1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[roy mawbey]

Justin, Hoo-ray and well done great result. "When you first started on this car some years ago now, to do just the bodywork is that still the case? Have you not become attached to it after all effort? I suppose its the effort I have made over the past 56 years or so, that makes me keep mine. My middle son in his mid fifties, has been an invaluable help to me on some jobs on my 356 over recent years, as you can't always achieve in your eighties, jobs you did easily in your 50's.!!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! The bodywork and final paint will be handled by a local shop in his hometown. My final mission will be to rough in the body to a level that any competent bodyshop can finish it out correctly. Actually its quite the opposite, I am very anxious to get his car back to him. He has been incredibly patient and understanding so I really want to get this old shell back to him as soon as I can wrap it up. Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

Ready to come off the Cellette Bench for the final phase.
Gone as far could with it mounted to this frame table. To finish up the loose end chassis work it had to go back on the rotisserie but before I could do that the rear bumper work had to be completed first as the rotisserie attaches to the bumper mounts. Dismounting it was bit dicey at times as this was a one man operation but I just took it very slowly.
Cellete bench out of the way and ready to mount it on its dolly so it can go back inside.
Safely remounted back on the rotisserie.
This is dolly it was mounted to when it showed up. It was built to the car so now in a relaxed state the misaligned mounting saddle bares witness as to where the beam was before it was pulled back out to factory spec on the Cellette. Not end the world and probably could have been compensated for but its now corrected and the chassis blessed on the bench.
Ready to begin tying up the loose ends I had no clear access to mounted on the frame table. Finishing out the plug welds long the lateral gussets, the rear wall of the battery box and then onto mounting the diagonal brace. All that up next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Lateral gusset loose ends.
Frame table certainly had its roll to play but no way to get a clear shot at these areas. A rotisserie is the only way to go
Starting with the gusset plug welds along with those three plug weld holes along the bottom flap of the new closing wall. The factory only had three spots securing that run. Begin test fitting the new diagonal member as well.
Plug welding complete and in process of dressing them smoothly here.

Then it was onto adding the seam weld detail along the leading edge at the front bulkhead as found originally.
And finally seaming up the back leading edge. I would have bridged these two edges together solid with weld but that is not how they did it. Lateral gusset installation complete.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Battery box loose ends:
Another unreachable area with it mounted to the cellette bench. Had to install more set screws than usual to hold these panels tight for welding
as no clamp is big enough to reach this flange.
Center recess wall all welded up with gas welds added along the four corners as my original reference piece shows.
Same process, leap frogging each plug weld with lots of set screw to ensure a tight fit.
Then down the left and right sides to add in the gas welds at the corners and the tips of the fender braces as found originally.

Carefully cutting through the old gas welds to remove the remains of the original diagonal brace. There is a stepped shoulder that the braces ends seat into so I had to make sure I didn't cut too deep.
Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Initial loose ends completed
Plug welds dressed smooth then followed up with the panel spotter for the finishing detail.
Panel spotter follow up along the back battery box wall flange.
Got the recessed mounting flanges cleaned of the remains of old diagonal brace in preparation for mounting the new one.
Began prepping these finished surfaces for a sealer coat.
Initial sealer applied and now onto prepping for the diagonal brace installation.


Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin what a lucky guy he will be when he gets this car back. Those pictures above are as good as any I have seen before and show so well the effort put in my yourself. Fantastic result actually. I still have my original battery box and that's quite rare over here. So much that often rotted out on UK cars and not easy to replace. without so much work involved.

Well done !

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks very much Roy! Just doing the very best that I can to copy what was once there. An original battery box floor anywhere in the world is an extreme rarity. Your car is a bit of a time capsule for sure and you've been a great custodian of it through all of these decades. Thanks once again! Justin

[JTR70]

New diagonal brace:
As the loose end tie-ups progressed I began test fitting the new diagonal brace to get some sense as to how much work was going to be involved before it actually fit.
It of course did not disappoint. The saddle relief was way oversized (left and right) and would require a bit of reshaping to get it all to fit together tightly. That saddle or trough width should match the one in the beam base and as you can see its almost twice the width. This is going to require a hammer form and bit of heat to get this all matched and mounted cleanly. That later access hole feature correct for a B/C application closed by this time.
I noticed that this corners leading edge was unfinished without a rolled shoulder like the original below it shows. I thought this was an oversight but my late original cross brace has the same shaped corner on the right side as well. This seems to coincide with that large knock-out hole I previously welded shut.
I had two very rough original examples on hand so I dug them out for direct comparison and as a guide.
During the comparisons I noticed that the repop part is made from 18 gauge steel where as the originals were stamped from a heavier 16 gauge equivalent. I was liking this new brace less and less. More later...

Thanks for looking.

Justin