1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, it checked out a lot better than I thought it was going to.

[roy mawbey]

Well done Justin great to know just how good that check was!
Roy

[JTR70]

Checking beam for parallel part 2:
Rotated the dowls and checked it from the front. Same result, I could not generate a rocking motion in the plate. The twin beams on this side are running as parallel in relation to one another as they can be.
Moved over to the left side. A slight rocking motion could be generated over here. Feeler gauge inserted into the discrepancy.
Thickest gauge I could get in there was 6 thousandths. Practically nothing...
My factory manual states max misalignment allowed is 31 thousandths... This beam is golden.

It was nice luxury to confirm this beams trueness with a factory checking tool but I'd have been shocked to find this assembly out of spec. If you've ever held this unit in your hands the first thing you'll notice is just what a heavy duty unit it actually is. The tubes and outer(also inner) flanges are really heavy gauge steel and if you're seeing my earlier pictures on the actual "frame" attachment points that surround it, it becomes apparent that the much thinner corrugated sheets really have a tiger by the tail. This beam assembly is the boss and the pressed frame sections will give way and deform long before it does. I do have a bent beam assembly floating around in my shop but the car it came out of had this beam shoved all the way back up and into the pedals. So they will bend but this car wasn't hit that hard. Onto pulling this beam assembly back out to factory specs.

Thanks for looking and my thanks once again to John Brooks!
Justin

[JTR70]

Checking the front beam assembly for parallel.

We know the front beam has been shifted a touch in the chassis but the next step was to make sure the twin beam assembly itself was still running square. John Brooks was generous enough to loan us his Factory VW-256 tube gauge.
The tool arrived nicely packaged in its old original wooden box. My machinist has purchased many German cutting heads and specialized tooling throughout his career and aside from the quality what stood out to him was the beautifully crafted wooden box they would all come in. Same thing rings true here. Note the twin collars on the lid for a 356 application.
Initial mock up with the checking plate resting on the plank here. Realized that inner bushing had been removed so no way of getting an accurate reading this time around. New bushing set arrived a few days later. These new urethane versions should hold up a lot better than the old bakelite units.
New bushings installed with a venier of lithium grease on the contact surfaces for ease of installation. Checking plate resting on the reference surfaces.
Much to my surprise I could generate no detectable rocking motion in this plate; I was expecting at least a little movement.

[JTR70]

It should Roy, just another little detour along the way of getting the build details correct.

[roy mawbey]

I remember Justin reading that thread about the difference in Battery width location beween T1 and T2. Lets hope it it all pulls out okay and the modification to the battery box goes okay too.

Roy

[JTR70]

New battery box is here and as you can see it came preassembled. However, the way the side walls are lapped over it would be far easier and cleaner if this rear bulkhead wall was out of my way.
This standard offering is incorrect for a T2 BTW. The battery recess in the wall is the narrower T1 version. Original T2 version laying on the floor above. This detail was discussed here: Evolution of the 356A T1 & T2 How they differ - ABCGT Forum
This T2 wall's recess is about an inch wider and slightly asymmetrical to compensate for the additional width allowing it to mount in between the standard and unchanged front beam flanges. I'll be repairing donating this wall for the project so naturally this new battery box unit will be coming apart for both correction and installation.
Front lower gusset removal: My initial plan was to repair the bottom of this gusset and leave the remains alone but I want this beam as unsecured as possible in preparation for an easy correction pull.
Gusset remains easily removed as the middle portion of the spots had given up which is rare. As you can see I stopped welding the new flange at the front bulkhead in preparation for the eventual beam pull. Only this single unflanged portion of this old wall is now maintaining this beams position. This is now going to be a very easy pull back out into factory specs. Once its there all the strength and integrity will be added back in.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Front tube area prep:
Going after this last remnant of OG battery box side wall.
Last portion of the actual frame "wall" overlaps it and terminates here. In process of drilling out the last remaining spot welds. There where of course a few.
Lower portion of the frame "wall" drilled free and peeled back behind the tubes and out of the way revealing the rest of that old wall. Heading upward to free the rest of it.
My intention was to save a straighten this side of the battery box wall out and I'd still like to do that but we'll have to see as this repair and pull progresses.

[JTR70]

I wish you were closer too Roy, you'd always have an open initiation to stop by old friend. I don't have the fancy cellete pulling arm unit but I'll come up with a anchor/come along contraption to pull it out. as you can it doesn't have to go very far.

[JTR70]

PM sent John. Thanks again! Justin

[Jbrooks]

Justin

Do you have the VW 256 to check the alignment of the tubes? If not I have one I can send down to you. Tom Perazzo use it to check his 356, and posted a video on using it.

[roy mawbey]

Justin , I now know more about a Cellette mounting table than I ever knew. If I were a little closer I would pop over to see this for myself. Well done on explaining it is not easy at all. Now I need to see how you are going to pull it out !! Where to place equipment to do that? Its been an eye opener to see this work in operation.

Super Justin !
Roy

[JTR70]

How much was the front beam of this car shifted?
Now that I had the back end of this car set in the jigs I was very curious to know just how far out the front beam of this car actually was from factory specifications. To get an idea I ran masking tape around the perimeter of the front fixture bases to mark their footprint while bolted down in their set location on the beams. The fixtures where then unbolted from the beams so I could install the pins into the torsion housing to see how far off the bases where in relation to the masking tape.
Not nearly as bad as it seems. Maybe 5MM worth of difference.
As well as being back the beam is also slightly cocked upward on this side. This is one of those detials that could go unoticed without these jigs Roy.
The left side is also back but not as far. It angles slightly to the right as would be expect with the right side pushed back. Technically this is nothing and could all be compensated for in the final wheel alignment. This car would track straight down the road just fine if left alone but since we're here and have the tools will pull it out back into factory specs.
In preparation to pull the beam out I'm going to begin removing a bit more "connective tissue" in and around it to make the eventual pull correction a little easier on everyone. Besides this outer layer of steel running around the tubes needs to be peeled back anyway to get at the last remnants of the battery box side wall underneath it. This coming up next.

Thaks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy and again always great to know that these posts are of some use and interest. I did want to share and dispel any voodoo or black magic that seems to surround this system at times. Its just a frame dozer at the end of it all but as you stated the dedicated jigs do and will highlight any slight misalignment that could go undetected otherwise (which I'll show next). Yes, a big investment but as you stated, very saleable down the road but in the meantime it gives me the capability to rebuild a future chassis that's severally bent, in two pieces or entirely from scratch...and not just an old 356 BTW. I've always been interested in building off-road tube chassis like my buddy Warren and this bench gives me a solid foundation to pursue that...
Thanks again Roy and Happy New year to you! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

I have often wondered about how to set up the Cellette. Your photos are so good, its no easy task unless as you have managed to obtain all the parts! You have done so well there and you can now be certain on seeing errors!! Really impossible to be sure without that fixture . In fact so hard to know what you buying with a 356 unless you have all that gear. I think it really was money well spent Justin expensive for sure but you can check anything with no guessing!! Also I guess its always a very saleable item in the future and would suit those involved with 356 repair work like you always are attempting.

Such an interesting thread this one, just like all your others. Hope others can see this sort of info is so important to 356 restoration its very rare to see it so closely detailed !
Well done and thanks!

Roy