Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[JTR70]

9/25/13
Left longitudinal ready to be recovered.

Flipped chassis back over and spent this session finishing up some small welding details and prepping the rest of the compartment for sealer. Last welding detail was this small cross-piece. While not original it adds a lot more strength by tying the two flanges together to the heater tube. It also makes a nice mount flange for the rear seam of the new closing panel.

With that bit of welding done new closing panel trial fitments began.

A few refits, fine trimming and re-clamping were of course required.

It went surprisingly smooth however. I think mainly due to the fact that both end caps are off and out of the way.

It was so satisfying to begin to see this tube becoming sound once again.


Part of the adjustment phase was making sure all three of these mount flanges were aligned close enough to allow for a good fit of the eventual face panel.

Once that was established I spent the rest of the session prepping the cavity for a sealer coat. The surface rust I had to leave behind was treated with rust converter/stabilizer then a nice coat of epoxy 2k primer was applied.



While epoxy is good, primer always tends to be porous. For added protection I shot on a coat of paint. (spare stuff I needed to use up anyway)

Both paint and primer were thinned a bit more toward the end and spray concentrated up into the tight cervices.

Come along way from what it was...

I can now finally begin installing the new outer closing panel tomorrow.
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

9/26/13
New left longitudinal outer cover welding begins.
After a few more minor tweaks and a ton of hole punching along the edges for the plug-welds this new section was clamped into position for the final time.


Cover fitted in its best adjusted position here. I have found it best to begin the welding on the upper threshold flange first. Great care is taken to ensure the new panel is snug-tight against all three of the inner bulk-heads as welding progresses.

I have also found it best to weld from the center outward to keep the panel from "bunching-up". First plug-weld laid down here between the center vise-grip and the little C-clamp.

With the threshold flange welded and set I moved down to the lower flange; again starting from the center outward. Doesn't look like there's a lot to it but the process is a bit time consuming. I am after the tightest fit for each weld as possible so clamps are set on both sides of each hole before welding. Sometimes a little hammer work is also required to get the two panels flush. Process is repeated for each hole so after 40-50 holes you can see how time can get away. Has to be right though.

To break up the monotony I began dressing some of the plug-welds down smooth.

Will wrap-up the ends of this panel tomorrow. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

9/28/13
New longitudinal panel plug welding complete.

Plug-welds ground smooth and flange gone over with my spot-welder for a more original looking finish

Quite a long span...

Onto paper templates for the rear end cap now.

Pretty straight forward and was in steel in no time. Basic shape cut here. Will get this stitched in tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[merbesfield]

Justin, as always you are doing a great job and I love following you. With regards to future rust prevention, have you thought about doing some or all of the following?

1. Applying seam sealer as possible prior to closing in sections. I have done this quite a bit using brushable seam sealer. Unfortunately, that big lower panel you just did does not really lend itself to this technique, at least be bottom section.

2. Flooding the joints with paint or POR15. I learned an awesome trick from my friend Bill Webster who has been restoring these old 356's for a long time. He takes hypodermic needles, I think they are 20g, and injects POR15 into the seams. You might think this a waste of time, but I assure you after you see how much POR is sucked up into the joint through capillary action you will be convinced. Do it twice allowing the POR to dry a little before giving the second injection. Amazing.

3. Spraying Wurth or other Cavity Wax through small holes using the long feeder lines they sell.

Just a few ideas to help fight the rust demon. Of course these cars will likely never see rain again, but still, with all the work we do.....

[roy mawbey]

Real progress on that Justin. Nice bit of work. The before and after photo's really show the effort.

Roy

[JTR70]

Great tips Mark! Thank you for sharing your buddies techniques. Anything you can do to slow down the process of oxidation is well worth the effort.

Thanks again Roy it is nice to be getting a little of this heavy lifting in the done column. Justin

9/29/13
Rear longitudinal end cap installed.

before closing this end up I had to address those rust holes that were exposed after I removed the old cap section.

With that done it was time to start mounting the new closing section. The most critical alignment was this upper butt-welded seam. I set and stitched it first which freed me up to hammer form the rest of it for a good fit.

T2 style flanges were wide and spot welded but we are doing this chassis T1 style so I substantially shortened the flange and seam welded it all along the outer edge as done originally for 356T1.

Fully welded. So easy and straight forward it was almost fun. Doesn't happen too often!

Building templates for the front cap tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

10/1/13
Front left Longitudinal end cap fabrication.

Began plotting my template based on what was left of the original piece still attached to the old splash-pan.

Basic shape coming..

This is the panel that will eventually be welded to these inner flanges.

The magic marker is pointing to what will remain exposed of this new panel once the splash-pan is installed over it.

