'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[Don C]

Probably a Monday or Friday build!

[John Pierce]

Onto the right fender repair. I chose to make each front fender more symmetric than originally built.



You can see lots of brazing along the rusted edge and a not so bad patch along the bottom.



I made a fender template and added 13 mm for the turned edge.



I curved the panel from top to bottom along with a second curve on the bottom from back to front to match the original fender curves. This was accomplished with a pneumatic planisher with the left fender. I picked up a roller that made it much easier for the right fender.



The turned edge is pretty fun to make. I initially bent the edge to 90 degrees in a vise. I then bent 3 or 4 sections over the edge wire to hold it in place. I slowly hammered the edge over while tucking and shrinking the metal on an anvil. When I was done I bent the the panel over my knee to match the original fender curves.



I then cut the inner turned edge to 9 mm with a Dremel to match the original. I left the edge wire long at the top and bottom so the joints don't overlap the welded sections.



I made the replacement piece larger than what I needed as it is much easier to get the correct curves on a larger piece, especially in the areas to be replaced. I then cut out what I needed.



Mocked up and ready to Dremel out the bad metal.



Spot welded in place and ready for TIG'ing.

Thanks for following along.

[gkw]

Very nice John
Gordon

[Jonesy_356]

Great work mate. You're making it look easy, which means you've achieved 'expert' status!

[JTR70]

Nice work as usual John!

[roy mawbey]

John,

Well done on that repair. Wired edges... how pleased all mine are still original, thats not an easy job. Have any of you seen Jan's effort on The Samba with his 356A resto. He purchased an old machine and then has motorised it to make his wired edges. Have a look on that thread he also impresses me with his work.

Again John, nice job!!

Roy

[bbspdstr]

.....I bent the the panel over my knee to match the original fender curves.......

That worked for me when I was younger, but now my knees don't have the same matching shape.

I use wood, plywood, to make a "hammer form", cut the sheet steel to include the edge, clamp, squeeze in a vise, bolt through and/or all of the above and then gradually hammer the exposed edge to a 90* and go from there.



Great work, John (and all who post here) and yes, Roy, I need to wander back over to Everett's site. I have not visited there since the R-complaint clamp-down.

-Bruce

[Don C]

Great idea Bruce!

[John Pierce]

Thanks guys!

I didn't have much time the past couple of days to do much as work (real job) has been crazy with the end of year coming. I want to get the fenders squared away before I start putting the nose back on. So I started pulling back the fender edges to get to the wire as I suspected rust was hiding there. What I found was pretty much the standard Porsche 356 fair. Once you start opening things you're bound to find more!







Nothing that a bit of media blasting won't take care of followed by epoxy primer and a top coat. It's much easier to get to this area before the nose is back on as my big head with face shield fits much better

Thanks for looking and I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season. Thank you also to Justin for making all of this available.

JP

[Phil Planck]

John
You better be careful. Bruce is out recruiting body men.

Phil

[JTR70]

Don't be too alarmed John, every single pinch seam and joint on the entire car has rust lurking in between it. They all do so the only practical thing to do on the rest is to keep out any additional moisture with sealer, drip-check etc. Its will be nice to get those wired lips all cleaned out though. Keep up the great work! My thanks and appreciation to you for being part of this site! Merry Christmas!
Justin

[bbspdstr]

John
You better be careful. Bruce is out recruiting body men.Phil

Phil,
You mean you are not accepting my offer and that John should send his financial demands....or perhaps I should ask him for a job?

Here are a few pictures of the typical arch edge repair, typically caused by careless grinding and/or rust, but usually a heavy-handed novice with a big heavy disc grinder over-doing already thin metal cleaning over the edge.
These are of work my guy Ed did with my coaching. I took him from an 18 year career in truck bodywork and eventually scaled him down to old Porsches., He's come a long way in his 11 years with me. He had never used an oxyacetylene welder until at my shop, only MIG...and he has yet to TIG....but he wants me to teach him how that works...before I forget...







-Bruce

[John Pierce]

Time to take the plunge and start mocking up the nose piece! It looks well made and I'm hoping it fits without much reforming.



The embossments and cutouts are well made, but the metal is a bit thinner than the original so the piece feels a bit flimsy.



My original bottom edge was turned over in two sections. I added these areas with a dolly and hammer, which stiffened it up a bit.



The primer is of high quality and needed to removed in the areas to be cut and welded. After mocking it up I took off 3 cm on the inner and outer sections and also along the drip channel where it is welded to the front closing piece.



The hood is back on for fitment. I previously restored the hood hinges and they work nicely. I will fit the front closing piece and nose at the same time. It's not shown in this picture.



The drip channel has lead filler that was removed with a propane torch (and mask).



First fitment isn't too bad. Trying to maintain a 3 mm gap all around. Time to stop and look at it from all directions and measure from my base points before marking the cut lines, which I'll do in several iterations. Right off the bat it looks like the drip channel needs some modification. Do people mock up the nose with the hood rubber gasket in place or wait till later finessing?



The bumper bracket holes are at the correct height but are too far lateral. These will need to be welded closed and recut. Can someone provide a picture of an original bracket hole? I've read that they have squared corners, but the ones on the replacement have rounded edges.

Thanks for following and Happy Holidays!

John

[bbspdstr]

John, the best way to get it like it will be upon final assembly is to mock that now. I use a seal like the version that will eventually wind up on the car (and the various types may mean buying all, seeing what works best in your particular instance and returning all but one), taping pieces on to the inside, duplicating the primer and paint thickness with a strip of tape underneath, with a welding rod to pull the installed latch, the latch adjusted as necessary, etc.

A LOT of trial and error goes into the details of fitment in each case. Prior damage from accident or poor workmanship, current repair, repro parts vs original, reworked hinges and latches....each job/356 is different whether it's one or a career with many....

Also, shooting for a 3mm gap is for the eventual final gap. Remember that a mm may be used up, a half on each side, of primer and paint, so I aim for 4mm when bare metal, but you can imagine the gap better by carefully adding masking tape wrapped along each side at each gap at it's most visible parts. Add tape to equal .5mm on each side of gaps, whether it's one strip or two, depending on what you use.

I use a LOT of 3M green tape for a lot of instances during the rebuilding and finishing steps of restoration....cheap in the long run.

As for the bumper bracket holes, I bolt in just the brackets if there is room and mark what modification is needed and add or subtract. I personally like a small radius at the corners of a symmetrical hole, but I will need to look at a couple of originals I have to see if they are angular corners or not, as those are not known to me to be the same for each 356. (Remember; "made by hand.")

Speaking of which, I'd recommend fitting the bumper while fitting the nose to wind up with a better symmetry overall before anything is finalized.

-Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Great detailed advice Bruce - thanks. John - bummer having to move the bracket holes. I think on my thread there are some pics of my nos right nose piece. Might show the bracket hole profile. Am out of town now but when I return I can make a template and email it to you.
Phil