1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[roy mawbey]

Justin what a session of work you have had these past few days. I have always disliked these hidden areas of panels you cannot see or touch. I have wondered many times looking at fully restored 356 cars just how many have the same rusty panels you have found. Likewise mine are original and although my car has not seen rain hardly at all since the mid 70's and not that much from the late 60's when I did drive it often I still wonder. Looking in the front hood compartment all the sides of mine still have the original factory covering so you cannot see rust damage. All of it though is really sound no sign of damage at all.

You have the right approach to attend to this Justin. I just hope you advise the owner it has to be done and this car needs those repairs. I think you are doing so well its not easy. Even having to realign door hinges all these jobs take time. I have never seen before photo's of these panel repairs that have rusted out. Books are okay and helpful but his session of yours is something else Justin. As I have said before to even photo everything you are doing and then fully explain your methods of repair on here are really special. ( actually they are exceptional )

Keep smiling

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you very much once again my friend! Yes, had I not needed to remove the fender and exposed that area clearly I may not have seen it but a clean repair would have been extremely difficult with the skin still capping the area. The repair was tough enough with the limited access I did have. The reality Roy is that all of these old cars still have rust lurking somewhere. My "rust free desert car still has some and this car will still have rust somewhere down deep when its all over. All those untouched factory lap joints still have rust lurking in between and so do the frame's deep in the recesses in and around the rear torsion areas. Its just the nature of the beast. I've described all these old cars as Cancer survivors in only partial remission. No matter how nicely repaired the owners all must take care to limit their exposure to any moisture. Thanks again Sir! Justin

[JTR70]

Lower hinge base install:
Sight marked the base back into its original position as closely as possible using drill marks and edge breaks where I had cut it free. Makeshift holding jig making sure its surface is running parallel with the upper mount. Ready for a tack weld and then a door test before a final stitching.
Initial door test fit.
Pretty close but after a bit of wrestling, adjusting and readjusting the door now sits right at the edge of the flange.
Rear gap is okay but closes down towards the bottom. I've reskinned this door so between all the repairs to both the closing panel and the car itself the fitment just changed. Adjustments have to be made as it goes back together. The most critical issue for right now was that the top edge of the door carried on into the quarter window opening. Well within range.
Last little confirmation was that the original hole in the lower base still lined up with the cover plate. As close as I can get it; Ready for final welding.

[JTR70]

Hinge base set completing the lower door well repairs except for the eventual threshold.
Seam welding up the leading edge all but completing this reinstallation.

Almost done just have to add in the bottom inch of the seal channel that mounted against the base.

Seal channel section added back on. Welds dressed with a gas weld detail added to the closing wall's edge as found originally. Done in here for now.

Door remounted for another test fit to confirm nothing changed dramatically after all the welding and heat.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Begin rebuilding the body around this hinged and latched door.
Latched door runs 80% even down the edge of the quarter panel but stands a little proud at this upper corner. Not horrible and will be ironed out eventually but again my main concern at this point was making sure to top of this door carried on the line of the rear quarter opening.
Gap closes towards the bottom but as you can see it old lead so this discrepancy can be easily corrected with some filing.
Front gap in this corner is a touch wider than 3mm. A little shim adjustment can be made as panel building develops.

After reskinning and other repairs this door just sits tightly against this flange now. Attempts to push it back only created clearance issues with the lock post. This is where in now needs to be.
The answer was to trim back 5mm from the edge of the door to compensate for the eventual folded edge of the fender and to leave a 3mm+ raw gap when finished.

[JTR70]

Rough skin mock ups:
Flanged trimmed back for the needed clearance to create the new gap.
Now I can begin shaping and trimming this new repair section to fit. Promising basic contoured opening shape against this door.
This lower corner however is already well short. Actually I don't know why they added this feature in.
This corner is part of the rocker assembly so not only is it in the wrong position but it shouldn't be on the fender side in the first place.
Moved onto an initial mock up with the new rocker skin. My initial aim was to save and reuse the original rockers but this side is too bent up and the other side too rusty. We will save and reuse the original thresholds so just the outer skins were ordered. So far so good. Nice 3mm gap with good clearance and reveal with the jack spur.

[JTR70]

Man, this rocker fits like a glove around the edge of the door. Very little modification if any to get a nice uniform gap around the bottom of this door. A nice surprise.
The usual contour issues with the wired leading edge. Anticipated this and will make it flow together before its all over.

Again nice door gap right out of the box up front too. I'm sure the wired leading edge up here will also need work though the front fender is on just yet to confirm this. Marked a cut line even with the end of the mating flange so I can trim off that corner on the repair section.
Trimming it off right about here...
Trimming off the excess along the leading edge wrap as fitment continues.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Those 'Gaps' are coming along fine Justin. None of these jobs are easy though and those gap clearances are so important to be right !
Well done!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! Just a rinse and repeat process of reshaping the panels to fit and flow smoothly together while hopefully tightening up the lines with each try.

[JTR70]

Fitting the repair section:
New section in its best adjusted position.
Cut that corner off but a slight roll that led up to it remains. Marked with tape for the break line needed to hug the splash pans leading edge.
Leading edge of the pan's mounting flange etched to backside. Flattening out this section for repositioning.
Break repositioned. You can see whare it used to be down the center of the flange now. There was a gentle profile curve in through here but I had to reflange this area flat. Re-establishing that curve with my shrinker jaws.
Section remounted snugly against the leading edge of the splash pan and now ready to begin healing this edge over past 90 degrees so I can test fit the door against it as fitment continues.

[JTR70]

Initial rounds of healing over the flange run for door clearance.
I can go a touch more as I want to define the leading edge as much as possible but not so much where its crimped down onto the mating flange. Not even close to that yet.
First test fit against the door. Promising start but lots of refining yet. A good starter gap shape against the door but runs a little tight at the upper corner.
Skin profile is a bit lumpy down this run and the upper corner crimp compels the skin to project outward too much. Like I said, lots of refining yet to go but I'm just shooting for a basic gap at this point.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Continue tightening up the lines:
Hammering over the pinch seam about as far as I could take it while still leaving the ability to slip it on and off during fitment. A thicker piece of 18 gauge kept it open enough while I hammer it tighter. Scraper wedged in afterward to allow the 18 gauge to escape.
Remounted for another test with a closer leading edge final shape.
Then another test with the door. A consistent baseline gap coming into focus and improving with each round. That's all I can ask for.
Working out the lumps as the vertical run levels out closer and closer but this upper turn needs more improvement. Its a pretty complex shape so it is of course going to take more effort to get it there.
A look inside and I'm loving that super tight fit against the splash pan. Hopefully I can preserve most of that once its all buttoned up.
Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Begin left fender refitment
Trim line finalizing. Cutting just past the heavy pitting and saving as much original metal as possible.
Approximate trim line and as you can see most of it won't be needed.
Rotted leading edge trimmed off. I stopped short of the upper corner for now as its a good sight marker as refitting progresses. I may or may not use it, just keeping my options open.
Time to start working it in with the new nose. Earlier photos showed the right side was a natural fit right out of the box. This side however shows some bigger alignment and contour issues. Since nose fitting began this side's headlight opening has always wanted to lean back about 5 degrees further than the right side which matches BTW my original references angle. This side really needed to stand up more and this bad overlap with this fender just laying over top highlights the problem.
As fitting and experimentation went on I unscrewed and loosened this side of the nose from the trough. Once I tucked the fender under rather than laying over top these two almost magically came together. It now stood this headlight opening up and even with the other side eliminating that 5 degree discrepancy. Along with that the top profile shapes of these two sections are now blending together beautifully. To retain the fitment, the inner trough run will need some rework which I'll describe next. Anyway the body fitment continues in the right direction.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Again the lingering issue has been that the left side bucket opening insisted on leaning back an extra 5 degrees when mounted to the inner closing wall. You can just make out this discrepancy between the two openings. I thought I may have set the closing wall too low on this side but cross measurements confirmed they were even. Didn't have the answer as to why it insisted on laying back more so I left it loose for later.
Now that I had a new confirmation with this fenders fitment and continued contour to the nose...
I realized that the skin in through here is just short and too tight. It forces the bucket to lay back more in order to reach the trough and mounting surface of the closing walls. Once I cut it free again the bucket opening moved up to the angle where it should be and the panel shapes fell into line with one another.
This shaped area is not only short but very ridged too it will not lay against the fender. Its going to require a bit of reshaping.
That can wait. What's most important is that I have symmetry between the two bucket openings at the correct angle and a consistent body contour over these two panels. I can build on that and move forward from here.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Remounting the fender:

The upper closing wall on this side had suffered a bit of deformation from the previous accidents. The upper mating flange had a bow and a slight kink in it up by the cowl. After some straightening I now have zero against the hood with this trial fit.
The leading edge of the fender doesn't run consistently down the length of the hoods edge either. Tapering away about mid way down.
Just shooting for a general 3mm gap at this point. Began by trimming back about 4mm out of the reshaped mounting surface to allow the shoulder of the fenders trough additional clearance.
Improving but the mounting flange needed a touch more shaved off.
But this tapering gap issue was really starting to bug me. More on this next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin we have this Monday as Easter holiday and I have just spent an hour going through and then going through again those last series of photos on the work you have just been involved with. I don't know how you are doing this by yourself anf getting in the end such good results !! To see the headlight symmetry alignment become perfect, to see the door closure gap fit come into place is just so good. The remaining bonnet to fender gap I am sure you will contain too. The pull up of that headlight angle in the way you did slipping the panel under the other must have made you smile!

However I have one question I cannot work out, When you'hammered over' the fender panel and refitted the door to see if the gap clearance was okay it was too tight in places.so you had to re-hammer it in places to correct it. You showed the scraper in between those two steel inserts. To re-hammer did you firat have to 'open up' the bend over sections flat and mark and start hammering over again?
I have thought about it and my mind can't work it out it looks so difficult to do and get right ? This work is not easy I just hope other people on here who have been looking at heis thread have the same impression as me in thinking how well you are doing my friend.

Roy

[JTR70]

Sorry about the trouble Roy, your post was there just had to hit a button. Thanks for taking some time to look through this latest series again and on your holiday no less! What I'm up to on that pinch seam is clenching it as close as I can while still keeping the ability to slip on and off the splash pan flange. I want that leading edge as close to final "clenched shape" as I can because once its hammered tight the leading edge is going to grow just a touch and I want to be sure I still have a 3mm+ gap with the door to work with when its finally installed for good. It is thinner than the 18 gauge so it was safe to hammer it over tight on that small section. The scrapper knife was inserted to release that section as it went. Thanks again for all the great words and support Roy!

Justin

[JTR70]

Ironing out residual crash damage:
The front group revolves around a consistent gap with this hood so this fender refitment had ground to halt until I could get this line cleaned up.
My straight edge confirmed that the problem was not on the hood side of this gap. The gap issue coincides with that bit of damage that you can just make out by the 33 and 34 inch marks.
The camara has trouble picking it up but this is old residual crash damage. The fender buckled here and was quickly pounded on but the shoulder was never brought back to true below this area.
The underside of this spot shows where the kink was a little more clearly. Now that I'm really working with this fender it actually had buckled in two other places.
It buckled at the crown here just ahead of the cowl. It even cracked the original factory weld joint up at the corner next to the hood. It was reversed but not completely ironed out.