Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[roy mawbey]

Looking very good Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Roy, Thank you very much for putting out the good word on other forums about the projects going on here. I really appreciate it and your words of encouragement definitely help to keep the wheels turning! Best wishes to you and your family in the new year my friend! Justin

12/25/12
Well between Jacks show and Christmas I have not gotten very far.

Only some weld cleaning and detail on the rear cap.

I'll have this chassis on the hoist by weeks end at least that's the plan anyway. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

12/29/13
Chassis mounted on rotisserie.

The structural integrity has reached the point where I feel safe hanging the frame by opposite ends so on the hoist it went this afternoon. Also flipping and lugging this frame by myself was getting old!!

Before it could go on I had to finish up some loose ends at the battery box. Mounted the bracket base I had removed and straightened in the beginning.

The old engine hoist came through once again keeping this one man operation going forward.

Fully mounted as of this afternoon.

In preparation of the new floor I am first removing the tunnel and the conduits. This also makes floor installation so much easier!!

As you can see the conduits are shot anyway and will need to be replaced.

The original tunnel will also need full repair along the perimeter. Another kit will do the job as it was done for the sides. All the little mount brackets for the conduits will also need to be fabricated.

Tunnel now removed and conduits will come out next.

Things start looking up once all that Swiss cheesed metal is removed. Speaking of which the rear seat pan will be coming out once the new floor is set.

Life is so much nicer with a rotisserie!!!! Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

Happy New Year everyone!

1/1/14


Cut the conduits free and now Removing the center section remains of the rear vertical closing wall. To do this the seam weld all around this opening must be ground back.

Also have to cut ahead of the access cover thread plate.

Cut and notched out to get around that jig support tube

After splitting the two pieces apart the remains slipped right off the old housing.

With that out of the way I'm trial fitting the new pans.

Fine trimming coming up next. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[Steve]

Justin:
I have been lurking on this thread for a long time, and haven't said anything. But I can't keep quiet any longer.

Your work on this car is an inspiration to anyone with a rusty 356, and shows what is possible with motivation, time, and boundless energy. Anyone else would have thrown this coupe on the scrap heap a long time ago.

I know this is a lower priority project for you, but I always hope there will be some new entries on the coupster when I get on your site. Keep up the great work!

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot Steve! It's always great to hear that guys actually look at all of this and find it worth a return visit. You're correct this chassis would have been scrapped 20 years ago. It simply would have not been worth the time and effort to repair. Now that these cars have all reached a certain level of value it still amazes me what now a days constitutes a "viable project car". Thanks for your encouraging post, again it is always greatly appreciated! Justin

[JTR70]

1/4/14

Fitting forward floor pan
Since the rear section sandwiches over the top of the forward panel it is this one that must go in first.

While this panels placement is self explanatory there is a bit of fine adjustment concerning the floor embossments to landmarks along the chassis that I want correct.

The forward to aft adjustment concerns this lateral floor rib to the "V" relief cut on the wall.

The original floor in my coupe shows these two details as being lined up on this left side.

However the right side has the rib slightly ahead of the "V". So even from the factory these were not perfectly aligned.


So with that in mind I'm shooting for alignment but the best average fit will dictate the their final position with one another. At least I know its "legal" if they are not quite perfectly even.

The lateral adjustment is of course aiming for center of the floor with the center of the frame however the mount flange to outer embossment shoulder will ultimately dictate its final position. Again I'm left with just shooting for the best average placement.

Once I felt that it was there I scribed a line all along the perimeter flange.

The perimeter repair kits are a standard offering so the mount flange measures 3/4 of an inch. I marked back this distance from my original scribe line and began trimming. Not much extra along the sides...

I could not get a clean accurate line towards the front due the excess resting on the end-cap flange causing a gap. Once I had the side established I cut these reliefs in so the front would lay flush.
Double checked and corrected the base lines. BTW: these shots have been turned 180 degrees. This whole series was done with the chassis upside down.


It gets curvy through here so scribing in a secondary line would be tricky however this 3/4 masking tape worked perfectly.

IN! This all went surprisingly pain free. Have to enjoy these easy victories when you can...

Gap is tight and Could not be happier with the fitment. Note the initial scribe line on the panel.

With every new added piece this thing looks a little better but floor pans really change the outlook.

