Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[roy mawbey]

Well done Justin, the flow of the body line is looking really good. That has been some session there to get this far. You also have as I have said before, some really nice clamps. Can you imagine not having those tools. I never knew anything so universal was available in the 60's I suppose they were, but I never saw them. I know those clamps would be the first things to buy if I was ever faced with such a complex job.

Hope nothing gets distorted during the final welding on this side. That alone would have frightened the hell out me when I only had gas welding.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! Unfortunately heat warp is unavoidable once you really start stitching it up. Hammer and dolly work is the only hope of straightening it back out which is why Placed the weld joints more out in the open so I can get back behind them.

3/2/17
New/old section tacked then welded on.

Section trimmed back and now ready to be tacked on. If I had Neil's tools and talent I would have made this from fresh stock like he so expertly does but I posses neither so I'm forced to scavange.

Slowly tacked into position.

F'er still wants to dip where they meet but its still within range to correct after welding.

I shouldn't whine too much I suppose even if I left it alone the amount of filler needed to correct that would be about a credit card's thickness.

Time will tell as to how much filler the finished repair will need but either this was still a vastly improved repair than what I was initially planning.

Glimpses of the finished body shell to come.


Spent the last portion of this session TIG welding it up.

Fender was removed so I could work those warped weld joints a little easier.

Joining fender to patch all but completed. Its still low and will require additional picking and filing but at this point I'm thinking it best to wait until the fender is fully mounted before I chase those welds and old accident damage any further.
Will continue final mounting prep tomorrow.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[merbesfield]

"I shouldn't whine too much I suppose even if I left it alone the amount of filler needed to correct that would be about a credit card's thickness."

Ha, yea right! When have you ever left it alone

[JTR70]

Probably not as much as I should Mark. I usually end up making it worse.

3/8/17

More fender prep and adjustments

Splash pan mount flange welded, trimmed for final shape and step elevation against the door.

Double checked with a folded piece of 20 gauge to make sure there was enough space for a final gap after the end is folded over. Good to go.

Door removed and fender remounted (yet again) to see how these two flanges will come together. So relieved to see a good uniform fit all around.

I scribed in the edge of the pans flange to establish the eventual folding line and to remove the remaining excess material at the fenders edge.

I wheeled in an etched with a cutting wheel just at the flanges line to hopefully make heeling this end over go just a little bit more easily. I want the heat and hammering to go as light as posible to minimize distortion as it goes. Its not deep and I don't know if it will help but its just an idea that occured to me. Sort of like putting a crease in a sheet of paper. We'll see here shortly.

Excess at the edge was trimmed. Door remounted again so I could continue adjusting and tightening up the shape.

As it went I ended up moving my inital set screw position at the nose back just a few more mm's.

Kept referring back to this original undamaged fender for correct contour. The forward section along the nose has a nice gentle crown vertically then length wise the shape flattens out as it reaches back to the top of the fender arch.

After I moved the screws back to absorb a bit more length this fender/nose began to take on the contour my OG fender was showing me. Or at least as close as I could ever hope to get it. Anyway, there was at least no flare at the wheel arch.

Getting a transition and consistancy down the side of this car that I can live with. Moving back to rocker joint next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Justin

If you have Ron Rolands book, take a look at how he bends that rear fender flange. Worked great for me.

Phil

[JTR70]

Hey Phil, No, I sure don't. As a matter of fact I've never had the opportunity to even thumb through any of those type of referrence books.
The only book I do own is the old authenticity guide by Brett Johnson. All my repair experience comes strictly through reverse engineering of what was originally there along with some trial and error. Much to my detriment as I'm sure there is still alot of valuable info in his book that could help. But, I've come this far so I'm thinking I may be able to fake it the rest of the way in.

3/9/17

Last of the fender prep before final install.

Speaking of that flange I hole punched it along the edge to secure it by plug-weld once its heeled over but also added a few more at that corner just above the hinge to double as reliefs allowing the skin to stretch a little easier as its being bent over.

Through all that last minute jockying and adjustment I lost that nice alignment I had going here. Probably for the best as this misalignment seems more realistic.

Quick relief cut made things right once again.

The contour on the nose side was too tight as mentioned before so I planned and made my last excess metal cut to remove as much on the nose side as possible.

To eventually relax this bend I recut this weld joint a bit which will allow it to encroach as it will get longer as its relaxed.

My hood gap has always been marginal since I started fitting this fender so I decided it best to leave it loose for now and concentrate on getting the rest of the fender dialed in then go back and address this area.

All edges and joints along this panel where finally set. It was now time to take the plung and cut the final strip of excess along that nose joint to get it ready for a tack weld and of course final installation. That coming up next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

I have to laugh sometimes when you put ' a quick relief cut will have that sorted out' Can I be honest and say I have seen those cuts of yours a number of times over the years and they do turn out the perfect result but, I just don't think I would ever have thought of doing that faced with misalignment. I am sure it would never have entered my head to make a slice. That's why its always so interesting to read your posts. I would have looked at that fender to rocker years ago and just pondered and pondered about what to do.....

Looking good Justin.

