Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

All but ready to paint...
Back taped the inside and got the rear bumper in its final top coats completing all the final painting I dared to do here.
Much less complicated concerning overspray to finish off the back of hinges in black now instead of waiting until after final paint.
Onto back taping these hinges which wraps up my preping duties on the closing panels.
All my basic masking now complete. Once its in the booth we'll run a perimeter skirt all the way around the bottom.
The following evening I went over to the body shop to confirm and we went to work cleaning and power washing the inside of their spray booth. That's Elias manning the power washer and broom.

[JTR70]

At long last......its into the booth!
Now onto final staging. Ricardo(left) the owner of the shop and the guy doing the painting talking things over with his right hand man Elias.
My buddy Mark loaned me his painting stand specifically built for holding 356 doors which came in very handy.
Car up on jack stands with a final perimeter wrap.
Hood and decklid also now hung and ready. A final wipe down in process.
She's all ready to go and its now in Ricardo's hands. Drum roll please...

[JTR70]

Painted! (one week ago)

[JTR70]

Part2

Ricardo did a great job of laying that paint on for me. He really hammered it on with a good overall gloss as I told him that we really didn't have the luxury of color sanding out a lot of mistakes after the fact. We got a couple of small runs and sags in it as that's the fine line you walk when you go for a high shine but I can cut and polish those out.
Safely back into my shop the following morning. The next big hurdle is getting the windshield frame installed. Prepping for that next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Scott B]

wow it must be an incredible feeling and high to reach this point. Great work Justin. It looks like a wet seal just out of the water. A real interesting colour that is really growing on me. Awesome milestone. Congratulations

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot Scott! This was a really nice milestone to get past. The next one is going to be getting the windshield installed. I've heard all the tales woe concerning its installation. Fortunately my buddy Mark who has some experience here is going to come by and help me with it on Tuesday. Agree, this color is growing on me too. It has a lot of green in it which makes it more interesting than straight up powder blue.

Right after I got the gallon of this color mixed and back to my shop it was really making me think of pistachio ice cream, Blue Bunny brand to be exact as pictured above. Not an exact match but similar.

Thanks again, you'll make it here one day. Keep chipping away at it!

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin I have been a fan of Meissen blue for 51 years! The owner of this car must be over the moon to see those photo's. Do you remember so long ago when you had this car delivered to you by the previous restorer as ' Ready for painting' ! My goodness no one I know, could have been as careful as you, to get such a perfect job. We have I guess 32 pages of ' really getting it ready for paint' with hundreds of photos on all the stages.

How you didn't pull your hair out sometimes on this journey I don't know. to say it was difficult, is an understatement to get it to this level of finish. Lets hope the owner is able to finish it to match your standard of work!!

Roy

[JTR70]

I have a new appreciation for Meissen Blue Roy, so I know what you mean. Definitely, its been a very long road and it went much further than either one of us anticipated the day it was taken off the trailer. He'll finish this thing out really nice I have no doubts about that. I will most certainly keep you updated on its progress. Thanks again for all the kind words of encouragement along the way. Justin

[JTR70]

I am way behind on this post update. The car is now gone as of last Sunday and is finally back with my buddy. I was so slammed trying to tie up loose ends before his arrival that I had no energy left to update this post by days end. Anyway, after paint I had a little fun with the instant gratification of part some reassembly.
Began with the deck lid:
Peeled the tape on my back masked hinges in prep for the lids final install.
Lid installed for the final time. I must have removed and installed this thing a hundred times like the rest of the closing panels but a final painted surface really increases the danger and stress factor.
Fully latched in its final position. I was already spot sanding/polishing some lint that always seems to find a way in the process.
Highlighting the reflection shapes across the gaps here.
Onto the hood installation next.

[JTR70]

Final hood installation:
The seal has to go on first. I like adding a veneer of grease in and around those metal corner clamps just for an additional rust inhibiter
Seal all set with its joint placed to the right side corner just behind the lowest screw on the mounting clamp. This is where all the concourse guys say it goes....
Back tape peeled revealing the black out detail just before mounting.
Installed for the final time and latched.Phew! All done here.
As you can I was also skinning the dash top in preparation for the windshield installation. I'll back up and show more on this next.

[JTR70]

Dash top skinning:
Locating the skin in most centered position to ensure I didn't run short anywhere once I started gluing. I bounced back and forth with the hood seal install.
Once I had it located I laid down my first section of landau glue and worked my way from the center outward.
I continued gluing to the right side first as it was the much easier and straight forward shape to cover. A nice confidence builder.
Once secured I began opening up the relief shapes for the defroster and the grab handle.
Now ready to taken on the more complicated shape of the gauge cluster. More on this later...

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Looking good Justin!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy!

[JTR70]

Dash skinning continued:
Steadily getting that leather to lay down tight around this compound shape.
Making my way to the outside all the while staying extra aware so I didn't screw this up. Mocked up the lower base just to have a look.
Taking shape...
My job is just to tuck the top corner in. Autos international will handle this lower section.

After a few attempts this outer contour laid down tight. Had to leave the back flap loose to allow the needed shrinking and stretching along the way. Tough part is over and its all down hill from here. My camera couldn't decide whether the leather was light brown or a reddish-copper color. I was liking this redder version.

[JTR70]

Left side now finished. Excess trimmed with vent opened.
Lower frame and vent covers installed. Now ready to accept a windshield.
Seems straight forward enough but that gauge relief shape definitely throws a curve in there.
Just have to finishing out the corners.
Corners finished completing this phase of the installation.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[Scott B]

Wow this is really cool seeing how this comes together. The colour choice works really well with the paint. Supper job Justin. Must be a nice change from the metal.

[JTR70]

Thanks Scott, its a nice break from metal but a whole new set of concerns arise with its final presentation and avoiding any damage to the finish.

[JTR70]

I was under the gun to get the car ready for pick up so I didn't take any shots until it was reassembled and headed into the trailer. Below are some random shots in no particular order just before it was loaded.