1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy, but actually by this point I still wasn't out of the woods with that hood to nose transition. It would fight little more before I finally put it to bed. That up here shortly. Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, well done indeed you must be happy about that correction. That job would have been beyond most peoples ability and once lead skimmed will turn out just fine I think. Your experiences gained even down to the template for the badge tell me you never give up when many would!!

Roy

[JTR70]

All stitched with welds dressed down. Still have some stitching and finishing along the tough but I wanted to get the welding with the nose completed first.
Most of this run all welded back together with only the left side run remaining. Far from perfect but again only skim coat of lead needed to finish out the final gap and contour shapes of the end of the hood.
Got tired of welding and grinding so I took a break to locate and drill the front emblem holes. Once again an original reference saves the day.
Basic template off of it.
Then transferred over onto the new nose.

[JTR70]

center correction patch.
Basic shape and contour I was after. Small lip was left to make up for the slight distance outward it needed to carry on the line of the hood.
Final trim and new section tacked in. A relief cut was added below it as there was a touch too much crown and I needed to gather up the metal along here.
A tack was added with each slight adjustment as it went in. All but set here and ready to just lay down some final seam welds.
With the edge of the hood relaxed outward the new section is about 90% there. I'll take it in the rest of the way with skim coat of lead.
General profile is now well within striking distance. Again just a smear of lead will correct the shortfalls.

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, Its getting there. Sometimes I don't see it all even being right in front of it but eventually the flaws come into focus at least i hope that it does and that I catch them before its too late. Thanks again!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin I can see it looks better even without any work yet, the fresh piece of steel will work . Yes two wrongs do not make a right. You have found out the hard way. Its true also, photo's can disguise a lot and you have to see it in front of you ,to be sure if the action to take. You cannot always see as a bystander like me, the problems you have been faced with. I just saw the lid that was miles out from the nose suddenly coming into spec with all that work. What I did not notice were points you raised about the flatness aspect which proves you have to be in front of it, or a perfect example you can copy to see the error's you make.

Keep at it and keep smiling !

Roy

[JTR70]

Begin stitching the trough and then a needed profile correction.
Began stitching the trough back on working from the center outward.
Had a good basic gap started but as I looked at it the center was just too blunt and flat.
Suspecting that the original hood though very nicely repaired all those years ago might still be a touch too curled over at the leading edge from the collision. I mounted my pristine hood and it confirmed what I was seeing. The hood is supposed to hang out just a touch more.
The rule is you've got to build around the closing panel but if its out so too will be the adjacent panel. These two wrongs where not going to come out right. I began pounding the edge of the hood out and in turn had to reprofile this center section. Its too much to recut, stretch and reweld what was just seamed welded up so a fresh piece was needed.
Profile shaping a fresh piece from some old original metal.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! There is a lot all going on at once and you have to cover all the bases otherwise you'll have to back track to take care of the detail you missed...ask me how I know. I'm shooting for minimal amounts of required filler lead or plastic so a little more effort is needed to get it there. The next challenge will be adding in the fenders and getting them to flow smoothly in with this new nose. Something new to look forward to.. Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

You must be so pleased with that effort Justin. You deserve that excellent result. I never ever thought , it would involve so much work to correct it all to your exacting standard. Mind you, without the Cellette jig and a known 356 in good condition to refer back to so many factory measurements ,it could have been so much more difficult for you. I hope many have followed this thread to become fully aware, of just how complicated a repair can be on a damaged 356 front end !

Roy

[JTR70]

Left lower brace in further solidifying the new nose into its final position.
Before it went on for good I had to hammer flat those incorrect rolled edges.
After a bit of checking and rechecking for square and even then the end of it was welded to the bracket mount. Had it at the needed length on the last try so no further adjustments there. I did move the fender tab upward a touch so the approach angle matched the other side.
Wanted the brace runs to appear symmetrical through the windows of the horn grill openings. Not a big deal but it was just bugging me until I made that quick simple adjustment.
It took some doing but this nose is now squared and evenly mounted with the chassis; spaced and angled to match my reference car and finally gaped and matched to the edge of this hood. A lot of ducks to get in a row for sure.
Now onto stitching it back up with the trough starting with the leading edge first.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

I have to Roy, I've been punished too many times in the past. LOL...

[roy mawbey]

Every job you do on this car needs thought before you weld !! Just as well you do that Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Adding in the fender braces:
Approximate distance from the battery box wall to the edge of the fender on my undamaged original reference car is 16 3/4 inches. This nose in its relaxed state is just shy of 18 inches.
I would normally like to set that outer bolt in the center position but with the preliminary measurement I'm getting the edges of this nose must do nothing but come inward.
So I'm going to shorten this brace a little more so the bolt starts the tangs inner edge giving me full adjustment to push the bodywork inwards. Chalked up my table here and ready hammer a little more of the shoulder down flat allowing the brace to mount inward a little more.
First mock with the reshortened brace now locating the bolt at the inner edge of the slot giving me full range to come inward. Brace sitting square upper conduit slipping in nicely so far.
Brace attached to the bumper mount. Gas welded along the sides as originally. Every undisturbed original I've removed were also welded and attached internally. With the conduit out of my I was able to get in there and catch the folded shoulders and attach them to the mount as the factory did. Moving onto the left side.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Thank you Sir!

[roy mawbey]

Well done Justin

Roy