1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, Thanks! Definitely a process to get all of these components both old and brand new to fit and work together like they need to but its steadily getting there. Thank you for that confirmation info on your car. Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin yesterday I took the measurement of the bumper tips to the right and left fender. The gap was equal at 3/4 of an inch ( 19mm ) I was surprised they were so equal its not an easy job to get those gaps correct you are winning with that. So many difficult decisions to get this result. Not that many would have attempted your way round this. So many things to think of Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Front bumper fitment continued:
Eventually came to the conclusion that it would be much simpler to continue the cut and fit each side individually to the body.
Cleaning up the edges so the halves can be retacked in their newly needed position. Bodywork was done previously by someone with a very acceptable thickness of filler.
This approach immediately turned the trick for this left side and closely resembles my original reference reveal in both width and contour shape.
Was able to get a similar shape and width on the right side but it begins to sweep away from the skin starting just after that mounting hole.
Direct comparison laid over top highlights that this shape discrepancy. Confirmation that this issue is with the bumper and not on the body. Will be tightening up this bend as the fitment continues.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

front bumper fitment to this car:
Bumper is now resting on wood pegs so I can "float" it into its best adjusted position with the new nose. It needed to come in a touch closer for about a 2 inch reveal or spacing away from the body. By the time I achieved that the tip of bumper closed down to nothing.
Pretty much the same issue on this side though the radius shape on this side isn't quite as tight and the tip begins to swing out.
I'm using this original nose and bumper as my guide. The general distance through the center is just shy of 2 inches with a livable but slightly tighter spacing as it makes the turn towards the tip.
The mock ups are telling me that the general overall contour of this bumper is a touch too tight; at least for this newly established nose. The center of this bumper has been rewelded at some point and I detect residual crash damage through its center. Knowing that its not pristine stock makes contour adjustment changes much easier.
Began by relief cutting it through the weld joint to begin relaxing and opening up its shape. This quick cut immediately allowed the bumper to come in closer and bottom out against the skin at the center; extreme but just working back from there. While it was heading in the right direction, swinging it opening this way was now flattening its profile shape a bit too much at its center. It was taking on a bit of reproduction look so I needed another approach to get the clearance and final contour shape I was looking for.

[JTR70]

Continue dialing in the final bumper fitment:
Bumper brackets are fully synched up at this point. I have about an inch gap at the end on the right side here
but a non existent gap on the left side. The problem now is that the bolts are bottomed out in the bracket slots and won't allow for any additional movement to the left.
The right side is maxed out but at this point I'm still in need of an additional 1/2 inch of adjustment. I could open the slots up further but the bracket half on the left here would out of range. As you can the base mount has been damaged and rewelded at some point so one thought is to cut it free and move it over where it is needed for this specific application.
On the left side only the inner half of the bracket is bottomed out but the outer half has ample for further adjustment. Again not sure if I'll move and reset the base mount or modify the brackets.
Before I commit to changing anything I wanted to establish a base contoured fitment with the new nose and this old original bumper. Bumper was stripped entirely and was now in process of dialing in a uniform reveal/gap between these two parts. More on this next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Hello Roy, No magic my friend, just steady incremental improvements as it goes. I've actually left the hood/body contour correction alone for the moment. The body side of it will be corrected with lead but I haven't quite decided how I'll relief cut the end of the hood to get it to relax up and outward the needed amount. I want to be as least invasive as possible so I'm letting it marinate in my mind for the moment but I'll be addressing that issue very shortly. Thanks again Sir! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin you are a magician my friend! the work to correct that front error of the hood lid matching the bottom section you pass off with a few words ? Thet must have taken you some to do so perfectly. The trough looks perfect and everything is lining up so well.

Super result Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

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.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

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.

thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

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.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

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.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

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

[roy mawbey]

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.

Roy

[JTR70]

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.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

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