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1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625 -
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Great work Justin.
I have been absent for a while. All I can say is I sure am glad that I have the Roadster done.
I posted a 'New Event' of our Richmond Porsche Meet that was held a week ago with some pictures.
Dick
Thanks Dick! Agree, having a 356 that you're actually driving and enjoying is an enviable position. Looked through all of your shots and your car still looks amazing. Thanks for posting those. Justin
The excess 4mm tapered strip was trimmed out and the edges where retacked. Much closer to the overall shape and transition I was after. The other major improvement was that lip of this fenders' distance to the battery box wall was now within MM's of matching the left side. Now that this area was settling in I moved back up to the relief cut area. While the area on the nose side was still a bit flat and shallow this area on the fender side was too strong. I try to avoid changing the shape original panels but at this point it going to have to be a little give and take to get these two to flow together smoothly. Marked out a relief cut on the fender side to allow this area to shrink a little to compensate for the softer nose profile. A ways yet to go still but like the area below , it was all gradually improving.
Hi Roy, I hated to make those cuts but the nose side had to grow and the fender had to shrink. Once fully welded I'll pound them out together for the final shape. Thanks! Justin
Finishing the install the patch. Move back over to the top and finished stitching in the correction patch. In process here of smoothing out the weld shoulder. Patch weld seam fully dressed and smoothed out. Just need to finish stitching up the run at the hood gap. But before I can do that I have to finish correcting and establishing the gap and height against the edge of the latched hood in through here. Steadily getting the final fit and finish I'm after. Leaving this area again for now and heading back over the top and down the outside of that long weld joint.
Back edge of the fender: Moved to the rear and heeled the leading edge of the fender over tightly to the splash pan. Door reinstalled for its first test fit against the new edge.
Very rough initial shape but its a starting point. Then mocked up the rocker skin. Again very rough rudimental fit but I've got a good door gap to work with. A ways yet to go but its improving with each pass. Little bites at a time. Moving back up to the front to continue shaping and dialing in these two panels.
Wanted to finish tacking in the lower corner. Didn't quite capture it in this photo but there is a lump of excess steel just above the horizontal weld joint. I had to chase this out first before I could go any further. Recut the joint just below that feature to give this excess somewhere to go. You can see this slit taper closed just a touch after the area above was hammered flat into alignment with the fenders edge. Didn't take much but it turned the trick. Now this area is ready for some tack welds. This troubled area between the 9 and 12 o'clock weld joints is close but it would still need some additional cutting and retacking as it went. Went onto seam welding the inner run first then making my way over the top to chase out the rest of the issues as it goes. Then finally made it back over the top and into this troubled area. Same process of readjusting and getting it closer then finally welding it up. Rinse and repeat chasing it down the side.
Finishing up the big weld joint. Annealed the upper relief cut and began hitting and working it closer into the needed contour before I moved downward to the next cut on the fender side and so on. The bottom relief cut had opened up quite a bit to allow the needed growth . A bit of a process but the cuts and the long joint all stitched up at this point. This area was annealed in preparation for the major planishing session to come. Before I could really start working it, the weld shoulders on the underside had to be smooth too. Black guide coat applied to highlight the areas that need to come up. Very rough and the overall contour in this area still too low and flat as it drops away from the fenders contour too quickly; has to be rounder. After several rounds of picking and filing the surface was calming down and the overall shape was improving.
Justin, I have learned such a lot from these latest efforts of yours. I find it quite amazing how you getting the results you want and how good the results are looking. I cannot understand just how I managed to do such a lot of welding in the mid seventies without formal instruction. I really think I was lucky most of the time to get away with it. I did realise my limitations but now realise just how important proper instruction is. Probably also how important the correct choice of welding equipement and clamping tools is too. I think I could do it now Justin, as confidence in your ability is so important too.