Roy

[bbspdstr]

https://bookstorenew.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/restored-by-hand-the-nuts.pdf

One way to get the book.......or contact Bill Romano, the man who convinced Ron to "do" the book. Bill also produces a great disc that connects the parts book with the shop manual.

-Bruce

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy, I could see a guy getting caught up in the approach angles of this area and what is the "correct" angle and or curve but I think every 356 varies ever so slightly in shape in and around those wired lips. I realized it just has to be a smooth, graceful & seamless shaped transition from rocker to fender. Once you have that nobody's eye will ever be able to detect that it had to be shaped perhaps ever so slightly different to accomidate both Simonsens and Trevor's interpretation of how that wired edge should be set. Not to mention how they both ended up fitting on a specific car on the specific day it was finally time to tie the two together. Way too many variables there to box yourself into one definite profile shape and there is no reason to do so. It just can't look squarish or choppy when you're done.

Thanks for the link Bruce!

3/10/17
Left fender tacked and mounted for good.

Commitment time. Final cut line etched in and set screw hole position marked for later referrence with the remaining holes in the nose side.

Trimmed, remounted with a good butted fit. Ready to begin carefully tacking these two together.

Started at the top and worked down to chase out the "wrinkles" as it went.

I was concerned about the bunching I was getting initially and feared alot of shrinking to get these panels to shape match.


Much to my great relief I was allowed to push a section at a time into alignment and add in a weld. The only catch was it closed and crowded the joint in this upper area requiring a quick zip with my cutter to open it back up again.

It matched up far better than I ever expected. It does still feel ever so slightly bulged here but its well within stricking distance.

By sessions end I had pretty much the entire outer run tacked in save for the lower corner.

Couldn't have been more relieved with this shaped transition.

Continued on down to the bottom.



The lateral crowned shape at the front is a touch strong but there is still plenty of time to relax that.

I have the inner run yet to do but the outer is all but set. It went so well that it was almost fun...Almost. Rocker joint next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Craig Richter]

You are an amazing craftsman, Justin. Like Jack says, it's all about solutions...

[JTR70]

I really appreciate you saying so Craig, Thank you! Jack is right on point as usual.
Thanks again!
Justin

3/12/17
Setting left forward rocker joint.

Joint clamped into best adjusted position and ready for the first tack weld.

I had alot of overall fender contour variation/adjustment with this back flap still loose so I had to get it right before I committed. I needed the center of the wheel arch lightly preloaded before I could clamp so an extra pair of hands would have been nice; Didn't have it so I came up with this. Not very High tech but it turned the trick.

After a bit of double checking this joint was finally secured with a few tacks.

Pretty happy with the shape though the lateral profile's arch was a touch too strong.

This vantage point really highlighted the problem.

relaxing that profile was as easy as cutting this tack free and readjusting the rocker to suit. This is exactly the reason why I never committed here and left this area only attached with this small tack.

Once that was cut free it almost immediately gave me the shaped profile which more closely matched my OG referrence fender.

With the rocker joint all teed up it was now time to heel over the rear flange run; Very scary! Much to my great relief it came out much better and a bit easier than I was expecting. I'll post that next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

3/15/17

Folding back edge

Slowly spooned the lip over a little at a time. The splash pan's flange doubled as slight hammer form as well as the fulcrum point. This is why I took extra time on its final position against the doors edge.

A little torch heat was needed for this final upper run.

Once I had the flap over enough to clear the door I remounted to see just how bad a shape I created before I went any further.

Much to my great relief though rough it remained a pretty close match.

It was a little low up here but plenty of opportunity for improvement. Even the door has some old damage that needs attention.

Also low across the middle.

Again this is fresh after the initial folding with no additional finishing.







Just relieved the basic shape came out and continues the door line.

Raising low spots and more fine imporvements next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Justin
Pretty darn good for not having read Rolands book
I used a slide hammer with a 90 degree flange attachment that fit in the door gap to gently nudge out the low areas, like in your middle.
Phil

[JTR70]

Thanks Phil, I was anticipating it to be alot worse but every once in a while the car gives me a small break.

3/19/17

Small improvements

Began slowly tapping the edge up to bring it level with the door. It improved but it was still low and was beginning to resist. Just as I was about to get out a bigger hammer I realized I had a few shims to play with.

The removal of one thin shim turned the trick.

The center aligned closer too. Its just a touch low as it gets to the door but I should be able to get it to come up that fraction more.

More fine tuning yet to do as it is still choppy and rough in places but its headed where I need it to.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

3/26/17

Hard to find time last week to update so this entry is a bit stale.

Begin fitting right front fender and the offical final piece of this puzzle.

Started fooling around with the trough

but for whatever reason I really got bored with it and had to change gears to keep going. No different than the other loose ends before I suppose, I'll come back and finish when I absolutely have to.

I metnally needed to movve onto fitting the final missing piece.

transition from cowl to the fender runs alot smoother than the other side.

But its still short requiring some sort of bridge patch and the eventual weld joint would be inaccessable from behind so I have essentially the same problem.

Same answer as before. I'll be using the top section of the original fender as my bridge.

I'll again get rid of a good portion of the over stretched cowl section and consolidate that shot fall into one weld joint.

Patch harvested and ready for fitting once the fender is finally set.

Begin trimming and locating the right fender next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin