SC Coupe Restoration

[tperazzo]

Thanks guys for the advice and I'm a little relieved that I'm not the only one.

I already cut it so that I could make it work the best for me. This is one of those things that I want to be happy with because that spacing is such a easy thing for the eye to see.



Tacked back in place without any side bolt pressure.



I may alter the other side a bit, but only after I get the hardware installed and do another final adjustment.

I can't thank Romance with Rust enough for talking me out of painting the car without trial fitting all this stuff. So many details like this have cropped up that would have killed me if it was already painted. Several here have imparted the same advice. I still have several details to go before I take it anywhere else.

Thanks,
Tom

[bbspdstr]

The angle of the bumper tip needs to be close to parallel with the indented surface of the quarter panel. A simple cut-n-fold may change the geometry in an undesirable way when an inch is involved. Please be careful.

I never throw a bumper away (at least the outer shell) because no matter how one side is hit, the other or one of the three parts is usually savable. Not too difficult to de-construct the overlaps and build a bumper that actually fits any particular car, at least if the quarters are measured and similar from a centerline. (Through the hole, side-to-side.)

The bumpers for a B/C are VERY adjustable; laterally, up-down and in/out. What one wants to avoid is 'force-fitting.'

-Bruce

[Jack Staggs]

Don't forget, Tom, that the fender can be moved around a bit where it meets up with the bumper for final fit by adjusting the short link on the end of the rear fender brace that the bolt goes through to the rubber doughnuts.
Good job lining up the exhaust cutouts. You might be surprised how many cars fail there.

[Trevor]

That's an easy fix for you Tom. Jack and I had the exact same problem a few months back, except it was "only" out 1 inch from where we considered ideal to be. Use a cut off disc and cut a slice through the bumper around where the end piece attaches to the middle; underneath the bumper guard. You wouldn't think it (I didn't... but Jack did), that just taking out the thickness of metal equal to the cutoff disc would make an impact but it tucked the bumper in by an inch. Of course you can always widen your cut to take out more metal and tucking the bumper in to the fender more - if necessary. Start with a thin cut off disc, that way your gap will be good when you go to TIG it back together. You have to make the cut top and bottom to get the bumper to move easily, but leave the middle (where the deco strip goes) alone. I didn't take a pic of the location where we cut, sorry! I hope this is clear.

[tperazzo]

Thanks guys, this car has given me lots of practice. I'm grateful of all the things my 356 has taught me along the way. My welds didn't start out like that for sure.

Nothing is easy though as I expected my rear bumper to bolt on with excellent fit since it wasn't nearly as damaged as the front was.

I straightened the bumper brackets so that they were parallel to the car and straight. I learned from the front bumper that it's no fun to fight a springy bumper bracket because it's pointing the wrong way.

I centered the bumper so that the exhaust cutouts were lined up.





The passenger side doesn't fit well with the body.


It sticks out almost 1.5 inches on the side of the car that has had no rear fender damage.

The drivers side is better and will probably draw in when the rubber spacers and hardware is installed.



I don't want to kink or distort the bumper so it looks like I'm with Trevor and will section it.

Didn't expect this would be needed on an original part. I did hammer and dolly several dents out but don't think I stretched it that much.

Crazy old cars!
Tom

[bbspdstr]

"Could this be the last weld on my 356????"

Could be, but please come and weld on some of mine! But to second John's exclamation....."SWEET WELDS."

See, "practice makes perfect."

Thanks Justin, for clarifying my "paint it two times" comment about the bumpers. Tough to get thoughts out correctly when being distracted by....working on old Porsches.

I have been known to take a fine brush, bent to access that area and paint the backside of the 'return' to be sure it's covered prior to spraying. That's a tough area to get and I've always been impressed at how the Factory wrapped in there without runs, sags, drips or too little spray here or there. Probably that old enamel and the baking soon after.

B/C bumpers are more difficult than earlier but they are all a PITA to get right.

-Bruce

[John Pierce]

Sweet welds, Tom!!

Thanks Bruce and Justin for the great info.