Now onto punching holes and filling numerous plug-welds all along the edges tomorrow. Thanks for looking! Justin

[Carrera_The_Kid]

Cool stuff Justin, thanks for sharing. I really enjoy your updates

[DG58INNM]

Looking good Justin! You are so right about getting the pans in the correct spot fore/aft. One thing to check before final installation is bolting up the pedal assembly and figuring out where the "C" shaped support/bolt bracket is going to wind up. If you don't get the panel fore/aft alignment right, this piece is not going to sit in the right place relative to the circular depression, and it is instantly obvious when you see the underside of the car. Can't begin to tell you how many "professionally" restored cars I see with this bracket/depression relationship way way off.
DG

[Phil Planck]

Nice work, as usual Justin. Take a look at the modified drill bit on my thread. Really speeds up removal of galvanize or weld thru primer before plug welding. Now it have to look at how my pan lined up with the v joint.

Phil

[JTR70]

Thank you Joris!!

Absolutely right David, an excellent point and a detail I would have over looked until after the fact. I'll spend this next session mocking up the pedal assembly with the "C" base bracket and determine where it is as far as orientation to that round embossment before I weld in this floor. I'm sure the embossment will not be where I need it and changes will have to made so the pedal assembly seats properly but I will address it before I weld in the floor. Great advice for anyone reading this and also preparing to install a new floor. Nice catch David, thanks for the tip!

Thanks a lot Phil! I was reading about that drill bit trick and I think its a great idea. So far for me none of the stuff I have here is coated in weld-through primer but is instead coated in zinc. I have not had a problem with it contaminating my plug-welds though I have read a warning about inhaling the vapors. I know there will come a time when this trick will be an aggravation saver though and god knows I have enough dull old bits to put to work for just such a specialized task. Thanks for sharing this tip and your current progress with us all! Looking forward to more.

Thanks again for all the great advice you guys!
Justin

[JTR70]

1/6/14
Adjusting front pan for pedal assembly base position.
Following David's sound advice I spent this last session mocking up a pedal assembly and readjusted the floor to find the best average fit once again.

Pedal assembly installed for the first time here to see just how bad the floor embossment is off.

Forward flange was mounted snug to the wall for a more accurate fitment. When I replaced this lower section I purposely cut below the original mounting hole preserving it knowing full well the punched hole in the new piece was way off.

Unfortunately most of this new piece ended up as scrap

New lower flange mounted in its best adjusted position. As you can see the pre-punched hole is too low and off to one side. If I would have used the entire piece the pedal assembly would have never fit right.

Not a unique problem this one I did a few years back was punched too low as well.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't that far off at all. The outer stud was into the embossment a little but shoving the floor forward a few MM's would help to correct that. I began trimming strips off the shouldered edge allowing the pan to move up just a bit.

I lost my alignment a little here but again I'm left with just finding the best middle ground for all the components involved.

Marked where it started so I'd know how much it changed. This is as far forward as I can take it.

This floor is bottomed out. This outer embossment is now up against the flange as it turns inward. This is as far as she goes...



Once this was finished I remounted the pedals to see what I had gained. It was better but still encroached a bit however this is how it has to be. I marked the holes in the far end of the slotted holes to buy more room.

Everything now drilled including the plug-weld holes for the diagonal center braces. I'll have to relax a portion of this shoulder so the stud-plate will seat but it will be close enough.

One more mock-up this time with bolts. I'd of preferred the bolts to be more centered in the holes but this is the best compromise.

This detail is now settled. I'll start welding in this floor tomorrow. BTW: the pedals will be mounted fully back in again to ensure the floor is exactly where I need it.

Here's a clean shot of my original floor and mount plate. Its actually going to be very close once its finished. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[DG58INNM]

Justin,
It is correct to have the mounting plate studs at the rear of the slots in the pedal bracket when it is bolted up tight against the front bulkhead. The slots let the bracket move rearward when loosened, giving the clearance necessary to angle the bracket up and over the studs.

You've piqued my curiosity about the positioning of the circular indentations on repro floor pans. Maybe you should make some careful measurements on the original floors in your Carrera coupe. I will look at the floors I have too. 104006 has a Simonsen pan which lined up perfectly upon installation. 89379 still has its original floor intact and in decent shape.

DG

[Phil Planck]

Guess I got lucky with my repro pan and fitment, as the pedal bracket support came out pretty good. Sorry for the messy paint. I found out that Eastwood's Coreless paint is not compatible with epoxy primer.

[JTR70]

I'll say you got lucky Phil; the placement looks spot on.

David, I'll to get a few measurements tomorrow. It can't be off by more than just a few MM's by the way its fitting now... Thanks! Good to know that the floor studs ended up in the correct position in relation to the pedals.

Todays progress: 1/7/14

Front pan and surrounding area is now fully prepped and will start welding it in tomorrow. The pedal assembly is all bolted up here to help "locate" the floor as its welded in.

I spoke with Steve Hogue on Monday and he's going to fabricate this vertical closing wall for us. He recommended sending a paper template along just to ensure a good fit so I started one today. Thanks for looking! Justin