Template now complete with perimeter mount flange and turn represented.

New copy now cut out of metal. Trimmed and flanged to near finished shape here. (please excuse my old oily handprint now immortalized in oxidation.)

Fine trimming and repeated test fitments begin

The flange is beginning to fit to my liking after several adjustments

Just about ready. Once I finish prepping the compartment and punching the holes for the plug-welds I should be tacking this in. Maybe by tomorrow... Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

10/2/13
prep complete

All the loose ends now tied up in here. Lots of grinding and weld finishing. Also added that little upper patch that was needed just above the new perimeter kits reach.

Rust converter/stabilizer applied and sealed behind a coat of that 2K epoxy here.

New panel all prepped for plug-welds. Ready to install!
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

10/3/13
Left longitudinal rebuild complete.

At long last this left side frame "tube" repair is complete!

Front end cap now fully welded on completing this critical structural component.

Welds fully dressed and pretty much ready for the outer splash-pan which we have to order.

Chassis is looking healthier little by little..

Its now ready to come back down so I can begin work on the right side.

A few more shots of it down on the ground.



New door well area..

A lot of time and paper templates to get here!

Just in case you forgot what canker sore it started as..

one more

Onto the right side now to do it all over again!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

After looking at these last photos, you have transformed this side of the car. Looking at the 'before ' photos I reverted back to the first page of this thread, where you mentioned you had bought the chassis from Rusty tubs. I wonder where this car was based in the States and wouldn't the first and last owner of it be surprised, to see its re-incarnation. Do you know any history on the chassis?? I bet the surgeon likes to see your progress on how to bring that back to life.

Must be a bit like an operation for him, when it all goes well a lot of satisfaction. I am always plesed I had a job producing something that I could look at, even though a machine tool did the work. In the end of my career I was not hands on that much at all and I missed that.

Roy

[JTR70]

Hey Roy,

I think Rusty Tubs checks in from time to time. As for the original owner I'll have to ask him. Yes, the Doc is happy so far. I know what you mean about the sense of satisfaction of accomplishment. As I cut into this scabby right side it does help morale to glance over at the freshly rebuilt left. Speaking of which;
10/5/13


Began the removal of the old rocker and surrounding metal.

Of course removal of the lower hinge mount on this side is necessary as well. The wall looked okay but once I began prying on the mount I broke through.

Grinding and splitting the gas welds here. Since this is not on my hoist yet I had to do this work while lying on my side; not fun. Will have it all exposed by tomorrow. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

10/9/13
Right longitudinal opened

Rocker and what was left of the long. closing panel removed. This was not quite as rusty so the hardest side was done first which is always nice.

The front area including the tube is not as severe as the left side was.

The rear area however is a bit more cancered out.

Progress on this side should go faster as the templates from the other side can be re-used by simply folding them the other way.

Rusted out door well area now removed. Again tube and upper opening bulkhead area in much better condition. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

10/10/13
More prep and right heater tube removal.

This right side tube appeared to be more solid than it actually was. I thought I might get away without replacing or removing it but as I ran my roloc pad along to knock down the surface rust all these holes broke through. Its shot...

What is really strange is that holes are all mainly along both sides but the bottom is more solid.

Spent this afternoon cutting it out.

All for the best; I have a much clearer shot at this rotted out exit area.

Begin trimming and fitting the new perimeter runner next. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Yes Justin, strange those holes in the side and not the bottom. Condensation would drip to the bottom very odd.

Roy

[JTR70]

I Agree Roy, it may have had some sort of sediment in there that held moisture along the sides???

10/30/13
Been a little bit lazy about updating this so I thought it was more than overdue.
Right longitudinal repair continued:

With the lower heat exit opening embossed like the other side it was now time to trim and tack this new piece in.

rear inner wall/flange had to be fully installed first so this new section could be attached to it. The new runner was a full piece but came up just a bit shy of the end. It was just as well since an opening embossment must hammered in first.

New section now fully stitched in.

Forward corner overlap joint plate now installed as was done by the factory.

With all this coming together now was as good a time as any to begin bathing the new donor tube in acid and get it cleaned and ready.

Time to begin the embossed outer opening replacement section

This area was a little rustier than the other side so this repair section is a bit more involved to fabricate.

Even I get lucky sometimes; I needed a better hammer-form to recreate that embossment detail. After some searching I found that this slapper was almost the perfect contour and would do the job just fine.

Follows the contour almost exactly!

My new piece hammered out to basic shape here. Some fine trimming and adjustments but I at least had the basic part I needed.

Just about ready to install...

New section now fully stitched in. A lot of trimming and adjustments at the opening still to come but its getting there...