1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[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

[JTR70]

Initial mock up complete:
Leading edge has a sway-back profile to it for now but that will all level out once crimped tightly and welded to the rear wall. Sight markings as well as this one with the beam and the top of the front wall are all confirming its sitting very close square and level in there.
We've got a basic battery box again. A fun and rewarding session but only because it all pretty much fit together by the end. Now the next phase of getting it all ready for final assembly and installation. The real work...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Initial battery box assembly mock up:
Wall set screwed into preliminary position. New floor and front wall sections added for the first time to see what adjustments needed to be made if any to the rear walls current location. Very relieved to learn that I'll be able to slip the floor and front wall in as unit so I'll avoid the trouble of cutting them apart and rewelding. I'll take the small breaks when I can get them.
So far so good. The leading edge of the floor butts up against the wall pretty well. The rear wall flexes and contorts a lot so there is plenty of wiggle room so to speak. I'll have add some width to both sides of the floor as they where trimmed to fit the T1 version wall it came as a unit with.
And again will have to add a filler strip along the right side edge where the pre-assembled box unit was built with a taper. That pre-assembly would have missed the suspension mounting flange by a mile.
The final piece for this initial confirmation mock up was the cap.
This section was lined up with its original spot welds along the sides first then the rear wall's mounting flange was inserted and bottomed out fully against the folded leading edge. It nearly went in on the first try. The top of left side walls flange required some slight repositioning forward to allow it to seat completely into the fold . No big deal at the moment but these are all the adjustments that have to be accounted for before you try adding any tack welds. It will punish you severely if you don't. Set screws have now been added to lock in these two panels position with one another.

[JTR70]

Rear wall repairs in basic completion:
Final trimming complete and tacking in from the flanged sides first. I normally like to begin from the center outward but it was more critical that corners and flanged edge continued the line from the original panel.
Once the sides where set then the rest of the run was tacked together.
All stitched up with most of the weld seam grounded back. Have yet to finish up the corners but that can be done anytime before the walls final installation.
Now that I have a basic wall I wanted to begin locating it into its final centered and level position in between the side walls of the battery box.
This walls initial location was sight marked and measured off of the beam and the footprint of this car's original walls attachment point on the left side. This was only a jumping off point however. Every component comprising this final frame structure is now either new reproduction, crash repaired, rust repaired or both individually so with that reality in mind it is safe to say there will be many, many fine adjustments and changes that will be needed during the pre-assembly process to get all of these panels to fit tight and square in relation to one another when its all over.