1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

11/27/17

Back to new door bottom fitment.

Before that had the replacement inner wall flange into basic shapes.

Then onto test fits and repeated trimmings to get the new bottom into final position.

Once I get the bottom set this previously installed flange section will be butt-welded onto it. Should be one piece but due to the tight work space this was the only option. The weld joint will be concealed and lap supported by the eventual door stop housing flange that was so rusty.

Setting the outer flange on the door skin side at a depth that supports the skin and continues the line represented by this ruler. Also making sure there is ample clearance so I don't have any bulging issues like I had on the other door.

The outer flange is not fully set as a test fit on the car is needed to confirm it 100% but I'm already having an issue with the inner flange overshooting the door on the inside. Same problem as before; at the very least its consistent.

Mounted on the car for the first time. The outer flange seems to sit pretty close but some trimming is needed so I can get the door to close fully.
That up next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

11/28/17

After some additional trimming the door finally seated fully.

Flange aligns pretty close with the edge of the rocker. This new bottom is just about all but dialed in.

With the outer flange set I now know how much this side has to be taken in.

About 5MM's. This flange actually needs to tuck under the vertical runs so it needs to be a little tighter still.

New bend line etched. The rear corner of this flange also stands a touch too proud so I need to reset the entire run on this one.

About that much. 5mm+ at the widest up front and then tapering down to 1MM+ at the back. Had to whip up a Jig on my work table next. The raised relief shapes on the bottom threw an additional curve in making this happen; Never straight forward.

The new lower skin repair section showed up.

Quick test fit with the car to see how nice of a gap the edges would make. Pretty nice for starters. I can remember the ones from 20 years ago always having a badly set vertical run but not the case here.

I think this one originates from Trevor's hammer works. It seems like his work and its coated with the same anti-rust goop found on everything else I have ever received from him.

A ways yet to go before I can close this up but these fresh pieces are nice to look at.

Resetting that flange run next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[merbesfield]

Man I hope my door bottoms fit better than these do. Fingers crossed.

[JTR70]

Hope springs eternal

11/29/17
initial lower skin trim

Not exactly sure just yet where the new bottom edge of this panel needs to be for a nice gap with the rocker but left myself with a nice margin for error.

Good for starters

Now have all the pieces needed to complete this door repair. Back to making them all fit.


Back to resetting the bottom flange. Took some time figure out a steady holding jig that would clear the shape relief and turn a soft enough corner profile as it originally had. Ready to go here.

Heated and gradually worked the run down in stages.

Once I had the new turn established I mounted it directly to the table so I could really go to town on it by not worrying about that jig shifting or coming loose. At this point it was very rough and wavy and a fear slowly crept in of "did I just ruin this part" Thankfully as the hammering continued it began to true up.

Initial test on the door. The flange itself is still very wavy but it was at least going in the right direction. Though it needed more work, new bend was at least in the spot.

After more hammering and a little heat shrinking in spots I had the flange tamed down enough to trim away the excess making it more manageable in the process.

Fitting pretty well by this point. The vertical flange section I trimmed back will eventually lay over top of this one so its just about where I need it.

Just about done torturing this piece.

Remounted with window frame to recheck this new bottom for correct placement.

Access hole detail added.

With the frame all bolted down to the bottom the rear sits a few MM's to high. There really is no up or down adjustment in the footings so this where getting the bottom in at just the right spot before welding runs critical.

I've gone about as far as I can for the moment here so I switched gears and began fitting the new lower skin section.


Door bottom removed to begin dialing the skin section in. With the weld joint down here I'll have ample room to weld and work it from both sides. This part of the assembly plan is holding for this very reason. The skin will go on first and be fully welded and dressed as the other two pieces block this direct access.

Remounted with only this skin section so its free to adjust and move where needed.

Noticed it runs tight at the center as I tried for a uniform gap.

The cause is old rocker damage where it seems it was jacked up by the leading edge causing the thresh hold to bow upward a touch. We are going to preserve the original rockers so I'll relax that back out some time down the road.

My preliminary gap will be a touch wider than a paint stick at the front and back. I learned from the other door that once that flange is crimped tight its going to grow slightly closing this distance. Just trying to compensate for that but either way it will be reset to this finished doors edge when I reinstall the rocker. Its just some place to start. More later...
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Excellent photos and methods you are so well at describing. Its no wonder I nearly went mad just doing the repair of one door and only a six inch outer skin panel. I never had occasion to replace the bottom of the door itself as the rust was only 17 years old or so.

Great to see your effort, its not easy doing doors!

Roy

[Trevor]

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy!

Thanks Trevor, Unfortunately the reality is that every single lap joint on our doors, not to mention the entire car for that matter has rust growing in between these factory joints. In your example photo you could have kept going right up past your cut line and would certainly find a continuation of the same thing to varying degrees. If its swollen, broken through or the integrity is compromised in a specific area then sure, you're going to want to open that up and remove it. I'd love to clean or at least treat all of that sleeping rust but far too impractical and really unecessary to open every lap joint completely; just the nature of the beast . On a positive note I find that most of the factory spot welds still hold up very well even between some of the more rustier panels.

We both know what lies beyond under there but its not swollen or breached so I am going to let continue to sleep. Well, I guess that's not exactly true as Bruce says "rust never sleep" but with the life this car will now lead it won't be of any concern. Sort of like being diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 85; you'll be dead long before it takes you so its more prudent to just leave it alone. Same with this, if and when that old rust ever becomes and issue we'll all be long gone. BTW: what is the coating your're using there?


21/1/17


Repair section set screwed initial position.

