Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[JTR70]

9/6/16
Left door post and adjacent areas complete.

Same details as the right side. Backfill set screw holes, finish up wired lip joint and relax that leading flange snug against the skin.

The gap was a touch wider on this side and I pushed the flange out about as far as I felt comfortable. Didn't want to screw up the skin with heat or a missed hammer strike. I think drip check and rocker shootz can seal it up the rest of the way.

Reverse side details all complete.

Which means my metal finishing duties for this side are... finished.

Door reinstalled to triple check for any changes. All good.

As with the other side the wired lip got a little wavy after all the heat but it came back. Relieved that the general shape/profile off the door survived the process.

Raw basic lines that will need solder to be perfect but not a whole lot.

I'm moving onto finishing out this upper engine compartment next. Once that's done only the joints on the skin will be left. All substructure work for the rear will be at an end. What a beautiful thought that is.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[John Pierce]

Nice milestone, Justin!! And it only took 200 blog pages to get there

Beautiful work.

[JTR70]

Thank you John! Yeah, should have it done within the next few hundred pages.


9/10/16

Engine compartment complete.

Finally got the flanged opening trimmed back and all welded up.

Tedious micro finishing is what it all amounted to.

Lots more finish welding and dressing just under this opening.


Lots of fine residual welding and finishing scars here but it was simply unavoidable. I can't begin to relay what an absolute PIA it was get these two to contour correctly and meet in the middle all the while holding the skin level with the deck lid.

Once I wrapped up the left underside flange details I was officially DONE with this engine compartment.

Don't want the walls to flash rust while I finish out the rest of the car so I prepped it for a little sealer.

Quick coat of epoxy.

Installed the pushrod version shelf for the final time.

Really felt like I closed the door here once I had it covered in some primer.

Again just a quick cover coat as the cross-member wasn't even cleaned of old tar.

Just have to button up the outer skins now. All rear substructure work completed.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

9/14/16

Stitching up the rear skins.

Slowly tackling all the scary and badly misaligned joints both at the end of the fenders and the right side of the cowl.

This lower corner was very finicky which was why I left it until I had the ability to flip the car over.

My initial flange bend at the lip way overshot the incoming tail section so I had to relax and rebend it. New position set here with my little hammer form section.

Flange now continues on from the tail. I had already stitched most of this area back up and was just chasing it out to the edge.

Fully welded and dressed. It was a relief to get this section set and glued together.

A lot of picking and filing yet to do for shape but its at least basically set.


Still have some of the fender to tail run to finish up but its pretty straight forward. I wanted to get the next troublesome joint out of the way which was the right side of the cowl at the fender.

Unlike the natural fit I got on the left joint, this side has been nothing but trouble from the outset. I've had it tacked and cut free at least twice in sections. I'd have it nearly tacked only to have a lump on either side where it was bunching. You can see the lumps and rollers in this shot. I made the mistake and forced one side down only to have it buckle on me. Just a little too much crown on one side or the other for a smooth fit. After my last failed attempt I decided to leave it loose and absolutely last until I had everything around it set and welded up. Well with everything pretty much all welded up it was time to face it. I began tacking from my best fit on the deck lid side and worked forward.

Welded and set that area first then worked forward a few inches by heat shrinking the high spots on both sides, weld and repeat. Much to my great surprise and relief it was laying down for me and gave me the contour I needed.

Eventually I got it all stitched up. It also needs picking and filing but it too is at least basically set.

Continuing to weld up the rest of joints along the fenders to tail next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[John Pierce]

That's really coming along nicely, Justin. The curves and crowns are matching up very well. Are you welding with MIG or TIG between you spot welds? Whichever you're using the result is great.


JP

[DG58INNM]

Looks fantastic Justin. Boggles my mind to think of the mountain of work that you've put into this project.
DG

[roy mawbey]

I can't add really to the comments, I just don't know how you do all this and give us such detailed reports and photo's. I bet you liked spraying that epoxy into the engine bay! Sort of really satisfying I would imagine.

Well done indeed.

Roy

[Tony G]

Wow Justin, you've come a long way since I was last in your shop. I am definitely impressed with your craftsmanship. We need to get together soon and start blue printing.

[JTR70]

Thanks John! Most of the joint along the fender to tail have an air gap so I'm MIG'ing them. I also have to as my TIG quit working about 3 months ago. I think it needs a new torch. It sparks up but won't throw any amps at the work to melt it also the shield gas isn't coming out?? I've had to keep moving on this car so I've pushed it aside for now but I do need it back to stitch up my tighter joints. My buddy Rick has a friend here in town that's an electrical wiz so I need to get him over to properly diagnose it; Always something.

Thank you David. Honestly it makes my head swim as I look through some of the earlier photos. Small bites at a time otherwise you'll go mad, quit or both.

