'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[JTR70]

That new section sure changes the outlook quickly! Will you be installing your upper and forward closing wall section next John? Keep up the great work!

Thanks for those valuable set up tips Bruce very generous of you! I'm sure they were hard won from many years of pain.

[roy mawbey]

John,

Thats not an easy job, but you are doing so well. Shame those holes are not correct, but the overall shape looks good.

Bruce what a good idea on taping the edges to reproduce the paint thickness. Somehow I would never have thought about that although the solution stares you in the face. Justin... have you taped your edges to see if everything closes as your gaps are so perfect now?

Really nice thread this one, watching with interest.

Bruce is also correct about the rubber hood seals they do vary.

Roy

[bbspdstr]

OK, here are two original cars with holes for the rear bumper brackets peeking out past the bumpers-





Justin, I wouldn't call my learning curve "pain"...I would just say it's been "evolutionary." The main point is that we are ALL still learning and helping each other here on your great site.

I was approached to write a book on 356 restoration about 15 years ago, pre-Jim Kellogg's and Ron Roland's books...and I declined because "I didn't know enough...and if I did, the book would be as thick as the old Manhattan phone directory." It's still my outlook, but I have learned from those two books, since.
-Bruce

[John Pierce]

Thank you all for the words of encouragement and advice. They are much appreciated. Bruce, your insights will definitely prevent lots of errors on my part.

This is an area that I only want to do once Especially as this is the first section of the car that everyone will see.

I started fitting the front closing panel yesterday. It only needed a "few" bends here and there to get it to fit better. I then had to add some extra metal to the front portions of the sides to mate up. I'll post some pictures once I've got it welded in. Work again has gotten in the way of my restoration career

[bbspdstr]

http://vimeo.com/108818609

This says it all in a short video. Forgive that it's about a Ferrari specialist and there are subtitles....the message is the same for any brand.

Happy, Merry and Happy again,
-Bruce

[John Pierce]

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!

[JTR70]

Merry Christmas to you and your family John! Thank you for taking us along in this incredible restoration journey!


Great video Bruce, I've watched it 3X already.

Thank you! Justin

[John Pierce]

I got some time today, between the holidays, to finish installing the front closing panel.



The top flange and front portion of the side walls were rusted through. The rust was cut out and new metal welded in.



The closing panel was not wide enough so an extra piece of flange was welded in. The panel fit pretty well after a few bends here and there.



Longer right flange.



Lots of plug welds (top, bottom and sides) to ensure a strong fitment.



Welds ground down and dressed. Things are looking much better.



This is how things were earlier this year and after media blasting.



Lots of pinholes in the closing panel which was also paper thin.

Onto the nose fitment for the New Year!

Thanks for following.

[Phil Planck]

Nice job John. That's the same area I recently repaired on Foam Car, only did not remove the panel.
Phil

[John Pierce]

Lot's of time (days and days) put in on the car, but not much to show. The prep work can take hours and hours.



Before fitting the hood I need to place the seal in position with tape. Multiple screw holes where present throughout the perimeter, many of which were oversized and in the wrong locations. I welded up all the previous holes and drilled new ones using new corner pieces as starting points. Lots of measurements. BTW: there are 28 screws



The driver's corner looked fine to weld up, but when I started welding there was a lot of snap and pop. A little digging found a pretty good rust spot underneath. I dug out the rust and welded the crater closed. The seal must have leaked in the past, but now the metal is as good as new! I also spent a few hours removing caulking and rust beneath the cowl where the fresh air box resides. This area was missed even though it was hit with two rounds of media blasting.



The nose is mocked up. I've removed the previous leading and have a seal from IM in place. The fitment is a little odd even with playing with the hood hinges.



I previously marked the location of the light bucket hole edges as reference points, which is quite helpful during the new nose install. I also am measuring front to back and diagonally from the holes in the dash and centerline to make sure the nose is symmetric. Now to take a deep breath and start cutting.



First piece cut. I am only cutting a bit at a time and remeasuring. Best to sneak up on the correct fitment then to cut off too much. I'm leaving the more lateral portions uncut for now so I can mock up the hood opening.



The original light bucket was at 24 degrees, which I'm trying to replicate.


Question for the experts
I don't know if the hood is original for this car as there are no VIN markings on the hinge plate or elsewhere. When the hood is mocked up with a seal in place, the driver's side rear 2/3 sits a 1/4" high while the passenger rear corner and the driver's front are low by a little less. The hood frame is not bent. I've tried manually tweaking the hood, switching the hinges side to side (the hinges are exactly the same and open the same degree). I've spent hours trying to get it to sit flat without success. Any recommendations? Oh yeah, one last issue. I can't get a 4 mm gap around the hood edge. Each side gap maxes out at 3 mm. Front and rear gaps are no issue and will be made even with lead or filler.

[JTR70]

Nice work John, the front end is really coming together beautifully! The skin is lining up nicely but I can see were you'll have to cut and splice the jamb areas to get them to line up. The usual fitments issues for sure! Yes, its amazing how much time can be burned with surprisingly very little progress to show for it. Happens all the time. If the hood is original to your car you should find the last 3 (or last 2 in my case) digits of your VIN# stamped into one of the hinge mounting flanges on the hood. Keep up the great work and progress! Justin

[tperazzo]

FHi John,

I'm not an expert but I did have a similar problem fitting my hood. Please check your hinge pockets and cowl for bends or tears. After I straightened and welded mine the hinges relaxed to a lower position. With the hood off, compare the down travel and up travel of both hinges with your protractor/ruler.

My inner dash was broken away from the cowl and flexed a ton.

Slight chance we have the same problem, but that's what I did.

That nose on your car is way better than mine!

[John Pierce]

Thanks guys for the advice.

Tom: I remember you had to fix your hinge pockets so that was the first thing I checked. Mine, luckily, are rock solid with no cracks and surprisingly no rust. The are welded in tight with no movement. The dash and cowl are also pristine considering how badly the bottom of the car is rusted out. Both of my hinges work as manufactured and are symmetric in their movement.

Justin: Yup. No last 3 digits of the VIN anywhere on the hood or in the normal location on the driver's hinge plate. Either the hood is not original or the hinge plates have been replaced as they appear new.

I'll be playing with the hood again today to try some other things. Maybe try a seal from Stoddard to see how that fits and also swapping the hinges again.

Thanks for the help.

JP

[John Pierce]

Lots of time with the small things again so not much to show. Fitting the hood takes lots of little tweaks to try to get it to fit correctly and really eats into the day. Hood up; fit nose; place seal; hood down; check alignment; tweak; repeat. Ugh!!

I think I may have figured out why the whole left side of the hood sits high. I thought about it from 180 degrees the opposite direction: it may be due to the fender sitting low. I had previously done a lot of repair work on the rusted out flanges where the inner fender wall meets the trunk floor and I'm thinking that the heat shrank the metal and pulled the fender down. A little metal stretching should put it back into position and also widen the hood/fender gap.

I also have to fit the hood latch system before any welding takes place. So a little restoration work to break up the hood fitting monotony.



Latches as they came off the car with multiple coats of paint and rust.



Taken apart and media blasted.



Back together and looking/working much better.



Everything back together and ready for some trial fitting.


Tomorrows another day to chip away at the project!

Thanks for following.

[Jack Staggs]

I don't know if you have followed Phil's thread. There is quite a bit of info on hood release systems, and associated issues. If not, start here:
http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restoration-Projects/481-The-Resurrection-of-Foam-Car---63-T6B.html?limit=6&start=318