After more study I noticed with the edges lined up at the joint the corner profile shape tapers away just a little too quick so some slight adjustments in position will have to made before I can commit with a tack weld. Trying to stay conservative with the size of my repair patches I initially opened up those two small windows where it had gone through. I'm soaking this area in acid next so we'll see if I have to go deeper after its cleaned.

A step closer but its bottle necking where I can only go so far before I have to catch another repair section up.

before the skin is welded up I have to make sure I can slide this bottom on and off so I don't lock myself out during the final assembly process.

But before I'll know sure if I can do that I have to get this new inner flange section shaped and staged.

I have to get this caught up now. Can't weld this on ahead of the skin as it will hang too low and be in the way.

Will work from the center section outward.

Mocked up with the bottom here so I can start trimming and bending it to seat down in there snug like it should. No access to do this after the fact.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Trevor]

I like to use POR15, usually glossy, but in this case flat.

[JTR70]

12/1/17

Didn't catch a break

I was hoping to keep this troubled area to a minimum but after the acid bath the mating flange section next to the skin as too far gone.

Which meant I had to cut the skin back to get at this flange to install a new section.

Now I'm officially past it.

I was going to use this remnant section from the repair panel I just got.

but as I fitted it the skin profile was too flat. The skin has a slight crown so I started a new piece with a mild domed shape.

They differ only slightly but the second try fit so much better and reduces the need for filler in the end.

Ready to tack.

So far so good.

Pinch flange heeled over tight

Always more trouble than you think but its done back here.

More picking and filing yet but I'll wait until I have the next section all welded in to finish it out completely.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

12/2/17
Getting the flange ready for the repair skin run

Trimming away the excess on this outer flange is just about the last thing to be done on this piece.

There is some flex/wiggle room on this bottoms outer edge so I had to mock up the window frame once again to firm up its correct position for an accurate final trim line.

Flange trimmed and now both pieces installed together for the first time.

Everything is getting really close. Now time to remount it on the car as unit to see what I ended up with.

Ample space away from the skin so there is some room for error and adjustment if needed.

First install as a unit. Bottom gap looks close.

Door frame still sits nice in there.

Levelness off the edge of the rocker within striking distance.

Not without issues of course; still have shift this panel back slightly to close the corner then work the edge.

I also lost the body line through that small repair patch I did previously. Its too flat so I'll have to relief cut it and bring it up. This is exactly why I wanted to disturb as little as possible. I knew that my new flange contour might be out and sure enough it is. This why I have to keep checking with the car as it goes.
A little closer to buttoning this though..
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

12/5/17

A mistake and a redo

I tried correcting this patch contour after the fact and it just turned even uglier so I cut it all back out to start fresh. I know better so this is my responsibility and of course the time to redo it is on me.


Next flange was shaped and contoured against the body profile this time. The way I should have done it in the first place.

Curved ever so subtly but enough to cause me trouble.

Trimmed, positioned and tack welded in relation to the car. Just like I should have done it in the first place. I learned on the coupster that I just can't free-style this stuff on the workbench and expect it all to line up and fit in the end. This is why I say I should have known better...I'm not that lucky..ever.

New skin patch will harvested from the old original skin with flange already to go. Something I also should have done in the first place but it worked out as I would have burned that piece because of the flange issue.

section harvested and ready for a final trim and fit. Everything was heading in the right direction.

Skin trimmed and also oriented to the car body. No fooling around this time. Ready to be tacked. Almost back to even.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

12/5/17 part 2

Lower skin repair install

Etched in my line for the final cut.

Excess slowly peeled away and checking the new joint as it went.

Initially tacked and remounted on the car for another confirmation fit.

Lower gap got slightly wider but more uniform in the process Its close enough as again I'll get another stab at setting this gap when I reinstall the rocker.

With that more tack welds were added.

Aligns and contours out pretty well for starters. Tack weld heads would be ground smooth next so I could flip it over clamp it to my table and really lay down some beads.

Clamped at the center to my table/heat sink.

With the table as a back up I turned up the amps to get a more thorough penetration. Did a section at a time dressed it down and repeated.

There is a slight bow to this doors shape but my table is flat. To preserve this shape the center was clamped and welded first with no tension. As I move out to the sides I'll chalk the door up on a natural angle opposite side I'm welding then clamp it in. Before I called it I began some picking and filing; heat shrink too. The table helped but some heat warp of course did develop.

Quite a luxury to have such clear access to both sides for this repair.

More welding and shaping to come but a good start today.

I'll have it all stitched up by next session.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

That last session of welding really looks like it worked out really well. Great bit of work! Excellent photos and description of your work in these door repair pages.

Roy

[John Pierce]

Retaining that mild crown is tough. Great job.

JP

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Glad you don't find too detailed and strenuous to look through.

Appreciate it John!

12/7/17

Stitching continued.

Trying to preserve that bow that John mentioned. Nothing scientific, just allowed the skin hold it shape with the rear corner clamped tight then propped the high side up front and back to support it while I welded.

Moved onto the front and repeated the process.

Gone about as far as I can up here as it runs under the hinges so the rest of the welding would have to be done from the outside.


The rest of this back corner would also be easier to welded from outside.


Though I couldn't weld it all from inside it was really nice getting most of this joint out of the way.

A quick test fit before I finished up the ends to see if all that tilting nonsense on my table messed it up.


Other than being curled in a little tight it ran along the rocker closely enough. The door bottom isn't on here, so this new lip section is hanging in space. Once its secured to the flange it should move back out where I needed.

Rear edge profile was within range too.
More tomorrow...
Thanks for looking!
Justin