1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Yes, Leaving your car as is and just enjoying it is a very wise decision indeed, I envy you.


6/!8/18

Prepping the new jack spur

Referred to my factory manual for the exact placement of the spur once again.

Here is 415MM from the center of the rearward spring plate bolt. Centered right over the bulkhead assembly as it should.

Like the coupster before the new jack spurs need some detail trimming to better match an original example.

Start with excess off the snout. Trimmed back right to the shoulder of the weld.

Quick filing to clean up the edges.

Immediate authenticity improvement.


Upper and lower flange shaping next.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JOP]

[JTR70]

Thanks very much Per! Its critical to have a reference car and or parts otherwise how would you ever know.
Justin

6/19/18

Right Jack spur install

Narrowing and shaping the spine flange next.

Very top had to be trimmed back and also flattened so that it will clear the rocker.

Finished profile. Almost like a raw casting that needed final shape cleaning.

It not only looked better but it now fit and cleared the rocker.


Now time to begin locating it against the lower lip of the rocker.

My goal is have it tucked up there all the while still leaving me enough wiggle room for final panel adjustments between the rocker and door for lower gap.

Nice thing about reusing the old rocker is that I can dial it in within a mm or two of where its ultimately going to be.

This seems to be the sweet spot.

I figured about 10mm's. Still looks good and again leaves me some wiggle room for final panel adjustments for lower door gap.

Plug weld holes added also had some mounting flange massaging so it would seat flush against the longitudinal.


Going with it. Set screwing begins.

Initially set screwed at the middle first.

Worked outward from there drawing it tighter as it went.

"Totally Screwed" Peeling it back off next to prep it for final welding.

Only a handful of spot welds hold this unit together and after thinning I decided to add a few seams to the inside of the spine to ensure it stays intact. These spurs aren't just for looks I want them to perform the job they where put here to do, jack points.

This will remain an open air cavity so rust is not going to be an issue but I slopped the inside with some epoxy for a little extra insurance.

Same with panel face.

On for good! First couple of plug welds beginning at the center and working outward.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[Bill Brown]

It`s a beautiful thing Justin.....lookin good!

[JTR70]

Thank you Bill!


6/20/18

Right spur install complete.

Plug welding complete.

Relieved it hugs the panel as tight as it does. Now the fun of carefully grinding all those little heads down.

Fully dressed with follow up spot weld detail.


Jack spur install complete.

Car righted to begin the next repair.

Finishing out the inner corner closing wall next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/25/18
Inner corner prep.


Have to take a step or two back before I can move forward on that corner. The rear kick panel flange runs under it so I'll have to go ahead and repair this section of the perimeter first.

Behind this flange runs a very heavy gauge strip probably as a reinforcement for lap belt anchors. Anyway a T2 detail or possibly a late T1 as I don't rule anything out anymore but not early T1 for sure...

Begin peeling the old flange from this reinforcement strip. A lot of rust and scale but the plenty of meat left on that old heavy gauge stuff.

Most of the old flange removed exposing the strip. Continue cleaning and treating the residual rust.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

That jack spur looks so good! Almost a shame to paint it.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy, should look even sweeter under a nice coat of rocker shootz then.

6/28/18

Removed as much of the old flange as was needed. Cleaning all the thick, heavy rust from the inner surface of the reinforcement strip without the luxury of a sandblaster.

Chipped away some of the thick heavy scale first. There was a lot of it.

What would not come loose was torch heated causing it to pop free, this saved a lot of time. Muriatic acid was applied lastly to take it the rest of the way clean.

Back to a silver surface. With the amount of scale trapped I was surprised this piece did not rust though. Not as strong as it once was but once its tied back into a fresh piece of 18 gauge everything should be just fine.

New section heeled over some tubing to replicate the sweeping curve of the original.

Trial fitments begin.

Double wall step detail carries on from the untouched section.

Should be tacking this in by tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

7/1/18
Getting ready to close right inner corner up.

seam welded the new section in at the joint first. Plug welds are next to ensure I've got it tight against the reinforcement strip. Started dressing the weld but got tired of metal shower so I switched gears.

Templating the final corner profile shape for this closing wall repair.

New flange section cut and rolled to match that contoured corner.

flange rewelded and set.

This wall section does not run perfectly straight so some relief cuts were added to make these two needed jogs in profile.

Clamped back in for another test fit.

