1959 356A S/R coupe project chassis # 108625

[roy mawbey]

Justin what a lucky guy he will be when he gets this car back. Those pictures above are as good as any I have seen before and show so well the effort put in my yourself. Fantastic result actually. I still have my original battery box and that's quite rare over here. So much that often rotted out on UK cars and not easy to replace. without so much work involved.

Well done !

Roy

[JTR70]

Initial loose ends completed
Plug welds dressed smooth then followed up with the panel spotter for the finishing detail.
Panel spotter follow up along the back battery box wall flange.
Got the recessed mounting flanges cleaned of the remains of old diagonal brace in preparation for mounting the new one.
Began prepping these finished surfaces for a sealer coat.
Initial sealer applied and now onto prepping for the diagonal brace installation.


Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Battery box loose ends:
Another unreachable area with it mounted to the cellette bench. Had to install more set screws than usual to hold these panels tight for welding
as no clamp is big enough to reach this flange.
Center recess wall all welded up with gas welds added along the four corners as my original reference piece shows.
Same process, leap frogging each plug weld with lots of set screw to ensure a tight fit.
Then down the left and right sides to add in the gas welds at the corners and the tips of the fender braces as found originally.

Carefully cutting through the old gas welds to remove the remains of the original diagonal brace. There is a stepped shoulder that the braces ends seat into so I had to make sure I didn't cut too deep.
Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Lateral gusset loose ends.
Frame table certainly had its roll to play but no way to get a clear shot at these areas. A rotisserie is the only way to go
Starting with the gusset plug welds along with those three plug weld holes along the bottom flap of the new closing wall. The factory only had three spots securing that run. Begin test fitting the new diagonal member as well.
Plug welding complete and in process of dressing them smoothly here.

Then it was onto adding the seam weld detail along the leading edge at the front bulkhead as found originally.
And finally seaming up the back leading edge. I would have bridged these two edges together solid with weld but that is not how they did it. Lateral gusset installation complete.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Ready to come off the Cellette Bench for the final phase.
Gone as far could with it mounted to this frame table. To finish up the loose end chassis work it had to go back on the rotisserie but before I could do that the rear bumper work had to be completed first as the rotisserie attaches to the bumper mounts. Dismounting it was bit dicey at times as this was a one man operation but I just took it very slowly.
Cellete bench out of the way and ready to mount it on its dolly so it can go back inside.
Safely remounted back on the rotisserie.
This is dolly it was mounted to when it showed up. It was built to the car so now in a relaxed state the misaligned mounting saddle bares witness as to where the beam was before it was pulled back out to factory spec on the Cellette. Not end the world and probably could have been compensated for but its now corrected and the chassis blessed on the bench.
Ready to begin tying up the loose ends I had no clear access to mounted on the frame table. Finishing out the plug welds long the lateral gussets, the rear wall of the battery box and then onto mounting the diagonal brace. All that up next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! The bodywork and final paint will be handled by a local shop in his hometown. My final mission will be to rough in the body to a level that any competent bodyshop can finish it out correctly. Actually its quite the opposite, I am very anxious to get his car back to him. He has been incredibly patient and understanding so I really want to get this old shell back to him as soon as I can wrap it up. Thanks again! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, Hoo-ray and well done great result. "When you first started on this car some years ago now, to do just the bodywork is that still the case? Have you not become attached to it after all effort? I suppose its the effort I have made over the past 56 years or so, that makes me keep mine. My middle son in his mid fifties, has been an invaluable help to me on some jobs on my 356 over recent years, as you can't always achieve in your eighties, jobs you did easily in your 50's.!!

Roy

[JTR70]

Had to open that cut a little more as it went but it finally turned the trick. All synched down at both ends and exiting out at center of the hole.
Ready for a tack weld to hold that position.
Strut tube welded and set. Right side complete..
and with these tubes mounted fully at center...
The rear bumper conversion and fitment duties are finally complete. A very long, bumpy and winding road for sure but we finally arrived. Will break this down one more time to seal the surface in a base coat. Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[JTR70]

Last piece of the puzzle. Fitting the strut tubes so they mount and exit out of those holes as close to center as possible with this bumper in its final adjusted position.
Had to bend and tweak the mount tang as well as the end of this strut to get it to exit out at center of the hole.
All synched down and centered in the hole. All done on this side.
Right side by contrast was not as straight forward. It ended up mounting very high and over shooting the mounting tang.

No amount of bending to the mounting tang was going to improve the fit. The end of the strut itself had to be relief cut and altered to suit.

[JTR70]

This bumper is now officially a 1959 356 "AT5" version. Its now not even close to fitting around the profile of a 356A tail.

This is as close as it will get before the corners bottom out against the skin.

One more and final confirmation fit.

Bumper dressed, fully mounted and adjusted to make sure it all fits and presents like it did before that last round of alterations.
Reveal shape and contour are good to go.

Relaxing the corners have made the ends of tube fit even better. against the bumper. This raw fit will clean up perfectly once the paint and bodywork is completed.

[JTR70]

Interesting bit of history with that car Roy. Its also so neat that you've kept all of these years. I hope at least one of your kids shares the same sentimental feeling about it and will treasure it when you're ready to finally let it go.

[roy mawbey]

Justin I was told by the second owner of my car that the first owner was a young lady of only 21 years of age ( with a wealthy Father ) she disliked the chrome on the exhaust stubs going black with soot on her friends 59 356 so had it supplied with the sports exhaust and 400mm Speedster steering wheel. I have pictures of my car in the early 60's with the sports exhaust. I have nothing in writing other than that . She only kept the car for one year till she married. I still have the Speedster wheel she had supplied and have been pleased with it although it still seems large against my Ford Fiesta ! makes you think how good power steering is on the Ford though.

Bet you are pleased that bumper job is done !

Roy

[JTR70]

Repeat the process on the right side.
Same relief cuts as needed on the left side.

Tacked with new contour established and ready to begin welding it back up.
Welding completed on the right side. Remounted for another confirmation fit.
Finally done cutting and welding on this poor old bumper.

[JTR70]

Thanks again Roy! That is interesting, so your car was ordered new with a sport type muffler instead?

[roy mawbey]

Justin its going to look great, so many needed alterations but they all tie in and clearances around the body look just like mine. What is interesting to me is the fact my car was ordered with the older style bumpers without holes in each chrome overider for the exhaust stubs and of course the rear chrome protection tubes. So I have no funnels for the exhaust tips.

Roy