Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Door hardware mock up:

I had a serious cloud of doubt on my mind as to how much this door had changed and its potential effect on the door glass approach attitude with the eventual seals. There is ton of adjustment in there but I just didn't know if the changes might have put the glass on the outer limits of its adjustment.
I went back and fourth for a few days thinking, no it couldn't have changed that much as the door substructure is still pretty much in the same spot and since the glass mechanisms all mount to it then it should all work out fine. Then I'd think, what if I get it all painted, start reassembling only to find out there needs to be some sort of invasive modification needed so the glass will sit tightly into the seals. I've know better than to just assume anything, especially with these cars! So I took an afternoon and mocked up the top frame(again) with the door glass to put this fear to bed once and for all.
Much to my great relief the glass laid inward with pretty much the same approach angle as the top frame.
Forward approach angle with the windshield frame was equally as good with plenty of adjustment room. My biggest fear was that this glass was going to approach
Too straight up with no adjustment left in it to lean it into the seals. This mock up immediately put that worry to bed.
Went a step further and mocked up the seals. More positive confirmation still.
All had for the rear was the blasted out original but it still answered the question.

[JTR70]

As much as I fought doing this mock up I was so glad I didn't leave it to chance. The peace of mind it provided was well worth the effort.
Breaking this back down and onto the next deal.
Mocked up the door top to chack for fitment and clearance.

Good up front with both the door and the window track.
All good back here with the track and also with that corner of the jamb that was rebuilt earlier. One less potential surprise when the day comes to finally put this car back together.

[JTR70]

Back to body work.
First coat of sealer and ready for its first skim coat of putty.
First pass being applied and will do this initial blocking flat on my table to make my life easier.
Couple rounds of blocking and swatching later. Gone just about as far as I can off the car. Ready to remount it and continue on blocking and finishing it out with the rest of the body as a whole.
Long boarding across the gaps and working in a final uniform contour.
Just about ready for another sealer coat. continuing on...

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, now my friend that amount of work to get perfection on a 356 door closing to such uniform gaps with only a trace or two of filler, proves to me the point 356 restorers have said, the restoration costs to achieve a car that passes close scrutiny can be so high. Only when you have attempted this amount of work on each part of the car can you evaluate this. Very difficult to just assume costs, Also without the experience to know how to correct and make repairs can you even start! I remember about 8 years ago passing comment on your selection of welding clamps and looking at my own meagre selection and wondering how on earth I managed to finish my car. I have learn't a lot from your efforts Justin and appreciate your efforts putting everything down in writing and with such super photos.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! It was a lot of work and deep hole I had to dig myself back out of but I had no choice, just had to clean it up and correct it as best as I could. I really appreciate all the kinds words of support from you along the way. You've done this work so you know exactly the heartache involved here...Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

First work coat and side spears:
Blocked this side down about as far as I could go so the surface was put behind another pass of sealer and a work coat.
After an initial block sand I thought now was as good a time as any to get the side spear holes drilled in the new door skin.
Taped in their best adjusted position.
Small filler "bit" drilled and set in its final position. Rear spear was slid forward against it to confirm their alignment.
Door section was traced and pilot holes drilled at center and in the same position across the door to match the left side.

[JTR70]

Side spear reestablished.
But, I still had a slight problem, That little filler "bit" was just not perfectly centered with the back of the door handle. After all of the previous mock ups and planning, some how in the end it still managed to move on me once all was set and done. I literally need the back of the handle to swing up 2MM to achieve center once again. Most would never catch this and with the base seal in place the eye would be drawn away from it even further but I just couldn't stand leaving it; not after all I'd been through. This is the heartache of redo work or building /adding things out of sequence.
I filed the top of the hole open the needed 2MM to allow the back of the handle to come up to center with the spear. This hole has to remain a friction fit with the shank of the door handle otherwise you'll never get it tight so a backfill of weld was added to the bottom of the hole to get the size back. Weld ground back level here and traced for final hole shape filing. Problem solved and back to blocking.
Back to block shaping across the door gaps.
Aggressively blocking and leveling for contour and to thin out this filler as much as I possibly can before I loose the shape and destroy what I'm trying to build. Its a balancing act for sure...

More later, thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Very impressive Justin. I have been sidetracked fixing up a few rust spots and replacing rear bumper on a 2004 Tahoe for daughter. Hope to start some block sanding on Foam Car this summer and may have some questions for you.

[JTR70]

Thanks Phil! Glad to help if I can..

[roy mawbey]

That door and its gaps I really like!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks again Roy, She's getting there.

