Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Front of rocker work:

Begin plug welding it to the drain tray and heeling over the vertical flange to the splash pan tightly.

Dialing in final adjusted position. Bend line for the rear flange etched.

Folded over and on for another test fit. As close as I'm gonna get.

Trim excess and then ready to mount for the final time.

Begin tacking it in next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Welding in patch.

Began with the wire leads.


Clamped and set for alignment and pitch.


Leads fused and plug welds done. Heading up top for that seam weld next.


All seamed up with welds so far all dressed.
Of course there was the usual heat warpage

[JTR70]

More welding and heat yet to go but I wanted to get the heavy warpage out now. A little torch heat with my shrinking hammer and dolly corrected it pretty quickly. Hammered it from the inside BTW.


General contour good. Welding up those little windows next.

Patch fully welded in.
Biggest pain again was welding around the back side of the rolled wired lip.
Like the rear this area will only need a skim coat of lead to take it in the rest of the way. Prepping for lead next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

I wondered how you would finish those little widows and the wired edge! Looks good Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy!

[JTR70]

Leading front corner:

Surface cleaned and ready for some tinning acid.

Not perfect but will only take a swatch to bring it up the rest of the way.

lead wiped and ready to add the solder.

Went a little better than the rear as I got reacquainted with applying and spreading it.

Initial fling with a lot of steel already bleeding through; happy about that.

[JTR70]

A lot of loose ends yet to tie up but I've got the general lower body profile I was after.

Original rocker profile example which runs a touch flat off the quarter panel.


nearly the same profile set here where again it was more of a hemmed in profile before. Following the OG example as much as I can but in the end the body has to flow smoothly overall.

At this point I had to change gears and get up off the floor for a while so I went back to blocking the last work coat on the front end group trying to get it just a little bit better.

Also began skimming the door working toward a flawless transition off the front fender. I'd be revisiting this upper corner BTW but that's much later.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Red911]

Justin, you are the pro! We learn much through your patience and expertise. Thank you.

I have been away for a long time, but almost ready to get back to work. I'll explain on my blog soon.

Tom

[roy mawbey]

Justin, That transition looks very nice as does the rocker. I remember my first attempts at leading and how much was on the floor and not the car. You seem to have really picked that skill up well over the years of doing it. So nice also to only ever have a very light skim of filler.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot Roy! Just dialing it in the best that I can with what seems to look right in my eyes in comparison to my reference. Hopefully it will be enough.


Hi Tom, great to see you back and looking forward to seeing what's new with your coupe project. I'm just showing you guys what not to do...

Thanks again for all the great words of encouragement!
Justin

[JTR70]

Begin bodywork on rocker and lower door.

Prepping the new rocker for an initial coat of sealer.


base coat applied. Rough but a general profile I'm happy with.


Onto swatches of filler and repeated cycles of block sanding.


As I began concentrating on shaping this corner I noticed the leading edge of the door was comprised of solder.


This corner is an overhang so I wasn't comfortable leaving it. I wanted at least a steel leading edge for the solder to sit on versus being comprised completely of lead to make the corner. Solder ground back here and am in process of adding weld to build up the corner for a new profile shape. As you can see the lead runs little deep down through here. More on that next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Lower corner redo

Door remounted to begin file shaping that new leading edge for gap and shape against the rocker


As that progressed the lead thickness through here was really bothering me and I as the filing went I felt less inclined to back fill this spot in more solder. Talking at least 4mm thick!


If I hadn't disturbed it then I would have let this dog lay but I'm here so I might as well fix it. Melting back the rest of solder over this previously repaired area.


Remounted to see just how far the metal has to come up. As you can see a fair amount of lead was used to create this body line.


Like the rocker work before it will all still need filler to be perfect but only a skim coat. I'm shooting to cut the amount needed on this lower door edge by at least 3/4 before its over. More on this next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

I reckon like you I would never have seen that door lead! Thats a lot of lead. At least for me though, I am more happy to see that, as my drivers door after my welding did not need I guess much more than 2mm thickness of lead in places. I always thought 1mm was over the top but after seeing some original factory lead on my car in other places I noticed that it was also quite thick in places . I can say the lead seems to have stayed perfectly in position as the metal it was soldered to was in perfect clean condition.

Look forward to seeing the door to rocker transition after you finish this. Again this car was supposed to be ready for paint when it came to you. You need to do so much homework before you make the choice of choosing the 356 bodywork repair company.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, Yes it was thick but being lead it was still stable. I just don't like creating or leaving features that are almost totally comprised of filler no matter what its made with if I don't have to. Absolutely, the factory did use lead very generously in places and I have seen areas where it ran this thick but that was a necessary evil in regards to factory production time; the car had to keep moving on down the assembly process as you well know. Today, its really only a question of money and how much time an owner is will to spend on it. As Bruce Baker has stated some owners want to come in at a set price so if that's the case examples like this door will get filled instead of being chased after. If you're up against the clock the level of work has to make sense for all concerned. I can't account for this particular project though as the shop did do a fundamentally sound job for the most part and the owner is very particular and will agree to the work and time it takes get it right. Each time I have run into an issue like this I always ask him first: Fix or Fill? Fix has been his standard response. So it couldn't have been a budget thing necessarily (within reason of course) with the previous shop. All I can surmise is that they just wanted it out the door as quickly as possible and where rushing for the exits toward the end. I've also found a few more weird detail mistakes I've had to fix so I just don't know?? As you said you have to do your homework.

[JTR70]

Raising the lower corner:

Relief cut through the repaired area to kick it out but stopped just where it turns back to original. Its factory so no need chasing it further.


Creating a new corner profile patch as the section found washes out flat. This will further reduce the need for lead solder.


Previous repair section removed and beginning to pry the bottom surface of this door outward.


Mocked to see how much further it needs to come out if any. The skin surface is now running just shy of the rocker. The lead shelf behind it sits very high and most of it can now be leveled off.
Feeling better about this corner already.


Door skin surface raised to desired level. New corner patch section trimmed back and spotted in to lock that distance in. Again that nice step of lead behind this patch is now way too high and will be filed down.

[JTR70]

Had to get into the bottom a little to allow the movement I was after.


All buttoned back up.


New corner also fully welded and dressed.


As found....


Still going to need some solder as it should but not nearly as much as before. Resoldering next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Well done Justin, what a difference you have made there.

Nice work!
Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy!!!!!!!

[JTR70]

Resoldering:

I was foolishly filing the lead which was now too high but then it dawned on me to not waste but just reheat it and move it over where its now needed. Ready to do that here. Have my makeshift form for the leading edge in place.

Like icing a cake...

inital filing shaping with a very low spots to chase out.


Test fit on the car to see what needed doing next.


Final shape in lead and will get it the rest of the way with plastic filler. Bondo gets a bad wrap but I can tell from direct experience that not only is lead filling bad for your health but its an expensive proposition as well. The lead sticks run about 4 bucks a piece (and they go quick!!!) then there is cost of filling the Oxy/Acetelyne tanks. A much more expensive operation than good old straightener in a can as Bruce calls it. BUT I can say do prefer having a lead base and then chasing it the rest of the way in plastic.

[JTR70]

back to body work: first work coat.

Swatching and blocking with the car. High spots of metal along the door where disc shrinked as it progressed.


Worked this area about as far as I could and it was now time to get it behind some sealer and then a quick work/color coat.

Main thing I was looking for at this point was a good overall body contour as it transitioned into the door.

Its still very rough at this point but the general refection across the gaps is what I was determining. A smooth consistent shape from rocker, fender to door that I can live with.

She's getting there. Moved to the back of the door while this cured fully. That next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin