1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[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]

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

[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]

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

[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

[roy mawbey]

Justin, its a really good process of working and it all makes sense to me but I have a question. I can remember cutting about 6 inches off the bottom of my drivers door skin and fabricating a complete new section to weld in. It was perfect till I welded it ( and I was really careful ) but with my gas welding I got distortion. My question is you have taken that fender off and clamped it to your table to run a complete weld bead to finish it. I presume its Mig you are using but how do you know its all staying in place and not doing what that door skin did to me?

Do you have datums to know its not distorted? Is there a trick to know you are safe to continue the weld? Do you move positions rather than do long weld runs? Was my old but perfect operational oxy/ acetylene welding really far harder than Mig to get good results. My experience some years of mig welding was not enough to really find that out!

After your attempts on all this work which is so good I really need to know how you overcome distortion when repair panels are off the car.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, I used to really fear the inevitable heat distortion but now I've just accepted that no matter what you do the panels will change; grow and shrink in places along the weld joint. As long as I have clear access to work the back side of the panel I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get most if not all of it out. This is the reason I'm doing most of the weld runs (whare possible) with the fender off the car and using the table as heat sink to reduce the distortion.
Justin

[JTR70]

Finished up the weld seams that can be fully stitched off the car. Now onto heat shrinking whare needed and beginning to planish the weld seam. Remounted for its first test fit here.
Ready to begin trimming off the excess so I can flange a new leading edge next.
Fender was fully screwed down and mounted in its best adjust position one more time...
Now I could take my scriber to the edge of the splash pans mating flange and etch my final bend line.
Going to take a little more than a simple relief cut to get the new corner and the old fender to flow out smoothly. Will cross this bridge soon enough.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

New flange:
Bend line etched from the leading edge of the splash pan. Checking it against the original edge for shape and placement.
New bend will be about 5mm inboard of the original but it will work out fine as this foward gap was almost zero with the doors edge before this fender was dismounted.
Finally ready to trim off the excess. Leaving about a 5mm lead from the bend line.
Then it was onto putting in an initial 90 degree flange. Starting with the flatter area first. Would become much more involved as I made my way upward into the turn.
Remounted for the first time with its new flange. Very rough preliminary bend up into the compound curve portion. I'll use the leading edge of the splash now as a hammer form to both shoulder and shape against to take this area further into a 90 degree+ bend. The new bend seats so far, tight up against the edge of the splash pan. All the while allowing the fender to remount and seat whare I had it before. This was such a critical bend to get right as it dictates the fenders mounting attitude and the eventual door gap. If I had gone off course, it all would have all been thrown off. So far so good though.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin that is some great work there, I was wondering how you would attempt that flange. It proves to me though you have to be very experienced to attempt this level of working. Thank you for your explanation as to why you used the table for the welding ! I forgot of course my welding job on the 356 door did not allow me hardly any room to inside the door frame to correct the error ! Of course you have all the room to correct errors if the parts are free to work around with hammer and dolly.

Anyway well done its so interesting to see you do this step by step.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy. Yes, anytime I can use my table as heat sink I'll take advantage of it. Agree, door skins for sure are tough repair as far as access goes but your repairs have held up all of these years later so you must have done it very well. Justin

[JTR70]

