1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

re-establishing the nose position after trough removal.
Nose recentered with the hood and with the battery box within a few MM's. Dialing the best average placement with these two.
With this newly established placement the last bit of the left shoulder closes up and is actually ending up under the lip of the hood. If I hadn't separated the trough it would have never allowed the needed movement to true center.
Re-establishing the overall angle of the nose at the headlight openings.
Contour line carried off the end of the hood was improving as well. A filler strip of steel will have to be added when the trough goes back in.
That pesky right corner at the hood still wants to lay lower but its a much more cooperative with the rigidity of the trough out of the way.

[JTR70]

Filler strip:
Nose now in its best adjusted position. The edges of it around the hood are wavy and manhandled but that will all be reset when the trough goes back in.
Moving onto paper templates for the backfill strip.
About this much short.
New strip just tacked in for now.
Once the trough was added back in it was clear that its arch would need to be reshaped to the edge of the hood before it could go any further.
That next...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Trough recontouring: First cut to relax the curve open were it began to close down on the edge of the hood.
More cuts added as it went to achieve a uniform gap/shape with the edge of the hood.
Shape relaxing working from the center outward. Steadily getting a uniform gap along the edge. As it makes the turn upward a relief cut or two will be needed for tightening.
As the troughs shaping to the hoods edge got closer I now needed to get the mating surface for it at the top of this closing panel finalized in shape and height.

Final shaping of the upper flange next. Also lots of adjustment variation within the three closing wall relationship which had to be finalized simultaneously.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Forward closing wall shaping and mount locating
Several stabs at establishing the correct forward upper wall flange height as those drilled holes by the lateral wall lap joint highlight. A lot of adjustment options at these lap joints
Reshaping began along the left side with several rounds of heat and hammering along the upper edge.
Mounted trough now slowly seating into the needed position with close uniform gap with the edge of the hood. My initial center screw hole mounts have slid way down out of range after more metal was needed to make the needed shape. They were just a jumping off point and a needed step among many in this fitment process.
Left side of the trough is all but set. After the relief cuts there was just a wisp of metal holding these two halves making life much simpler to fit individually.
Quick nose mock up. Slowly getting what I'm after...

[JTR70]

Upper flange and profile shaping carried over to the right side. The corner needs a bit more curling over. Again several attempts at dialing in this lap joint.
Lap joint now finally dialed in by this point. The trough edge is stuck under the lip of the hood.
The leading edges of these two closing panels needed thinning to allow the trough's shoulder to clear so it could swing out wider from under the hood in the mounted position on these upper flanges. Just a constant chipping away at improving the fitment.
ready to accept the right side of the trough.
Entire trough screw mounted to the flange with a decent gap and height relation to the edge of the latched hood. No where near perfect but well within striking distance.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Forward wall work continued:
A lot of loose ends to tie up yet but the heavy lifting for a trough foundation is finished.
Began tack welding the relief cuts to lock in the needed arched profile shape.
After all the reshaping and positioning to both the trough and wall my initial cutout was now too deep.
Adding in a back filler strip for the simple correction.
Next: Harvesting the original forward drain tube next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Drain tube install:
Tube hole punched in the wall and onto getting the top end aligned into the trough.
Quick shot of the profile shape of the front wall; a lot of manipulation to get that to lay in there where it was needed.
One more piece of the puzzle and the nose is a little closer to going on for good.
Back to work on the trough again. Just another shot of the going's on under a 356 nose panel.
More welding and shape clean up to come but the pieces are fitting better with each session.

[roy mawbey]

Justin, this last episode of work is amazing to read let alone wonder how on earth you proceded to attempt it all. This is not just some panel work repair its well beyond that, with so much to consider all the time you are working on just one aspect of it. To see that 'gap' clearance coming into place after that gutter removal , has confirmed to me there is so much involved in bodywork repair you have to have in-built confidence in yourself to even attempt it, let alone with people like me also watching your effort.

