Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Rear decklid area work.

Now that I am pretty much onto the rear section of this car I'm skipping back to some rework I did previously around the decklid.

The previous shop leaded this gap but it showed up here with almost zero width in some areas. It has to have at least a uniform 3MM gap all the way around to match the rest of the closing panels. I began by zip wheeling the top gap open. The lead gave way quickly but I noticed as it went I was into the steel before I was even close to a 3mm gap. In other spots it was okay but I had no real consistency.

To get an accurate picture of exactly what I had here, I decided it much easier to melt all the solder away and begin again. Bottom gap runs tight in spots toward the middle.

Raw gap on this upper right hand corner is tight. With the bottom gap just as tight in spots there was simply no adjustment room to slide the lid down. Had to relief cut the opening. Tape line shows the needed 3mm gap

Wasn't going to be a straight relief cut here as there was some previous damage and repair.
The car took a hit on its right rear quarter panel and I can only surmise that this upper decklid opening run was cut out to address a probable dent or buckle up in this area then once pounded out it was stitched back in... a very long time ago.

[JTR70]

Upper right corner flange section:

Decided it would be much cleaner to just install a new section and remove some that stitching down in the turn there. New 90 degree section ready for some curves.

Slowly making the turn.

Good profile match with the edge of the lid for my eventual 3mm gap with very little to no lead required in the end.

Now for the second profile shape.

Just about there... Prepping for install next.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Prepping for and fitting new section:

Once I started cutting a nasty double wall repair soon made itself known Not surprising and pretty much in line with all the rest of the stuff I've been redoing.

Kept cutting until I was past it. Had just a touch more to remove here. Base flange that mates to this trough also needed a small repair section.

Dialing in the final fit.

Ready to lay down some plug welds across the flange.

Would weld up this corner once its set and gapped to the edge of the lid.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Secured at along the flange.

Dressed now onto attaching the upper leading edge.

Decklid reinstalled to dial in the final gap and panel height adjustment with the lid.

Tacked in best position.

Won't take a lot of solder to bring it in the rest of the way.

[JTR70]

Finishing touch was adding the 90 degree bend to the edge of the flange. The scrap piece was the perfect width for a hammer form.

New section completely stitched in and dressed. All done up here.

repair will be completely undetectable from the bottom as well.

Ready for body solder.

raw basic fitment before the lead. Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Lower corner correction:

Second half of that previous repair

Against the latched lid this corner drops away too fast requiring a lot of solder to "catch it back up"

Edge was cut free and sliced down the middle to allow it to raise up and grow as needed.

Backfill sections tacked to lock in the needed height change.

Now carries the line off of the latched lid much more closely requiring minimal amounts of solder this time.

Fully welded and dress. Ready for some body solder but onto the other side of this lid next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, your experience now after these years really shows in your approach to the work you are doing on this engine lid area. Its not easy to fabricate the required formed parts and of course should never have been necessary anyway. But the results you are getting are super. As you say,you would never know that its been worked on now. I hope the owner gets to see all this detective work to understand what a difference you are making to this car and in turn we get to see how you manage it as well.
Super!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks so much for that Roy, I really do appreciate your posts! He is watching and wondering why its taking so long but these process photos do give him a small window as to why. Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

Left side decklid adjustments:

Too tight between the hash marks just above the lower left corner.

Cut and tapped back the needed 3mm+

Welded and dressed now onto the next deal.

The cowls edge on the upper left side stands just a touch too proud against the edge of the lid.

Relief cut and relaxed down into alignment with the lid.

[JTR70]

Last of the steel adjustments around the decklid and onto solder.

Carefully aligned and tacked to carry on with the edge of the lid. Stitched up and finished out next.

Took some doing but I finally had an engine lid fitment that I could move ahead with. Ready for solder.

Applying it as section at a time.

initial gap is tight but will open it up to match the rest of the car once I've got the rest of the lead applied.

Continued on down the line.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Small nagging little repairs:
Inner slotted hole for the tail light was hogged out at some point. Covered over with the light of course but we wanted the opening to look right when its out. One of those tiny repairs you put off until to absolutely can't any longer.
Templated from the left side and flipped over.
Easier to drill a hole to establish the end just cut the rest out.

New backing plate supplied to confirm fitment before paint.
Slotted holes along with the open align just fine. Onto the next deal.

[JTR70]

Rear bumper fitment:
Begin fitting bumper guards to new Trevor Marshal bumper.
Mounting bumper to the car first.
The guards are original and so is the bumper deco. I'll use the existing holes in the deco for the guards as jumping off point to locate and drill the holes for the mount studs.
Initial mock up. Pretty close but it wasn't going to be that easy of course.
Had some clearance and alignment issues with the bumper and the ports in the cars lower valance. Par for the course when installing a new part.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Interesting for me Justin. My 59A no doubt had the overrider guards with the holes in them for the exhaust pipes. But in the 60's when I obtained the car the two pipe sports exhaust was fitted and the overrider guards are the non-hole version. I have a photo from 1961 that shows the car again without the guard holes so presume either the first owner changed them or they were never fitted on request to the factory? My brother had a late T2 with the holes the same as the 'D' you are working on. The guards got very dirty quickly from the exhaust and his T2 was a bit smoky which did not help. All the bumper details on mine look original so have often wondered about that. I like the sports exhaust just a personal point of view though.

Roy

[JTR70]

They could very well have been the originals ones fitted to your car Roy. One thing I've learned along the way is that there is no absolutes with these cars.
Justin

[JTR70]

needed rear bumper corrections;
Pretty close for its first trial fitment but of course its wasn't going to be that easy.
Left guard and funnel centered beautifully with the arch in the valance.
The right guard on the other hand was a touch inboard. We want them both centered and as the valance is the original the reliefs in the bumper and the position of this guard will be adjusted to suit.
The other issue is with the bumpers lower profile. It tapers away too fast leaving this gap at the lower edge of the guard.

This leaves the eventual filler bead dangling loose at the bottom. Could file the guard to close this up but the top edge would then over shoot the inner edge of the bumper. Once again since the bumper is the repro it will be changed to suit the original parts.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin even on my non hole overider the original filler bead has a gap at the bottom of the bumper guard in the same position as yours. I wondered about that myself but have never done anything about it. Its only a small gap but its there. I must try a few photos I have got them on before!!
Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks for that confirmation Roy, now I won't obsess trying for a perfect profile match through that area. I'll get it close enough for a nice contact fit with that extrusion instead.

[JTR70]

Deck lid body work:
Put the rear bumper issue aside for now and went back to working this lid back in with the body. finalizing my leaded gaps.
Using a filler spreader as a backing with piece of 60 grit to carve out the final gap with the lid.
Lid opening was then sealed and swatches of filler followed. Bounced between blocking down the side of the body as the filler cured.
The it was onto another pass of sealer and a tracer coat to see what I now had. The profile reflection was much improved and I feel like I'm about done but I always find some aspect of it obsess over.
As the paint dried I went back to the lid to address several cracks along the upper edge that were left behind at the other shop. No big deal but just more PIA detail issues to address.