SC Coupe Restoration

[JTR70]

Great idea Tom! I was planning something similar to get a large dent out of my gas tank while trying to preserve the inner coating but never thought about an application to the body. Nice work and thanks for sharing!
Justin

[tperazzo]

Hi guys,
As I was about to solder the door I noticed the large elongated hole at the top. It's very ragged and doesn't look factory. My other door has two equal round holes which seems correct, but I'm not sure because I repaired this area some time ago.



Can someone tell me if these two holes should be equal? My car is a Karmann T6C.
Thanks,
Tom

[Jack Staggs]

I often see irregular holes in this area on factory cars, probably due to mis-alignment to the inner holes for the window frame hardware making it impossible to put a socket on the nut. Almost always on the upper hole. Generally the rubber piece that glues to the door covers it.
BTW, our 356 day party will be Dec 20 this year.

[JTR70]

As Jack said, its definitely been hogged out for socket clearance. I'd punch a new hole in a repair patch and use a socket as your locating jig when you get ready to tack it in.

I'll put that on my calendar Jack!

[tperazzo]

Thank you Justin and Jack for your help on my door hole dilemma. I hope to see you both again at Jack's party...its on my calendar too.

It's been so long I forgot that this is covered by rubber, but I welded in another patch anyway making sure a socket can reach in there.



Only the finished product shot here with a bit of solder over it like the factory did. The top had some factory gas welds that were originally smoothed with lead.

Also in this picture you can see the solder that I added to the door to control the door gap.

Here are some progress pictures.





This is more solder than I need, but its much easier to have too much than try to add more later. Believe it or not the door opens and closes just fine with the small gap pictured. I did knock down some high spots and interferences with my die grinder.

My body files were crap, so I sent everything out to be sharpened, so I'm waiting for them before I level everything out.

I hope to be able to finish fitting this door before Thanksgiving!
Cheers,
Tom

[JTR70]

Looking good Tom! You have more self control than I did; once it was applied I immediately had to file it down to see what was going on. Gaps and lines are shaping up nicely!

[Phil Planck]

Tom
Just catching up after a 10 day absence. Nice idea to lift that rear fender area. Thanks for posting all of this, as I still have to do a lot of that.

Phil

[tperazzo]

I hunkered down and took this rust bucket as far as I could. Well I could have tinkered with it for longer, but I'm so far behind schedule and exhausted I took it to my potential painter/body man.

The last few weeks were a flurry of activity with limited pictures, but I'll add here and there.




Sigh of relief, but it's about to get expensive! I'm actually ok with it knowing how much work it is.

[JTR70]

UH-OH!!?!! You're now ready to move onto the paint and body work stage Tom?? I better get my coupe into final paint this spring before I really get embarrassed for myself here shortly!

Seriously, that is fantastic news! Congratulations on officially getting past the steel work stage. It looks really nice sitting on that trailer. You're right, you could continue to tinker and chase it for a lifetime but you just have to draw the line somewhere and say that "its close enough, time to move on". You said "potential bodyman", so you're still shopping; Who are you considering to do the work?
Expensive yes, but you have saved yourself a boat-load already so you're still way ahead of the game. I sort of envy your position though, how nice would it be to have someone else doing all the donkey-work while I wait for my beautifully painted shell to arrive back at my door. Very cool! Congrats again on getting to the next phase!
Justin

[Phil Planck]

Congratulations Tom. I dream about that day. Lots of sweat in that 356. Keep us posted on your last few weeks and the upcoming paint story.

Phil

[roy mawbey]

Well done Tom, some nice work indeed. Once I got used to leading I was like you applied over the amount and it just took a while longer to get extra off. With that door gap to front fender I am surprised like you it opened without touching. Mine is much wider there and I really would like it to have been smaller like yours!

Trouble is should have made decision 25 years ago when door gaps did not seem to be so important. Also, like my gas welding skill, leading would mean starting all over again to stop it going on the floor!

As Justin says you must have saved yourself thousands doing all that work yourself. I bet you will have a grin all over your face when it comes back. Money well, its only money and sometimes it can buy a little happiness and get the car nearer to being on the road.

Roy

[tperazzo]

Thanks guys, there's still tons to do before paint like fitting all the parts to the car and I still need to fix the bumpers.

Here's a quick repair on the rear fender arch as I remember one of your cars had the same issue as mine. Basically the metal was sanded down too thin.

Here's the crack.




Repair piece formed with pliers and a hammer. I just got a bead roller, but it's not fully set up yet so I did this quick and dirty.



Here's what I cut out and cleaned. Yes it was rusty inside! Car was flipped upside down to make the welding easy.

Partially welded in.



I don't have a picture of the finished repair, but you get the idea. If I did it again I would have made the patch slightly bigger because I ended up with a slight dish where I couldn't planish behind the wire rolled seam.

Thanks again to everyone for all the encouragement to keep me going.

[Trevor]

2015 - The year of paint, for you and I bet for Justin as well. If you're free next Friday, come on down to Jack's and let's talk painters and anything else.

[tperazzo]

Thanks Trevor, I wish I could but my schedule isn't Porsche friendly tomorrow. I will make time soon.

So the last major update to my car was the floors. I've been hoarding these for several years and I think they are from Stoddards. They certainly aren't the best.

I don't have a lot of pictures, so I'll try to describe the improvements I made.

Shortcomings:
Rear bulkhead lip too short
Rear depressions radii too sharp
Transverse tube too round. Not elliptical like the original.
Missing Karmann drain holes at rear and floor plugs
Front triangle depression interfered with longitudinal flange. (3/4" all around)
Front bulkhead shape was barely formed at all with no crispness
The opposite was true with front depressions were too crisp.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining , but I'm not. I'm just comparing to my original floors and striving to make the new floors look as original as possible.

Rear indent radius too small


Handmade form tool to correct said radius


Gotta update the rest in a part 2.
Please hang with me!
Tom

[bbspdstr]

Tom, good work and a good eye for the details. You also display a knack for using common sense, a necessary ingredient so often missing in such projects, hobbyist or pro.

A bit on lead work. The good ol' boys who showed me how to use lead made sure I knew that it was better than plastic (what they derisively called "straightener in a can") because when filed and a low spot was seen, the steel could be bumped up and conversely, when a high spot would appear, it could be bumped down......in essence, the lead would not crack or disassociate itself from the steel and allow the thinnest amount to remain during the filing process.

This, of course, is voided at steps and edges such as jambs and door edges...any edges or double layers, but in those areas, it is still very stable and tenacious.

I still have the molds and melting cups they had or made so that new bars can be made with the filings. The best lead is that which is melted off a 356 during repair or restoration, so there is really very little wasted material and I personally think reusing the original lead on a 356 is an appropriate effort.

Is plastic used in today's restorations? Sure, but only OK if just enough to take care of small areas with better products than were available 50 years ago. Metal finishing and lead is still the best method, but few shops have the experience or the clientele that wants to afford the added time that takes.

On floor stampings: that has been batted around for many decades and there is still no exact replication I have found or of which I have heard. For a very long time, the "Zim's floors" were the best, with restoration design being a close second. The proprietary Stoddard floors are from steel dies but primarily and most noticeably compromised by the exaggerated transverse 'hump.' I have had to cut short the rubber mats to allow seat adjustment when I tried to use those when first out, as a mat over that hump won't allow clearance for the seat pan. (I was bailed out by shim strips under the seat rails, but that may be unacceptable for a tall driver/passenger) On the underside, anyone can look and immediately note the exaggerated transverse hump and after that, not bother to notice any other discrepancies of details. "Ah-h-h, it's a repro..."

As for the Karmann details, I made a die that is very close to the original metric hole but actually makes the plugs fit a common US hole saw or 'knock-out' punch size. The circumferential depression is easy. When someone sees those on a Karmann chassis, the visual effect of that detail is huge and that the floor stamping is a flawed repro is lessened. It's worth the extra time and effort if the chassis number begins with a '2.'

(Same with the D'Iteren Roadsters....)

I can post pictures of those items and sections of original Karmann floors when I can get more time....gotta get back to work,
-Bruce