Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[John Pierce]

Damn, your flying now. The alignments look great: it took lots of work to get there. These details are great and your are not creating any boredom.

[JTR70]

Thanks again John Appreciate that confirmation! I don't know about "flying along" but am crawling at a constant pace.

11/5/14


Right side rocker fitment begins

Doing the rough and basic fitment upside down because I have more room to work here than right side up against the wall. I'll do all the fine tuning upright where it belongs.

Rusty tubs sent me a quick preview of the new speedster dash he is now stocking.

gauge cluster and corners look pretty good.

Correct overlapping dash top flange to face.

Again corners look good but will have a better idea once ours gets here.

Dash assembly is the correct three piece unit with separate front cowl unlike the roadster or Convertible D dash assemblies which went to one piece construction.

Wider and larger gauge relief also correct versus the narrower and smaller Roadster version. Just a quick peek at what's coming up next; can't wait until it gets here. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

11/6/14
Right rocker fitment continued.

Unlike the left side I'm have the opposite problem with this drain pan. To align with the door the rocker needs to slide forward a few MM's more. As you can see the inner corner is touching the forward longitudinal flange. The approach angle of the bend is also off creating a gap.

With that forward drain pan bottomed out here is where rocker is sitting in relation to the door.

New bend line will take up the excess length allowing it to come forward and change the approach angle for a flush fit.

Rebent here.

Much better fit against the back of the splash pan while also allowing further forward rocker placement.

Splash will again need a bit of adding and recontouring once I get the rocker into final position.

Still needed more corner clearance so I began heating and tightening up the flange.

Its better but I still need more.

Moving the rocker further forward was the first thought but after checking the alignment of the rest of it I think its in the sweet spot now. Torsion hole lines up nice.

hinge pin access hole now fits about as well as the left side.

With all of that considered this panel is pretty much set. I'll have to recontour the corner to fit the door. I think I can heat and spoon it over without cutting but we'll see. Working on that next. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

11/8/14
Finishing up Right Rocker fitment and prepping jack spur

Front corner now shaped for door clearance after several rounds of heat and hammering.

Ready for another test fit. Glad it didn't require cutting and welding to get here.

Its about there. Some fine tuning of course but I at least have some door clearance now.

With the rocker just about ready to install prepping and mounting the spur was next.

Same treatment as with the left side: Snout trimmed back to the seam weld and both top and bottom flanges tapered and profiled.

Fine shaping complete and now mounted into position with the first pair of set screws.

All three components gapped and set in relation to one another. They're ready to go.

Some guys might think I'm overdoing it by going the extra mile shaping and carefully positioning the new spurs; who cares its on the bottom it just has to be close. I saw this restored coupe with its new (raw) unrefined spurs hanging just a touch low. They stick out like sore thumbs drawing attention away from the lines of the car. At least in my eyes.

Ready to begin plug-welding tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[911quest]

Great job on the spurs. If not done correctly they do look out of place. The thing I hate the most is when you can see sanding marks in the rain gutter on the roof drives me crazy....

[JTR70]

Thanks Tony! Agree, that is an area that is often overlooked. I've seen several nicely restored cars in which that small run was not finished thoroughly.

11/15/14

Rockers in!
Wasn't really able to update this thread for the last couple of days while prepping this right rocker as it just would have been a repeat of the left side install.


Corner of the splash-pan was redone like the other side.


Spur finished here with spot-weld detail.

At long last all the prep-work was complete and the rocker was installed for a final time and ready to weld.

Rockers and spurs finally complete.

I am now waiting on the new dash and the rear substructure to get here. In the mean time I'll finish up a few mount details on the floor.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[JOP]

Wow Justin,
Allmost a whole Porsche from this angle
I really like your "KIT-CAR" thread and looking forward to the shinny glossy 360 degress picture coming year 201X

[JOP]

Hmm, I never look at spurs before it got a HOT topic in your tread..... I was just looking in a B model drivers instruction book and saw this photo..... That the spur was so nicely "cut" around.
It sure is a OLD picture to have in a new B series book..... I looked again and saw my mistake...it a earlier 356

[JTR70]

Thanks Per, Yes, you caught it that's a Pre-A car/rocker in the example photo.

[JTR70]

11/19/14

Install Pedal mounts/brackets

While I wait on the new rear speedster substructer and the dash I am keeping myself busy tying up more loose ends on the frame.

To mount the pedal bracket flush required the rear portion of this embossment to be hammered flat.

Several rounds of heat and hammering eventually gave me the clearance I needed. Trickiest part mounting a heavy back up anvil dolly to the other side so I could work this area; too far to get my arms around.

New bracket installed and welded in as it was done originally. You can see at the cups edge I peeled it back a bit too far.

Once it was in I reheated the other side and hammered the edge back out to follow the brackets contour more closely. The brackets shoulder became the hammer form.

The original under my coupe. Close enough for gov't work.

Next piece was the toe-board/gas pedal base mount. The back flange encompasses the mount studs so this base had to be "located" correctly so the holes could be drilled.

Paper template of the new base was measured off with my coupes original and now in position.

Holes drilled and in for its first test fit.

Pretty close but some slight squaring and adjusting yet to do. Should have it welded in tomorrow though. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

12/1/14
First box of new Speedster rear substructure arrives.

Convertible/speedster specific firewall and upper substructure in for its first test fit.

The basic shape an embossments in these parts comprising this piece are pretty nice.



a few detailed shots of the intricacies.



by the neatly dressed weld seam on the lower flange, this vertical wall is not formed from one piece..

Also included were the right an left forward engine compartment closing panels.

Very rough and initial mock-up.

Lots of time will be required to tweak, nip and tuck these panels before it all works and fits like it should.





Looking more like a speedster with each new piece.
Thanks for looking! Justin

[ukinusa]

wow - pretty amazing !

[John Pierce]

Justin, are you starting a new business venture?

The pieces look very well formed with nice curves. Can you give us some details on how they were manufactured? Stamped, buck formed, etc.

Great job!

John

[merbesfield]

11/19/14

Install Pedal mounts/brackets

While I wait on the new rear speedster substructer and the dash I am keeping myself busy tying up more loose ends on the frame.

Justin

Justin, this is exactly where I am right now w my pan. Can you give me some insight how you located the exact spot where the pedal cluster backing support goes? I have my original on my old pan just trying to work out in my mind the best way to transfer it to the new pan and be assured it is in the same spot as original. Also, in case my old backing plate is not salvageable, where did you source yours from? Thanks Mark

[bbspdstr]

Justin, are you starting a new business venture?

The pieces look very well formed with nice curves. Can you give us some details on how they were manufactured? Stamped, buck formed, etc.

Great job!

John

Wow...the first thing I thought was to call that (rather obvious) phone number. The second thing that came to mind was how nice that work is....then the third thing was.....'how many of THOSE can be sold?' (A 'normal' supply and demand reaction from being 'in the business'). Heck, I'm having trouble finishing my own A Coupe as a Coupe, let alone as a Speedster!

-Bruce