The Resurrection of Foam Car - 63 T6B

[John Pierce]

Nice repair, Phil. I'm looking forward to seeing how these go in as I've yet to do mine.

[Phil Planck]

Slower progress, as putting new shocks on front the 912 is taking some time. Did get this rusty piece at top of fender bucket opening cut out:

[John Pierce]

Phil,

Do you have a resto blog. If not, maybe some pix?

JP

[Phil Planck]

No blog John.
Got flange repaired near top of bucket opening:



About time to reinstall buckets. Need to see what else needs access through these holes first. Btw that red orange paint is Eastwoods version of a rust encapsulater. Put it on 18 years ago. I have been slowly removing it but it is pretty tough stuff and hard to remove.

[Phil Planck]

I have the passenger fender brace clamped in place to weld to the fender. With 1/2" fender opening variation side to side I decided to put the wheels on, lift them off the jack stands, install the bumper for a visual check. I cannot see much if any visible difference other than possibly my front ride heigth being too high. I did set torsion bar angles to the spec. Maybe with a tank of gas and some settleing in of the suspension it will look more normal












As Jack warned me earlier, once I weld in that center nose piece there is not going to be much movement option.

[John Pierce]

I think it looks great, Jack. Remember that these cars were built by hand and there is a lot of variation from side to side. Be careful welding the brace in first before situating the light bucket to make sure things line up, which I bet you've already considered.

JP

[Phil Planck]

Thanks John
The passenger brace has been welded to the body already, and at that time everything lined up with the bucket. I have removed the conduit, as am making new ones that go all the way through the bucket so no weld slag inside at the bucket. I figured it was easier to see, clamp and weld the brace to the fender with the bucket out. I have coated all the inner welds, so after the braces I hope to try to install the buckets. I have also coated all the weld joints with waterproof filler per Bruces email recommendation years ago before ABCGT existed. As there were still some unrepairable surface imperfections in theat center nose section I also put a skim coat there. BTW, those tires, I bought for the 2 months I drove Foam Car until my foot really went through the floor in Nov. 2000. After I relocated to northern MI I put them on the PreA and drove all over the country with them. Then they went on the 912, as though old, not as old as the undersized tires that were on it when I bought it. I just put a set of Vredesteins on the 912 so these are now back on Foam Car, and this is the first time since about 2003 when I moved Foam Car to our new home that the front has sat on tires.

[bbspdstr]

"Be careful welding the brace in first before situating the light bucket to make sure things line up, which I bet you've already considered."

I guess it's time to fast-forward through MbyH and see if there is any footage of the h/l bucket/brace assembly during body construction.

My theory has been that to get the tubing's upper end flared when finished was more difficult than inserting a bare flared and curved tube through the hole in the bucket bottom and fished and finagled into the inside hole and then add the remainder of the bracing. That way it wound up where it had to be, not force-fit.

I have seen original flared tube ends of different heights and always a continuous tube into the inner body, so one can surmise the method used originally and develop any theory of how the original constructors made that all look so natural and ....dare I say...."easy."

I ignore the replacement parts both OEM and repro as anything but replacement parts that often don't work well in every situation and need modifications. Post NOS and pre decent repro, I made my own or just replaced what was too bad and saved the rest.

Yes, I install those and flare the upper end in place once all is secure ("heat-n-beat"), but was that the original way? Phil has the engineering background and seems to be following the logical order of placement. From a business point of view, I want to achieve the best results in the least amount of time.

Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Bruce
I agree that the conduit was installed separate from the brace. Whether it was flared before or after is a good question. Easier to install from below without flare, but harder to flare installed. My original conduits were welded at the bottom for the rearward 180 degrees and from the top, inside the bucket for the front 180. My repro braces are "flimsy" enough to conform to the conduit.

[Phil Planck]

Got both brackets welded to the fenders. Easier to do with headlight buckets out. Drivers side bracket had been removed to facilitate fender repair, even though I had already installed it once. Took about and hour to get it to line up correctly. Here it is tek screwed and clamped in place ready to weld in:






With this finally done, I will coat all uncoated welds and should be ready to begin headlight bucket install.
.

[Phil Planck]

Got all the underside coated and 1 bucket in, but not welded. Swear I made a sketch of the gap at the bucket rim before removing, but cannot find it in my log. Is there a "typical" gap or do I mock up with rubber gasket and masking tape for paint thickness?

Bucket got harder to move at around 2" protrusion so had to resort to my old Healy knock off brass hammer. A 2x6 worked well against the flat at the back of the bucket, which is parallel to the rim.

[John Pierce]

Phil,

From what I've read (probably from Bruce and Jack), it's best to mock up your light with the gasket that you're going to use as there are variances in gasket thickness. You need to also account for the paint thickness. Looking forward to seeing your install.

JP

[Phil Planck]

Thanks John

Frustrating that I think I documented before disassembly but can't find it. I should have new "standard" rubber gaskets, will look. Got the driver's side bucket in. Went in much easier, probably because it came out that same opening, although I was a little concerned that my flange repairs may not been at the correct angel, but lucked out. The good news is on this side I have drilled out spot weld holes to line up, so will put some tek screws in, masking tape, and test fit with "standard" gasket. On the passenger side, the original bucket had to "adapt" to a NOS opening. Took a little more effort. Nice to see the nose coming together finally.

[Phil Planck]

Stoddard only lists one rubber seal, called thin. I ordered 2 from Wolfburg West, which I think are also thin. Was hoping to get 2 versions, just in case. International Mercantile makes one with no designation. Antone know if it is thicker than Wolfburg, or another supplier?

[John Pierce]

People like Wolfburg West light seals the best.