Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[roy mawbey]

Great Justin, the small crack repair shows the effort you have put into this car you were told was ready for painting! Its great seeing attention to detail when many would have resorted to filler.

Well done!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! yeah, filler wouldn't be the best approach for crack repair. LOL

[JTR70]

Right side body work completed:
After many hours of metal work, block sanding , lip and edge detail work this right side is finally at a level that's ready for its final coats of color.
chased the gaps and edge details about as far as I can.
Gaps are larger than I personally like but they run an average of 3mm as stated by law.
Final uniform work coat of color applied and moving back over to the left side of the car to get it into its final base before the final paint job.
Car turned around so I can give the left side its once over and to finish out just a few more loose ends.

[JTR70]

Miscellaneous left side chores:
Not liking the contour of the quarter panel off of the back of the door. The is sloping downward but the quarter panel was tapering back upward so I was aggressively removing material to correct the slope. I've run into some high spots of steel at the back which I'll disc shrink later.
Door removed to finish drilling the holes for the threshold strip. Another one off of the "to do" list.
Starting cleaning up my couple years worth of lead, steel and grinding aggregate off of the interior floors.
All the while rear bumper body work playing in the background.
Up next is some under dash at the steering column redo work. Actually this will be my "redo" of the previous shops "redo" attempt of their own work. Keeping up with the theme here.
That next...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Dash and column support work:
This shot was taken by the owner during a mock up assembly shortly after getting it back from the shop that performed the metal work. As you can see the column support is out of alignment with the hole and would not allow the column tube to seat correctly.
The column clamp mount area had its own issues. As you can see the right side mounting hole is hogged out and twisted. The area is clearly visible at all times so it too was in no way ready for a final paint job. These issues where added to a grocery list of problems that my buddy found once he took delivery of the shell. Shortly afterward he arranged for the shop to correct all of these mistakes (while he waited in town) so the car was trailered the 2 thousand miles back to Texas to have the corrections made.
Afterward the shell was dropped off with me for the final paint job. Fast forward the column support was moved over but the bottom of the dash where column mounts is no better.
Sometime in the distant past the P.O.'s must have tried using the shorter coupe steering column clamp so the bottom of the dash was pounded in and arched for additional clearance. The correct Speedster version clamp and rubber grommet is going to be used so this also has to be fixed.

Begin repairs on this overlooked flange area next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin, so many things you have had to correct, but... what a car this will be when finished !! Tell me when the top coat is applied and it looks better than new what happens next? Are you involved in all the mechanical side and all the trimming work to the interior? I can't remember it was so long ago now what the owner wanted other than he wanted it ready for paint. To keep this car looking so correct the next stages have to be correct also to match the excellent work you have done.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks A lot Roy! This should be the last of them but I keep saying that. As for after its finally painted; the owner is an avid life long hobbyist with an eye for detail and originality. He handles the fun part of final assembly once his cars are finished shells.
Here is the numbers matching motor all rebuilt and beautifully detailed sitting in his garage awaiting installation back into this car. As you can see he does nice work so the final product should turn out really clean. Once he takes delivery I'll be sure to have either him or I update this thread with reassembly photos. He works quick so this thread is actually going to be the first restoration journey to have a fully finished product on this forum. It will be fun to watch so stay tuned! Thanks again Roy!


Back to the dash:
My Speedster dash shows what this mounting area should look like. Nice and level for that rubber grommet.

Eventual decided it much easier and cleaner to cut both the damaged flange section of the dash and column support back out. Two small holes to the left where probably for some sort of aftermarket gauge so they will be filled.
Very tortured piece of metal. You can see where the previous shop took to bashing in the middle of it to get it to move over during their "redo".
New flange section from an old original fender section getting a new leash on life. Trimmed and flanging it to shape here.

[JTR70]

Orienting section in best adjusted position with pre-punched clamp holes. Cockeyed mounting hole orientation is correct and what I'm looking for. Learned that detail with the coupster project.
Trimmed and tacked. Mocking up the support with column before I fully welding it up.

