1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JR]

Great work Justin.
I have been absent for a while. All I can say is I sure am glad that I have the Roadster done.
I posted a 'New Event' of our Richmond Porsche Meet that was held a week ago with some pictures.
Dick

[JTR70]

Thanks Dick! Agree, having a 356 that you're actually driving and enjoying is an enviable position. Looked through all of your shots and your car still looks amazing. Thanks for posting those. Justin

[JTR70]

The excess 4mm tapered strip was trimmed out and the edges where retacked. Much closer to the overall shape and transition I was after. The other major improvement was that lip of this fenders' distance to the battery box wall was now within MM's of matching the left side.
Now that this area was settling in I moved back up to the relief cut area.
While the area on the nose side was still a bit flat and shallow this area on the fender side was too strong.
I try to avoid changing the shape original panels but at this point it going to have to be a little give and take to get these two to flow together smoothly. Marked out a relief cut on the fender side to allow this area to shrink a little to compensate for the softer nose profile.
A ways yet to go still but like the area below , it was all gradually improving.

[roy mawbey]

Justin those releif cuts again so important !! Its looking good.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, I hated to make those cuts but the nose side had to grow and the fender had to shrink. Once fully welded I'll pound them out together for the final shape. Thanks! Justin

[JTR70]

Finishing the install the patch.
Move back over to the top and finished stitching in the correction patch. In process here of smoothing out the weld shoulder.
Patch weld seam fully dressed and smoothed out. Just need to finish stitching up the run at the hood gap.
But before I can do that I have to finish correcting and establishing the gap and height against the edge of the latched hood in through here.
Steadily getting the final fit and finish I'm after. Leaving this area again for now and heading back over the top and down the outside of that long weld joint.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Back edge of the fender:
Moved to the rear and heeled the leading edge of the fender over tightly to the splash pan. Door reinstalled for its first test fit against the new edge.
Very rough initial shape but its a starting point.
Then mocked up the rocker skin. Again very rough rudimental fit but I've got a good door gap to work with.
A ways yet to go but its improving with each pass. Little bites at a time.
Moving back up to the front to continue shaping and dialing in these two panels.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Wanted to finish tacking in the lower corner. Didn't quite capture it in this photo but there is a lump of excess steel just above the horizontal weld joint. I had to chase this out first before I could go any further.
Recut the joint just below that feature to give this excess somewhere to go. You can see this slit taper closed just a touch after the area above was hammered flat into alignment with the fenders edge. Didn't take much but it turned the trick. Now this area is ready for some tack welds.
This troubled area between the 9 and 12 o'clock weld joints is close but it would still need some additional cutting and retacking as it went.
Went onto seam welding the inner run first then making my way over the top to chase out the rest of the issues as it goes.
Then finally made it back over the top and into this troubled area. Same process of readjusting and getting it closer then finally welding it up. Rinse and repeat chasing it down the side.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Finishing up the big weld joint.
Annealed the upper relief cut and began hitting and working it closer into the needed contour before I moved downward to the next cut on the fender side and so on. The bottom relief cut had opened up quite a bit to allow the needed growth .
A bit of a process but the cuts and the long joint all stitched up at this point. This area was annealed in preparation for the major planishing session to come.
Before I could really start working it, the weld shoulders on the underside had to be smooth too.
Black guide coat applied to highlight the areas that need to come up. Very rough and the overall contour in this area still too low and flat as it drops away from the fenders contour too quickly; has to be rounder.
After several rounds of picking and filing the surface was calming down and the overall shape was improving.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, I have learned such a lot from these latest efforts of yours. I find it quite amazing how you getting the results you want and how good the results are looking. I cannot understand just how I managed to do such a lot of welding in the mid seventies without formal instruction. I really think I was lucky most of the time to get away with it. I did realise my limitations but now realise just how important proper instruction is. Probably also how important the correct choice of welding equipement and clamping tools is too. I think I could do it now Justin, as confidence in your ability is so important too.

Keep up the good work!

Roy

[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

[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

[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