1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

New splash pan repair section:
Onto metal. Basic shape with lateral and lower flanges installed.
Final placement of the new repair section is dependent on a tight fit against the inside of the rocker panel and whare it is positioning the rocker in relation to the edge of the door.
Bottom edge of the door has a bow that will need to be softened but this is my best average fit with a 3mm gap.
Dialed in close enough to commit to a final cut line. Ready to begin joining these two together.
Tacked and on for another test fit before I fully stitch these two together. Put a step in the lateral flange to accommodate the lap joint between the fender and the rocker so I could get this flange to butt up just a little closer.

[roy mawbey]

A nice repair Justin. That was one area just the same sort of size I had to repair on the r/side of my car Justin about 47 years ago !!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy. I remember seeing your old photos of that repair and I know you can appreciate what's on here.

[JTR70]

Splash pan repair section complete:
Rocker mocked up one more time before I commit to fully stitching that new section on.
I've got my 3MM gap and the best average match to the edge of the door. The door has a slight bow to its profile and that will need to be softened but these adjustments are now minor corrections.
With the rocker in the sweet spot I simultaneously have the tight uniform fit against the back side of the rocker that I was shooting for. ready to stitch this up.
Lower stitching as well as the corner welding and lateral flange repairs complete. Excess to the inside lap joint trimmed and shaped to the original sweeping profile.
Another confirmation fit. All set and onto the next issue.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin that door closure gap is going to look so good. I will be interested to see how you will remove that very minor 'bow ' in the door skin. Shrink ???

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Substructure is basically holding the shape of that skin. I'll be nipping and tucking the door frame as I always do to get it all to match. Justin

[JTR70]

Right rocker skin rework:
With the rocker in its best matched and level position with the bottom edge of the door I am left with this gap with the threshold in its original position.
The deficit narrows slightly towards the back but I still well short the tight fit I need.
Forward drain pan also coming up well short of where I need this rocker skin to be.
Cut the back of the threshold free to allow it to move outward to help close up the shortfall. This wasn't really my answer as it creates misalignment with the striker post and the inner shoulder run would crowd the eventual base seal strip out from under the threshold ledge.
Didn't like the way that leading edge of the threshold flange was now peaking out from under the frames flange and it was still short up front.

[JTR70]

Rocker rework:
My eventual answer would be to flatten and reposition the bend on the rocker skin side. I noticed there was a slight bit of excess at the upper edge of the flange run when fully seated against the threshold. I thought there might be enough there?? Beats the hell out of cutting and rewelding this long run...
Had to stop just in front the corner relief and will widen that separately.
I etched where the initial bend was and will rebend about 2mm behind this line.
The re-flattening stretched the metal and put a curve in the rockers profile. A couple bites with my shrinker jawsreversed that back out.
While I was on the subject of shrinking to preserve the rockers profile shape now was the time to take out this pair of drain reliefs. While they are a good evolutionary feature for drainage they are not correct for an A car. More rocker prep up next...

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Right rocker skin work cont.
Seems simple enough just to pound this feature out flat again but I've learned it can't be done cold. The corners on either side of this relief have to be heated to gather and shrink up the stretched metal here. I tried hitting this feature out cold on an earlier project and the excess transferred both a bow in the profile and wave in the surface of the rocker skin.
Both unwanted drain features heated and pounded back out flat here and without distortion to the surface of the rocker.
Threshold flange re-bent .
Remaining corner highlights where it was.
Reinstalled for a test fit and this problem now solved. The leading edge of the flange also sits level with the threshold whare as before it sat too tall and needed to be trimmed back level.

[JTR70]

Rocker skin prep cont.
Have some clean up work to go on this corner but will leave it loose until final installation time.
While the skins are loose, now was the time drill the rocker deco holes. Much nicer to install these flat on my table rather than vertically on the car. Using the original skin and an original deco to locate and drill the holes.
While I was at it the left side skin was done next. There is definitely an up and down side to the decos. If its flipped over the center holes will misalign slighty.
Holes centered and aligned to the originals.
Onto the next deal... Thanks for looking!

[roy mawbey]

Justin now that was a full explanation indeed. A lot of thought to get it all in the position you are now in. Well done its very interesting to watch the procedure step by step. Also how useful some of your special shrinker tooling proved to be on this rocker work. You just cannot do this level of restoration without all these tools you have. You have a lot of confidence in yourself to attempt this work its not for the faint hearted at all!