Thanks again Roy! Shooting that epoxy on was officially closing the door on any further required metal work in there. It was very satisfying.

Long time Tony, thank you! I know you're a busy man so just let me know when's good for you.
Thank you very much once again you guys!!
Justin

9/17/16
Fenders fully joined to the tail.

Wrapped up the last of the welding along the fender joints and those unsightly relief cuts I had to put in.

Its close but there is still quite a bit of picking and file shaping where these panels meet yet to come.

Right now I was just happy to get the welding and grinding out of the way on both sides.

The runs between the tail lights and all along the lower valance that I had to reopen and adjust will be done with the TIG(after I get it repaired) as the runs are Loooong but the gaps are tight. I need the TIG practice anyway.

So relieved to finally have this rear section shaped and built.

As I took these series of photos and planned the next move a realization came to me; I just passed a major mile stone here:
The "Speedster Conversion" aspect of this build is now officially complete!!! The rest of the metal work that remains concerning the front end group, seat track mounts and forward frame related type loose ends are ALL generic 356A from here on in.
I've been so "down in it" these last few sessions that I walked right past that mile marker. I'll continue to metal finish these joints to break things up as I move to the front. Installing the seat track mounts next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[John Pierce]

It's a HUGE milestone!! Great job and the contours look really nice.

I bet you're glad that you're not keeping track of the man-hours put into this conversion. It's taken an lot of sweat and tears to get to this point. The big take home message for me is that: yes, a conversion can be done, but be prepared to work your butt off to make it correct as ALL replacement panels won't fit as it's a truly hand-made endeavor.


John

[Phil Planck]

Justin
That coupe sure looks like a Speedster to me. Congrats on one heck of a struggle. Looking forward to the standard 356 work where us mortals spend most of our time. Bummer about the tig. But, will be great to get it working for those tight gaps.

Phil

[Tony G]

You should make a video titled "Rebuilt by Hand"! LOL

[neilb]

congrats Justin looking great as ever! not too far away now...

[JTR70]

Thanks again John! On the contrary, I've kept an exact count of how many hours I have into this thing since it began. Once I'm done building the body I'll tally it all up and tell you guys exactly how many hours it took me to build this shell or rebuild by hand as Tony said.

Thanks a lot Phil! I'm sure it will be a new experience in pain building that front end but it may go smoother; hope springs eternal right?

Thank you Neil! You've gone dormant, hope you're still making progress on your build.


Nice while it lasted but now time to head down into the next valley and begin climbing the next mountain along this journey.
Thanks once again guys!
Justin

9/19/16

Seat track mounts


Fortunate once again to have my reference coupe with its original floors to guide me.

Venders only offer the raised pedestal T2 version front mount so I made my own T1 versions some time back. Pretty straight forward, just a square of heavy strap stock with two bolts welded onto it. Copied and template of my coupes OG mounts.

ready to begin mock ups.

Have this stray wooden seat base I mounted my tracks to for a handy and accurate locator/representation.

Initial position with tracks engaged.

It sits surprisingly level but I'll get my digital protractor on there tomorrow and see what's what.

Should be drilling and welding in this side shortly. It all went surprisingly smooth today, a little too smooth...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

9/20/16

Right side seat track anchor points.

Locating the outer mount and anchors for square and levelness with the tunnel. Heard all the horror stories of track binding due to misalignment here so extra precaution taken.

mocked up seat base check for consistency front to back and side to side. Varied no more than a 1/2 degree. Close enough for Gov't work.

Also checked against the subframe as another point of reference since it sits square and level in the car.

Once the "high tech" aspect was confirmed it was down to eye-balling it. The green arrow high lights the consistent sight marked gap from the rail mounted on the tunnel to the bottom edge of the mount. It's there...

The seat bottom established the mounts distance away from the tunnel. Now was the time to locate the mount/rail for even with the tunnel rails. A strip of flat stock laid across the top of the rails along with my square determined that location. Ready to mark and drill the holes for the forward anchor.

I thought it best to begin at the front since there is no height adjustment to speak designating it the baseline. Stud and plug weld holes drilled here.

Bolted up and ready to weld.

After welding the unit was mocked up again to make sure the damn thing was still going to slide; it did. Onto the rear anchor now.

There is some adjustment play here so in preparation for locating the rear anchor I set the front holes as close to center with the studs as possible for maximum adjustment potential if needed.

Rear anchor was studs where also set to as close to neutral as possible before the rest of this mount was set into final position.

Rear anchor tacked with mount synched down for yet another test to make doubly damned sure the seat bottom would still slide.

Just barely enough clearance to engage the tracks as the front corner of the seat bottom interferes up against the wall. Fortunately Speedster seats will clear a lot easier than Fat-back coupes seats.

Some slight drag as it went but no binding.

I was able to slide it all the way back into maxed position with no issues. I think its gonna be fine. Welding it up next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin