1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Right fender prep Continued.
Back to fitting and repairing the right fender. I've gone about as far as I can with tacking in that replacement section I want to leave the tail of it loose for now for potential adjustment purposes to make sure it transitions into the eventual fenders edge cleanly.
With the fender in its best adjusted position I can refit this cowl section. Its fresh out of the acid bath to remove a thick layer of rust on its underside.
After some slight readjustment this original section and the new repair strip were tacked together with the fender.
Section was moved back slightly to create the needed gap at the edge of the hood. The fender and the cowl on either side close down at the hoods edge. This will all be corrected towards the end.
Fender dismounted once again and clamped to my table a section at a time to lay in a thorough bead of weld.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy. The Repro shape was too accentuated and deep. The original is a little shallower and in so doing matches to the fenders shape at the joint. Yes, its pretty involved area and this was the simplest and quickest way to get past this issue. Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin well done indeed on this latest bit of work. As usual so good you had a doner to cut that piece from it looks really good and as you say its a really complex form .

Roy

[JTR70]

Final pieces of the puzzle.
After a bit more preparation and fine trimming this original section was ready for its first tack weld. Had to add in another relief cut below it to allow that area to gather for a softer shape to match the profile of the original section.
Its a complex shape and area so it had to be tacked in very cautiously as it went.
Steadily fitting in there and making sure the transition into the fender stayed close.
Most of this donor section now tacked into the needed position.
Gone about as far as I can for the moment. Back to the right side fender itself.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

The original profile shape in through here was much shallower than Trevor's interpretation. That new section was too deep and stretched and not to mention hardened. Couldn't spend too much time on it so harvesting this section was looking like the better option.
I had cut the center section out of this donor nose for my buddy Dean a while back so harvesting this needed section was no sacrifice at this point. After some study I committed to a final cut line.
It ended up being short in two spots but I had the belly of it and adding on a couple of small backfill sections was much faster and simpler than trying to reshape what was there or making another section from scratch. Its complicated transitional shape through here.
Backfill section added and am now getting a close continuation profile off of the fender. This is what all the fuss was about.
One more piece to add but its a promising fit. One more view of that much softer spill way shape carrying on the fenders profile.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

This right side upper corner shape has been problematic from the initial fitment. Its been low and tight from the start. I made some correction as it went to get it to line up with the edge of the hood...
But now that I'm finally fitting it against the shape of the fender I'm finding this area once again too low and too tight. Original fender profile shape is sweeping down hill into the hood and by the contrast the noses' profile shape is sweeping up hill into the hoods edge. The valley is too deep and too pronounced so its running upward to meet back up with the hood. The original part is always the rule so this area of the nose has to be reshaped to match the fender.
This valley needs to soften and come up. Started out with a relief cut to allow this area to gather. You can see all the hammer marks in the surface through here so this feature is very hardened.
After a few round of hammering the valley was coming up and transitioning from the fender a little closer but a long ways to go. The valley shape below my cut was still too tight. Again, this area is very hardened and doesn't want to change shape very readily.
I began referring back to this original donor nose to find the correct contoured shape in through there.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

New section tacked in and just about ready to begin heeling the flanged edge over the wire.
Double checking the new edges contour and its continuation of the fenders profile shape.
Edge heeled over. Continues the opening profile close enough but there will be some slight adjustments as it goes. Leading edge stitched and continuing on up the rest of the way.
Stitching complete. Gone as far as I can here for now. I'll deal with the bottom loose end as the he new nose and this old fender are joined together for the final time.
Back over to the top side to address this contour transition issue I am seeing between these two panels.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Thanks again Roy, Below is the conclusion to this patch repair.

[roy mawbey]

Oh well done Justin that was a great to look at !

Roy

[JTR70]

Lower wired edge repair:
Marked out the graceful edge contour that is needed onto this new section of 20 gauge. The only clamp I have small enough to fit inside the needed radius has a straight edge so I had to hammer in the new flange in small sections at a time.
A pain but I had curved edge that I could work with.
Damaged skin section peeled leaving the original wire intact.
It will need little straightening but fine otherwise.
New section trimmed back to final need shape and ready to install.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

I thought it would be the best approach in keeping as much integrity as possible through that wired edge Roy.

[roy mawbey]

That wired repair will be interesting to see Justin. A good idea to keep the original wire intact.

Roy

[JTR70]

Jumping to the other side to finish up a loose end.
Weld finishing is extremely tedious and I'd been away from this side long enough to get motivated to go ahead and finish up all the plugs and seam welds down in the jamb. A lot of tweaking to get this new section to flow into the original but its there. A good coat of builder primer should smooth of the remaining weld scar.
Still have to finish up the remaining plug welds on the fender side but will knock that out later on. I thought that I had nothing more to add in the trunk but I forgot about the trunk release conduit...always something.
Here is the raw and basic 3mm+ gap we ended up with for the left side. After the hood seal is added it will change things slightly but a skim coat of lead is all it should take to prefect this area.
Back over to the right side to address this residual bit of crash damage to the lower wired edge.
A portion of the wire has jumped out. The sheath is crumpled to the side with a small hole on the outer skin. Cleaner and simpler to add in a fresh section. Will leave the original wire intact though. This repair up next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, In the early days I didn't have the confidence or experience to question new parts and definitely shied away from altering them. I'm at the opposite end of that spectrum now and I fully expect to have to make alterations to get things to fit and line up correctly. I understand that in a production restoration setting chasing that low spot out like I did would be prohibitive and that this area would simply just get mudded over to bring up the line but thats not how I would want my car built. Justin

[roy mawbey]

Now then Justin that last bit of work was interesting ! You make it look easy when its not. Most would still be scratching their heads ! You are correct with your answer to keep lead and filler to the minimum but thats not always so easy as your work to keep like it was originally shows in the rules you follow..

Roy