Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[JTR70]

Thanks Mark! I've never had much affection for it as its always been nothing more than a problematic rusty frame. Now that its slowly taking on its new Speedster characteristics I'm liking it a little more each day.

2/28/15
At long last the Front cowl is finally mounted on for good! First official body panel to go on this chassis permanently.
Spent the earlier part of today's session cleaning and prepping the mounting flanges and also making sure all the little stuff that needed to be done before cowl installation was done. Panel was then set screwed into position and I was just about to lay down the first tack weld, then I thought of one more thing I should do first...

You guessed it, yet another complete mock up of all the related parts to make doubly damn sure it all fits right and to allow any last minute adjustments before I committed to any welding. Sorry if these shots seem repetitive but I just wanted to convey all the required effort that has gone into getting just this far; even this description is only a brief synopsis.

The thought of this corner of the W/S frame being slightly out of alignment after welding all because I didn't check first was too much to bear. I've learned the hard way that you can't take for granted that it will all be alright in the end. If its given a chance to mess up on you it will.

At this stage everything was mounted as close to permanent as possible. Bracket is both tacked to the cowl up top and set screwed to the wall at the base. Wiper assembly is in to also ensure the wiper shafts poke through the holes like they should.

Wiper bracket also helps to set the attitude of the cowl in relation to the hood profile.

Cowl is now set and preloaded with the aid of the wiper bracket and now without the bottle-jack that was used earlier to profile it. as you can see with the ruler laying on top its profiling just as I had hoped it would in the end.

Along with all else the hood gap was on as well. After all the challenges I could almost not believe how well it was now coming together.

Overview of the hood and cowl working together with a fully mounted windscreen. I was in pretty good mood by this point, a very rare occurrence BTW.

With all the related parts now confirmed to fit I laid down the first weld.

one last part I almost forgot to check, the tension rod.

Runs vertical straight down the center.

I can at least confidently proceed in welding the cowl the rest of the way in tomorrow. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[John Pierce]

I know the feeling where you can't move forward as there are 3 to 5 other parts that all need to fit together before you can actually do the thing you initially set out to do. I'm working on the rusted out rear frame on my car and am amazed at all the panels that are welded together to give these cars their monocoque strength. It's one big puzzle. I'll try to post some pix later.

Justin, you've had a long slog to get to this point. Enjoy the moment. A nice accomplishment.

John

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Super work. I think you need a moniker for your effort! Possibly you could be: ' Justin the gapman Rio' Your gaps will inspire others to go down the same route. Nothing beats a good gap on a 356 Keep on looking at mine and imagining ' a few mm there and few mm there'

For sure the old maxim of measuring more than once before cutting makes so much sense. Your work always insists this factor must be applied. So correct Justin.

Roy

[merbesfield]

It is hard enough to stay motivated, let alone not liking the ROPOS

[badsix]

looks like the tension rod is a little to the right you might want to recheck this !

JUST FOOLIN

your project is mind boggling! I've worried about removing my hood skin for months. now that i'm doing it its not so bad. next I have a lower door skin to do and i'm worried about it coming out nice. but your building a complete car your an inspiration
Jay D.

[JTR70]

Thank you John! Yes, you know this well, all those layered sections of metal which gives it its strength in turn creates all the difficulty in repairs. I did savor yesterday as much as I could as they are few and far between. You spend weeks climbing to reach that peak then its immediately right down into the gorge of the next repair.

Thanks once again Roy! I'm so glad that appreciate those gaps. By the same token I've also created more work and potential headache for myself trying to keep them tight as final paint gets closer on my coupe. I keep telling my self it will be worth it when its done.

You had me for a second there Jay, I looked at it pretty closely at the shop this afternoon just to make sure...
If I let myself look at this project as a whole my head would swim and it would easily become very overwhelming. To be able to keep it moving I just focus on one bite at a time.
Thanks again you guys I really appreciate your comments and encouragements.
Justin

3/1/15
Begin welding in the cowl

Sewing it together starting with the left corner.

rechecking contours again with the door. more of the same tomorrow.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

3/2/15

left corner of cowl flanged, welded up and ready to accept the dash face.

Decided today was as good as any to tackle the flanged lip of the cowl. Other than a door skin repair this was a new experience as I've never had to create this folded lip before. Used some torch heat and carefully spooned it over in sections so I could make this slightly tapered turn.

It was there after a few test fitments of the door as it progressed. Its been initially trued and file shaped here but needed a bit more underneath. Made a slight low spot just ahead of the edge and I cannot get to the underside to raise it back up as its double walled now.

As you can see with this straight edge it will only take a wisp of lead to correct and the leading edge at least will be steel. just being overly critical.

I'm just thankful the leading edge itself runs consistent with the door's edge. Its of course very wide and raw here but...

by looking at the tip of the ruler you can see that only a small amount of lead will be needed to create the new tighter and proper door gap.

Just finished welding up a few loose ends on the newly fashioned flange.

My trusty old door skin installer clamped the lip nicely. Had to finesse it a but as it made the turn but it managed to produce the result I was after.

With the outer lip finished I went ahead and welded up the Inner flange, connecting it to the A-pillar etc.


Feel much better about tackling the right side tomorrow with this one under my belt.

I'm happy and leaving it alone because it will only require a small amount of lead to be perfect.

Should be able to begin fitting the face before the week is out. It has its own set of issues which I'll get into later.
Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[John Pierce]

Nicely done! And yes, you're being too critical It turned out great.

