Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Cutting it back out:

I knew I was now removing the rocker threshold but I also had to remove this lower hinge mount to have a clean shot of that lower door well area. The previous shop that did these metal repairs had cut it in half removing only the mounting surface. Don't understand this approach other than the fear of not remounting it in the right location. Its all coming out and will repair this boss cleanly once its all over.


Cut this mount back in half through their weld joint and was now in the process of cutting and prying this forward section free. Once I did large chunks of old rust fell out exposing overlooked rot down in the mount surface.

Forward mount section removed. No surprises here, this why you take that mount out in one piece instead of only half of it.


Cut the first window just above that newly exposed rust hole in the closing wall exposing that partial patch hanging out in space. The second forward window exposed the remains of the OG flange/pan that was not addressed but left rusty and weak.

I could give the previous shop the benefit of the doubt on the first rust hole since it was concealed under the hinge mount.( that should have been removed completely) but this hole could clearly be seen while they where installing the new longitudinal closing section. Pure corner cutting here, no excuses.
Cleaning up the rest of this next.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Very sad to see what you found Justin. Glad I learned to DIY after seeing this.

[JTR70]

Agree Phil, but if you're not a DIY and you've farmed out the metal work I'd demand detail shots or a first hand inspection of the insides of the longitudinals before the shop closes them up. Prime example here. Trust but verify...

[JTR70]

Removing existing threshold and door well substructure remains.

Cutting through and cleaning existing welds and blobs to get the front of this threshold free.

Threshold flange was incorrectly spot welded along the upper frame flange. Will correct this along with a few other issues I found wrong with this run when I build it back up. Fortunately (for me) only the back half of them actually fused so removal was half the work. The new threshold will be fuse welded along the leading edge as was done originally.

Makeshift patch removed along with a little more closing wall for access to work.

Just about ready to remove the rest of the closing wall junction and the OG flange/tray at the bottom. Again, fortunately for my purposes thier spot welds gave up quickly.

Just about touched bottom here with only some edges to clean and prep. As you can see with all the compromised patched and rusty sections removed this forward area amounts to an empty beer can. This is why I stressed to my buddy that this junction has to be strong and just as importantly welded together securely when this thing is going down the road. New sections coming up next.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Just to say Justin if I had paid that previous restorer for his attempts and if the costs had been very high I would disclose everything. If the recipient of the work carried out paid only peanuts then of course a different story. You should get what you are promised and I would have thought a photographic record of the work carried out to show the grot had been removed?

Roy

[JTR70]

Roy, its a very sore subject that my friend is anxious to just get behind him. With each of these corrections he's a little bit closer to that end.

[roy mawbey]

Yes Justin with your effort he will reach the end, although he will be that much poorer for you having to uncover all this rust to repair a car that was ready for paint. At least the car is now in capable hands so his mind there hopefully will be more at rest.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks for that Roy! Just repairing it as best as I can.

[JTR70]

Prep work and templates:

Able to reuse an existing template I made for that '59 coupe project. This "pan" was in reality just an extension flange off of the main inside wall to the left here. Began as one panel.

A clear shot of the rusted flange remains and patch. Just fish plated directly over cancered out metal. As you can see by the welds not very secruely attached either. Nice for removal purposes though...

Ready to begin making a new section from 18 gauge.

Making that new panel next but lots of clean up and prep on the car yet to do.

Not only all of this but I still have to correct the striker post details as well. A lot more to deal with than I had on the left side if you can believe that..
New flange/tray section up next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

New sections:

New flange/floor section folded and trimmed to basic shape. Laying down some set crews from the outside. I'll also have to plug weld from the wheel well as much as possible to have any shot of dressing the welds.

New section made from 18 gauge. Requires a little more effort to work with but the added strength is what I'm after when it comes to "chassis" components. 20 gauge is great for body panels but after all these years of working on chassis repair it feels too light. The OG material was at least the equivalent to 19 gauge.

Not only was this patch 20 gauge but its also missing the rest of the folds and features that tie it into the surrounding panels that give it strength and rigidity.

Begin templates for the new outer closing wall.

Rough fitting the new threshold as well.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

You are on the way there Justin nice fabrication . Good choice of guage.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy, I feel better using it for these structural sections.

[JTR70]

Prepping for installation:

existing flange was too narrow and a bit mangled so


a new section was made also of 18 gauge.

all grafted in now.

new pan in final adjusted position and set screwed by the flanges.

Have no room to dress the plug welds from the inside so all the welding has to be done outside to keep the flanges clean for final presentation.

[JTR70]

final installation:

coated the underside of the pan with epoxy in preparation for its final install.

Vacuumed out the cavity one last time just before it went in for good.

Begin stitching it in. Started with the most difficult area first; reaching down into this corner to get a good clean weld took a bit of patience.

By sessions end I had the entire thing welded up and dressed save for the plug welds along the flanges. It was a full day...

Once I finish up the plug welds I'm onto the outer closing wall. That next...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Nice work Justin very neat!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! I feel much better about this area now...

[JTR70]

Plug welds and outer wall:

Plug welds along the bottom complete. The secondary holes where for clamping it tight for welding but will also serve to hold the eventual threshold pan. then once the pan is in I'll open them up for plug welding up top here. This was just part of the "planning ahead" phase I have to do since I do not have the luxury of flipping this car over to dress the welds from the bottom.

Vertical flange also now plug welded securely from the outside. Again due to the tight space and angle I could not dress the heads cleanly along here. After you've done this repair once or twice you figure out ways to make things easier on yourself. Hopefully anyway.

With the welding now complete on the floor I finished out the final details on the outer wall template.

Transferred to metal. Lots of trimming and final shape bending to come.

For example the vertical flange on the OG section shows this double bend detail.

[JTR70]

That detail can't really be seen unless the door is off but I want the smoothest transition possible.

A little more bending and a final trim along the top for a butt joint. (scary part as I don't want to make it too short)

Panel now ready for final installation. Sealing the back side off in epoxy before it goes on.

Tacked into final position starting at the top to levelness across the panels then adding my set screw postion back in.

Finshing out the welding duties in this corner next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

These jobs take time no quick easy fix at all !

Roy

[JTR70]

If you're not cutting corners Roy; definitely it takes time.

[JTR70]

Lower hinge mount repair:

Again this hinge mount was cut in half by the previous shop so I cut it back in half through their weld joint for removal and to rebuild it a little cleaner this time. The "tail" was soaked in acid to remove the remaining heavy rust that was down in the mating surface. As you can see the lower corner needs a little meat. While working down in this car's chassis I've noticed that this tub was chemically dipped. I always assumed that if you dipped them that ALL rust was eliminated. Not so in this case.
Tail and mount surface reattached. This part is always visible so the goal was to conceal this weld joint both front ...
...and back. The other mount flange was caked in mig weld so it was much easier to cut it off and add in a fresh piece. This heavy strap section will do just fine.
Last of the repairs to this part ready for welding.
Lower mount fully repaired and dressed. Ready to be refitted to the car. Its changed a little through the repairs so it will need some tweaking as it goes.
That next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin