1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[JTR70]

New cross member prep:
Getting the inside of that gusset cleaned of old crossmember bit by bit. This cleanout was extremely tedious so I had to take breaks from it.
In between the long grinding sessions in those corners of the frame I needed a break and began prepping the new crossmember for installation.
This car is so late that the factory finally ran out of crossmembers with these pre- punched elongated holes for the 1956-57 removable engine shelf. Even though they hadn't been utilized for a couple of years the earlier 59's still had these holes lurking under their welded in engine shelves.

Back filled for a correct late '59 appearance.
Welds dressed smooth. Double folded upper flange detail replicated for appearance and increased strength and rigidity. Like most frame components this new part is made from 20 gauge whare the original was 18 gauge. Not the end of the world back here as its not critically load bearing as the technical end the chassis is at the trans hoop mount but I'm glad to muscle it up were I can.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Flange clean up and beginning corner clean out.
Needed that angle iron out of my way to wrestle this the rest of the ay out.
All coming free with only what remains at the corners along the outer bumper mount gussets.

The tricky part next. The corners remain intact so I'll have to unpeel this onion without damaging the outer bumper mount gussets and the frames side walls.
Cleaning up the triangular gusset first. Two layers here with lots of spot welds. The flange remains of the engine shelf and the crossmember itself. No clear shot at drilling all of those out so this will be grinding and peel time taking care not to damage the gusset, upper closing wall and the frame sides as I go. Confined space with tucked in corners...lots of fun ahead.
One layer gone and grinding the final layer here. Prying it up and testing what I can rip away as it goes.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Begin rear cross member removal.
Once the cross member is cut out the integrity of the frame back here is going to be extremely compromised and since my rotisserie works off of the bumper mounts sagging, flexing and or bending is a serious concern when the body is rolled over to one side or the other. This won't be an issue with the car fully upright or upside down; only the lateral forces created with it tipped to one side. I've had this heavy section of angle iron with threaded ends around since I made it for use with my car back in the late 90's.
Mounts from the wiring conduit holes so no modifications required. Most of the cross member has been removed at this point and cut just ahead of the bumper mount gussets.

No matter how you slice it this a very tight and tough area to get at with the tail skin on. Thankfully I can remove that angle iron with the car fully upright or up side down.
Begin by opening up this pinch flange to remove the remains of the cross-member flange. You can see there is two layers of metal down in here. The factory doubled the cross-member flange over on top of itself for added strength and ridgity. The new repro parts do not have this detail but it will be added.
The belly of this flange run just about free. Much to my great relief I found that most of those huge spot welds along the outside of this run had missed their mark and save for just a coupe of spot welds that did, the center of this old flange pretty much slipped right out. I'll take it where I can get it. A lot of heavy rust scale coming out as the removal progressed. This was the right way to go.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Rear cross member rust repair:
We have some rust repair to address along the backwall/rear cross member flange. The original engine shelf was cut out before the car came to me and I can only assume it didn't fare much better than this flange directly above it.
The rot is localized to the right side of this run only. With the left side intact I was thinking I might get away with just gas welding these holes closed. Began wire wheeling this area to get a better idea of just how far gone it was.
It was looking like I might get away with that approach but looking at it from the back side of this flange it was becoming clear that it was a bit too advanced. You can see in this shot that the wrap around flange of the closing wall as also rusted through.
Too much heavy scale and advanced rot down in this joint to leave behind.
The light shining from the front side here shows more breaches above and around the bumper mount flange. To fix this properly the entire cross member would have to come out.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Continued cleaning back to the front half of the floor. The trademark Simonsen red primer is nothing you want to rely on for serious rust protection. Its the cheapest stuff and is easily defeated with some lacquer thinner and a scotch brite pad. The inside surface of the floor is not nearly as critical as its not exposed to the elements but out here we want the most durable sealer surfacer we can get.

Outer surface of the brace in an initial sealer coat along with some of the front floor. Ran out of gas scrubbing that red primer off for now.
Another round sealer, a coat of black and finally undercoating coming up next.
Here is our final seam weld presentation and detail
Done up here for now. Onto the next deal

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Diagonal brace install:
Once the sealer cured it was scuffed and coated with a top coat of semi-gloss black to ensure all the blind spot are the right color once the brace goes into position.
Brace remounted for the final time. Set screwed and clamped into its best adjusted position.
Once the ends were securely clamped it was onto tack welding the edges in prep for final seam weld as done originally.
Seam welds complete with the outer surface of the brace cleaned and ready for a sealer coat.
After much prep and repair the brace installation was finally completed. Surface cleaning continues for its coat of sealer.

Thanks for looking.

[JTR70]

Because I almost made the weld joints disappear Roy? LOL! Thanks! justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin I think you are a magician !!!

Roy

[JTR70]

Weld repairs complete:
Both replacement ends fully welded and dressed. Took a little doing but eventually they bridged cleanly across these weld joints. Note the green primer on the brace, this was part of that factory replacement front frame clip that ended up being wrecked severely again in the distant past. The rear battery box wall is also from that same clip so after some repairs these two old components get second chance working together once again on another car in need.
Really lucked out to have the crushed and rusted out sections at opposite ends of these two braces allowing for the creation of one good usable part.
And most importantly the 356A specific tips in usable condition.
Underside of the brace and the blind spots inside this compartment thoroughly coated in sealer before it goes on for good.
Weld joint will be undetectable from both sides especially once its undercoated. Love this sealer BTW as it cures super hard and feels very much like powder coating.

[JTR70]

That was my fault Roy. Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Oh yes Justin thanks for advising the correct ' diagonal brace ' wording! I did not know the correct term for that. A good sensible decision indeed to fit your modified strong part !

Roy

[JTR70]

Diagonal brace repairs continued:
This old bent brace was considered scrap several years go so it was hastily removed back then. Adding in a few MM of the back leading edge that was cut away with some strips of 16 gauge.
Back edge of the brace centered and set screwed into its best position first. Then telescoping the new ends out into the their best aligned position to the beam so I can etch in a final cut line.
Most critical that the saddle reliefs aligned across these two parts.
Final cut line was etched, excess removed and now both tips tack welded on working from the center outward.
Some residual deformation but will be chased out as welding continues from the center outward.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Sorry for the confusion Roy, this is the diagonal brace assembly. The saddle I was referring to is that recess shape the sway bar fits down into. Yes, you are so fortunate that you've never had to contend with reproduction structural components; nothing like the real thing. Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin that spare 356 A saddle looks fine and much stronger than the repro item. Again my saddle is still original but when I bought it, the area where the saddle connects to the floor had been used a lot by garages to put their trolly jack plate on to lift the front of the car. This was common I think and the marks from their trolley jack's are still there to see. But if the steel used on the saddle had been like that repro item, I don't think it would have lasted long as mine has for the past 67 years. Also the saddle is surely subjected to a lot of suspension forces and I reckon needs to be as strong as possible.

Interested to see the final repair you make on that saddle item.

Roy

[JTR70]

The more I handled and compared the repro brace with the originals the more it felt like engine tin to me and not something substantial enough for the job its intended to do. I was formulating my best plan to build one good solid brace from the two I had on hand.
The rusty brace is an A-version unit and the crashed but rust free brace is a later T5.
The crashed end has that large hole with and unrolled leading edge just like the reproduction has. The correct A version on this side survived being rusted out.
Back part of the brace are identical.
This little relief shape with the drain hole is a later feature which the repro brace also has. I was hoping to cut past this area using the A-version brace buts its too rusty in through here. Will just nip and tuck this feature out later.
Initial cuts and initial mock up. Cut just ahead of the beam utilizing the A-tips and the later base with lots of excess overlap for adjustment purposes as fitment goes. This was the best option to eliminate what was crashed or rusted out on each to create one good brace suitable for an A-car. Look how nice that saddle shape continues on through to the beam cap; no substitute for original parts.

Thanks for looking.

Justin