Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Hey that caught me out I know ( or think ) our friend Bruce has quite a high regard for your skills, but... thinking about it, its rather a long way from his place to yours and he too thinking about it, could attend to that car with his hands behind his back

Thank goodness I can still see a good project from a poor one. I just hope you don't prove me wrong Justin !!

Roy

[Impi]

Hi Justin congratulations on finishing the shell. Could you post a few pics of the complete body and a few of the as found body. I am constantly showing this build to friends and a final post with the body in glorious technicolour will be very nice

[JTR70]

Thank you, I really appreciate you sharing this build thread Armand! Funny you mentioned it; once I have this body on the ground and mounted to a dolly I will remove the interior Jig and dress the body in all the original Speedster parts I have to both cap off this build post and to show the owner that factory compenents will fit and work. As for glorious technicolor that might be several years down the road before anyone see's it in paint but you'll have a pretty good idea if it will pass the smell test or not with a top and windshield frame mounted. Thanks again!
Justin

6/7/17
Its been way over due but I finally got things settled down enough to be able to get back to work on this car.
Right side bridge section fully tacked in.

I was having some serious oil-canning issues at the inner joint with the cowl so I had to cut all my initial tacks free and chase the panel out where it was bunching up.

I began at this post joint then worked forward along the cowl allowing the patch to shift ever so slightly as needed as long as it stayed "tight" and wasn't bunching. The cowl itself came overshaped here so I was still fighting those trigger points as it went but it eventually came up enough for me.

I ran my tacks all the way down leaving this lower horizontal joint free allowing the panel to "grow" as I chased out the excess metal causing the oil-canning earlier. You can see here that it now overlaps where it began flush. Not a whole lot but enough to cause trouble. Grinding this overlap away would be next.

Entire section now fully tacked in with a decent transition from panel to panel. I was so relieved upon taking this photo.. .

My main concern was getting that gentle/rolling contour-spill-way (or valley) as it transitions into the cowl. The other detail was carrying the crown of the fender back as it tappers and narrows then washes out flatter as it approaches the windshield posts.

Alot going on in that little intersection especially if you're trying avoid the use of huge amounts of Bondo or lead to create those lines.

Not trying to blow smoke I most certainly have my limitations; it will end up with some light waves and rollers (especially after all the welding)that I just won't be able to chase out so its going to need filler but the filler won't need to be a quarter inch thick either.
Onto stitching this section in further.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[northernbigbird]

very impressive justin......its been amazing watching the progress of this and the attention to detail that you have when forming the panels. I can only hope to have a fraction of the skills that you have......good man....keep up the good work...i'll be watching!

[JTR70]

Thats very nice of you to say Mark, and I really appreciate it but I'm just a regular hobbyiest like yourself. I'm feeling my through the dark as best as I can at any given moment. Sometimes it works but most times it doesn't then its back to the drawing board. Hoping to see some progress on your car soon, Thanks again!
Justin

6/8/17


Pecked the outer joints for level and added additional tacks where needed. Tacks dressed and these outer runs are teed up for TIG welding

Will finish the inner run next before final TIG'ing.

Slow but at least going in the right direction.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/11/17

Tying up loose ends in and around the channel.

The channel is short so this OG section with a touch of curve at the end will blend in nicely.

Turned the trick and allowed me to weld up the shoulder. The inner edge of the trough will need some blending as there is a definite height discrepancy between OG and trevors version.

Hood refitted to check for gap and elevation/transition with the shoulder.


Not perfect but came out alot closer than I thought it was going to.

More fine tuning required after TIG welding but its within striking distance.

TIG welding the seams next; not out of the woods yet.

Before I do that, I'm moving down to the rocker joint to get it ready for final welding.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/13/17
Loose ends along the lower right front fender.

Back filling chores completed leaving only the main joint for TIG welding. Had a bad high spot which needed some shrinking though. It came right down with some heat and a shrinking hammer.

My last main concern was a smooth transitional profile of the bead wire across these two parts. I can live with that.

Moved onto the forward lower corner.

Templated off my OG example. They all vary a little here so I'm just trying to get a close shape that works with what I've got.

Skin is clipped and the wire left raw just below rolled in dart/shoulder detail in the apron. Followed that detail here.

Began heating and manipulating the bare section to needed corner contour.

Its getting there and am just about ready to begin tacking that loose flap directly to the wire as originally done.
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/21/17
Lower right corner shaped and seam welded as found on my OG example.

lip rolled under as close to OG as possible while still allowing for a gentle curve that works with what I've got.

bare wire section was seam welded to the edge of the skin by gas welding.

Not perfect but about as close as I could get shape melting it with my torch. A few coats of builder primer should take it the rest of the way. Bottom leading edge/lip trimmed back and tappered as originally.


Mounting tang to fender brace now welded into final position.

Distance from the bracket housing to the fender lip my Undamaged OG fender coming in at just over 15 inches.

Newly established lip coming in right at 15 inches. As close as ever hoped to get.

Now with the corner and tang welded it was onto getting this joint aligned and welded

Some time spent here leveling out these two panels for contour as they both where "peaking" as the met. It was tack, cut, grind for space and sometimes repeat so they could "grow" as Itapped them down to level out more smooth and gracefully.

Slowly happening as I made my way toward the trunk.
More later...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Looking so good Justin, you must be pleased with this last bit of welding work.

