'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[ukinusa]

Hi Roy - can you PM please ...brit@infowest.com

[John Pierce]

The holes are getting less.



Front left fender.



Template and oversized repair piece. I like to oversize them as the ends after bending are always just a bit off. Then I can cut it back to where things match up.



Wood buck to get the correct curve.



Using the original fender wire to finish the bend.



Inside edge bent and welded to the original. Welded and planished with good curves fore to aft and top to bottom.



Onto the last big hole (quarter panel) next.

Thanks for following.

[Phil Planck]

Nice job on that patch, as usual, John. Interested in next one.

Phil

[John Pierce]

Before repairing the quarter panel the lock post had to be massaged a bit.



Porsche originally had to put a lot of lead in this region to make it look good. Even the replacement lock posts leave a big gap as they're made to be exact copies of the originals. It's too bad that the manufacturers didn't fix this area when making the repros.



There's almost a 10 mm offset.



The gap also too wide and was filled with lead.



A little slicing and dicing to take care of these issues. I did the same repair on the right side of the car.



Nothing that welding can't take care of.



The lock post is now ready to accept some new quarter panel metal.

[ukinusa]

It is tidbits of info like this that really help - being a newbie I used to think that Porsche + German = perfection ! It's reassuring to see that somethings that are clearly not quiet that perfect at first and made to look perfection by a second stage ie: lead

[John Pierce]

Almost done with the lock post and surrounding metal.



This will be an intricate piece of metal to make. A curved forward section to match the lock post. A convex lower 2/3 to match the rocker's hips. A fall-away concave section in the upper 1/3 to match the scoop heading rearwards. And also maintaining the 3.5 mm door gap. A good challenge!



I made a paper template then used the bandsaw to cut two pieces of 3/4" plywood to the correct door shape. I always use a larger piece of 20 gauge CRS than necessary as the outer portions never seem to curve just right at the edges of the plywood template.



The first curve to match the door edge is done.



A little shrinking and stretching matched the door profile nicely. The concave and convex sections were brought inline by hand to match the OEM curves on the car.



A bit of time spent welding the hammer and dolly to smooth things out.



It's nice to look back to see where things started



This whole rocker edge is pretty much gone.... prior accident repair with brazing, blow through rust, thinned metal and a few bumps and bruises. The next project.

Thanks for following.

[DG58INNM]

Wow, scary to look back at where you started . It came out well though. Good job John.

[Phil Planck]

John
I like that you made your own panel. I went the RD route and had to do a lot of rework, plus will need more lead.
Phil

[roy mawbey]

Nice work John, that B frame lockpost and quarter panel has come out well. A lot of work there. One question, the photo that shows the top flat surface of the door skin looks like a large shallow radius starting at the A frame but not coming in on itself at the B frame lockpost area to match the lock post? I presume that's an optical illusion as the finished result looks so good. Or was that where there was so much lead?

Interested to know. You might though be confused by my comments. I presume it resembles something similar to my T2 door and quarter panel match up to mine?



Well done indeed !

Roy

[JTR70]

Great correction work on the striker and a fantastic job with the hammer forms!

[John Pierce]

Thanks guys! It's a bit of work to get everything to match up and follow the beautiful contours of the 356.

Roy, you are correct: that concavity at the door skin top is where Porsche always put a lot of lead. I melted it out and tried to match the rocker concavity to it for a smooth transition, but the area will still need a bit of filling. Not as much as originally, though.

Phil: I unfortunately also bought a set of RD rocker panel replacement pieces. The contours didn't match my door or the curves of the OEM rocker and would have needed a lot of reworking to make right. Each door is probably a little unique so I'm not faulting RD. But I didn't use them. My biggest issue with RD is that they made them out of 18 gauge metal, which is way too stiff and thick and would've badly messed with the door gap where it overlaps the lock post. Anyone need a set? Just pay for shipping Working with 20 gauge is a lot easier to manipulate to get the correct bends and curves.

Thanks again.

JP

[bbspdstr]

Just to add some confusion, most European steel used by Porsche and its vendors was 19ga. It's available and less hassle than 18ga.

"Working with 20 gauge is a lot easier to manipulate to get the correct bends and curves."

True, and the deeper draw panels like the "noses" as sold by Porsche now are 20ga. The obvious "thinness" is gone when installed, as "high crown" contours are more stable than "low crown" pressings are.

20ga is easier to shrink and stretch on flanges and contours, a little more difficult to butt weld. Less wear on shears, punches, etc.

Still, Porsche engineers designed their unibody shells with various thicknesses, "as needed." In a few areas, 18ga is too thin.

I am working on a '67 911S now for which it's owner has collected NOS panels for over a decade. The left rear quarter panel is olive drab green primer with the appropriate Porsche parts label...and it's 19ga.

The right rear quarter panel is coated with a shinier black primer and has an earlier era Porsche parts label and mostly correct subtle details....but it's 20ga. Big difference in weight. So who is foolin' who?

Those are both going on the car. It's rustier than it first appeared so more resto metal than expected is needed anyway. The NOS metal makes for good references when mixed in with the repro. Still, my customer's edict was to "(re)-make it like it was when new." Very much more difficult as time marches on.

Great work, you guys!
-Bruce

[badsix]

i'm an accomplished welder with hard wire, flux core, stick, gas and some tig just learning more tig. but I have to admit I have a horrible time welding on my 356. I didn't need to do much but it was a pain,the metal just seamed to be paper thin. I do have 2 holes on the top of my drivers door for the mirror that I would like to weld up, as my new mirror won't fit the holes. the area is covered with led and is going to be next to impossible to get clean enough to weld to let alone trying to weld the 3/8 holes that are there.
Jay D.

[John Pierce]

The OEM 19 gauge metal is no longer 19 gauge after 50 years....especially in the midwest and Northeast! It's really tough to weld without blow through. A lot of quick spot welds will get it done though with the MIG setting around 19 gauge.

Jay: Have you tried melting the lead out then taking a sanding disc to the metal to see what things look like. You should be able to weld the metal at that point. Also, cutting things back should also get to weldable metal.

HTH.

JP

[Phil Planck]

Jay, another option would be to just lead the holes in. That's what the customizers often did back in the 50s to fill holes when dechroming holds and trunks.