SC Coupe Restoration

[tperazzo]

Further destruction shot below. I may have cut more than I needed to , but I needed to look given how bad the other side was. The drivers side had the entire pillar replaced.


Already started putting new metal back in.

Thanks,
Tom

[DG58INNM]

"gloves are a must, just in case they accidentally touch the metal"


But that's how you learn not to touch the metal

[Trevor]

Hopefully my welding is good enough for the Boy Scouts of America, because I volunteered to be a merit badge counselor for welding. My son is now a first year boy scout, so we'll see if any kids are interested in welding.

I'm sure your welding is. I've let my son practice a little with me. Good helmets and some gloves are a must, just in case they accidentally touch the metal.

[JTR70]

A bummer! But sadly par for the course and not surprising considering the make and model of car your working on; at least you caught it now.

[tperazzo]

In preparation for future lead work I decided that I better check under some existing lead in the A pillar.

It was suspect because I think I saw bulge that didn't belong. Well, its a good thing I checked because there was lots of rust underneath. And thought I was done with rust repair, but now I'm knee deep in it again.






Probably several days needed to fix this one.
Cheers,
Tom

[JTR70]

He's already crated it so I'll arrange freight on Monday. Its coming from back east so probably within the next two weeks. Also have make room for it. Nice job getting these little chores out of the way. It really can help with morale. Justin

[tperazzo]

David you're not Hi-jacking at all, especially when you give good info on body solder. Thanks! I really appreciate everyone's positive comments. Hopefully my welding is good enough for the Boy Scouts of America, because I volunteered to be a merit badge counselor for welding. My son is now a first year boy scout, so we'll see if any kids are interested in welding.

Bruce thanks for sharing your new welding experience. Those machines sounds really cool. I'm jonesing for a spot welder, but not a $26k one.

When do you get the welder Justin? I agree with David that you will use the MIG less and less as time passes by. Sounds like several of us are now using TIG here on ABCGT. Woohoo!

Each day, I'm trying to tackle small nagging repairs. Here's a weather seal channel fix.









Thanks everyone for the tips on lead work. I'm excited to start setting my door and hood gaps.
Have a great weekend,
Tom

[DG58INNM]

Wow, all cool stuff. Bruce, would I ever like to see that spot welder. Oh man that sounds good!

Congrats on the TIG Justin. You will love it. I predict within two years your MIG will be in a corner, covered with thick coat of dust.

If you want to avoid Eastwood (I do) go to Johnson Solder. Nice place, and the guy is very interesting to talk to. He was very interested in what I was doing, the car I was working on, and offered a lot of tips on using lead. I gave their lead-free solder (lead free lead?) a whirl. Its different. But kind of neat too. Not as soft or easy to work as lead. I used it for the cowl area on my roadster under the windshield posts rest, thinking a harder filler material here could only be an improvement. They sell the tinning paste too. I recently did some work with the old fashioned acid flux (Stay-Clean) and lead, but overall I think the tinning paste is a better way. An acetylene-air torch makes a nice, big, but not too hot flame for lead work. Only bad thing is it sure consumes a lot of gas!

http://www.johnsonmfg.com/

Sorry to hijack your thread Tom. Loving your work, and still envious of your level of TIG skill.

Take care,
DG

[bbspdstr]

First, yesterday I had a business neighbor invite me to try a new welding system in his shop for a demo. Two welders awaited, and a sophisticated pair they were! The $26,000 spot welder was water-cooled and had a plethora (I like that word!) of tips, arms and adjustable widgets and was computerized in all aspects. I was given samples of boron steel, regular mild steel and a few other types and told to just press a button when I was ready, no matter how many layers of which kinds of steel I wanted to join.

The head hesitates after clamping the steel in the tips, assessing the metal and it's type and thickness, then zaps a beautiful, even depression that will NOT come apart. I'd love to have a unit like this, but I have never spent $26,000 on even a Porsche!

The other machine was a MIG, with two guns. One was for aluminum, one was for a phosphor-bronze wire that melts at a lower temp than steel and doesn't distort the new steels used with new cars. Both machines were meant for production use on repair of new cars in a big shop. The MIG used 100% Argon, both guns were held 90* from the surface about 5/8" up and the trigger had the ability to make fine adjustments if needed, but the computerized unit figured the basics on it's own to get you started. They were a 'push' weld and after some trial attempts, I was able to make perhaps the nicest aluminum bead I've ever done with a MIG. (Which is why I have an old Miller 180 TIG!)

Second, since the fluxes we used directly with lead from the filler sticks we 'wiped' on decades ago are difficult to find for the usual save-us-from-our-(certain stupid)-selves reasons, here is what I have been using:

After tinning and complete wiping, I wash the surface as Justin does, but wipe it afterward with thinner and another clean rag after paddling to begin to rid the surface of the tallow, beeswax OR, as the 'ol' boys' used...motor oil. Theoretically, all contaminants rise to the surface while heating and maintaining 'plasicity' of the filling lead (I use a 'plumber's torch with a smaller 'B' cylinder of acetylene.)