Roy

[JTR70]

I am very happy Roy but at the same time this last bit seems to be the hardest hill to climb. Must be the anticipation of finally finishing. Thanks again! Justin

6/23/17
More right fender loose ends.

eventually worked my way up and over the crown of the fender and cemented the change I had to make in the way of a relief cut down the center of trevor's existing weld-joint to get a profile that more closely matched the left side.

With that major joint all but set for TIG welding I needed a change so began tying the loose ends on the headlight bucket. Raw fitting the rubber seal to ensure enough clearance for it to seat before I commit to the final position.

This 16 gauge plate section made for a nice spacer to ensure ample clearance between the bucket lip and the body for the seal and the thickness of the eventual coats of primer and paint.


All welded up around the lip and the seal in for another test fit. So far so good.


Test fit with a light assembly.

Seal and trim ring fitting fine.



Next detail was welding in the forward drain tube. Still need to crimp the bottom opening and will do that when I roll the car over.

back filling with a crescent patch around the neck of the conduit.

Gas welded around the neck as done originally. Right bucket is pretty much set.

The next and last chore/adjustment is opening this gap along the trunk lid back up.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/24/17

Before I finish up in and around the trunk lid I want to take care of the rest of my chores down low on the body and frame.
Left forward rocker joint.

Wire junction wrapped with an overlap of skin and ready for welding.

Relief pie-cut section ready to be stitched up.

welded, dressed, file shaped and heat shrunk for high spots. Have some cleaning up yet to do on that back edge but this joint is finished otherwise.

Headlight bucket, brace tab and wire edge welding next.

Shaping lower corner now.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

7/6/17

Finishing out left forward corner details.

Began heating and shaping the wire to make the turn.

before I set to welding it up I noticed the profile crown was getting a bit too strong. Had to relax it back a little flatter before I fully committed.

Once that profile was settled back down I began taking the wire to the edge of the skin.

Fully seam welded up with my torch; all done here.

Fender brace tang was next to be set.

This side coming in a little stronger at just over 15 inches but its close enough. Most importantly the overall fender shape and profile looks right so this is where I need it to be.

Headlight bucket next. Begin with locating it for seal clearance as before with the right side.

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[bbspdstr]

Justin, the lower front apron corner is one of the hardest small places to get right on a 356 (A, B or C). I am impressed!

The good news, if any, is that area was done by different people in slightly different ways when the body was created, so there is some "wiggle room." ("Made by Hand.")

Still, NOT easy. Outstanding results overall.

Bruce

[JTR70]

So relieved to know that these lower corners look okay to you Bruce, Thanks for the confirmation! I could not agree more, this area is tricky as that wire has to both turn and tuck in as gracefully as possible. It certainly won't comply without a fight so a torch is the only way to tame that lead wire section.
Thanks again! Justin

7/7/17

Finishing off the right headlight bucket loose ends and mounting a pair of headlights to the car.

Bucket now welded into final position and ready to back fill around the conduit and install the drain tube next.

Both welded up and complete.

With both buckets now welded into final position it was time try and get a pair of headlight assemblies to fit and seat properly in there. A brand new adventure.

The leading edge lip on these buckets is about 2-3MM's wider than the originals. I remember seeing Drew thin his down on the units he bought for his project. I thought I might get away with just leaving them but as you can see in this shot that extra shoulder crowds the trim ring out, especially at this lower mount tang. BTW I had a lot hammer and dolly work (and filing)ahead of me before I was able to convince this ring to slip over initially. Nothing's easy...

I had this old roll of super thin striping tape on hand and it made for the perfect guide to highlight the excess that had to go.

Lip ground and finished back to stock specs.


Additional hammering and file work was required as it continued but the ring was slipping over more easily with each try.

Time now to install the thread plates to complete headlight mounting.

Welded. Trevor installs a pilot hole so I went with that.


The key, at least for me was fitting a bare trim ring first. I initially started with a full headlamp assembly and the base seal. No way no how was that going to work right off the bat.

Once the bare ring slipped on and off cleanly (after much file-hammering ceremony) I was then able to introduce the base seal which also required further filing and clearance. but it eventually all seated together.

Then I was able to graduate to a more complete assembly with a base seal. Fully seated and bolted down here.

It was certainly a learning experience but I eventually ended up with a pair of fully mounted headlight units.

Onto the next deal. I'll be rolling the car over next to finish out the remaining loose ends in and around the buckets and braces. This will officially cap off my chassis related duties for this build.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

7/8/17

Last of the chassis related loose ends all tied up.

Before I flipped the car over I had one more overlooked detail to add to the buckets:

Almost forgot that the edge down here is recessed completely back to make way for the trim ring tang.

Original bucket showing this detail.

No chance of interference with the tang now. Okay all done up here for the moment.


Now time to roll it over and knock out the rest of the detail welding.

Had a small list of things to do on both sides that I certainly had no intention of doing on my back so it consumed a full session.

Like seam welding this tip of the bracket

and crimping the end of the drain tubes as originally done.

Needed to also fuse this junction point where the new splash pans met the lateral closing walls as done before.

No need for the forward rocker corner to float anymore as they are both in their best adjusted positions so it was time to attach them to the splash panel.

This pic looks almost identical to my initial one but all chassis related welding loose ends are fully complete here.

From this point forward I am strictly on body skins until completion.

A very long road to hoe on this frame rebuild but I finally made it.


I'm not out of the woods entirely as I have several feet of stitch welding ahead of me both front and back along with a lot of picking and filing; not to mention I still have to fix in and around the trunk lid but the list is getting very short these days. Back on the body tomorrow.
Thanks for looking!
Justin