Roy

[JTR70]

Oh thanks Roy, I'm glad you were able to get through all of that without falling asleep. I have just enough tools to get me by but I could always use more just like I could always use more shop space! I'm just sifting through it as best as I can as each fitment issue presents itself. Thanks again!

[JTR70]

Back corner:

The right rocker is now in its final position and of course its wired lip is no where close to where it needs to be in both shape and position to seamlessly continue the wheel well arch opening.
Also have the corner relief shape to reposition and widen. The relief step for the lap joint is not crisp or tight enough.
Needed modifications begin. Corner cut free for widening and repositioning and wired edge cut and pried outward into basic alignment. Pounding that step out flat next and will install my own.
Remounted with a much tighter step for the lap joint requiring much less lead for final finishing. The wired edge is aligned but the shape on the rocker side still needs some work. Its too straight and needs a slight curve added to it before its joined together for good.
Plug weld holes drilled along the flange and set screwed against the threshold. So far so good.

[JTR70]

Rocker all set for now.
One more confirmation fit. A good basic 3MM gap locked in.
Most importantly there is no severe overbite at the doors bottom edge. I have some contour correction yet to go on it but its all within striking distance at this point.
A relief seeing all this pieces fit together like they should with the door open and
this panel fitment across the gaps with the door closed. Gone as far as can with this rocker for now.
Back to prepping the splash pan for final installation. Acid cleaning the rust remaining rust here.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin I wonder how many guys buy replacement panels and after cutting out the old ones expect the new ones to fit straight in? Of course without these panels things would come to a grinding stop as without them, I am fully aware without these companies who produce them, there would be far less 356 cars on the road !!!

I like the way you have matched up the ' wired' areas, and getting that area looking good.

Roy

[JTR70]

In the beginning I was that guy Roy. I'd get new panels and didn't have the confidence nor the experience to question the fitment issues I was running into. I assumed this is the way it was made so it must be correct. As the years have rolled by I know now that nothing will just fall into place.(if it does something must be wrong?? LOL) This includes the new reproduction interpretations of course as well as the near non-existent NOS sheet metal. The wired edge is aligned but it needs additional contour shaping to carry on the line seamlessly. It improves with each attempt.... Justin

[JTR70]

Splash pan re-installation:
All the inner surfaces cleaned of old rust and this pan is now reinstalled for the final time.
Panel is right back where it was with all the drilled out spot welds aligned as close as possible. This is the only 356 panel that just falls into place Roy (LOL); one that was already mounted.

Plug welding from the center outward as always.
The original spot welds were very small and very close to the edge so I had to punch an additional hole behind them to create a more exposure for a plug weld. This edge was rusty on its inner surface and now thinner so I had issues with it blow out as I welded. Took more time and care but I eventually got them all filled.
Plug welds on the face completed and now dressing the heads smooth.

[JTR70]

Now that have the rocker established in its final adjusted position I could ahead and finish tying the bottom of the hinge mount to the threshold. I also extended the drain tray out the additional 2MM that I needed.
I'm officially done with all of my welding and clean up duties in this door well. All the gas weld details replicated.
Splash pan all welded back in. Onto the next deal...
Now that the pan is back in I can begin my plan to build out from there.
Now to get this jigsaw puzzle comprised of crash damaged and rusty original metal to flow uniformly in with new reproduction panels. Small bites at a time...

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Refitting right fender:
Dialing in a basic 3mm gap and making sure the panel height with the edge of the hood did not change.
Gap is starting out very tight so I began trimming of slivers from the new panels edge to give me the clearance I need to allow the fender to come over where its needed.

Gap gradually getting better but still tight towards the back. This gap width also changes as the fender is raised or allowed to droop. So I've gone as far as I can with this until I get the fenders final mounted height locked in.
Moving onto fitting the new rust repair section.
Trimmed top and bottom to basic needed length, but I ran into a fitment issue. The curve in the flanged edge as too sweeping and was way off with the edge of the door. The easiest approach would be to flatten it and rebend it to suit But this was almost like starting from the scratch so I decided to go ahead and do that. This is a complex shape as it makes the upward turn and this new section is made from 18 gauge. 20 gauge is far more ideal to work with to get the final shape I'm after so I'm making my own out of 20. Kind of an annoying situation. For frame pieces heavier 18 gauge is ideal but a lot of it is made in 20 gauge and when I need lighter easier to shape body sections they make it out of 18 gauge!?!

New section from 20 gauge up next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin