1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[roy mawbey]

Justin, you are right no way could you have repaired and welded that side wall in with the closing wall in. Your repair looks so good !

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Definitely after this repair I wouldn't recommend buying the battery box as a prefabbed unit.

[JTR70]

Bumper bracket mounts repaired and installed:
Both inner surfaces cleaned old rust, coated in epoxy just before final installation.
Plug welding completed. Rivet heads reinserted and plug welded in from behind preserving this original detail.
The repro mounts are 20 gauge so I'm going to harvest and save the right side as well.
Job went a little faster as the bottom welds gave up post accident and "repair" attempt all those years ago.
Acid bath next while I was still in process of welding in the left side at this point.

[JTR70]

Right bracket repair and install:
Acid cleaned and now onto rehabbing this poor thing.
Stretched and torn like its mate but a little more severe on this side.

Several rounds of heat, welding and lots of pounding but eventually came back into usable shape.
Inner surface epoxy coated just before final install.
All welded in with reused rivets plug welded on to preserve that original detail. Onto the next deal...

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin nothing much frightens you regarding all this metalwiork repair does it !! It is so satisfying for me to sit here at my desk and watch you trasform a twisted bit of metal back into shape and correctly re-insert back into place looking as though its never been off the car. For sure , these great photos of yours somehow make it look so easy. I know it isn't and your head though is constantly thinking ahead to make sure this work all ties up with the next part to be fitted !

I remember once maybe 8 years ago telliing you I liked your variety of spring clamps ( we call them 'mole' clamps here ) They must be so useful and you seem to have so many and just perfect to get into place. How on earth could you do all the work without them? The guy who invented them needs a medal I think.

Good luck with the next deal !
Roy

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, I'm really glad that you find this journey of some interest! I definitely get stumped from time to time but eventually a way through reveals itself. Yes, you are very aware as to what you are actually looking through here; there is a lot of time and effort in between each one of these progress shots and it doesn't just lay down and fall into place for certain. I remember your comment about those mole clamps. I'd be at a loss without the ones I have and I definitely need to expand my collection. Thanks again for all of your great comments and word of encouragement during this process. It is always appreciated! Justin

[JTR70]

Inner trunk panel prep.
Repairing and installing these two panels would be next
But before they go in I do have the option of remounting my rotisserie jig to finish out the welding on the lower gussets and that diagonal brace.
While I make up my mind I went onto removing the left side wall to free up the new floor and forward closing panel.
New reinforcement plates for the overrider tube mounts are also 20 gauge so I'll also be recycling the heavier gauge originals.
Lots of prep and repair work before these panels can go in but this is what's next unless I decide to finish up the frame reinforcements first. Quick battery box mock up next.

[JTR70]

Initial battery box mock-up:
Slid in and just about fit on the first try.
It stopped just about a half inch shy of the bottom flange. A little trimming up on the top flange of the wall will take care of this.
I'm going to try and keep these two panels together and avoid breaking them apart if possible.
test with the rear wall and so far so good.
Again, a lot of prep work yet to come but its getting there. During this mock up I discovered a huge fitment issue that would have confronted me if I had attempted to install this box as a unit. Will share that next. Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Unforeseen issue with Prefabbed battery box unit .
As nice as this prebuilt unit comes this was never going to fit correctly down in between the front beam mount flanges as delivered.
With the side wall mounted tight and straight off of the beam flange the new floor's edge starts out tight in the front corner then continues to taper away and comes up better than a half inch short by the time it gets to the back wall. Plug welds are in the foot print of the initial spot welds. The new back wall is mounted in this shot to confirm what I was seeing and it fits snuggly between the two walls now...
but I had to relax it apart with a couple of light tugs then it quickly reached both sides. You can see the floor is now short in relation to the vertical wall recess for the battery by about a half inch. This is a T1 version wall but the width between the front beam flanges is the same on all 356A cars so this was not the issue. It was just preassembled too tightly back here.
Short on the left side as well but not as much.
There would be no way to overcome this discrepancy without cutting the back wall and sides free and resetting them to the correct width to allow this factory overlapped attachment at the beam. Then of course adding onto the floors edge where its short; all of which I'll be doing anyway. The box was just assembled about a half inch+ too narrow at the back. Another example of reproduction part fitment issues and how you can't assume its going to plug right in no matter how nice it looks right out of the box.

[JTR70]

Begin forward trunk floor repairs/reinstallation prep.
A lot going on with this leading edge, Pinched seam with a lot of spots welds to break, old crash damage and the center section compromised from aggressive grinder damage.
Spot -welds first. The really turned the amps up on their spotter when they hit this pinch seam. Heavy shouldered deformation around each one.
Initial plan was to grind and remove the bottom of this pinch and the remains of the vertical in between. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to go smoothly. Because of the spot weld deformation I was grinding into the top of the panel as I was going after the first two layers. The remains of the top side would be thin and compromised at best. In light of this, the crash damage and the grinder damage repair needed at the center I decided to elmintate it all in one shot.
Repurposing this rocker gives me a leading for a new pinch seam and just enough width to replace the damage behind it.
Troubled areas removed with new donor section cut to rough shape. Still some straightening to go at the front of the access cover openings but only a little.

