'63 356B T-6 Rebuild

[MMW]

That is some very nice work!

[John Pierce]

Time to redo the inner frame where it meets the middle longitudinal.



The previous repair patch didn't meet up correctly with the outer frame and middle longitudinal so it was removed and new 18 gauge metal was installed. Lots of overlaps to match up as original. This area needs lots of reinforcement.



All buttoned up and the inner and outer frames spot welded together.



A floor flange joins the rear bulkhead and middle longitudinal floor flanges.



Lots of details to get correct.

As you can see, the top covering plate needs a lot of work as it's a mishmash of welded bits. That'll be next. Thanks for following.

JP

[ukinusa]

I love it that you ahead of me ...I just started on my longituds on that side - good to see what I face and what I have to do. Please don't go too fast

[John Pierce]

The rear part of the middle longitudinal where it connects to the B-pillar and frames is quite a complex structure. I hope you don't need to repair it as much as I did.

On to the top covering plate (for lack of a better term). Is it called something else?



You can see that Bubba cut out what was left of the previous shelf, wedged a new one in and spot welded it. The front part of this area was a mixture of new and old pieces.....plus lots of rust.



I cut out everything as it was all bad and then derusted the area. Ahh......clean metal



Template with the correct bends.



Fresh 18 gauge sheet metal.



Turned out pretty nicely and fit better than expected. The rosette holes aren't in the forward section as I could reach this area with the spot welder.



Welded in place with step downs at the underlying inner and outer frames.



The shelf flange will fit nicely against the rear closing panel.



So much nicer.....and stronger.

Onto the front door well next. Thanks for following.

JP

[JTR70]

Looking really nice as always John! I also wanted to commend you on the use of 18 gauge steel. That's a tougher animal to tame for sure.
Great job!
Justin

[John Pierce]

It feels great to be done with the torsion area as it was quite a mess. Now onto the outer longitudinal.



Initial fitment of the Simonsen panel.....so well made.



Relief cuts are needed in the front and rear flanges to allow the curve of the outer longitudinal to sit flat against the heater tube bulkheads. The bottom will be cut to abut the pinch weld flange where the inner and outer frames meet.



The front flange lines up perfectly with the old closing panel.



My car was manufactured at the Karmann Karosserie so the outer longitudinal originally had drainage holes. These were made with a punch, die and BFH



The Simonsen primer was also stripped off so it can be painted with epoxy primer and top coat.



Rosette holes were placed to weld the outer longitudinal to the rear heater tube bulkhead. The bottom was cut and it fits well.

Onto Bubba's next folly....the left front door well.

Thanks for following.

[JTR70]

Beautiful result John, as always! You're getting dangerously close to floor pan time! After All you've been through that will be a monumental and rewarding session once you begin closing the floor up. Very excited for you! Keep the great work coming!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Nice work John, looking really good. Those drainage holes I have never seen before I guess because I have never looked under a Karmann car. That was probably good thinking by them as they must have realised by the time they were doing bodies the front and rear closing panels to the longitudinals were not lasting long at all in wet countries. You can imagine it, a small rust hole a wet road then the puddle inside that boxed area.Of course I doubt your car will see much rain

Roy

[Phil Planck]

John
If you have not welded in the outer yet, lay a straight edge just under the upper flange to make sure there is no bow in it. If there is, it will be hard to install rocker.

[John Pierce]

Thanks Justin and Phil. You better believe it.....the top flange is straight!! I'd hate to mess up that one.

Onto the next disaster area to fix: the left door well......ughhh!!!







This is what Bubba presented me with.







Lots of overlapping additional metal panels on top of rusted original metal and crappy welds.







Not much to salvage. Even the top plate on the hinge boss was left crumpled, but welded in place.



This is what was left after all the addition panels and welds were cut out.



The reinforcement panel was cut back to viable "tissue" so I could access the inner wall.



The lower portion of the inner wall was too thinned to save so it came out as did the door hinge boss. The remaining metal isn't too bad now.



First repair was to the inner flange around the heater tube floor and the front wall of the hinge boss. Lots of fiddly bits to repair, but will make a big difference in the end.

Thanks for following.

John

[DG58INNM]

John, or should I call you "Saint John". That car was in desperate need of salvation!

Nice job on the rear frame member/longitudinal. That is a tedious area to fix if done right, and it looks like you have. Been watching the progress, just too lazy to log in and write. Funny coincidence in that I have been doing exactly the same pieces on the Swiss Miss, though the right hand side. Was fitting the outer longitudinal yesterday afternoon.

One comment for you. I noticed the holes you've punched so you can plug weld the outer long. to the rear heater tube support. But, aren't you concerned about catching the paper heat duct on fire when doing this? Back when I did my '58, I put a few welds there for good measure, but A's have a solid metal heat duct. I thought about it for the C, but then figured damage to the heat tube was likely, and the factory did not do it either.

Take care,
DG

[John Pierce]

DG, thanks for the kind words! The rosette welds in the outer longitudinal are centered on the heater tube bulkhead. More importantly, I made sure there was a tight fit between the 2 by bending the bulkhead flange. When I did the right side I really pushed on the OL to get it up tight. No sparks to light it up!! I'd like to see ur current project if you could post some pix.

Cheers,

John

[John Pierce]

Onto the door cavity wall and floor.



Now that the heater duct area is fixed I thought it best to remove the remainder of the door cavity wall beneath the spot welds to the inner panels as the metal was very thin.



Bad metal and rust removed.



Template made and fresh metal cut out to size.



Lots of bends.



Rosette holes placed and clamped in place. Fits pretty nicely.



Everything lines up well.



Looking so much better.

Now onto the hinge plate reinforcement panel.

Thanks for following.

[JTR70]

Nice Work John! Wise of you to make sure those flange surfaces are all going to snug up flush against the eventual closing panel. Looking great!
Justin

[John Pierce]

Next: the hinge plate reinforcement panel....what a cumbersome name!



The inner closing panel has to come out and the outer closing panel cut back so I can get to the reinforcement panel.



Of course....more rust under it all.



Cleaned up and looking so much better. The original reinforcement panel had to be cut back even more than what is shown in this picture as it was thinned.



New panel grafted in place.



Things are getting stronger.

Next will be to trial fit the front and rear closing panels then paint everything up.

Thanks for following.