I wonder if other's looking on feel the same as me? I really think you are doing so well to correct all this Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! There are a lot of balls in the air at once, most definitely. Since I'm shooting for minimal amounts of filler, lead or plastic once its all welded up there is really no other way around it other than to cut the sections that need correcting free and begin again around the shape of the latched hood. The only other option is to install it in its provided form and use filler to overcome the shortfalls. Its overwhelming and times Roy and I have to constantly reassess but it just a matter of taking it in small bites at a time. Thanks again!

Justin

[JTR70]

Among the many adjustments yet to come the trough will need to tilt slightly forward as the shoulder is into the latch release.

As you can see the original sat a few MM's higher around the tube and that mechanism base flange at its lip. Once its corrected to this height the clearance issue with the catch on the underside will taken care of as well. Stitching and cleaning up those relief cuts in process.
Another test fit with the nose.
Checking the headlight opening once again.
Remains just a touch "wall eyed" which is just fine.

[JTR70]

Checking the angle with my original reference car which is part of covering all those bases again.
Matching the right side.
Lots of stitching ahead but everything within striking range.
Line off of the hood close but a little more hammer work to do as it goes back together.
Improved fitment with each attempt. This is the best I can hope for.
Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Back to finishing up the last of the inner battery box details before the upper closing walls go on for good.
Reusing the original Jack storage mounts. A bit of old accident damage to unwind and the contact points need to be cleaned of the old wall remains.
Twists and deformation all but out by this point. Trickiest part was securing and preserving the saddles as the straightening progressed.

Basic matching shape here. I'll plug weld from the outside to preserve the old spot weld details at the bottom of these mounts.
Referred back to my original example and found that my bends needed to be a little tighter. Some trivia: Note the placement of this footing down into the relief rib. This seems to be a T1 detail as my other T1 has it in the same position. All the later T2's I've seen have it mounted just to the inside of this relief shape. The original wall from this car also had it mounted off to the side.
Begin positioning process on the new wall.

[JTR70]

Jack perches mounted:
Perches are not centered on the wall; they favor slightly to the right side.
Minor tweaking required as it went get that representative bar stock to sit square and level.
Perches fully welded up. Plug welded from the outside preserving the old spot weld details at the footings. Again a T2 mounting position just to the inside of the rib relief.
Top side gas welded as found originally.
Quick mock up to ensure ample clearance with the latch base. These are all the little things can come back to bite you if you're not watching it.

[JTR70]

Last of the inside battery box detail work before the upper closing walls go on for good.
This vantage point highlights why now was the time to get those perches in before the upper closing wall. Not impossible to mount afterward but why make it more unpleasant than it has to be.
One final detail I wanted done before the upper wall installation was this gas weld detail at the rear corners of the battery floor.
According to my original reference no gas welds at the front inner corners. Only the rear and lapped the lateral bulkhead flange. Much easier to do this now with the closing walls out of my way.
Back to weld finishing all the relief cuts along the trough. Some fine finishing remains but will chase all of that out once the nose is mounted.
Begin final adjustment changes to the new lateral wall in preparation for its final installation. That up next.


Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, that work is so well done really impressed with your effort there. The detail work even to install the jack mountings has to be right and I know there is never much clearance when you have to get it in place ! Sio useful again to have the other 356 to compare.

Super work!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! There is a lot going on in and around the latch mechanism and with no real adjustment options after its all welded together extra attention has to be paid otherwise it will punish you in the end. I've said it before; I'd be lost without original reference examples.

[JTR70]

Right side closing wall final mounting prep:
This gap behind the shoulder relief has been an issue since fitting began. The shoulder will need to be reshaped and hammer formed into the host section along with a more definite turn in the panel's profile just ahead of this section.
The run ahead of it by contrast snugs in tight.
The provided shape turns a little too quickly. Sweeping it out wider will both help to backfill the gap issue and make it more closely match the original.
Original has much wider sweeping arch back here.
A shape detail easily overlooked unless you have to deal with it directly or copy. Just a very nice sweeping arch.