Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[JTR70]

Sounds like you have several distracting hobbies, I hope you get your '63 back. let us know how it turns out. Thanks again! Justin

3/11/13
bulkhead section reinstall

Clamped some heavy bar stock to the outside to act as guide and anvil to get that last little curve there relaxed.

Switched to the inside to square up the flange.

With the area back here all hammered out I could now reinatall the bulkhead section I had to remove.

It was nice putting this piece back in after what it took to straighten it. Will address the front area of this wall next. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

Just a quick update: 3/13/13

With the old collision damage settled I moved onto this ripped out hole where the headlight conduit once mounted. Installed a patch along with repairing the tears.

Drilled the new hole to size and "boinked" it on the inward side to seam weld it to the new tube opening as originally.

here is the other side and how the factory joined them. Will be drilling out more spot-welds tomorrow in prep for the new floor and forward walls. FUN! Thanks for reading this! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

I know its a long way off but what steering wheel diameter will you use on this car? Then originals had a 400mm diameter against the standard 420mm of the coupes. Luckily my 'A' was ordered with a 400mm wheel and I like that size.

Will you get a standard ivory VDM of wood rimmed wheel?

Somne of these things will be quite expensive I just spent a while onb e-bay and realise I am WAY OUT on current spare part prices.

Roy

[JTR70]

oh! Thats one of the scarier propositions; piecing this car together but it will have to be addressed someday. To answer your question though yes, I am keeping one eye out for a 400mm wheel. All speedsters were fitted with them as standard. He wants to build it as authentic and correctly as we can. You're right though I like them much better than the later T2 420mm units.. Justin

[JTR70]

3/23/13
Been sick with a cold for that last week so today was my first real day back in the shop. Spent this afternoon continuing on with my prep for the new battery box sheet metal.

removed whats left of the original floor along the flange joint. the very teadious task of drilling spot-welds.

repeat other side.

It would be suicide to drill out all of these to get the last of front closing wall off.

I take my grinder and make whats left razor thin so I can peel it off like opening a can of Sardines.

Also started making my paper template to repair the flange joint on the rear bulkhead wall.

Exact same repair I did on my coupe several years ago.(above) Thanks for reading this! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin

Did you find it any easier doing that repair the second time round? Even making the origami paper template takes time. Its amazing how they all seem to rust in exactly the same places.

Drilling out spot welds must tkae hours and many drills. Do you use just HSS drills?

Roy

[manuel]

Roy:

I have an original 400 mm. VDM for a Speedster, if you are interested please make me an offer.

Manuel

[roy mawbey]

Manuel,

Maybe my post was not that clear. My 356A coupe was fitted new with a 400mm diameter VDM wheel its still on my car. They are valuable wheels now as of course the factory normally installed 420mm diamter wheels on T2 coupes.






You can see that 20mm does make a difference

Roy

[JTR70]

Hey Manuel,

We'll actually be needing the wheel for this car eventually. I'll run it by the owner; Thanks for posting and offering it up! BTW what sort of shape are the large middle spokes in? Rust pitted? Justin

Hey Roy, great shot of you behind the wheel! Yes, that 400mm fits much better in there with greater leg clearance to get in and out for taller drivers. You look to be at least 6Ft. as near as I can tell there.

Yes, the templates and new patch panels are a touch quicker now that I know where I'm going but all the metal prep is still just as time consuming. I am using just standard drill bits for metal with lots of oil to keep them cool so they'll stay sharp a little longer. Nothing more annoying than a dull bit that won't cut anymore. Thanks again! Justin
3/24/13
Went from paper to steel on the new flange.


New repair flange

Quick mock-up to decide how far up the wall I'm going to go. Want to get past all the pitted stuff because it just blows through as you try to weld to it.

Making the cut here.

Should have it tacked in tomorrow. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

4/1/13
Lower center relief repair flange almost complete.


Slowly tacking it in. This relief wall was also bent and deformed a bit too from the old accident. It quickly made itself known once I started fitting in this new piece.

Just like with my coupe before the holding tangs for the battery cover had to be removed to get a clean job out of it.

Forward section of this repair fully welded and dressed with holding tab remounted. This tab crosses the weld joint and makes for a nice reinforcement.

Repair flange folded around the corner and is left raw to continue the line of the upper original section.

Continuing on around and to the other side tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Nice work Justin.

Roy

[JTR70]

Rear bulkhead wall repairs just about done. 4/4/13

Keeping with our T1 themed build I prepped a new access cover to plug weld on permanently like the early A's were. The Doc's a real stickler for details and wants it as authentic as possible.

Plug-welded here. Will follow it up with my panel welder for a more correct finish.

Lower flange repair is complete on this rear wall.

The flange joint/seam wraps partially around the bottom just like it was done originally. Will spot-weld and gas weld the joints were necessary once the new floor is in.

Just about ready to move onto the foward portion of the sides to remove whats left of the original front closing panels. Alot of time required for prep-work before the new panels can go in. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

4/7/13
Installing the new panels goes relatively quick however it is the preperation of the "parent" panels that really eats up the time.

Needed to remove that remnant strip of old rusted out front closing wall. As you can see the upper portion of it is sandwiched under the reinforcement plate for the overrider strut brace. To do a proper clean job more welds will have to be drilled and this plate too will have to come off. This one example as to why these cars are such a pain to repair. Alot of two steps back to move one forward..

now that the plate is out of the way the rest of that flange is now free. Notice I still need to clean the upper flange and repair a rusted out section of it.

Rusted section out and new patch welded and dressed.

Will do all the final welding and trimming once the new closing panels are in.

At long last this entire run is now ready to accept some the fresh panels.

[JTR70]

Flipped the carcus back over to address the other side.

Very easy to forget the shape it started as. The flange on this Mt. bracket fit flush to this wall the day I removed it.

After the accident someone took a very heavy hammer and beat this wall outward too far in most places.

Note the stretched dome shape...

straightening out that old bracket next but also tying up alot of loose ends like this relief cut I had to make in the horn. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Just think 25 years ago and no digital camera to take quickly a before and after photo of an area that needed to be removed and repaired. You are correct a week goes by and you forget what went where! I remember so well some problems like that when I was doing mine.

I like the way you rescue so much of thbe panels. Really nice and not easy to do. I do have a question: The relief cut in the horn you show with the small infil plate welded in. The horn looked in okay condition in a previous picture was it slightly kinked?

Nice thread!!

Roy