1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Bouncing back and fourth between all these battery box parts:
Weld run joining these panels fully dressed and followed over with my spotter. This unit is finally ready to go in for good but first...
I had to finish cleaning this compartment of all the missed rust, and tar. Took some doing but spent as much time as I could getting this area clean enough for the epoxy.
In epoxy
and an initial coat of semi-gloss black over top. This will not be the final coat as I couldn't get it all entirely covered. Some of it will also be lost when the welding is over.
My main purpose was just to get a coat of coverage on the top and front of these tubes. Once the walls are in these surfaces will be hard to hit.

[JTR70]

Tow hook prep:
Flattening out the rib section where the hook mounting flange will seat.
Cut my rear gusset out from some 16 gauge which matches the front section that comes with the kit. Plug weld holes tapped and ready to begin welding onto the floor.
Plug welding complete. Just have to go back and level the heads.
Tapping the last three holes next.

[JTR70]

Tow hook installation:
Again a lot of peripheral parts to add before it all goes together for the final time and it all has to be done so I'm installing the tow hook now before this new floor goes in for good. Much easier installing it now rather than on the car.
The offered tow hook kit comes with the forward reinforcing plate but...
What is not offered and an easily overlooked detail is the rear reinforcing strip for the back pair of rivets. Once again the indispensable value of original reference examples. This a '58 T2 and note it still has the narrow T1 battery recess.
These are all reproduction parts so the final placement will vary a bit from the original example but I'll get it as close as I can.
First couple of inches of this center rib will have to be beaten flat so the hook's flange will seat flush. That next...

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Thanks once again Roy! I've delt with this area a couple times before and its just a thing or two you pick up from doing wrong or with mixed results. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend buying it as prefabbed unit nor would I buy the rockers preassembled with the thresholds if given the choice. It all has to be custom fit to the car as it goes. The rule I now follow is that if its a repop part its modified to fit the car and never the other way around. If its preassembled you're really asking for the moon if you believe its going to slide right into place. Not in my world anyway. Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin the battery box area just looks fantastic. Now after your detailed explanation on how and why, this bought in assembled repair unit really needs separating, before fitting into place to avoid all the problems both you (and me) could see would happen if you didn't, would it not be a good idea to advise the battery box supplier? To be honest, whilst the repair item looks so well produced and that's no easy task, the fitting of it needs explanation as its so easy to see the problems once you look carefully at it. To be honest I don't think I would have thought about separation just thought it would slot into place with no gaps. Of course Justin its so easy after an event to see the problems and take my word for it is here that your forum is so valuable for others.

Roy

[JTR70]

Welding completed.
First test fit back into the chassis as a unit. Things always change and shift a little after welding and this was no exception. Still have some heads to grind smooth but will continue with that a little at a time as it goes.
Will mock up the entire battery box one more time to lock it all in before I seal and paint the inner surfaces of the torsion housing section. After that its finally time to tack this section in for good.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Vin panel and vertical wall welding continued:
Lateral plug weld run required an extra step of drilling down further into the underside flap to ensure all three layers that comprise this run were thoroughly fused together as found originally.
Leading edge flange clamped tight and as you can see a thorough weld penetration was achieved above the access covers. Would have been a PIA to join these panels properly while installed in the car first. So much easier with it mounted to my table and once I figured out that these two panels could go back in as a unit
the plan was set.
A lot of plugs along this run so a nice diversion as that process went was adding the spare tire strap clamp holes back in. Original panel section placed over top to locate them.
Plug welds in this area dressed smooth first then the holes were drilled.
Not quite centered with the conduit hole but this is where the factory had drilled them. A more important detail other than being perfectly center was that the holes ended up coming through the vertical walls flange for additional strength and support as originally found. Again, far easier performing these tasks out of the car. This redundant detail really appeals to me BTW.

[JTR70]

Vin and vertical wall welding:
Original gussets ready for reinstallation. Inner surfaces all clean and coated in epoxy.
Gussets in and plug welds dressed. After all the rust and old accident repair required for these two panels they are both finally ready to be welded together for good.
Begin plug welding from the center outward.
Center weld run all plugged in with good penetration through to the underside of the flange shown here. I have no worries about this joint coming apart.

To match the number of spot welds that the factory did with plugs along this joint seems like overkill but once you consider the weight of the eventual battery and spare tire that this area will help to support it makes perfect sense as to why it was so aggressively welded together originally. Moving out to the latter runs next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! Yes, a lot of plug weld holes along the leading edge of the Vin panel. It was tempting to cut the number of welds in half but after considering that this joint contends with the constant weight of the eventual battery and spare tire both laying on the floor and also strapped to this area I decided it best to replicate the number of contact points as closely as I could to what the factory had done. This explains why the original factory spots along this run were so numerous and set in with a much higher amperage compared to most spot welds found on these cars. Yes, all these panels will get a nice top coat for starters but it will all be eventually undercoated and tar papered. A lot of these efforts will be hidden in the end but at least it can be confirmed now that it was repaired correctly. Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Fantastic effort there Justin, so well thought out and so many holes to drill! That battery box area will look factory new. Tell me that complete area on my car is still untouched from new. but after all that work, the factory plastered it all over with the thick black bubbly rust preventative. I still have all that, but tell me you are going to paint it properly to show the effort you put in to make it look so good? Some might say it has to look the same as 1959 but I think the preventative used should be better than the stuff they put on and which half the time did not last that long anyway!!

Roy

[JTR70]

Clean up time:
Rear wall just out from the acid bath. A little wire wheeling is all thats needed to take it the rest of the way.
In process of cleaning up the rust, tar remnants and scale on the underside of the vin panel.
While that soaked I began wire wheeling the rust, scale and tar remnants on the chassis itself. A ways yet to go here.
Final cleaning and weld repair detail work complete on the rear wall. Plug -weld holes punched along the bottom flange in anticipation for the new floor.
All ready for a sealer coat and to be joined to the vin panel once its finally ready. Getting close.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Rear wall repair completed:
All the repair joints stitched up and now onto dressing them all smooth.
Weld seam work completed.
Now onto more minutia. Repairing and reinstalling the peripheral parts that were removed during the straightening phase. Original battery cover hold down tabs were cut and need some length added back on. Was going to harvest the new ones from the repro wall but they are only 20 gauge.
All the small doodads added back on.
Welding completed as far as the repairs on this old wall go. Soaking in acid next in prep for sealer and paint. A little closer to final installation time.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Onto the final preparation work for these two panels:
Basic panels but a long way from install ready. Welding, cleaning, accessory part reinstalment and finally a good coat of paint on these inner surfaces before they go in for good.
And then of course this compartment will also have to be cleaned up and painted first. The time is now as there is a clear shot at getting thorough coverage on the tops of these tubs and other surfaces that will be shielded once the panels are reinstalled.
These two panels are now set in relation to one another as mounted in the chassis so that is a done deal. I have a clearance issue with the corner of the box and the access cover jamb. The added recess width on a T2 battery wall all went to the left side and is asymmetrical from the factory.
Not a big deal but the recess will have to turn a little quicker to allow a flush fit. Just an example of the hurdles you're constantly dealt.
All the while drilling the rest of the plug weld holes and also prepping those reinforcement struts for reinstallation.

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! So far so good anyway...

[roy mawbey]

You should be so very pleased with that result Justin. Your procedures work so well.
Roy