Hole alignment about the best I could hope for.

So far so good, all falling into position.
A step further by set screwing the column support into position and adding in the actual steering column clamp.

[JTR70]

Finishing out dash flange repair:

As you can see with everything lined up and set. The clamp sits crooked in relation to the edge of the dash, a detail easily overlooked and counter intuitive.
Ready to finish stitching this in.
Stitched and dressed.

Gauge holes provided valuable access to be abe to finish out the flange welds top side.
Will only need a skim coat to take it the rest of the way.
Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Great Justin, so good you had experience of that positioning from the Coupster. Without that cock -eyed experience it would have left you scratching your head for sure! His engine looks so good I look at original items that usually have been modified like for example, the line from the fuel pump to the carb with a fuel filter. His is perfect. His silver fan housing so his engine must be the super version. The black slightly off full gloss black for some of the engine tin. ( Though some of my original engine items are gloss black paint even the regulator box is gloss black still with the original decal which does look a bit sad.)

If the rest of his work is to same standard his car will look as new! I think I might be a bit frightened to drive it in case I got a stone chip ! Its fabulous Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks so much Roy! Good eye, you know your engine details, correct, this car is a Super. Right, most all of those fuel hard lines were cut for an inline filter at some point. Unmolested lines are at a premium I would imagine. Yes, lots of variation in semi-gloss black on those tins. As always Roy, thank you.

[JTR70]

Getting ready to install the column support but another quick detour while I was still under there.
While working under here I noticed these nasty looking metal tangs hanging from the trunk floor. Just an after thought hastily installed.
Checked my car to see what if anything was there. These hold the washer hose and as you can see these have never been reopened as the hose rotted away.

I was going to reinstall the steering column support next but it was agreed we wouldn't leave this mess behind so now was the time to address it with more room to work with the column support still out of the way.
Grinding down those bugar welds was every bit the PIA that I thought it was going to be. Laying flat on my back with sparks raining down I was cursing the guy that put those in.

I was also asked to check the hand brake assembly for fitment as there was some sort of issue with the existing mounting holes. There was, the corner of the unit was catching the edge of the relief shape in the floor so it wouldn't seat.

[JTR70]

Handbrake remounting:
Made a template of the housings foot print to dial in the needed clearance and new mounting hole position.

Lined up with the existing holes and the corner clearly interfered with the floor relief.

Existing holes closed and ready to be dressed and redrilled.
Brake assembly fully engaged at the tube end with unit over enough to clear the shoulder.
Template left behind to hold that sweet spot for drilling.

[JTR70]

Detour complete:
Handbrake all set...
Also better centered in the reinforcement plate.
Back to those metal holding loops. Pre- shaped here and ready for installation. Installed completing my detour.

Trick to attaching these cleanly was to plug weld from the top side, not bugar weld from the bottom.

Back to prepping the steering column support for installation.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Column support prep and install:

One very tortured piece of metal. Its been hit , cut, welded and reinstalled going on its 4th time now. Straightened back out with ears where added back onto the ends here. Ready to go back in for a final time.
Set screwed at both ends now and ready for another column mock up just to be absolutely sure its right before I commit to welding.
Actual column for this car mocked up and everything is good to go.

Fully welded and dressed. Seam welded along the edges at the bottom as originally and plug welded to the dash flange.
This has been a long road but with this one out of the way I am officially done with my metal correction duties. Bodywork and paint only from here on in.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Great job Justin. Very impressed to your attention to correctness.

[JTR70]

Thank you Phil! Sometimes I come up short but I try to get it as close as I can.

[roy mawbey]

What an adventure Justin ! Well done bet your back and neck ached after doing that work !!

Roy

[JTR70]

Agree Roy, its been quite the adventure but I am relieved that there will be no further grinding or welding over head. Thanks again!