1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Final tunnel installation:
Inner surface sealed in semi-gloss. Tunnel housing now ready to go on for good.
Final floor preparation was drilling a "few" plug weld holes for the tunnel's flange. Again I'm doing most of the welding on the out side for ease of final clean up.
Conduits and floor section now sealed in a final coat of black.
Rear torsion housing bulkhead area thoroughly coated while I had a clearer shot at it.
Tunnel housing installed for the final time. Now onto back filling all those little holes...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Tunnel both internally and externally set.
All the internal plumbing set and ready to go.
Rear flange connection points all within striking distance and will tack and adjust as it goes in for good.
Pulling this housing out one last time to paint and seal then drill the needed plug weld holes down the length of the floor. Decided the majority of the plug welds will be to the outside as it will be much easier to dress and smooth the weld heads instead of in here.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Again, thank goodness for reference examples so I could confirm approximate conduit height and placement.
Mocked up pedal cluster to confirm the clutch cable height.
Quick representative mock up of the throttle rod as it runs through that envelope
and lays across this forward bracket in a saddle relief which I had to add back in. This was part of dialing the final and correct height of this bracket.
And finally the ends of the parking brake conduits in relation to the bulkhead conduit.

[JTR70]

Tunnel housing repairs complete. Final internal adjustments and confirmation before it goes in for good.
Entire flange repair runs finally dressed and completed. Note my handy T2 floor section to the right for confirmation.
All rust repairs and patches to this housing complete.
Very close to final installation time so its now onto prepping the inner surfaces for a sealer coat. While I'm at it I'm straightening and staging the wire loom tabs while I have a clear shot at them. Also checking to make sure they are still well attached. These are the small things you don't want any issues with after there is no longer easy access.
On the flip side, both the tunnel and these conduits were slightly tweaked so I'm double checking that the ends of conduits sit where they are supposed to.
My first clue was this poor fitment at this forward bracket against the tunnel wall. I also had issues with the ends of the parking brake conduits in relation to the center bulkhead conduit. I had to cut them free from this bracket and reset them. Again this is all small but critical detail stuff that has be right when its finally time to put it all together....and incredibly unpleasant and hard to correct once the tunnel is in.

[Rimcanyon]

Thanks for sharing the details. I have been using TiG for tack welds and butt welds, so I set amperage to 22A and I am good to go. But MIG is a different beast. I just bought a Hobart MIG welder, so I need to get my head wrapped around Voltage and wire speed. Your settings should give me a good starting point.

[JTR70]

Tunnel repair flange details:
Hammering in the relief shapes for the center rib to allow the tunnel to sit flush.
These long joint runs along both sides finally all stitched in. Now onto grinding them smooth. In small bites of course.
At this point I was ready to trim the rearward portion of the flange to final shape and width.
Once I checked with my original reference section I realized I had gone off track a touch. I assumed the flange sections overlapped for a stronger joint, but no. As you can see the rear portion was cut well short with a small window.
Lap section cut and copied to the original. Easy correction because the tunnel isn't mounted yet. So I'm glad I looked before I installed for the final time. Another example of the importance of a reference car if you want the factory details correct and just how easy it becomes to get off track slightly. My initial lap joint configuration is probably stronger and a touch more ridged but my job isn't to deviate and make "improvements". The mission is to replicate as best as I can the build details it originally came with from Reutter. Almost ready to install for the final time. Back to weld grinding...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy!

[roy mawbey]

Nice work Justin !

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Dave!
I'm using my old 251 Millermatic . For sheet metal I run in about the 17 volt range on this machine. It will definitely vary depending how thin and rusted the metal I'm welding onto is. If its blowing through the heat is reduced.
The backside penetration of the weld tells me if more heat is needed. If the cut line at the butt-joint remains visible then the voltage goes up until it looks like the run in the above shot. That's the balancing act of getting it hot enough but not too hot...
Justin

[Rimcanyon]

Justin, Nice work.

which welder do you use for tack welds? How many amps do you set it for?

[JTR70]

Tight weld joint I was shooting for.
Slowly tacking it together and making sure the edges where even with a series of clamps before each tack weld.
Entire run all tacked in.
Prepping the other side for final installation.
Both runs all tacked and tunnel in for a test fit before I commit to fully stitching it all up. So far so good.

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.

[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]

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]

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