Third, here is fabrication and welding I admire. Done for Bob Kann (GT Werks) by a Swiss gentleman, the aluminum hard tonneau for 84255 is copied from my fiberglass racing version. The new owner wanted 'period correct' material despite my comment that a magnet wouldn't show a difference when both were painted. The real difference is in durability. My tonneau bore footprints from a worker who was helping lift me from the car when I was unconscious from a crash. I doubt the aluminum, while a pound or two lighter, would support any weight! Still beautiful work!





-Bruce

[JTR70]

Thanks Trevor! I can understand your disappointment with the MIG it has a few short comings for instance the wire feed, unlike TIG or Gas to keep welding more material must continue to be added so the welds can get big but for ease and simplicity the MIG really shines. It will continue to serve a valuable function and I could never see myself parting with it. I'll look into Steve's classes and thanks again!

Thank you Tom! I'll be picking your brain for sure as I bump along, I'd appreciate any help or suggestions from both you guys that most certainly will come up.
As for tinning, no not much has changed for me in that regard. I will say I'm not using the henrob torch though, I found that the standard torch head works just fine. As for setting I like a nice turquoise flame tip. Not an angry flame (as Jason Bobruk would say)or jet engine sounding flame but a quiet sharp turquoise flame.

As for neutralizing the tinning acid a thorough scrub with soapy water and brillow pad worked for me. Depending on my level of paranoia with an area I might have gone over it a second or even a third time before primer. So far so good because all of my top coats have been on there for a least one year and other areas up to 2 years+. I have yet to find a single bubble of lead contamination in my paint.

[tperazzo]

Yay Justin! That is one hell of a machine...and water cooled.
You will pick this up quickly I'm sure. Steve's class is great and really shortens the learning curve like Trevor said. Steve is not exactly close to you, but worth the drive in my opinion. Let me know if you want any tips to get started. I think you will be impressed with the versatility of TIG.

Per, I'm honored that you find my pictures helpful. Now I know who to ask if I lose all my pictures. If you need anything in particular, just ask.

Justin, I need your help on body solder supplies. I took some notes from one of your posts a while back.

"Here are all the basic tools & supplies that Jason told me to buy.
The Dillon/Henrob Torch(now A.K.A. the Cobra torch) I bought as a kit on Ebay. (kit runs 300-400$)
Solder paste (Jason) The rest is Eastwood: wooden paddle spreader set (16.00) Solder Tallow,
the white stuff in the alloy tray. You warm this and coat the wooden spreader with it.(15.00)
Body solder sticks 10pc. 1 LBS. (40.00) These sticks go quick! Pictured are my last two!

This is the flux that Jason likes. Its an Australian product so I don't know if its available elsewhere.
Whats nice about this paste is that it has solder mixed into it.
So you apply it, heat it then wipe it with a rag leaving a nice primer surface of solder.
The molten fill just loves it!

Name of flux is Kemtex B Solder Paste."









So my questions are: Has any thing changed since? Any comment on neutralizers to kill acid flux during clean up. Any torch setting that you can recommend.

I'm totally new to this, but willing to try. Thanks for your help.
Tom

[Trevor]

Justin - Funny, you should post about getting a TIG welder. I used a friend's MIG welder today - first time ever using a MIG. Totally hated it! Sparks flying, trying to dial in the wire speed, grind the hard as hell welds... no fun! F*** that!

You're going to love the TIG! My #1 suggestion, ask Steve Hogue when his next class is. Attend, take notes, ask lots of questions, he won't shoot you down... you can ask as many questions as you want. Then... practice, practice and practice some more. It will be worth it!

[JTR70]

Your progress photo from last nights post was all that I could stand Tom! Seeing those really nice, tiny and controlled welds finally pushed me to commit to buying a TIG welder today. Here's a couple shots I snagged from the auction:



Needs a tank and the gauge assembly but complete otherwise. As well as its condition, the pump and water cooled trigger sold it for me. I don't expect to be at your level right out of the box but I at least will have the right machine now. Thanks for the inspiration! As usual great work!!!!
Justin

[JOP]

Tom it will be sad that your clean underside will be all covered with layers of Wurth wrinkle paint and your nicely done "freezbees" for the backseat will be "hidden"

Maybe you should start selling those "indents" for everyone else that needs to do corrections to the rear seat panel.

You have really showed us some nice pictures of repairs and new production.
Since Im an addict on collecting info and pictures about the 356 and you are filling my harddisk quick.
I need you to send me a new Porsche harddisk of 356 zillion billion bitz memory....
heay, its your pictures right....that Im safekeeping
/ Per

[tperazzo]

Well I'm bouncing around a bit. Today I installed the floor plugs that I made back on page 48. These are more accurate than the simple indent that came with my Trevor Marshall seat pans.









Looks like I forgot to take a picture from the inside, oops.


It would be hard for anyone to tell that these seat pans were replaced. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, ha ha.
While I was waiting for welds to cool down I straightened this area that suffered severe jack scars over the years.



That's all for today.
Thanks,
Tom