Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

My new can of worms:
New profile relief shape coming.

As the fitting continued I had to cut a window in the body skin to allow me more room to work. Same as with the left side.
This window was now exposing some very scaly weld and patch work done to the back side of the top frame mount by the previous shop.


jumbled mess of partial patches and weld blob.
Could not bring myself to build on top of that so I ended up cutting past it.

[JTR70]

top frame mount "the slippery slope":
Then my attention was turned to the other side; the top frame mount itself. I knew it wasn't original months ago but its one of those things you kind of gloss over and put aside in your mind while you're plate is full with other issues. I was taking stock of it now. An obvious makeshift mounting surface with a lower substructure that's had patch attempts though still rusty.
The left side by contrast in original form. Note that small locating hole in the center.
The same small locating hole still present behind this "new" mounting surface. So the original wall was still there but just bashed in to make way for this new mount. This was even uglier than I initially thought.
That evening I contacted my buddy with this grim discovery and asked him what he wanted me to do. He of course wanted it corrected. Opening up what would be a more intricate can of worms next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Begin unpeeling this onion:
As suspected the original mount surface was just underneath rusted and barely attached. With the backside of stand in mount exposed the corrosion and brazed on nuts gives every indication that this was a very old repair. I would guess at least 30 years old. I think this plate started out as some sort of existing hardware by the stamping and elongated holes in it. Can't attribute this one to the previous shop but they didn't address it directly either. They just patch plated around it.
Original section now peeled back to expose more recent repair attempts. After looking at the untouched left side there is supposed to be a tubular enclosure that shields the top frame mount capture nuts and eventual bolt shanks from the elements. This like the rest of the mount itself had rotted away long ago. A new shield was attempted though; check out that air gap left behind...Amazing!
Instead of making a replica of the left side the previous shop hastily heated and folded over a piece of metal which is only welded from the top and one side. As you can see from the previous photo and this one the bottom was left unattached ! Also a secondary lap patch to the front conceals a rusty panel section just underneath.
All that mess had to come out too so a larger window is now going to have to be cut so I can get a clear shot at the back side of the mount. Cutting right along that patch line.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

Backside now fully exposed.

Entire mount has to be fabricated so out it all came. The upper corner of the closing wall was also hastily patched so now I had to decide how much of it I was going to have to remove.
The previous patch ended just at the top of that embossment shape but as you can see I was still finding rust holes well below it.

This meant that both the outer wall and this reinforcement plate are badly rotted where they mate. Its all going to have to come out.

removed the inner closing corner for clear access to that lower reinforecment/wall area.

[JTR70]

A much deeper dive than I anticipated:

Two more seam welds to cut and I had the lock post back off.
Now a clear path to get at that upper closing wall corner.

Upper closing wall corner cut
just below the inner reinforcement flange.
Finally cut past all the rust and previous repair patches and touched bottom. Holy shit this thing snowballed quickly! I just intended to correct the top of the lock post when I started.

[JTR70]

A bit shocking after all the smoke cleared to find this gaping hole by sessions end. But by the token it was nice to see all those patches and rust gone.
A lot of intricate little pieces to make..
Begin with upper closing wall templates.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

New upper closing wall corner:
Now in metal cut to basic shape and hammering in the rectangular relief shape.
Relief shape pretty much set. Now onto the flange folds.
Upper flange in. Toughest part was keeping the relief shape aligned as I added the flanges.
Tacked into final position.
Rough mock up with the lock post. So far so good.

[JTR70]

Inner reinforcement plate:
Onto the inside feature of this upper closing wall. A little more involved to replicate this piece.
After some time and plan of attack I had the basic shape copied. Just had to add the last flange of the leading edge here. A little tougher to do with that rounded relief shape in it.
Eventually got it folded over. So relieved and happy I was able to add in all these shapes without cutting or welding; I had my doubts. Just have to trim the excess at that corner.
New reinforcement plate copied.
Quick mock up with set screws. Won't commit to any further tack welding until I get the remaining pieces built and fitted together. Onto the next piece of this puzzle.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Justin
Really nice job on that upper closing wall.

[JTR70]

I appreciate that Phil, Thank you!

[JTR70]

Top frame mount:
Grateful to have an original example to copy from on the left side however its mounted way up high and tight so I could only get a basic measurement and its general shape.
Fortunately I had just enough clues to reverse engineer it and make a close copy. The rusted out face on the right side did help me to confirm that it was double walled here.
Here is my interpretation based on what I could gather. Cut a base plate from 18 gauge centered and spaced the mount holes accordingly and welded on the proper capture nuts. Rolled some flat stock to the circumference that seems closest to what I'm looking at over on the left side.
Tacked together for now as I'm sure there will be changes that need to be made once I begin fitting to the car.
Will also cap the ends once I'm sure its final shape is going to fit. Either way its better formed than what was in there.
More pieces next... Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Outer top frame mount/ closing wall:
Paper template for the next piece of this puzzle.
A stepped relief feature just behind the mount surface ensures its not too easy or straight forward.
Took an initial try and fail before I came up with this contraption to squeeze the relief in as the area was heated.
Took a series of repeated presses but eventually got the shoulder relief shape I was after. One more round of heat to shrink that kink in the flange and its done.
Pictured with its mirror image original .

[JTR70]

Trimming and test fitting begin.
Going to take some work to get it dialed in exactly where it needs to be but its was nice to see this hole filled for now.
Backside shot of how it sandwhiches together to seal out the wheel well.
Thread plate assembly will eventually piggy-back onto it. Yet more dialing in to make sure its located in the right spot for the eventual top frame itself.
Stopping here for now while I get the next piece of this puzzle made. That next...
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, Its taken me over 30 minutes to look at and understand all the work you have photographed and the work required, to correct the previous disastrous attempts at passing this off as acceptable. To even get all the datums back in place, after having to expose so much to get access in the areas is one thing, to make all those really great repair patches is also so time consuming. I think many would have just held up their hands in horror.

I cannot remember where this car operated in for maybe the first 20 years of its life surely not the dry parts of California? To me, it looks so much like some UK cars subjected to constant changes of weather. I saw rust like that on 356 cars in the late 60's but that was just on simple to see floors and sills what the concealed areas then looked like God only knows.

Well done on this last series of work Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to sift through all of this. From what I understand this car spent most of its life in the mid-western United States out in farm country and in storage. It had all the usual rust but for an open car it was in pretty good condition by today's standards. Yes, it turned out to be a lot more work than I anticipated. You know the usual deal. LOL
Thanks once again!
Justin

[JTR70]

New leading edge flange:
Closing wall flange is shot. It was originally lap jointed on so replacing it will be much simpler.
The old threshold flange will be perfect. Nice to be able to repurpose at least some of this metal that's been removed.

Harvested and ready for shrinking/stretching to get the contour.
Shaped to the edge of the lock post.

A little more wall prepping and this will be ready to go on.

[JTR70]

This completes the basic parts I had to fabricate.
New upper corner all welded in.
Rough mock up of all the new parts.
Now onto fine tuning and adjusted fit and position. Assembling the actual top frame mount next.
thanks for looking!
Justin