'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[ukinusa]

Nicely done !

[JTR70]

You're a brave man John. The car is really looking great!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Nice work to look at !!

Roy

[John Pierce]

Thanks guys!



The next thing to install to keep the lockpost in position was the top of the B-pilar. The one on the car was too buggered up to save so I had to ditch it. I had installed a complete OEM piece on the right side so I had a piece of the original right left over.....but reversed. I also had a left one from the sunroof clip, but after media blasting it, found out that the bottom had been filled with Bondo.



I little slicing and dicing and voila....a usable piece. I made it longer than original so I could accurately fit it to the lockpost and fit it up inside the roof drip edge. I ended up welding closed the 4 holes for the quarter window so I wouldn't be married to their positions when mounting the window.



The quarter window template came in handy for accurate positioning.



Nice fit all the way around. The door glass frame wind deflector had a nice even gap.



Complete B-pillar and more solid.



Next was to cut and bend the pieces for the quarter window bottom to really hold the B-pillar in position.



Rock solid. The door can be slammed shut with no movement!



Good gaps all the way around. Now to work on the buttresses and inner wheel well.

Thanks for following.

[DG58INNM]

Good to see you back at it John. Looks good. But man oh man you've put a ton of work in that car!
DG

[John Pierce]

Before repair work on the inner fender can start, the B-pillar gusset needs to be installed as the inner fender overlaps it on the lockpost.



Template with all the needed bends.



Made from 18 gauge CRS as it needs to stabilize the B-pillar when the door is shut.



Plug welded, front and back.



Now to start filling the fender gaps.

Thanks for following.

[JTR70]

Really nice work as always John! Didn't see any shots of it but I'd mockup your quarter window frames in there too just to make sure its all going to fit like you want it to. Keep up the great progress!
Justin

[John Pierce]

Thanks Justin. I also worried about building the quarter window to original specs after ripping out the whole B-pillar.



So I made a template of the quarter window opening and built it to that. The top and rear of the quarter window opening stayed original so the template would bring the other edges back to where they should be.



Nice gaps all the way around.

Cheers,

JP

[JTR70]

Oh yes, you've got it all under control John and it looks great!

[John Pierce]

Time to start repairing the BIG holes!



I tried to salvage as much of the OEM inner fender as much as possible, but the metal was quite thin after 55 years.



Crude template to start with as I planned to overlap the OEM metal and slice it out.



Ready for fitting.



Just a few clamps to hold it in position. I wanted a tight fit of the flange against the lockpost with no movement as I had the door gapped nicely.



Ready for spot welding.



Once the bottom piece was in and dollied/hammered I fit the top piece that mated to the window ledge.



This piece was also made oversized so I could cut back the thin OEM metal.



Old metal not looking too good.



Then to the last hole.



Nice curve to follow the lockpost.



Ahhhh.......looks so much better.



Nice new flanges.



The door gaps help up all the way around. Now to finish up some little pieces before moving onto the mess of the outer fender.

Thanks for following.

[John Pierce]

Onto some small, but important parts.



Time to finish the gussets at the lower inside corner of the lockpost.



Completed gussets. I also installed a new metal tab for the upholstery at the top inner wall.



The T6 356's had this angled piece installed at the lockpost/sill intersection. Made from 16 gauge CRS.



Installed looking from below. The sill flange holdoff was also spot welded into position after insuring a nice transition from door to sill.

Slowly getting there, one piece at a time.

[Phil Planck]

John
Not sure why it is there, but that gusset, on my 63 Reutter has a circular cutout





Phil

[John Pierce]

Hi Phil,

I think that hole can be traced back to the early 356's. Maybe it was there for water drainage?



Here it is on my car. The shadow on the last picture hid it.


JP

[merbesfield]

Hi Phil,

I think that hole can be traced back to the early 356's. Maybe it was there for water drainage?



Here it is on my car. The shadow on the last picture hid it.


JP

Same on mine. Funny, they thought of drainage, INSIDE the cabin.

[roy mawbey]

John,

I have always been impressed with Justin's clamps but my goodness your selection is also in line with his. Clamps are so important,never knew that type of selection ever existed way back when I did mine.

Nice work.

Roy