JP

[tperazzo]

Good info on the bumpers.

Someone else has messed with the side bumper mount plate and there is no captive nut???



For me it was easiest to cut that out and rebuild.

Here's the new plate and a modified weld nut to be the same as original.



I made the cage and welded it in the same way I did on the front bumpers. No overlapped metal.



Primered,



Finished,



Could this be the last weld on my 356???? I don't want to jinx it but I can't think of anything else!
Cheers,
Tom

[JTR70]

Another pearl Bruce, Thanks for sharing what the judges are looking for!

Same color John. As Bruce described you paint the backsides first to ensure you get coverage in and around all the crannies and blind edges. There are of course many

The backside is carefully back taped and masked then the outside is shot for your second painting session. It was a pain but this was the way Rick and I did my bumpers last year. You can see the backsides masked up here. Thanks again for the confirmation and the tip Bruce!

[John Pierce]

Thanks Bruce. I'm a bit confused about what you wrote about 2 separate paintings for the bumpers. Are the backsides and outers different colors? I thought they were the same color and could be painted at the same sitting.

Thanks.

John

[bbspdstr]

FWIW, in another lifetime, I did "show cars" and did time as a Concours Judge at PCA events in the '70s and '80s. One of the areas to which I was occasionally assigned was the exterior (of 356s) and one of the most telling as to restoration accuracy would be the bumpers, inside/behind.
Points were taken off for camouflage of black paint or texture (or occasionally both) and a blind eye was turned to painted hardware, especially body color....as that was considered a "nice touch." The most noticed difference between original and restored bumpers was/is where the paint reached. Original was into the rear edges/returns with complete coverage. The restored bumpers too often had light passes with hardly any coverage in the nooks and crannies.
For those now looking for a good restoration, the bumpers get 2 separate paintings, one to concentrate on the backsides and another with that back part masked and the outer done with the main shell and lids/doors. I paint the dash as a separate area and really get that right...the person writing the checks sees that most often!
Just observations through the years.......
-Bruce

[JTR70]

Nice work Tom! So nice getting all those tedious small patch repairs in the done column isn't it? Glad to see you making progress again!
Justin

[tperazzo]

Thanks John, Body color without undercoating it is.

Finally got a good chunk of time to finish some chores on my rear bumpers.

I cut out a large section of rust where the bumper thirds overlap, but rather than take the entire section apart to look at all the overlapped sections I decided to weld all the seams shut. Theoretically this will prevent further rust by starving it of oxygen.





I even fused the edges together where the oval cutouts are. Here's the outside.






I did loose the vertical edge that is normally visable on the outside. This edge is covered by the bumper guards though. I think this butt welded seam will fair better than overlapping sheet metal in the long run. Although, if Porsche would have put a little primer behind the bumper mounts I'm sure it would still be in good shape today.

Thanks for looking,
Tom

[John Pierce]

Tom,

There was a recent discussion on the R regarding the correct paint on the backside of the bumper. Don't know if this would be helpful to you:

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=41337&hilit=bumper+paint

John

[tperazzo]

Thanks Jack and Don. I get what you mean now and that's good data to have. Once my car is painted I probably won't have my bumper pushed in so far. Even though I like the look, a 1/4" gap at the ends is probably too close for comfort.

Now I'm working on the rear bumper. It has several small dents but it isn't mangled like the front was. That's the good news. The bad news is there's a nice rust volcano hiding under the bumper bracket. Just when I thought I was done with rust repair I get shoved right back into it.




Looks like Porsche didn't paint or primer behind these parts.



The rust bubble is where the overlapping sheet metal is spot welded together.

Here's the outside that was filled with bondo.



Not hard to fix presumably.

Here's s question for the authenticity lovers.

Do the inside of the bumpers get undercoating?
Here's a picture of mine before I stripped it all the way.



I didn't see anything that resembled undercoating on the front bumper. Both of my bumpers have Irish green on top of factory primer so I'm assuming they are both original to my car.

Maybe the rear bumper just collects more road grime?

Thanks for all your help,
Tom