1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[roy mawbey]

Looking really good Justin, an early test but so promising . Well done !

Roy

[JTR70]

part 2:
Kept pressing downward until I got this side to come in at 4 inches to match the right side at the same spot.
Locked that position in with a pair of vise grips and am now ready to plug that old spot weld to reset this previously damaged area.
Leading edge completely crimped tight with all the lap joints rewelded. Its a solid unit once again.
Substructure's leading edge where it buckled now hugs the skin profile as best as I could hope for.
First test fit just laying loose against the car after reassembly. Hoods Crowned profile comparison along the edge of the fender much improved but there is a bit of metal finishing and hammer work of course yet to do. The true test will be after its actually hinged and mounted but a promising start so far.

More later...
Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Hood reassembly Continued:
Lateral section reinserted next.
Begin welding this section back in working from the rear forward. All the original drilled out spot welds realigned at the back lap joint and tacked to hold it while Its plug welded next.
Forward lap joint will be last to be welded so I can reset and manipulate the lateral profile which stood too proud in relation to the fender.
Rear lap joint welding compete with gas weld seam detail added back in where there were. Flanged lip crimped back tightly as I make my way forward.
Headed into that damaged high crowned area along the lateral edge. Measured off the floor to compare with the other side and added some downward pressure to relax the curve until it matched the right side.

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Now was the moment to address these ticking time bombs while we were this far into it. This lower leading edge of the hood will always be exposed to moisture either from being washed, or driven in the occasional rain shower. It will pool along the trunk seal and go to work on that lapped underside leading edge or some water could also get by the hood handle seal allowing it in behind through the stud hole as it did initially. Now, no matter happens, all that old rust is gone and no longer growing. As I said earlier, we'll all be long gone before it becomes a problem again. See all the fun you're missing having a rust free hood? Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin so sensible of you and your mate to decide to do that! As you say a few years and it would have showed up. Again I have to say it thank goodness mine is rust free. Never seen that repqir noted and made safe as you have done on any site.

Well done,
Roy

[JTR70]

Welded up the breaches that revealed themselves after cleaning.
If the rust had been left in there these are the ticking time bombs that would have made themselves known in the next few years. Hood handle repair metal finished while I still have clear access to the backside.
Primered and painted and ready to reassemble . Getting the original spot welds lined up in preparation for the first tack welds.
Tack welded first at the original gas welds. Then flattened out the leading edge of the lap joint and rewelded over the old drilled out spot welds. Squeezing down the lip again as it went. Happy with how its going right back into place so far. Continuing on with reassmbly.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Last of the concerning rust removed.
Leading edge of the inner frame of course left heavily pitted but surprisingly no holes to backfill.
Will sleep better at night knowing that this leading edge under pinch seam is now free of rust.
Skin itself now all clean of that old advanced rust.

