SC Coupe Restoration

[tperazzo]

Thank you Jack for everything you do here and your shop to help us "Joes" out. I will definitely ask you and others for help during assembly. I haven't forgotten to try the wire harness through the fender bracket like you mentioned earlier. Keep the free advice coming. I'm going to call you about my transaxle soon. I'd feel better having it internally inspected before putting it back in the car.

Jack is our "go to" local who has a very strong following. Sorry about the Dana Point conversation being cut short. My kids were roaming around and its hard to keep an eye on them, another eye on all the Porsche candy, and have a chat at the same time, ha ha. Were you judging on Sunday?

Trevor keeps saying how much fun fri afternoons are at your place, so I'll stop in soon.

Hey Phil, the last secret is the 180 grit sandpaper on an orbital or DA sander. It always makes the pictures look better for some reason. I think you did this recently to foam car too after metal finishing. Your work is every bit as good. If I posted pictures during the filing phase it wouldn't look as pretty.

I may need your help and others again on the rear bumper reliefs. Mine are over hammered and they have lost their elevation and crispness. I'll work on a template of measurement method and post here.
Thanks again everyone for the compliments.
Tom

[JTR70]

WOW! Okay Tom, I call "bull shit"! You had the guy who calls himself the "metal surgeon" over to your house this weekend, didn't you!? Seriously that is a beautifully finished joint and is definitely on par with the work that guy does. I'll bet you had several hours in stitching up that run alone. Really excellent result! Justin

Jack, thank you for offering up your expertise we are so thankful to have both you and Bruce here as our resident experts! I for one will certainly be picking your brains once I am in the mechanical stage of my restoration. What a fine day that will be... Thanks again Sir!

[Jack Staggs]

Hi John. My main focus is getting these cars running reliably on the road, anything from seat belts, recliners, electrical, linkages, carbs, distributors, engine, trans, clutch, fuel systems, windows, doors, exhaust, heaters, gauges, suspension, brakes, steering, and just about anything that requires mechanical sympathy, including deviation from factory etc. I have done a fair amount of body and chassis welding over the many years. I would like to become more proficient, and I do enjoy it, but my main thrust is mechanical, after all, I do live in SoCal, so rust has not been as much of an issue as for some of you guys. Of course, my ideas/ opinions will differ from some folks, but we work on about 150+ different cars, with quite a few being driven in excess of 10,000 miles per year, and a surprising amount still owed by the original owners.

[John Pierce]

Jack,
Part of my post was cut off. It was supposed to say that if you don't mind me asking (of course for selfish reasons) what questions can we direct your way?

[foamcar]

Beautiful job on the nose Tom. Your technique is very similar to mine except I use mig and your results are much better. I really like filing when the surface is convex.
Phil

[Jack Staggs]

Sorry. That would be the recent 356 Club concourse at Dana Point.

[John Pierce]

Jack, forgive me for my ignorance. What is DP and you don't mind me asking (of course for selfish reasons

[Jack Staggs]

Really, really nice work Tom. I would have liked to have spent more time with you at DP, but you kinda disappeared. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions as your project comes more in to my field of expertise. That goes for all in the 356 community. All you guys that I call "the welders" are amazing. Thanks again to Justin for hosting this open site, and all that contribute!
Jack Staggs
1321 #N, Calle Valle
San Clemente, Ca. 92672
949 492 9606
ifix356@juno.com

[Trevor]

Killer Tom!

[tperazzo]

Thank you Joris and John....I'm happy with the way it came out

Here's a quick run down of the process.

In my opinion the panel fit is the most important step and where about 80% of my time was spent on this repair. I try for zero gap, but it ranges from 0 to 1/16" in some places. If the gap isn't good and the panels don't fit well cold, then its difficult to keep the weld and heat input consistent.

Once everything fits I tack the entire panel top to bottom to ensure nothing moves during welding and the gap doesn't change during welding. If the gaps change, then its time to stop and stretch the last few welds until everything goes back into original shape. So yes, hammer on dolly technique used during the welding process.
Weld length varies from 10-20mm and I skip around to whatever gap/offset looks the best.

I try to keep the blue area affected by the weld even (about 3/4" wide)to control distortion. Sure, it will still distort but at least its even.

I didn't use any heat absorbing material or backup plates during welding. The access to both side of this nose seam was great, so I let it shrink and then hammer stretch it back to original. I've never tried the heat absorbing stuff. If the heat sinks into another material then more heat needs to be added to weld puddle to get the same penetration, no? Others use those materials successfully without a doubt, but for me its another variable that I don't want. If access behind the panel is poor than I see a bigger advantage.

To smooth out the weld seam, I grind any high spots down first. This may sound strange, but I use a cutoff wheel on a die grinder for this step. Its light weight, had great visibility with the guard off, and I can use my knuckles/fingers as a fulcrum.

Most of the final weld flattening is done with a file. I used to use roloc disks, but they contour to the shape of the weld and too much material is removed next the weld and not enough of the weld.

Filing shows any low spots and distortion, so more hammer and dolly time is needed until its perfect. I alternate between the die grinder, file, and hammer dolly until its good enough.

Hope that helps. Everyones technique is different for better/worse??? I've had lots of practice on this car that is for sure. I still think the rear seat pans were probably the hardest for me.

Thanks again,
Tom

[John Pierce]

Wow! Fantastic work, Tom. I see that you TIG welded it in short ~10mm welds. Did you use any heat absorbing/dissipating material to help control the warping?

John

[Carrera_The_Kid]

Looks great Tom! what was your approach to welding the seam? Curious to learn. Also interested in knowing how much hammer and dolly work was required to get everything nice and smooth.

Thanks for sharing,

Joris

[tperazzo]

Nose is completely welded, except for a little section on the bottom remaining. Once I'm ready to rotate the car upside down, I should be able to do a better job when I'm comfortable.





Metal finished.









Still more to do on the hood seal flange. Remember that a large section was removed in order to tighten up the bends and make it fit. So that will need to be spliced in soon.

Thanks for reading along.

[tperazzo]

Justin, John, and Phil thanks again for your comments.

This repair albeit not finished is the last one! I have a laundry list of small nagging items, so I'm not going to lock up the welder yet, but my metal work phase is almost complete. Too many years for sure, but I'm looking forward to the next phase! Probably leading the gaps and painting the chassis.

As always thanks for your support and reading my posts.

Justin, I wish I could have stayed longer and talked more. I would have liked to meet Dean too. Maybe soon.....my son got bored climbing all the trees.

Take it easy,
Tom

[JTR70]

Congratulations Tom! The hood fitment against the new nose looks really good. Of course as you say there is still some very fine tweaking yet to do as it goes but the heavy lift of this repair is complete. I can identify with your relief and sense of accomplishment after finishing such an invasive repair. Nice job! Good seeing you at Dana Point!
Justin