Hugs the profile shape of the original wall section closely enough.

Just a bit more fine trimming along the edges to go and I'll be tacking this in for good.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

7/3/18

Finally closing up the rear corner.

Part trimmed to final shape, cavity slathered in epoxy and finally tacked into final position.

Main concern was carrying on the flange detail through the new part.

With that joint all seamed up it was time to finally attach the outer skin now that it has something to hold onto.

Note the various flange layers that comprise the strength in this corner.

Plug welding begins.

More welding and clean up to come but this longitudinal structural repair is all but complete.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[jjeffries]

Further proof of what complex little critters these bodies are to repair properly. Makes a 911 look simple! Thanks and Happy Independence Day to All. I came here from the side that lost but became a proud citizen a few years ago. John

[Red911]

And to think I did my two SWB 911's for practice. The 356 is much more difficult.

Tom

[JTR70]

I agree with you guys, though I haven't really worked on a 911 with the experience that I have now as I look at my fathers old 901 I can see already how much easier and forgiving the body work alone would be. The panels are flatter, the wheel openings are a proper flanged lip instead of flimsy wire rolled edges. And most importantly all those removable body panels with their gaps and body line breaks. So much more forgiving than the smooth, flowing and continuous one piece body line of a 356. The chassis work of course would be no different than working with any other pressed steel unibody type but the body work of 356 is really where your patience will be put to the test. Happy Independence Day to you all!

Justin
7/4/18
Inner closing wall complete.


Seam and plug welds all dressed.

No nice to look down in here and not see holes or oxide.

Some warpage remains as I have no access to the back side but this section was wrinkly to begin with but its at least finished making this right side all ready to accept a new floor pan.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[merbesfield]

Justin, looks great. My very original car looked like it had been beaten into submission in many different spots.

[JTR70]

Thanks Mark! Yes, they all seam to have been a little man handled in this corner when they were built.

7/6/18

Right longitudinal repairs fully completed.



Drew's last post on his build thread had me rethinking leaving this side alone. I have jabbed at this surface hard with a screw driver several times with no breaches and only nice sounding "tink" at the end. Its still very solid here However, as I said in his post I know exactly what lies beneath. There is rust and scale in there no doubt.

The left side did not fare as well just like the substructer around the heater tubes just ahead of this area.

A look down inside also shows the tube is breached as well. With side in mind I decided to open it up and have a look.

No surprises, heavy advanced rust with pitting and loose scale.

Inside surface of the "floor" was of course deeply pitted and advanced but this is how both sides on my coupe probably look and the point I was making on Drew's thread was that while very ugly and scaly the area is still structurally sound and if you can keep it from advancing with either oil or wax then the car still go down the road with no issues. But, if I could go back I'd of course clean it out. I'd do a lot things better than I did 20 years ago on my car. I look under it and see a lot of mistakes I made but that's just the learning curve I was and am on. Tempting but I need to finish that car and move on with my life.

Cleaning and removing as much of the old scale and rust as I can. Same treatment as with the reinforcement strip before. While I have access to the backside now was the time to go after those twisted off bolt shanks for the spring plate.

These suckers where locked in there tight. Resorted to drilling out the flush sheared shank.

Trickiest part was staying centered as the coring got bigger.

With a little heat I as able to knock the remains out of the threads. Saving the threads was huge relief.

Chased them with my tap. (thanks again Bruce)

Plug welded a nut to the shank and had to keep the base glowing to get it to move. It was in there good.

Saved them both.

Chassis colonoscopy. Heavy scale of course but a lot pristine metal with only a fog coating of oxide.

Ugly but all of it still fundamentally sound.


It was all good confirmation and it also gave me the chance to dump out all the loose scale and rust clods rolling around in there.

All things considered I'm Glad I opened it while I was here. As a rule from now on I think I'll open them all no matter how solid and nice it appears. Thanks for the nudge Drew.

After getting the cavity as clean as I could a sealer coat of epoxy was next. I set my gun to "jet" and just flooded it. BTW: round embossed panel is part of the rear seat pan.

Ready to close this back up.

Though rusty and pitted this section still seems a touch more stout than 18 gauge. I decided to make the new wall out of 16 gauge for added resilience for future lifting purposes.

Tacked in

Finished with gas weld seam detail replicated.

We know what's under there now.

Rear corner finished completely.

Officially done rebuilding this side of the "frame".

Thanks for looking!
Justin