1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Tunnel installation complete:
Gas weld detail at the toe-board joint replicated.
The body was flipped over on its left side so I could finish up the welding along the right.
And the final tie in welding along the three inner conduits brackets to the tunnel wall.
and with the that the tunnel installation was finally completed. Weld smoothing is all that remains.
Onto the peripheral bracketry starting with the toe-board footings.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Toe-board footing installation:
Dialing in the correct location in relation to angle so the eventual board lays in there with as much contact and support as possible.
BTW the supplied capture nuts have these shouldered openings where the originals where a flush fit. I was concerned about rocking or rattling on the passenger side mainly so we opted for removal. Wouldn't be an issue so much on the drivers side as there is a cutout for the pedal mount flange.
Oversized holes are closed and will redrill some smaller representative holes for effect since these where not in use for a LHD car.
Double checking and further confirming the right spot with my original reference
The outer run contact angle does taper away towards the bottom. This was much needed confirmation as I would have been racking my brain trying to get this to seat flush all the way down like the other side of it does.

[JTR70]

Right side footing install:
T2 floor provided additional and final measurement confirmation. Also provided some angular trim details which I copied.
Final location set with all plug weld holes drilled. Like the tunnel most of the welding is going to the outside to make final cleanup and my life easier.

Plug welds completed. A lot of them for such a small piece but this is what it was needed for a uniform and tight fit.
All set and squared off nicely against the tunnel.
Onto the left side.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

left footing prep and installation:
This time I ground the shoulder washers off and... welded the supplied capture nut from behind to secure it. I get a little smarter as it goes..hopefully.
Like the other side; dialing it in for square and correct angle.
All plug-welded in and secure.
Just have to level off all of these plug weld heads. A good supply of them as you can see.

[JTR70]

Pedal assembly mocked up for another confirmation fit. Everything sitting square and nice in relation to one another. Both happy and relieved with this final fitment.
All that remains up here is to install the stud plate for the pedal assembly once I take delivery of it.
Other than some light weld cleanup I'm all done with the metal repairs up here.
While I wait on the stud plate and lateral seat track mounts I'm back to plug weld grinding and rust repairs to the lower B-pillar chassis area.

That next...

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Lots and lots of holes Justin !

[JTR70]

Quite a few Roy and I'm being really bad about staying up with them. The day is coming when I'll have to have another "grind fest"...

[JTR70]

Right rear closing wall repairs:
With the floor repairs all but completed I'm back to this rear vertical wall patch and partial installation from page 19 of this thread. I decided on finishing the forward vertical joint first allowing me to install and close the lower gusset area.
Vertical seam weld completed. Gusset cavity and inner surfaces cleaned and top coated. Just a little more weld smoothing and this new closing panel can go on for good.
Closing panel installed for the final time. Its now onto a series of leap frog welds between set screws for a tight and flush formed lap joint.
Plug welds complete. It took some doing but really happy with the tight form fitted edges of this new panel.
Just have to dress the plug weld heads, then its onto stitching in the rest of this closing wall repair patch.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

After looking at the work involved on this closing wall repair I must say I feel so lucky my original ones are still okay. I do remember an 'A' my brother ran for while back in the 70's had the same problem and from my memory the Koni suspension damper could actually be moved by hand the rust was so bad. He sold that 'A' on as at that time he thought it probably just one of many area's needing much work. He was right , these 356 cars rusted often when only 10-15 years old. Oh Justin have I seen rusty ones! From around 1965 when I sort of thought maybe I will buy one I saw many needing rust repairs . Of course the UK was then in the 60's so wet for any car to be in. These days it seems to me a bit dryer but it poured down last night !!

Roy

[JTR70]

Roy, your car is an amazing survivor. I know you get tempted from time to time to improve the repairs you did back in the day but the fact that the paint and the fixes underneath are well over 40 years old....I'd consider that a crime to disturb all of that at this point. Its a wonderful looking and well preserved example.

