The Resurrection of Foam Car - 63 T6B

[bbspdstr]

Yes Bruce I second you on that in saying thanks to Justin. I have not asked recently but ABCGT must have an increased membership now to a year ago. I really hope so its such a friendly and open site. I am in a good mood today just got in from a nice 356 run about. Do you all find actually you don't need to go far maybe 10 miles but its enough to relax you? I pick my route and it does not vary that much, just a few area's where I can bring the RPM to about 4,500 and hold it for a short while.
Roy

Achtung! Here's what happens when a 356 is not driven enough!
Mouse condos!
I drove this car for about 10 miles after clean-out (and Fabreze) and it was a treat, therapy for all the senses. It only had 42 miles since my last service! Passed down to the son from the father but the son has a busy job, so it sits. Our gas doesn't last well enough to get used if driven that little, so I offer to "Check the oil and change the gas." That 356 is reminiscent of a C I had in '71 that I drove every day, so I secured Right of First Refusal if it goes up for sale!
Meanwhile, it prompted me to get to work on my own A.
-Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Bruce
Looks easier to clean out than foam. Spent an hour today refitting rocker and punching holes for plug welds on the two flanges up front. I am a little confused on the original attachment of the long double fold under the double layer longitudinal flange. I still have the old rockers and it looks like there were spot welds about every 4 inches. Ron Roland says (I think) 2" welds every 6" along the sandwich of the 3 layers of metal. When I did the other side I did a lot of plug welds clear through both top layers of the longitudinal.

The front of the rocker is trimmed and ready to butt weld. I still need to trim the quarter panel and part of the rocker at the rear.

Phil

[Phil Planck]

Today was tidy up the rocker and front closing panel day. Like Justin, several little things needed finishing up before permanent install of the rocker. Got the quarter patch trimmed to match the odd shape of the rear of the rocker. Put 2 coats of zinc rich primer on all the metal that will be hidden. Spent the remainder of the 2.5 hrs. planishing the vertical weld of the front fender patch forward of the door. There was a 10 inch section that I had not finished. Wanted to do this while the metal could move freely before welding to the rocker. No advice from Bruce, so will do plug welds about every 4" through the double layer and then edge weld per Ron Roland's book.

[bbspdstr]

Phil, sorry, just got home from a day of towing. New owner of a Convertible D wanted it taken to it's new home to reside with his other two. Now there is a 356 for each of his teenagers. He grew up with his father's and has a picture of himself as a baby being held by his mother when he got his first 356 ride 52 years ago. Now, he has pictures of each of his children being held by his wife when they each got their first ride in a 356. Now each of them will grow into their own 356 futures. I am attempting to talk the man into a story, with pictures, for a piece on this site.

Back to 'work.' if you have done the plug and edge welding, you'll be fine with that. If you mean the inner longitudinal outer edge over the return of the outer longitudinal and the double return of the threshold 'sandwich,' the original spot welds were often mostly overlapped and the flame welded edge was random. I now cut back 19mm from the outer edge where the spots are/were to get all off at one time and add a strip to the top (inner longi) with the MIG, grind that down for the re-stack, punch that about every inch or less, mark the next layer (outer longi), punch that and plug from solid edge of rocker up, holding when fit... with tek screws and vice-grips.
Now, off to bed, been a long day.
-Bruce

[roy mawbey]

Phil,

So much to have to know on that repair, when you finish it would like to see a photo. I seem to remember when I strippd mine down years ago its still original, I could see the flame welding line.

Bruce,
You made me smile reading about the guy with the 'D'. I was taking my second son out for a drive in the 356 just the other day and we were talking about years ago when all three of my boys sat in the back none with seat belts. I told him his first journey took place when he was around 5 days old forty three years ago. I picked him up with his mum from the maternity hospital. One of those drive's you just don't forget. My wife held him on her lap in the front seat, I was careful but just not allowed these days.

Roy

[bbspdstr]

Phil, I always try to think of why certain procedures were performed in each area, the way we find them. On the threshold area, I'm sure the thinking was standardized so an open car would have the same strength in that area and a Coupe got the same treatment, need it or not.

I have posted before that I have a Linco spot welder I just don't use anymore. That area was why! Three layers was tough to do with new components and special tips and fixtures, so I plug welded between the spots when I did mine early on in my career...then just decided a plug weld was stronger and made many more of them. Ground down, who knows? On 'show cars' we hit between with a punch to appear as a spot weld dimple, just in case anyone lifts insulation, carpet, muslin goo strip or aluminum edge trim.

My theory: The flame welding on the edge of that threshold was just a slight stop on the way from front to back for that worker with the torch, as seen in "Made by Hand." That wasn't for holding the edge together, that was the equivalent of a plug weld done with a MIG, used to tighten up an area exposed to torque between actions of the front and actions of the back, transferred into three tubes (2 longitudinals and a center tunnel plus the vertical strength of the outer rocker). The doors of a coupe sag far less than the doors of an equally rusted open 356, right?

-Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Thanks Bruce. I just pulled up my pictures from when I installed the other rocker:


Based on this I better do it the same way, which was many plug welds along the top. Otherwise the body may do some weird torqueing with one side different(just kidding).
I also need to coat all the metal that is easier to get while the rocker is off like I did the other side:

[Phil Planck]

At hour 1339

Rained all day today so could not continue Spring yard cleanup(darn). Got in 4.5 hours on Foamcar finally welding in the rocker on the drivers side. Got all the undermetal primed and painted, drilled 39 plug weld holes in the sill, punched about 16 holes at the front flanges. Got it mounted for the last time and tacked the quarter and fender to the rocker to get the proper bottom gap to the door. Removed the door and began a long plug welding session. Here are some of the drilled holes along the sill:


I first drilled 7/32" holes through both layers, then went back and opened the upper layer to 1/4". Next I used a ground 7/32 drill bit to remove the zinc coating from the rocker flange at the bottom of the holes. Where I could not get the drill in, I used either acetone on a qtip or a pointed round file to scrap of the zinc coat.

Up front I was able to use large clamps to hold the panels tight:





Along the long sill I used a wide panel flanger clamp instead of the plug weld clamp. I got better compression of the panels this way.

Here are some of the undressed plug welds:







I then smoothed the plug welds down with a right angle die grinder with an 80 grit disc.
Here is the installed rocker with plug welding finished and tack welds along the butt joints at quarter and fender:



It's a good feeling to finally have this part installed. I have had it for a good 11 years waiting for this day. One lesson I learned on the other side was not to weld the front sill(in front of hinge post until you have the door gap set. I did this first on the other side and that locks the rocker in place so that you can not adjust the lower door gap. I had to drill out all of those plug welds in order to get the correct gap. This time I did the gapping first and locked the gap in place by tack welding the rocker to the quarter panel and front fender.

[JTR70]

Congratulations Phil! It all really turned out nice though not without a fight! I appreciate all the time you spent just making that part fit and contour correctly! Interesting decision on plug-welding through both longitudinal flanges to attach the rocker versus the tiny stitch welds across the leading edge as originally. These rockers are never coming loose!
Will you be leading the jambs next or headed for the nose? Another chore off of the check list! Keep at it! Justin

[John Pierce]

Phil,

You can really see the progress now. It looks great. Thank you for the heads up about the front sill. I have to take Bubba's previously installed rocker out and redo it. Your documentation will be quite helpful.

John

[bbspdstr]

"Got all the undermetal primed and painted, drilled 39 plug weld holes in the sill, punched about 16 holes at the front flanges."
Phil, that's the difference between you and me...you, count 'em and I do "about enough."

What I don't do is put on the jack spur before all is done, no matter how much more difficult the welding/grinding may be. The pre-made rockers I get I 'tune up' with the help of an original I keep for such things and even though I have installed original (NOS) rockers over the years, even those attached spurs are not always where they need to be for the gap under a finished rocker.

As for gaps, I admired how nice the gaps were on a racing Coupster many years ago. Then I looked more closely; the doors were gutted and welded closed. The flanks were Bondo'd up and beautifully sculpted (for a racecar) and the gaps were an illusion made with black 1/8" self-stick pinstripe tape......

I will take and post some pictures of a car I am beginning now that was last restored in Europe over 30 years ago by (non-356 fluent) craftsmen. It has rockers, as seen many times referenced in Porsche manuals for special parts or tools, "of local manufacture." Very well made, but on a brake. The access holes for the t-bars are half-a-hole too low and the outer upper edge insisted that the door bottoms be as straight as they are. The outer bottoms aren't rounded, they are angled 90*.

The owner has the choice of replacement or not, as there is no rust visible.....but if he wants an idea of price, I'll ask Phil for a time estimate to offer, he keeps meticulous records!

Like many threads tend to be here and 'over there,' the core here can learn much from Tom and Phil. I do. First, have an interest, then learn by being taught by others or by doing, then teach others by sharing and the cycle continues. The cars thank you!

And thanks, Justin, always, for creating the means in and through which this can happen.

[Phil Planck]

Justin
Current plan is to use lead. However, since I have only done it on the outer rocker on the other side, I think I will wait and do all of the leading on the car at once. At this point of experience, I need to review the leading literature, posts, and videos again to make sure I don' forget any of the critical steps. I still need to weld up the quarter to lock post joint, as it still is just tacked, just in case I still need to do some final tweaking. I bought a 6' aluminum rule to clamp on the side per Bruce's suggestion to abandon the string(still don't understand why that does not work, but not going to dispute a pro). In order to do the welding inside the wheel opening, I am finally going to remove the transaxle. Has to come out anyway for new boots, seals, etc. So may take a break from body work this summer and do some mechanical work.

Bruce, looking forward to the pictures, and more tips. Regarding the jack spur. I did not install that until recently and spent a lot of time getting it in the "correct" spot. That was probably the first time I clamped the crappy rocker in place to make sure it cleared the spur with the proper lower door gap. Not having a rotisserie I did not want to weld that in laying on the floor at my age. It is also very hard to get good plug welds once the rocker is on.

[bbspdstr]

Well, I took the pictures and attempted to upload them. Hit send and it all disappeared.....out of time to retry, I'll try later.

[DG58INNM]

Phil,
Very nice job on the rocker and fender repairs. Came out beautiful!
DG

[roy mawbey]

Yes Phil still continuing to closely follow your work and progress. Its looking great and those tips on how and where to start could be invaluable to those just starting to do this work.

So much to know on bodywork!!

Roy