[JTR70]

I left the corner on this new skin on the long side to give me the option of removing more solder from the rocker side to reestablish the gap. Doesn't seem like it but I'm always looking for angles to reduce the filler if I can.
Another round of sealer and eventual work coat.
Corner gap just about shaped and opened back up where I need it. I didn't get very far on the rocker side. I removed just a touch of lead and I was almost immediately into the steel so I ended up filing the skin to get it the rest of the. Its nice that its mostly steel around this corner though. Had a slight jog in the gap just above the corner as you can see; always something to to chase down it seems.
Door removed and laid flat on my table for more aggressive long boarding. Doing a little heat shrinking along the way. Very, very carefully this time.
Remounted and pulling out the spear holes to reduce filer thickness. A lot of little things all going on as it progresses.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

More gap clean up:

Long blocking down the side continues.
Gap width is established on the upper portion of the shoulder but down into the gap shows excess lead that still needs thinning and shaping.
Door removed to file down that inner shoulder. Had to take care not to remove anymore along the outer corner while I was at it.
reinstalled and now a clean uncluttered view down into the bottom of the gap.

back to long blocking and just about chased as far as I can for now. Another round of sealer and work coat next to see what I have.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Rinse and repeat:
Another sealer and test coat. The reflection across the gaps is getting better.
Up top however I have a slight high spot at the forward edge of the door that bumps the reflection as it moves across.
Final door edge thickness will be totally acceptable.
Back to aggressive long boarding to shape the entire run but with that forward high spot in mind.
Still couldn't get it down enough and I was now into the lead so the door was removed for filing. I'll win eventually

[roy mawbey]

Justin it seems so true photographs hide the truth sometimes. Before you finally had to take the door off again from the photos it looked so good! I looked and could not see the problem. But agree when its in front of your eyes it must have shown lead was needed. It proves a point never buy a car without seeing it with your own eyes however good it looks in photos. I still think many would not have noticed it though. That door will be perfect!

Roy

[JTR70]

Yeah Roy, a still photo can only show a part of the story. When your actually able to view the reflection moving across the body that's when the rest of the story is told. You're right, most would never catch what's driving me crazy but I have to like it to be able to sleep at night. LOL. It won't be perfect but it will be to my liking. Thanks again!

Justin

[JTR70]

Fender top to door transition trying my patience
another sealer and work coat.

Initial long boarding seemed promising
But there where waves and rollers that remained and just would not level out. I kept chasing it and before the session was over I had it down about as far as I could go. More sealer.
Another work coat laid down before I left for the night. It was better but the front of the door was still a bit too high.
The next session was focused on this high spot in the door and at the end this pesky spot was now back to the steel. Contour with the fender was slightly better but too high to leave. Bashing this in wasn't an option but the door had to come in just a touch more. No two ways about it as I wasn't going to add unnecessary filler to fender side to "catch it back up". Had to bring this door in further.

[JTR70]

The problem was there were no shims and adjustment ability inward up here to make that happen. I knew I didn't need much though, probably not even half the thickness of a thin shim to give me what I was looking for.
So, did the only thing I could do, I began shaving off some thickness on the hinge mounting surface.
took a little off the mount side as well for good measure and to square it up a touch more.
It took a couple of tries but I finally got the needed drop in the doors surface in relation to the fender. Again, it didn't need much.
Quick block sand reveals that leading edge is now low and the area an inch behind it now runs about even and in contour with the fender (where the sand paper has contacted it). Before the filing I had the leaded edge even with the fender but the high spot of steel behind it was the culprit which was ruining my line. This high spot now falls into much better alignment; I finally turned the corner on this area. Back filling that low leading edge of the door to finish it out. What a PIA this all was. Back to blocking and swatching.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Getting it closer to final shape but still finding flaws that I don't like.
One more aggressive leveling session to both thin and true the surface just a little more. Another sealer and work coat was next.
Blocking that next round and I thought I was about done chasing this area through layers but the rear lip of the fender opening had a just a touch too much muscle (or flare) in as the reflection came off the door. I wrested with just leaving it but I had come this far so off I went. Thinned and leveled the fender as far as I could but the wired edge itself was still too strong. Sort of bowed and flared just a touch too much.

I got the wired lip to come in by carefully hitting it right between the shoulders of this dolly. It was a pretty long expanse so I had to work it slow to keep it even , not take it too far or put a Jog in the Profile.

Eventually got the rear lip profile to lay down a little softer. All done and ready for yet another coat of sealer.
Moving my way rearward in between work coats. As tough as the left side of this car was this right side proved to be far more problematic but its almost there. Thank the lord.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin