Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Body work continues on rear cowl, decklid and tail.

Bringing the small pieces along as I go. These original covers have been a little roughed up over the years so after some very gentle hammering they were ready for sealer coat and a light pass of filler to get the rest of the scars out.
All areas blocked as far as I can go and now ready for another sealer and test coat.
rear end along with the decklid in quick color coat to see how far I have yet to go.
Once cured the lid was mounted. Very preliminary gaps and contour shapes across the panels.

A ways yet to go on those gaps but one step closer.

[JTR70]

Chased down the shape of the upper part of the door above the spear line while mounted on the car. Making gravity my friend here and taking care of the remaining irregularities below the belt line lying flat on my table. Taking care not to take too much material off towards the edges of the door as that needs to be done with the rest of the body.
Next sealer and test coat applied. Also dialing in all the edge and corner detail shapes as work on the general surface goes.
Back on the car and long boarding across the door gaps.
With the striker removed I noticed that the door sits just a touch too proud off the top of the body when its not under load. I'd rather it sit even without the latch pulling it down.
Bottom gap is a touch wider than 3mm so I have some wiggle room to bring this door down just a touch. Always something More on this later...

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

More fine adjustments and block sanding:
Didn't want to remove these hinge halves again this late in the game but it was the only way I was going to be able to get that last MM of drop I wanted across the door. Bottoms of these holes on both hinge mounts were filed just a touch more to give me the movement I was after.
Before it was over I had the slight drop in the doors elevation I was after. Back of the door was now dead even with the body at the lock post and the lower gap was a much closer 3mm. A noticeable drop here at the front but some long boarding across this gap removed enough material on the fender side to get me back to level. Though it was a pain and I debated; the extra effort here made an improved fitment all the way around.
With the door reset it was back to fine swipes of putty to chase out more irregularities along the crown of the rear quarter.
Then it was onto block sanding across the deck lid gaps to continue fine shaping with the body.

Sanding across the lid was impossible as it floats on its hinges and latch making it the most unstable of all the closing panels. The lids edges would flex inward with even minimal amounts of pressure applied; the rubber buffer grommets where of no help. I experimented with paint stick to back fill the space to help hold the lid edges steady but with only limited success. Out of desperation eventually came up with using 10mm bolts with stacked washers in place of the grommets. Took a few tries to dial in the needed amount of washers for each corner but this eventually turned the trick. Now I could get back to block sanding.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Drauz coach work badge placement:

The front fenders on this car are new so correct body badge location had to be reestablished.
Convertible D Guru John Chatley was kind enough to leave me with some example measurements from a couple of original cars one of which was his own.

This additional reference shot came from the owner of this car. As you can from all the info provided there is a lot of variance from car to car. No real exact position from the factory; You could also attribute these discrepancies to the slight varying shapes of the fender openings as well.
My car is a Reutter coupe but the badge holes are original so I mocked a Drauz badge for some further cross reference. I could only get one pin in as the holes are slightly wider.
Measured from the back pin this time just for more additional cross reference. Coming in at about 64mm.

Rocker is also original so it also provided a good baseline. Came in right about 180mm so it was all falling about in the middle of the Drauz examples.

[JTR70]

Body badge locating continued:
A final schematic of all the info had from both my car and the Drauz examples. My plan now was to fall right in the middle of all of this while finding the location that looked both centered and best for this particular lower fender and its shape.
Marked out a couple of locations as jumping off point.
Then it was onto the mock ups to see what looked the most centered and best on this fender.
Finally committed to the first hole then a couple of base lines where added to measure from to ensure the badge mounted level with the car.
All level, centered and set. Again it falls right in the middle of all the Drauz examples so it cant really be faulted. Most importantly it looks good right.

Onto the next deal....

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

New rear bumper modifications to fit original guards and the body.
Removed the guard mounting plates from both sides to get a clear shot at the exhaust arches.
had to go a step further on the left side by removing one of the inner uprights as well.
Relief cut the lower bumper profile just past the guard area to allow it to grow and come snug against the edge of the guard.
Not just the profile shape but also had to backfill around the exhaust cone for a closer fit to give the eventual rubber extrusion some place to sit under here.

The arch its self also needed some raising to clear the exhaust cone.

[JTR70]

Left guard fitment continued:
Heating and hammering the arch to needed shape. Inner side is marked out for a much quicker turn to give the guard extrusion some place to sit.
new profile set and ready to weld back up.
Eventually got the outer arch welded up and set.
Mock up with extrusion.
New shoulder runs little tight but it clears with plenty of wiggle room as the fitment goes.

[JTR70]

Good cone clearance all the way around.
Now onto the inner profile.
Arch and bumper profile complete. Now I can reinstall the substructure.
All the little spot welds lined back up pretty much where they were...a good sign.
Plug welded back together.

[JTR70]

Left arch complete:
Reinstalled with bumper all welded back back together.
Some dressing to do in the body work phase but good clearance in the end.

And with extrusion.
Very tedious repair this is. So glad to be half way done here...
Onto the right side next. This arch has to move outward about 3mm to better align with the body.

That next...

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Rear bumper metal alterations complete:
Arch reshaped allowing the guard to slide over the needed 3mm. Bumper mocked up and mounted to confirm the cones position with the body. Almost centered.
Swings a touch wider on this side but this is the closest I'm able to get without throwing everything off with the rest of the body above IE in the relation to the tail lights etc.
Most importantly plenty of clearance with nothing touching.
Now onto finishing out this last reveal section.
In steel with an initial clean up, and a test fit for clearance with the guard. Good to go.

[JTR70]

Bumper mods complete.
Initial problem solved with good lower fitment match against the guards. This job was a tough one to stay focused on, it was tedious and its ultimately on the bottom of the car so the most rewarding part of this was just being finished with it.
Quick acid bath to take care of that flash rust.
clean and ready for sealer.
Onto the bodywork phase.

thanks for looking!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Justin
That is some very nice work on the bumper rework. When I repaired my 912 bumper I had a hard time getting gaurd to match bumper. Your slitting technique would have helped.

[JTR70]

Thanks Phil, slitting it was the easiest way to get it come out and grow the needed distance.

[roy mawbey]

Yes well done Justin on that work. Looks very neat inded.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy, just glad to be done with all of this.

[JTR70]

hood underside detailing.
Lots of hammering marks through out so a light skim coat applied to clean up the final presentation.
made sure to replace these incorrect bolts before paint with correct headed ones with lock washers.
First round of sealer and work coat. Latch and hinges will be painted on the final go around to keep the thicknesses down.
Always something Hairline crack just ahead of the hinge that could not be seen in that black primer. Cant leave it as it will eventually carry over to the outer skin again.
First block sand and it will need another skim coat...

[JTR70]

Second skim coat blocked as far as I can go. Crack also welded up and dressed to the left there.
Underside fully sanded and now ready for a final sealer and work coat.
final work coat applied.

Not perfect but the underside will now present really well when ever the hood is opened. One more sand and prep before a final coat of color.
Flipped it over and applied another test coat to the surface. Its all good to go up here. I'll remount it back on the car one more time before the final paint to make sure the gaps and edges are right.

Thanks for looking!
Justin