1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

One small update for this build:

I took delivery of a real Cellette bench last October. Still have to buy the dedicated 356 jig fixture set next which will be a good chunk of change but I at least have the frame table now.

So it all sits in storage until the Convertible D is painted and gone.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Perfect start to getting a perfect part Justin. You have the perfect area to place that all in too ! When you have the final parts for the cellette you can be sure everything will fit to factory spec. If you are doing this work an item worth its weight in gold. ( Well worth a bit of it !)

Roy

[JTR70]

Could not agree more Roy. Now I can proceed with confidence when the day comes to begin on this project again.

Justin

[JTR70]

Back to steel work on this coupe:
I brain faded and left the doors I had previously repaired raw and they of course flash rusted during long term storage.
A quick application of acid made short work of it at least.

Cleaned up and ready for some sealer.
Undersides flash rusted as well..
Areas now ready for a coat of expoxy.

[JTR70]

Original color:
Cleaned and polished a nice area of the Original paint for a camera match at my local paint store.
Not a huge fan of red cars but this is at least a darker blood red which is much nicer than that orangey guards reds it was repainted at some point.
Sealer and tracer coat applied. Just some old dark red paint I've had lying around for about 20 years.
Much more of a maroon but its at least in the same spectrum
Perfect for this application and nice to be able to use it up before it turns to jelly.

[Scott B]

Justin - what type of acid product did you use to remove the surface rust.

[JTR70]

Just old fashioned pool acid (muriatic acid) found at any hardware store....

[JTR70]

Initial right door re-fitment issues. Though this door is original and only the lower section was replaced its relation to the body's opening still managed to change on me.
This was my "new" door fitment after the hinge pins where inserted. A humongous rear door gap
And an almost non-existent forward gap. Its all pretty much still factory metal in through here so it obviously fit better before.
The addition of the window frame really highlighted just how bad the fitment now was. The door had to come back at least 3mm.
I had removed and reinstalled the lower hinge and mount during the longitudinal repairs but the upper hinge I had left as baseline of reference. With this new fitment issue I had no choice but to now reset it too . As you can see it has not been moved or disturbed since 1959. The factory green primer remains.
Same with the hinge and spacers. Though I tried to avoid it, urns out I disturbed just enough during the lower repairs to require a full reset. Hated to disturb this but I had no choice; in the end it has to all fit correctly.

[JTR70]

In case you ever wondered who supplied Reutter with the door hinge castings.
Door needs to slide back so I ground the rear shoulder of the capture plate as thin as I could allowing it rest against the back wall of the mount as deep a possible.
It can now utilize the entire slotted hole. In the old days I would have mindlessly began opening up the back of the holes without a thought about the limits of the capture plate behind.
As the fit and re-fitment carried on I noticed that door had been sprung forward at some point and mounting surface of this upper mount was slightly bent.
As I'm shooting for optimal fitment I thought it best to straighten this surface back out. I cut the upper weld to break its strength then brought the area back out with a clamp and some heat.

[JTR70]

After much ceremony I finally had this sitting back where it belonged.
After the upper hinge mount repair this forward upper gap was now way too wide with the hinge shimmed to its original configuration. After some additional jockeying around with the upper and lower shims this area really improved with an original thick removed. Can't really say this is the end as the leading edge of this fender will have to be cut repaired so its all going to change yet again, ever so slightly.
A lingering and very frustrating issue is this upper corner standing about 2mm to proud off of the body line. This was the point where I had to now stop. I wanted the door to fit closer and it does but remaining issue like this are part of the body panel phase and I'm not there quite yet. I need to finish all the chassis repairs first then I'll move onto body phase.
Switched gears and moved onto the removal of the left rocker assembly in preparation for the longitudinal repairs.
That next....
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, you must be thinking I have been down this road before!

Roy

[JTR70]

I was having a few flashbacks along the way Roy...

[JTR70]

Unpeeling the onion:
Going to try to save and reuse this original rocker assembly. Began melting out the body solder to expose the joint.
Compared to other cars there really wasn't a whole lot of body solder used. These rockers must have been installed on a Tuesday.
Like the other side the lower mount is removed to get a clean shot at the rusty section behind it.
At long last all the contact points were severed and its now ready to come free.
Rocker and threshold out of the way and now its onto the remains of longitudinal. The three pieces sitting on the tube where harvested from the right side as templates. This left side is the worst of the two and those pieces are long gone but fortunately I have a pattern to simply flip over. I'll also have to refer to my earlier post on the right side repair to refresh my memory on how it layers together.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

unpeeling the onion:
Cutting the back section of the tube at its weld joint in preparation of removal.
Going to take this rear bulkhead out in one piece at its joint. Peeling up the overlay of the upper panel to expose the rest of this panel. As expected some advanced rot under here.
Both tube section and bulkhead removed giving me a clear shot this deep junction point.
Carefully chipping away the scale while taking note as to how it was originally built and layered together.
Getting my mind around which layer is which from those lower scaly remains.

[JTR70]

Unlike the other side I'll have to remove the entire bottom of this torsion housing.
The loose section is from the right side and is my pattern as to what this "1" panel should look like though the lower flange just flips the other way. It also tucks under #2 so it will have to be cut back a bit as well.
Opening up and removing more of the bottom housing and exposing a lot of scale.
Still mapping out the layers to make sure I get it right.
Bottom now fully exposed. #2 flange is heavy gauge and very rusty. Figuring out how much further I'm going to have to go. that next....

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Closer to touching bottom on this rear corner area:
Again, the rot goes a little deeper on this side so I've got to expose a little more to get past the bad stuff. This outer heavy gauge skin section (#4) will have to come off so I can get a clearer shot at the base structure of the actual torsion housing .
Outer sheath removed exposing the actual base structure that everything else layers onto. The bolt bosses are attached directly to this piece. Its very rusty and will be partially removed to give me a clean shot at that most inner panel.
Main structure cut and removed giving me the full access I need at that #1 wall. This finally gets me past the rust holes.
Not many clues left as to how that #1 inner panel actually went.
But fortunately the remains of the other side provides the info that I need.

[Scott B]

This area is so convoluted. Never understood why Porsche made these unibody cars so complicated. Soldier on Justin.

[JTR70]

Layering it was their best bet to capture and secure the ends of that tube to a thin pressed metal "frame" I can only assume. Will do! Thanks Scott.

[roy mawbey]

So true Scott ! When I welded my car in the mid 70's it was previously a pampered car and was ( and still is ) in good condition underneath. However, the small flat area under rear torsion bar that I used to use incorrectly as a jacking point for my trolley jack had some very small pin prick rust holes. This small flat area I took back to to bare metal and made a small inspection hole to look inside which was fine. So I neatly welded some caps on to that 2" x 3" area and its been fine ever since. Looking at Justin's really good explanation of this area I had no idea it was really so complex . I do realise though now, how my car could have rusted badly here in the UK in these area's over the years without attention. I am lucky I think still to have original battery box and floors after 62 years!

Roy

[JTR70]

It is really a complex and layered transition Roy. What could make it even more impossible is if its mostly rusted away and you're left with no reference to go by. I have forgotten a lot since I did the other side and have been going back to look at my old posts to see how it went. Yes, very lucky you didn't have to dive this deep to get past the rot.