars.

Was just chatting with a fellow at the swap meet who had been going half crazy with detonation on his 359. Put on a head from a 356 and can now advance his timing to standard and run regular gas besides. He stated no real loss of performance because he used to have to run his timing quite set back and keep his foot out of it anyway. He is quite happy with his car now.

Thank you very much for posting .

The trunk latch switch is a mercury switch contained in the lamp housing itself. Some have a steel ball instead of the mercury. I confess to being too lazy to repair them and am content to rummage around in the darkness. I'm sure someone has some tips on how to repair.