Thank you Roy! The tools of course makes all the difference in the world but there is no substitute for just diving in and making the mistakes and learning from them as you go. You most certainly would fare much better with the equipment available now than what you had in the 70's but don't get tempted in restoring your car. LOL! Justin
Right corner work continues: Next round of several tracer coats fogged on to locate and highlight the lows and highs to get this area just a little bit better with each pass. At this point the basic shape and contour is there I am just after the small stuff now. Due to time constraints I won't be able to get all of this out but it will only require a thin venier to smooth this last 10 percent out. While that coat dried I moved over the inside surface to repeated the process. Had a couple of distinct high spots that needed some torch heat. As this area progressed I knew the time was coming to address those relief cuts along the trough and gap area. Shortly afterward it was time to bite the bullet and finish out the trough and gap shoulder run. Alot of cutting and heating to get the new to flow and transition into the old trough. The new troughs leading edge ended up being about 2MM shorter than the original so an intermediate section had to be fabricated with an angled lip to carry the line over smoothly. I had the same issue on the left side. Anyway the final result will only need some builder primer and some blocking to smooth things out the rest of the way. Basic gap about a MM wider than I need but better to be wider than too tight as cutting and rewelding is the only cure for a tight gap. Slowly coming into focus. I have both my basic gaps down the sides. It tightens up at the center but I'm anticipating that to get wider once the rubber seal is introduced. Adding that variable into this final fitment next.
Justin its super my friend. So good and so good without loads of lead anywhere ! And as I was reading the last section I thought I wonder how the rubber seal will fit will it upset things and at the end of the last comments of course, you mention the seal! You have performed a really great looking repair on the front of this car. And yes I confirm I have no intention of doing any more bodywork on my car. That comment though does mean I try to be as careful as possible driving it. Over Sixty years ago I was into fast motorcycles never gave much thought about repair now ,I do realise the effort to get things correct visually. There is just so much to know to even attempt this type of work.
Hi Roy, Thank you! It will need some lead but shooting for just a skim coat to get that last 10%. Glad to hear that you're not going to tear into your perfectly fine and running 356 at this point. Thanks once again. Justin
Hood seal confirmation: I couldn't mock up this seal accurately with the thickness of the set screw heads in the way. The trough is now welded and dressed through the nose and up most of the way along the fenders allowing for the first trial fit. Much to my great relief the hood engaged and locked down fully with a good rudimentary gap ; after some adjustments of course. Finished stitching and dressing the leading edge of the nose by this point. Its a little wide and inconsistent but I'll get it the rest of the way with solder. Did the paper test to check for seal engagement. Mostly good and positive contact but gets a little loose towards the bottom along both sides. A few mills of lead could be added to the seals' mounting surface to correct this but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've got a basic gap latched with the hood seal now I need to get a smooth transitional contour over these two panels. The metal ruler represents the needed profile and highlights the needed corrections on both sides of this gap. As nicely as the hood was repaired all those years ago the tip of it still curls and turns too tightly. This is just residual crash damage and was confirmed when compared against an original undamaged hood. Need to relax the hood in through here and build the leading edge of the nose in solder so they'll meet cleanly somewhere in the middle. Now onto figuring out the least invasive approach to getting the hood to come up. Its a dome shape so it really doesn't want to shrink very easily. The magic marker highlights the area that needs lifting and extending. We're only talking MM's to correct all of this but the use of filler has to be minimized especially on the hood side.
Finish work around the trunk opening. Took some doing but I finally got that trough to flow all the way around, tie into the original sections, take a seal, carry on a basic 3MM+ gap and finally carry on the line of the fully latched and engaged hood. Lots of weld scar and tooling marks remain but it will only need a thin skim coat of lead and filler to make the final presentation beautiful. Pulling up a few low spots from the heat warpage that where too deep to get in behind. Started with a little lead wiping with tinning acid to prepare the surface for the solder. Began trial fitting the head light bucket for final installation. Along with the last bit of the upper fender brace.
Bucket install prep: Harvesting the original capture nuts for the trim ring. Love reusing the old original parts large and small when possible. Before this bucket goes in for good I decided now was the time to open the holes for the tube struts. This original high bar version is my template. Having access though the head light opening is such luxury to work the weld joints and anything else up front here like establishing the best centered position for these holes that installing the bucket itself is pretty much the final chore. Bumper mocked up to determine if the factory position of that hole is still applicable here; too many variables to just blindly punch that hole as outlined.
Pilot hole punching: Bumper mocked up again and approximating the angle and height of the struts by running them through the horn openings with a really long bolt to reach the battery box. Not having the headlight buckets installed just yet provided a nice work window. Confirmed that the left side is close enough to commit to a small pilot hole. Then confrimed the factory location on the right side is also close enough for a pilot hole. Pilot hole drilled then my knock out punch installed here to make an initial hole large enough for the struts to pass through. The final sized hole will be made once I confirm 100% whare the center of the hole should be. Bumper remounted once again but this time with the struts. Now onto dialing in this bumper for true center and final position. one step closer.
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