'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[Phil Planck]

Great progress for one day and having an injured eye. I wear a face shield and just glasses. Looks like goggle time for me also, as I have already had one corneal abrasion(not from working on a car). I know that if Foam Car had been that far gone when I started, I would not have started. That page from my log was at hour 11. I am now at something like hour 1340. I was so optimistic that back then I only included month and date with no year. Guess I thought I was going to get it done in less than a year.

Hope that eye heals up fine John.

Phil

[JTR70]

Great stuff you guys! That's what its all about; helping the next one along the path.

Looking good so far John! With the help of guys like these you can't go wrong. Wish I had something useful to add but T5 and T6 cars are way too new for me. Glad to hear that your eye didn't suffer any serious damage. Keep up the great progress and work! Justin

[John Pierce]

Tom, good memory about the panels. I returned my first set of Stoddards' rear battery box panels because there was such a poor fit between the two. My second set was actually a little worse as they were dented and needed some reforming. The two parts are the correct height and have the correct indentations, but do not mate up together at the back jog. I'm going to have to spend a bit of time cutting a reforming the rear corner area between the two. I called several other parts sellers, but the pieces are all made by the same source. Just another made by hand scenario

Phil, I too am off to buy a pair of googles today as I don't want to go through the past couple of days again. When I bought the car, I didn't realize how bad the rust was as the previous owner talked about how much metal had been replaced....AND.....he had covered his handiwork with a thick layer of undercoating! When you've got lemons you've gotta make lemonade....or in this case a derusted Porsche.

Justin: thanks again for hosting this wonderful site!

I never want to do too much car repair in a day as sleeping on it gives perspective. I woke up refreshed and thought about something that I really didn't catch yesterday so I went into the garage and remeasured. When I mocked up the side panels I made the bottom flange level and went from there. However, when I measure the front vertical flange on both pieces, they are not level and tilt slightly downwards. I guess this is fine as the nose of car is curved and will hide this area. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Also, DG was kind enough to measure the distance from the steering box hole to the back of the indented driver's side rear wall at between 4-7/8" and 5". Can someone get a quick measurement from the thinner portion of the lower torsion bar as another reference point? I'd hate to weld everything in to find out later that the steering box doesn't fit!

Thanks.

JP

[tperazzo]

3 3/4"
I have not test fit my steering box, however my drivers battery box side is original and I think I located the rear wall accurately based on the original.

Have a nice weekend.

[John Pierce]

I really appreciate all the measurements everyone provided. I pored over all the photos I took while taking the battery box apart and found that each car is definitely unique. My rear battery wall was originally built closer to the torsion bars than in other's cars (25 mm). I'll go through the build process, which someone may find useful for their build.



Here's a picture before I took the battery box apart. Even with the patched on metal the back wall is pretty close to the torsion bar. This welding is some of the better areas that was on the car.


You can see where the top of the rear wall attaches to the underside of the trunk floor, which I tried to mimic.


The rear wall comes in two pieces as in the original. The height is dead-on accurate. Mine was dented in a few places and needed some work to get right. Each outer top corner has to be cut to fit the angle of the trunk floor.


The area where the two pieces join is not finished and needs a lot of measuring/cutting/massaging...repeat.....to get to fit correctly.


The length of the larger piece, however, is too long by 6mm (almost 1/4")!! Grrr....


Close up of the extra length. I had to rebend this on my brake to get right. The hard part to get correct is at the panel top at the indented portion. This is why I initially returned my first set of panels.


Hours...and hours....later I got everything to fit correctly. Everything is level side to side, top to bottom, and front to back. Whew.


Close up of the jog. Just like original.


What's funny with all this measuring is that it doesn't mean anything if the steering box doesn't fit! The gear box has a nipple that fits into a hole in the torsion bar, so you know you're in the correct spot. Simple solution. There was enough wiggle room. I installed the steering column just to make sure and things were good. If anyone is interested: the long rear battery box wall is 25 mm (1") from the thin portion of the torsion bar. I can fit an 11/16" socket in between the torsion bar and rear wall to get a standard from side to side.


One more piece mocked up. I love these Clecos. All the other panels (sides, front and floor) fit almost perfectly without need for cutting.

Thanks for looking.

[Phil Planck]

More great work John. Lot's of time to do this. Looks like it is now almost TIG time.

Phil

[Carrera_The_Kid]

Just read this whole project front to back, fascinating stuff. Thanks so much for sharing. Makes me want to go out in the garage today

[JTR70]

Looking good John! What a difference some fresh sheet metal can make! Keep up the great work! Justin

[John Pierce]

I'm going to have some time next week to weld the battery box in. Before I do so I am going to prime and paint the inside of the torsion plates as they won't be accessible afterwards. I'm using PPG epoxy primer and was wondering what color the chassis should be or what people recommend (i.e. flat black, gloss black, etc.)?

Thanks.

[JTR70]

Your best bet for those areas is semi-gloss black. Not flat but about a 30% gloss is what was used by the factory.

[John Pierce]

Thanks Justin. Does anyone have a PPG paint code for the semi-gloss black for the undercarriage? Or other supplier and I can get it color matched.

I'm starting to plan for my next stage and need some advice about where to buy nose panels. I need both sides. Tom bought one from Sierra Madre because it was within driving distance. Unfortunately, there are no manufacturers near New Hampshire so shipping it will be.

Can anyone recommend a good supplier (SM, RD, Stoddard, Trevor, Steve)? Should I get 2 separate panels for more tweakability (? real word ?) or go with a full front nose?

Thanks.

JP

[JTR70]

I asked my paint supplier about semi-gloss black a few years ago and out came a bottle of flattening agent. He told me that there was no standard semi gloss that is offered as a mixed color. At least not as quality catalyzed paint; rattle can stuff you can buy as a satin but I stay clear of that for my cars as there is no comparison to the quality of the look in its final finish. So what you do is buy a quart or gallon of single stage black along with the flattening agent additive and begin a few mixing tests to get the desired look. I can give you the ratios that I like. Justin


Standard gloss black with flattening agent.

[John Pierce]

That would be great, Justin. My email is: jjgpierce at yahoo. Thanks.

[Phil Planck]

Also John, do you need tunnel height measurements? Mine is all original in good shape.
Phil

[John Pierce]

Thanks Phil. Much appreciated. It's just another thing on my list to re-fix