Promising start with back edge contour shape and fitment but I'll know more once this edge is actually heeled all the way over and pinched tight to the splash pan flange. By contrast the wired lipped edge on the other side is going to need a bit of reshaping for a seamless flow. It also may require a little alteration on the fender side. I'll be crossing that bridge here shortly.
But now, back to shaping this upper run of the flange.
A little torch heat to make life easier on everyone. Entire run now into a good basic 90 degree angle.
Fender dismounted once again so I could tighten up the flange shape a little further.
With the back edge of the fender all but set I could now move forward and dial in the final trim line for the nose. This up next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Final trim:
Much less stressful to commit to an initial cut line on this side. It has been consistently a half inch wider over here so as fitment progresses I only need it to come in tighter so no chance I'll come up short after this first cut.
Trim line etched and first trim in progress.
Getting very close to final installation. Decided now was the time to begin lifting out some of that old accident damage through the side of this fender. I thought this damage was part of the big front end collision but it seems its a separate accident. Something went down the side of it and remnants of the crease it made could still be detected.
Began shrinking and lifting out the big and obvious areas down the sides. Also planishing out the weld joint while I was at it.
Not finished working this surface but the basic profile shape was much improved. I'll chase it further once the edges of this fender are mounted and locked into their final positions. Onto more prep work for final installation next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Prepping for final install.
Onto cleaning up the top of the splash pan
Once the last of the surface rust and tar was cleaned it was onto a good coat of epoxy.
And then the deep corner of the fenders underside.
Then a coat of black once the sealer cured and was scuffed.
With the deep blind surfaces cleaned and sealed its getting very close to final installation time for the right fender.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Right fender mounted:
After a grocery list of prep work this right fender was finally remounted for the last time. The fender itself still need a lot of finishing work but it was about as far as I could take it loose off of the car.
A quick tack was added as a jumping off point but mainly to keep it from sagging and dropping out. This will be just the beginning of a long serious of tacks, readjustment and retacks as the final fitment and contour between these two panels develops.
Establishing the inside first then working my way over the top and then down the side. After the leading edges of the fender and nose were tacked in their best adjusted position through here the previously tack welded joint along the replacement section became too sharp and deep in relation to the newly attached fender.
Eventually all the tacks along this joint were cut and the joint was ground opened to allow both sides of these panels to come up slightly softening this radiused turn. This is exactly why I left this area only tack welded until the fender was on for good. I knew it wasn't going to be a match right out of the gate. I never get that lucky.
Eventually got the continuation profile shape off of the fender I was shooting for. This area is now ready for a final seam weld.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Continued the same process down the rest of the way. Cut the tacks zipped the joint wider and raised both sides up to soften up the transition to the headlight opening.
This inner correction section was now finally ready to seam weld up. Moved onto tacking the crown of this joint . Everything was matching up pretty nicely as I made my way to the top.
A contour issue cropped up once I crested the top and was making my way down the side. A small section of the fenders' edge as it makes the final turn would not draw in to meet the edge of the new nose. The fender has not been damaged in this area so I interpreted it as mistake on the repop side.
This area had to grow to be able to reach the edge of the fender so two relief cuts were added to allow this to happen. Not perfect but it allowed the needed movement for an initial tack weld so I could move forward. BTW: notice how the top contour of the new nose runs a little flat and drops away from the fenders line a little too quickly. This will need some hammering and maybe a relief cut to correct that line. All part of the fitment and contour evolution.
Continued tack welding down this initial cut line. This was just some place to begin and like the adjustments made to that upper patch previously this major joint will have to be recut, trimmed, and retacked as its overall shape and contour is developed into a final form that I can live with.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin now that was a great advance ! You make it look so easy which I know isn't the case. Since you started theis bodywork 'relief cuts' have opened my eyes to so much I did not know or understand till you had done it a few times. Now its something I will never forget I hope others that look on also begin to realise just how important they are !! I recon that body work is going to look fabulous in the end when you look back on what you have done.

Your accounts, photos and procedures are better than any book on bodywork repair I have ever read.

Super !

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! While I can't realistically show everything that goes into this I still shoot for a good sample of all the goings on during the process. In the beginning I would just shoot for close with a few tacks then weld it all up and try to correct any short comings after the fact. I've learned the hard way that the final product is much cleaner and nicer to tack weld in series and then reassess and make the needed changes as the panel shapes develop. Especially when you're trying to join reproduction parts with crash damaged originals without the advantage of a jig. I have to take in stages to have any real shot at it. Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

Initial tack most of the way down the outside.

The panel shape in through the side was already too strong and bulbous.

The tack welds just under the relief cuts were released so I could overlap the panels and draw in this profile.

While not 100% correct just yet it was all definitely headed in the right direction. A new cut line was etched on the nose side next.
The next cut line tapers but at its widest I'm removing a good 4 MM's. This is why I was not afraid to make the initial cut; I knew I was going to have remove a little more as the fitment progressed.

Thanks for looking!

Justin