1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

This is a full on 356BT5 tail skin factory installed on this late 356AT2.

Took a hard detailed look as to why this factory T2 rear bumper was so oversized in its fitment against this particular tail. Again, the example 356AT1 does swing wider at its corners but not to this degree.
The embossment for the coming T5 reverse light is the obvious "transitional" detail but there is more to it as this rear bumper issue began to highlight.
Again, after taking a really hard look at it I finally noticed the detent markings for the eventual T5 reflector bases above the tail light; both sides.
Then there are these later drain holes in the corners. Definitely an evolutionary thing.
Confirmation against this loose T1 tail section with the typical teardrop update from way back in the day. The tail is relaxed of course but it still fills up and sits well into the profile shape of this bumper. So the problem isn't with this rear bumper.
By contrast this tails' profile tapers and narrows much quicker; its different. You could easily assume this was just an A rear tail with a simple embossment add on change to the middle but coming to find out that the entire tail section is subtly different. The bumper is 356A and this entire tail is 356B. It was beginning to make sense as to why the fit was so off. More on this next...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Direct overlay for comparison:
356A tail skin clamped directly to this T5 tail for further confirmation regarding this shape discrepancy. Clamped tightly at the edges in closest position.
At the center the panels nearly touch so no real changes there.
Out at the corners is where the differences begin. There is a good inch of space between these two panels out at the tail lights.
And a good half inch of space between the aprons. There is some light damage to this tail so this is just an average. A good upward view into the right tail light opening showing the same distance discrepancy that was found on the left side.
Though a bit wrinkly the general discrepancy between these two corresponds with the bumper spacing and reveal issues we are having. Though very subtle these tail skin profile shapes were changed from 356A to BT5. The 356A tail is slightly more bulbous and blunt around the corners whare by contrast a 356B tapers quicker and is slightly narrower; about two inches narrower overall than a 356A version. Always learning something new about these cars...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Well Justin having driven in the past a 356C for years I also never really noticed the difference in the tail panel to my 356A. You did not need that Justin. I think if I were caught like this it would have to be a 356B bumper as they must be different also to the 356A??? I suppose you could modify the the existing bumper to fit and probably no one would ever have known or would know except for those who carry a rule in their pocket all the time! You are very honest Justin Whatever you do I am sure it will look just fine.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, The difference is so subtle that nobody could really pick up on it. Not even with an A and a T5 car sitting side by side. I only found it through this unexpected issue of an oversized poorly fitting rear bumper. I wish I had a B/C bumper on hand to hold up to these two tails for further confirmation but this is all I have. As you know the B/C bumper ends mount through the body but that change is on the fender side of the joint so this T5 tail could easily slip by on an A car unless you have a problem with how it fits around the corners. We did modify the bumper and then some. That coming up next. Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

Chopping and recontouring the rear bumper to suit:
We had this rough T2 bumper on hand so I decided to use it as the test bed for the best places to cut and for the needed contour changes. It was punched hard in the left upright causing that buckle but looking past this damage you can see its overall width shows the same fitment issues we are having with the gray bumper.
The T2 exhaust arches are a limitation as their locations cannot be changed so the best place to start cutting was though the center of those existing arches. During the direct tail skin comparisons earlier I was able to confirm that there was really no notable differences in these panels between the tail lights except for that reverse light embossment of course. The reveal and its shape through the middle matches well here so all the needed changes of narrowing and contouring will be out at the corners.
For this initial mock up the corners were lapped over the center by one inch.
And moved over one inch on this side. While not perfect the improvement against the width and shape of this skin was immediate.
Bumper is clamped directly to the body to better dial in a matched contour fit. Two inches of overall width out of this bumper is turning the trick. Doesn't sound like a lot but in reality its changing things quite a bit, especially how it effected the chrome trim which I'll show a bit later.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Making changes requires more changes:
One inch removed from each side is our magic number to achieve that uniform fit and reveal with this tail that we're looking for.
But once we make the bumper shorter and tighter to fit this car the existing deco is going to be too long. The tips of it are going to end up about here; way too long to look right. This deco would have to be cut and shortened and the best place would be under the upright mount area where this bumper was cut.
Then I remembered I had two super short original decos up on my storage shelf. I dug out the best of the two to see if it would work. I had sold this one years ago but the buyer returned it as it was way too short to fit the original bumper he was building.
It coincidently is an inch shorter at both ends making it the perfect part for this alteration. I was told by someone that this shorter deco was for Pre-A but after all of this I am not so sure about that. I can't imagine Porsche letting these late T5 tailed A-cars go out the door with such poorly fitting rear bumpers. Perhaps they made a Late '59 specific rear bumper assembly for these cars and this deco was once a special component of one? Just a theory of course.
At this stage a lot of prep and effort had already gone into this bumper for the mock up so decision was made to just keep building it. The alteration had eliminated most of the old accident damage leaving a pretty nice shell save for a large localized rust hole at the right corner. (where the big square hole is) Moisture holding road grime had accumulated in between the lateral bumper mount and this area severely rusting out both. That repair up shortly. Anyway, we now had our basic bumper and a deco.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin well that turned out very well indeed for you !! A bit of luck having items to check and some parts too. I am sure as you say it will look stock when finished. Great post so well explained and super photos as usual.

Roy