BT5 resto

[Jonesy_356]

G'day. Bought a BT5 in from the 'States (AZ) last year and a, just starting to get stuck into it. My first full resto, although I have been tinkering since mid-teens - VW, old Holdens (local GM product), a big Healy, etc. but I have always loved the 356. So here I am. I am the third owner, and the machine has suffered all the usual damage and rust cancer typical of the breed. I have just finished replacing all the rear seats, parcel shelf and patches on the rear inner guards. That was rehoning my MIGing skills. Some of the work is a bit 'agricultural' as my Dad used to say, but I can always come back and redo it. Ill try for some photos...

I like the tone of this site, and am pretty impressed with the workmanship I am seeing. Something I can shoot for, although I am pretty committed to doing all the work by hand.

[Don C]

Welcome Jonesy! Great site isn't it? Looking forward to some photos.

[JTR70]

Hello Andy,
Thank you for joining us and Welcome! You sound like a terminal gearhead just like the rest of us! Really look forward to reading and seeing some photos of your project! Always nice to hear that this site continues to send out good vibes to those who visit. We strive for a "down home" feel;
Welcome once again!
Justin

Thanks Don!!!!

[John Pierce]

Welcome! Justin truly has a great site. Love to see some pix.

[Jonesy_356]

Thanks for the welcomes gents, I have lots of photos to post but I am away from home at the moment so I will post some on the weekend.

A couple of dumb questions - are the typical 2 mB photos from a phone good enough to post? What do others use. Perhaps someone could be kind enough to point me to some instructions on how to post photos into the text.

Probably the most daunting job ahead of me is the nose. Some time in the past a new (?) nose has been brazed on with between about 7-15 cm of overlap. The original fender metal sits on top, and the alignment is terrible, so obviously a lot of bog/bondo was used to round the repair. Fortunately there is virtually no rust. I am thinking I will have a similar journey to others who have posted here

[John Pierce]

Hey Jonesy!

I am replacing my front end also and just redid my front fenders. My resto blog is also on the ABCGT forum.

http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restoration-Projects/14008-63-356B-T-6-Rebuild.html?limit=6&start=270#23823







Posting pictures is a 2 step process. When replying to a post you toggle the "Add File" icon and select the image from your computer to be added. Place your cursor where you want it inserted then toggle the "Insert" icon. Then hit submit at the bottom.

A word of caution: You can add only 3 images at a time or the website gets constipated and crashes Images from a smartphone are fine as they are reduced in size to fit the image space on the forum.

This is a great forum and everyone is very helpful. Thanks Justin!!

Cheers,

John

[JTR70]

"A word of caution: You can add only 3 images at a time or the website gets constipated and crashes"
So true That does happen at times John. 3-4 images at a whack is usually safe. Then you can go back and add/edit more in on the original post.

Andy, if you're using Firefox as a browser you won't be able to load images to the site. The software doesn't like it for whatever reason. Use IE 8 , Google chrome, or Safari. Let me know if you have any other questions; we'll get you dialed in.

[Jonesy_356]

Thanks all for your answers, I'll have a crack at it now. I am now back home so...

John, have had a good look at the first 20 and last 20 or so pages of your rest. Also had a good look at foam car and the $75 Junk-yard machine - there are some great stories out there! My previous resources for learning have been Kustom Coach Werks and of course the Registry site. I haven't checked Samba too much lately but I know there is great stuff there too. But for metalwork this seems to be exactly what I need. So thank you all in advance, and thanks to our host!

I should also mention I live a few km away from Jason Bobruk, but although he is always generous with his time, I try not too bother him too much.

OK - hopefully this is the old girl on here way to her new home - body number 111133

[Jonesy_356]

ok, that seems to have worked - not too hard. You may note I have a bunch of Oregon timber also - used for packing in the 'States, but valuable over here. A nice bonus from my shipper. Made some nice furniture with it.

OK - apart from stripping it the main body work I have largely finished is the two rest seats and surrounding areas. They're expensive, and hidden, and curvy - so I thought these would be good characteristics to prompt me to make my own. This is the journey so far...

[Jonesy_356]

[Jonesy_356]

[Jonesy_356]

So that's about where I was in about October. I then thought that the chassis would be strong enough again to enable mounting on a rotating frame. I borrowed the plans kindly shared by Restoration Design an mounted it up. A nervous moment when I first turned it over, but all went well! Doesn't it make it easier! Everytime I went and saw Jase the first thing he would always say is 'have you made a rotisserie yet?'. Now, I understand.

So the next phase is the vertical panels that support the front torsion tubes. I was thinking about making a new front floor panel from scratch, but when I saw the complexity of the different panels joining at the bottom of the pedal board/floor/torsion support wall etc, I though I needed at least one good reference panel. I'll take some panels you'll see why...

[Jonesy_356]

This is where she is today. I have removed as much as necessary of the TT support wall, the pedal lateral wall, the floor pan and of course the 'longitudinal extensions' (that I note from another post weren't included on earlier cars...didn't know that. I plan to make them based on the plans supplied in Roland's book...the templates I have made fit well).






My next big headache will be, as mentioned, the nose. Overlapped and brazed. Who does that?

[Jonesy_356]

Some basic measurements along the zenith line of the 'fenders' tells me that the headlight buckets weren't even in alignment. But looking at a few of the posts here, maybe that's how it cam out of the factory!

[Jonesy_356]

OK, so now some questions...

Does the lower lip (flange) of the TT support wall run in a straight continuous line from the longitudinal all the way to where it joins with the V-shaped member? Mine is so rusted and bent on both sides that it is heard to tell...





How do I pull the nose apart? You can see it has been done in two pieces and joined roughly in the middle (i.e. a rough job was done and it's approximately central to the car ) - what is the best way to attack the brazing? I have a gas set (oxyacetylene).

What do I do with the headlight buckets? I know they were an interference fit and I have had a few bangs on mine with some subsequent flexing of the nose metal that they are attached to. There may be some small tack welds holding them in. But I am thinking I could cut about an inch into them and leave the resulting 'hoops' to help support the nose as I pull them apart. Then re-weld them back on later - obviously they are unseen. I should mention that I plan to re-use these nose halves as I believe that there is enough overlap to allow this.

Thoughts appreciated...thanks in advance, Jonesy