[JTR70]

Part 2
Onto straightening and cleaning .
Trickiest part was hammering out these little step details without causing more deformation.
Ready to etch in the final trim line.
New leading edge tacked in
I like preserving original metal when I can but there was just too many obstacles along this leading edge. It was the right choice as it will be a much cleaner final presentation when its finished and mounted back in. Stitching it now.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin if ever the there was a case for using a spare part that was it! Again so sensible and rewarding to see just how good that area will be. More and more it kakes me wonder just how many people can start a project and find they can never finish it. With careful thought and some luck in having spare parts or at least another car to compare against it must be so hard to complete things. Even harderwhen a repro part that really looks so good has the dimensions too short in places. Many would think just weld it in, add some pieces and it will all fit together just fine! Again without the right inspection fixtures etc so very difficult.
Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! I have a corner of junk/scrap metal that I'd like to get rid of but can't bring myself to just throw it out and its instances like this one that really reinforces why I don't. It was nice win/win though as it saved some fabrication time, repurposed an old part and reduced my scrap pile just a touch. Agree, rebuilding these cars in the way that they were originally constructed especially down in the deep recesses can be extremely trying and corner cutting can become a very attractive option when you get really deep into things. I've been there many a time...

[jjeffries]

Hello Justin (and Roy), What lovely work as always. Reading it/catching up, I was anticipating that you’d straighten that damaged driver side vertical panel with a wide clamp and a Celette pulling arm, plus some heat and hammer/dolly work. Obviously not necessary. You do conservation as much as restoration, utterly scrupulous and almost monk-like in your integrity … a lesson for us all. I certainly always come away from reading your posts with a healthy dose of Zen.

kind wishes, John

[JTR70]

Hi John, Unfortunately I don't own that fancy pulling arm but it wouldn't have helped much for pulling out that old battery wall since most the deformation/damage was lateral. Definitely, I do try and save as much of the old metal as possible where it makes sense but some times it isn't worth the effort and you're just better off with a fresh piece of metal. Just doing the best that I can to copy what the factory did all those years ago with what I have on hand and my current skill level. Thank you very much for those kind words and wishes!

[JTR70]

Forward trunk floor repairs complete:
Entire run stitched together.
Lots of grinding and weld finishing next; especially around that ID number. Heat deformation and a few low spots of old accident damage under these two reinforcement ribs so they were removed for a clear shot with a hammer and dolly.
Weld joint smoothing complete with low spots and deformation leveled. Lateral plug weld holes drilled and as numerous as the original spots to replicate the attachment strength.
With the holes predrilled I could begin heeling the flange over a little more in preparation for the vertical wall flange.
Weld repairs to the floor all but complete. Onto the vertical wall repairs.

[JTR70]

Back to upper vertical wall repairs.
Cleaning off the remains of the old trunk floor on the lateral flanges and straightening out some old accident damage.
Lateral top flanges cleaned and prepped. Reopening and flaring the center conduit hole next.
The hole was flared towards the tube end as originally done.
A gas weld around the tubes end on this side will join these two when the time comes.
Repairs and prep between these two panels mating surfaces all but complete. Onto repairing the bottom and the sides of this wall so it can finally go in for good.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Dash top detour:

Upholstery for this car is getting ready to wrap up so I need to get this new dash top fitted and trimmed to this car and sent off to Autos International.
This R/D's dash top offering and I have to say, right out of the box , this is the best fitting new part I've ever tried. Its a complex piece for sure and the initial fitment issue was its inability to slide all the way home. As you can see its leading edge was about a half inch shy of the car's leading edge reveal.
My first thought was that the tabs were set just a few mm's too far forward.
I thought I'd have to remove them for repositioning but after lifting them upward...
that turned the trick allowing the cap to move forward that last half inch. Sure is nice when the answer is easy. Doesn't happen too often but I'll take it when I can.
Fortunate to have my original dash top on hand for correct positioning and contour confirmation.

[JTR70]

Dash top part2:
With the dash top fully seated I moved to the right side corner first to shape and relief cut an opening for the sun roof drain tubes.
Unfortunately I don't have an original reference as to how these corners were trimmed back so it will be opened slightly larger than the drain hole behind it.
Final opening shape with rolled edges to make life easier on the eventual material that will be wrapped over top.
Another of many repeated test fits as it goes. Slightly oversized to account for future material thickness.
I don't have a section of actual drain tube on hand either so this is all just a guesstimation. Hopely this will work on installation day.