JP

[Impi]

Hi Justin Amazing work as usual, just a question I find that whenever I have inaccessible panels once installed I normally paint the backside before welding. Any reason for not doing it here?
Armand

[Drew.s]

Hi Justin. As always great work and great photographs.
I have one question, a couple of days ago you showed this picture and commented that the frame was slightly out of alignment.



Would it be possible to point out the problem as it looks pretty good to me and if possible take another close up photo showing the correct alignment of these three windscreen pieces?
It would be really help me out when I come to shape my repro pieces.
Thanks
Drew

[JTR70]

That helped John, Thanks!

Hi Armand, Normally I would, like I did to the inside the longitudinals etc. However I still have a lot of welding and heat shrinking to do especially in the corners of this cowl panel. A great deal of it would end up being burned off before its all over so I'll seal it once the heating stage is complete. Thanks again!

Hey Drew, Thank you very much! Sorry, I should have been more clear on that description, in that photo its aligned exactly where I need it. I was trying to say that I'd be beside myself if it moved from that pictured orientation after the cowl was welded so it was good insurance to mock it up again just before I threw on the first tack-weld. I can take a detailed photo of the inside of this joint if you still need one no problem.
Thanks once again you guys! Justin

3/5/15

Right flanging and interior cowl welding complete.

Right leading edge flanged over and complete. This side was a little tougher as I had to relax the initial bend and move it a little lower to close up the distance with the door reducing the amount of lead that would have otherwise been needed.

Basic contour and bodyline continuation off the door was close enough for now as there will be more adjustments needed later on when the fender is installed.

Inside run was sewn up afterward.

Next was the Wiper bracket. Trimmed and stitched in completely here.

Welding duties to the interior of the cowl finally all complete!

A very long road to get here but this new cowl is finally set and installed and now the dash face itself is ready to be fitted. Onto the next phase. Thanks for looking! Justin

[Phil Planck]

More nice work Justin. Wondering if heating the flange on I assume new metal is needed. This could be the cause of the low area. Hope some experts pipe in. But, like you, I would be happy with your results.
Phil

[Drew.s]

Hi Justin.
That is really starting to look like a speedster.
Thanks for the offer of more pictures, it would be great to see how these three brass pieces are shaped and how they all align.
With hindsight how would you approach this cowl area if you were me?
Would it be possible to leave the coupe cowl attached to the front boot sill and just trim it back before it bends upwards just in front of the windscreen wiper holes?



Then form a much slimmer (and easier to manipulate) piece to finish this section?
Would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Regards
Drew

[JTR70]

Thank you Phil! The heat did cause some of it but it my hand clamping contributed to the other half of it. The heat was necessary for my purposes as it required far less force to get the crimp and the shape I was after. If I had that slick flange wheeling tool you have I really would have been in business.

Drew, That is exactly where you should make the cut. It will make your life a thousand times easier. Your donor is nicer than this one so it would be a complete waste of your time to cut the cowl out completely. It would make no sense to disturb the factory hood gap and contour. Not to mention the flanges at the door openings. There is one Speedster specific detail you will miss by going this route but its easily overlooked and I didn't replicate it on this car due to the added work I already had into it just to get it to work so I had to draw the "time spent" line there. Here it is:

On a coupe or cabriolet the U-shaped gutter channel is pressed in "one piece" with the rest of the jamb.

On this original Speedster dash you can see that it is not included in the pressing. So there is a visible lap joint just at the edge of the trough on a speedster. I believe this went back to a one piece stamping like a coupe on the later Roadster dashes. Where this cut-off begins I don't know but on early Speedster this was the set up.

The repop cowl does not come with it. This is what got me thinking, I thought we got cheated but after I looked at my original I realized it was separate.

Its been so long I don't remember doing it but I preserved the channel on my coupster in preparation for that original dash.
Again this is not a big deal and it will probably be covered over by the seal but its a detail I wanted you and anyone else reading to be aware of. So if you are removing your entire cowl leave the channel on it. I completely brain faded on this project and removed it all. An detail overlooked.


Another word of warning about using the entire new repro cowl; don't expect that the gaps and contours to follow the hoods edge perfectly. There will be additional cut and welding required to shape-gap it correctly to the edge of your hood. You notice the discrepancy right under the clamp in the photo. Cutting and rewelding or filler required to fix that.

Original cowl lead from dead Cabriolet and a totally different original hood. Gap and contours run consistent through out. No substitute for the original parts. Hope this helps.
Justin

[JTR70]

3/9/15
Dash face prep and fitting begins


Like the cowl before it this piece too will need some correction to fit and look right.

Along with the basic mounting issues the face will also have to be drilled and prepped for its accessories. I brought my original pieces down to the shop so I'll have them on hand when the time comes.

A reinforcement plate has been added to the area where the steering column clamp will eventually mount.

As you can see the original had no such plate. Its only the face and what's left of the original strut. The lip also has to be relived flat so the strut and mount flush.

I decided it best to remove the plate as its unnecessary and not original. After a marathon spot-weld drilling session the plate came free. Having this gone also makes flattening out that lip for the strut much easier as well.

Original strut from this chassis mocked up as it will be mounted.


Initial fitment of both pieces to begin figuring out the correct adjusted position of this panel for my best average fit.

Its not only the lateral adjustment but also the depth of the face in relation to the trunk wall as well. I mounted the original to my coupster to determine the approximate distance from the face to that inner bulkhead using sight marks in the stampings.

To determine the correct lateral position of the face a steering column tube was added as an additional sight mark. In my mind the most critical alignment here is that the center of the column runs dead center under the tachometer gauge. More tomorrow...
Thanks for looking! Justin