1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Rear parcel shelf reinstallation completed:
All plug weld holes filled and dressed.
Being so thin to start with this panel is trying and tricky to weld in. The weld has to be hot enough to bond to the seat pan but while doing so the shoulders of this panel often blew out so I'd have to chase it with more weld creating more finish work in the end. I went through the same thing when I installed this panel back in my car.
Just thankful to be all done with this. Onto the next deal.
B-pillar lower gusset repair: I needed a little break so this little panel was a quick and fun distraction. Paper template left over from the coupster project.
Basic panel cut out with more recycled original steel from this car.

[JTR70]

A few vendors sell this gusset new but its so simple and either way it still has to be made to fit into this corner properly in the end. I also prefer the control of making this part a little oversized in areas if needed.
Final trimming and shaping continued. My original shows a double bend shoulder along the lower flange so I wanted to replicate that a little.
Final shape and position all but set at this point.
Its built but not ready to go on for good just yet. As you can see there are a lot of loose ends in, around and behind it to tie up first. This was just a simple project for a mental break while keeping the progress going.
Back to the big stuff. Rear floor pan section going in for good.

That next... Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Finishing out the floor pan installation:
Lots of hole filling and making sure the pan sits tight against the flange in small runs as it goes. Begin welding from the center outward on the lateral runs.
Ready weld that forward conduit bracket too.
but before I could do that I had to close up the plug welds directly under them first for access to dress down the weld heads.
Bracket plug weld holes drilled and now ready to synch down and weld in for good. My original floor shows almost 30 spot welds securing this bracket to the floor.
I have half as many but the welds are bigger; its not getting loose anytime soon. All welded up and ready to grind smooth.

[JTR70]

Rear pan install continued:
Forward lap joint all welded up top and bottom.
Rear lateral run was next. Fortunately the center of the original mount flange under the conduits was preserved. Would have been very tricky to fix this section with those tubes in my way. Thank goodness for leaky transmissionss.
Adding set screws from the center outward. Once this was complete I ran couple of screws along the sides to ensure a snug fit along those runs. No issues. Ready to weld this up.
Welding along the rear flange complete.
Most of the weld dressing will be to the inside but I have a little clean up to do out here. Onto welding up both sides of the pan next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Looking very nice Justin !
Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Sir!

[Scott B]

Justin - very nice fitting on deed.

[JTR70]

Appreciate that Scott! As you well know that requires several cycles of test fits and fine trimming.

[JTR70]

Rear floor pan installation complete.
Pan all welded in and now for the unpleasant chore of dressing all of those plug weld heads. Small bites at a time.
Additional weld details are the seams found originally along the lap joints. A long seam ran across the lap joint at the pan halves.
A blob of weld was placed at the lap joints along the vertical walls to the pan.
Several found at the rear corner where edges intersect.
Towards the front: A seam weld across the span of that delta-V lap joint.

[JTR70]

Forward lap joint again received a supporting weld.
Like at the rear corner the leading edges at the front where they intersect where reinforced with a seam weld. Again, this is where having an original reference car is so invaluable. I never would have thought to add these otherwise.
In between plug-weld head grinding on the inside I took little breaks and finished out the final spot weld presentation along the outside edge. The lateral lap joint along the pan halves where not originally spot welded together. They where joined ahead of installation and where welded with a continuous roller spotter type attachment. So to replicate that as close as possible, the plug heads are dressed but not followed up with my spotter.
All welding and detail duties finally completed along this longitudinal. Back to plug weld finishing on the inside but will complete the left side details to match in between.
Gas weld seam detail completed at this back corner continuing on into the pan as originally done.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Begin tunnel repair and installation:
Left side perimeter spot details and clean up completed.
Gone as far as I can go on this side for now. Back over to the top side to begin adding the tunnel.
Begin tunnel repair and prep next.
A little bowed and a little rusty but definitely savable.
Some quick torch heat first to remove those twisted off seat rail screws.

[JTR70]

Leading corners straightened back and grinding back the gas welds in prep for refitment.
Initial try and my forward repairs at the toe-board had to be cut and trimmed back to allow the tunnel to slide underneath and back into position.
A couple of tries gave me just enough clearance for the ends of the tunnel to slide under and maintain a tight weld joint when the time comes.
drilled out spot welds along conduit flanges confirm that the tunnel is back into original position.
Begin repairs to this rear housing and the lower flange run up next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Rear tunnel repairs:
A bit of rust on top and mount flanges to fabricate but I'll be able to save most of it. I have this OG section from my T1 as a reference.
I really wanted to ensure I got this pleat relief shape correct.
Once I really got to looking at it I was surprised to find that this shape was only on the left side of this later tunnel. As you can see the early T1 housing has this shape on both sides . No signs of this shape ever being stamped over here. Makes my life easier.
Some rust on top to fix but most of this area will be savable.
New flange section cutout here. The bend is very soft so I folded it over a pry-bar to replicate that feature.

One more to go. Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

tunnel repairs continued:

New flanges for this rear section ready to install. A couple of runs through my shrinker jaws to get those sweeping curved profiles.
Begin with the right side first. Tunnel clamped square to my table to dial in the final trim line so this new section sits at the right height.
New section all stitched in. I left myself a bit of excess all the way around for a final fine trim right before it goes in for good.
Moving onto the small tears and rust holes on the upper shoulder.
Much faster and simpler to back fill it with a gas weld versus creating a replacement patch. Left side repair up next.

Thanks for looking.
Justin

[JTR70]

Rear tunnel repairs continues:
Left rear flange repair complete.
Onto the top side to repair this corner and the mid-section of the flange.
Straight forward little add-on here.
Changed my approach about removing the entire corner and just enlarged the original hole until the rot was eliminated.
Simple backfill and will redrill the hole detail even though its a T1 relic and no longer used.

[JTR70]

Forward portion of this repair complete and now onto back corner. Basic patch with flange for starters.
A gentle sweep profile added in with my stretcher dies.
Then the final rolling corner shape profile added in.
Tunnel mounted to dial in the final position of that new corner patch.
Had to make sure the new flange butted tight against the kick panel opening. Ready for final trimming and welding.
Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Remaining tunnel flange repair sections:
A bit of hunting around my shop to find a form both long enough (40+ inches) and also with the right shaped corner that would create the soft radius bend I'm looking to for. A strut from my cherry picker was just the ticket. This little test piece confirmed it.
Marked, clamped to my table and ready to begin hammering it over.
Right repair section cut free and ready to begin final fitment to the tunnel.
Went ahead and finished making the left side repair run while I had it all set up. Its a touch wider than the right side especially along the forward recess shape for the gas pedal and the drivers foot.
Tunnel clamped square to the table to establish the final trim line for a butted joint.