[JTR70]

stitching and fitting the rest of the new patch panel closing wall.
Form fitting and lining up the edges of the panels length as it went. Tricky enough getting the new rib shapes in just the right spots but with these reliefs doing their job of stiffening the panel made overal contour shaping a little more complicated.
Full panel now finally messaged into alignment with the original wall. A ways yet to go but a major hurdle out of the way.
Cleaning up the rib junctions. The forward joint was just to rough so it was cut out and replaced with a clean bridge section.
as close as it was I still had shape and alignment issues along the shoulders of the ribs.
Small relief cut to allow that shoulder to come into alignment with the original section. Tedious detail stuff but in the end this has to be a clean presentation up in here anytime the wheel is removed. Can't depend on undercoating to hide the mistakes. Clean up continues.

Thanks for looking.


Justin

[Phil Planck]

On foamcar that is the thinnest metal I encountered. 22ga. Harder to weld. Looking good Justin

[JTR70]

The Parcel shelf on these cars is 22gauge like you described and very tough to weld without blowing it out. This side panel might be the lighter gauge too but for sure it was rusty and now very thin overall. Its a tricky balance as I can't throw a lot of heat at it nor can I stay on the trigger. I can only lay down quick bursts then as it blows out I have to corral the new hole with weld and back fill. This makes the weld seam very scabby and inconsistent but the goal is just to get it stitched up first. I know that you know the routine Phil. Thanks BTW! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Well done Justin not easy repairs at all.

Roy

[JTR70]

Its a bit rough working up in that wheel well Roy but I have the great luxury of being able to rotate the body; Can't imagine doing this upright. Thanks Roy!

[JTR70]

New repair section all stitched in.
Stitching up this long run in between the tack welds.
Grinding the shoulder down as it went to break up the monotony . Only the vertical run remains to be closed. It came up a touch short so some slivers of steel will be inserted to bridge this gap.
All stitched in with only a few minor holes left to back fill. The OG panel is very thin so I had a lot of issues with blow out. Could not throw any real heat at it and I was continually backfilling thin spots where the metal blew away as welding progressed. Made for a very rough and choppy weld seam but I was just trying to get though it by this point.
Double duty here as both sides of the weld joint need to be clean. Chasing the weld joint with my torch to ensure a thorough meld. Hammer and dolly next to plannish the area and get the contour shape back.
A little more cleanup and small hole filling remain but its 90% there. A lot of work to get here but still less involved than replacing this entire panel as a whole.

[JTR70]

Bouncing over to the left side With the right side wall repairs winding down.
The gusset is completely toast and as you can also see with some heavy rot to the top of the "chassis" around this gussets base.
Engine lid pull cable conduit is very rotted and not sure if it will be repaired but either way it has to be removed for now.
Removing the gusset next to see how much rot is hiding under there.
New gusset sections cut out to basic shape from this cars original left door skin.
BTW this is all that pretty much remains of that old damaged skin. Its been nice to be able to repurpose this original metal back into this car.

Gusset removal and assessment as to how much of this left closing wall can be saved up next.

thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Left side gusset removal and closing wall assessment.
Gusset removed and much to my surprise no massive rust hole found underneath.
Turns out all the breaches where only around the foot of the gusset. Even though its not gone through its still thin so the size of the final patch will be determined as the cutting progresses. Now onto figuring out how much of that vertical closing wall can be saved. The section pictured just above here where the gusset was is very thin with a lot pin holes.
Viewing it from inside the wheel well highlights how wide spread and numerous the holes are. Looks like the night sky...
The breaches continue down the panel above the shock mount area.
The final section of this panel visible from inside the engine compartment highlighted by the rat tail file. More of the same making the salvageability of this panel looking less likely.

[JTR70]

More closing wall assessment.
Prepping to peel this rusty top layer of the upper closing arch to see how rusty the stepped flange run is underneath. By that rust hole I'm not very optimistic. Latch cable conduit and drain tube holding tabs removed at this point.
Keeping the initial cut as low as I can and not removing any more than I have to.
No surprise, the end flange run of this closing wall is shot. Another nail in the coffin.
Going back to the wheel well area most of the lower flange of this panel is also gone and requires replacing. I peeled this portion up a while back to repair and reinstall the longitudinal closing cap that goes underneath it.
The original wall is just too rusty throughout to save. It would be a messy Frankenstein quilt at best. Besides we have this new replacement on hand for the job. While its going to be a lot of work and effort to fit and install this piece as a whole, an equal amount of time would probably be needed to save what's left now but with a far less cleaner end result. So...out comes the old wall.
That next...