Only a few additional pin holes have shown up after cleaning. Quickly filled with a gas weld as before.
Onto getting these surfaces behind a good coat of epoxy and paint then its finally time to reassemble this hood.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Quick detour before hood reassembly:
This deep pitting around the nose of this hood is concerning. The rust has only breached in two spots for the moment but the advanced rust that lurks in behind it will certainly rear its ugly head in the future at some point.
Same goes for the underside, pitted and with the rust lurking just under that lap joint. There is no avoiding it as the water it will come into contact with is going to run down and settle along this leading edge and no matter how well its seam sealed and painted water always finds its way. After talking with my buddy, now was time to address it.
Its a complicated area and while both pieces are pitted I am 90% sure we'll get away without a patch repair. Just going to clean thoroughly and seal with epoxy and paint. With the left side out its technically half way there so now most certainly was the time if it was going to be addressed.
Only surprise is that this area wasn't rotted out entirely. Look at that old water line; this had a pool of water in it on more than one occasion.
Once the acid devours this rot I'm sure there will be a pin hole or two to close but they be easily soldered shut with a gas weld.
Though there remains some rust under the right and rear section of the substructure this is as far as we need to go. We'll all be long gone by the time those areas ever become an issue. My main concern is this rusty low spot where the water will try to settle again. Acid bath next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Hood reassembly prep work complete:
Inner surfaces of all the components cleaned of rust and ready for a coat of epoxy and a top coat.
Epoxied and followed up with a quick of semi-gloss.
Ready to begin reassembly; That up next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Hood work continued:
All the basic restraightening prep complete. Onto the acid bath next for this substructure.
Hood inner surface all clean and ready for a quick sealer coat.
While the substructure soaked I went onto welding up the rust damage to the nose. Took a step drill and opened up the rusted out mounting hole just big enough to get past the thinner metal and back to something I could weld to.
A scrap of old door skin repurposed for the patch. I had to dome it a little first to carry on the profile shape of the skin.
Patch all stitched in and then gas welded the lower rust breaches closed. This lower edge is not long for this world though. The pits are very deep out here and the backside is just as bad with advanced rust still lurking underneath. I'll have to confer with my buddy to see what he'd like to do. More later...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot Roy! Agree, all this work would have been impossible to relay in any great detail but for all the modern gadgets we now take for granted.

[roy mawbey]

Justin, really good information and photos on how you have attempted that repair. It would be impossible to put that just into words as you need to see it! Those stage photos are so good . Twenty years ago just not possible to do that so easily on a forum. There must be a few front lids around with the same problems and guys wondering how to correct it ?? Hope they read this!

Roy

[JTR70]

It would be criminal to leave the rust on these inner surfaces while I've got it all opened up so while I worked on the subframe I have the hood bathing in acid outside.
Discrete little gusset might buy a millisecond or two if the hood ever gets accidently forced down.
Made sure it bridged right across this stress riser.
Basic repairs on the lateral substructure run complete. The rest will be fine tuning with the hood as it goes back together. Again the mounting flange will be reset to the hinge resting at center.
Mounting flange acid cleaned then tack welded across the two halves so it didn't shift or misalign while it was hammered back out flat. Factory locating holes were also welded shut as this is all very much almost like building from scratch again.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Mounting flange removal and repair.
Like the battery box repairs before, lap mounted layers of steel have to be removed for any real shot at getting the base metal ironed out thoroughly. Removal of this mount flange also allows a reset with the hinge centered in its pocked. Touched bottom here as far as disassembly goes. Back to prepping for reassembly.
Grinding away the remaining shoulder of gas weld to so I can hammer out that slight jog and deformation from the old accident.
High spots of the deformation in and around the old gas weld.
damage all pecked out.
Going to add a small gusset in here to bridge across the gas weld joint where they buckle.

[JTR70]

I had flashbacks of this hood Roy. It had been run through the mill and had been repaired more than once with the hinge mounting flanges really smacked around to achieve an alignment with its car. While the basic shape was close it was just tired and I could feel it in its structure as the hood hung off the locks. It put me in mind of a sheet of paper that's been crumpled up then flattened back out a couple of times; though the initial shape is back the overall integrity is just not there. A fresh hood would have been my choice but too much had already been invested here by the time the car got to me. Anyway, I didn't want a repeat of this as I'd have to beat the hell out this coupes hood for correct fitment so the best end result was to dismantle the damaged area and build it back up to suit the car.


Substructure repairs at the center.
Beating the shape back into the large middle profile rib first then worked out towards the edge. The kink had actually stretched this last section so I had to flatten the lip to get my shrinker jaws on this area to gather that excess back up.
leading edge rolled back over taking care to add in the curved profile as it went.
Just a quick mock-up against the skin profile. Promising so far. So glad I didn't have to cut this area out where I had marked earlier.
Where we started. Looks like that would just pop right back into place but no the kink stretched the area and it was going away easily and especially with very limited access to get behind it. Onto the next deal...