1957 Sandblasted Coupe

[JTR70]

Much improved Steve, you've come along way with it. Really like the job that your Shrinker/stretcher did on that flange!

The cable conduits exit just above the floor.



Jack, I know exactly what you mean; a total PIA to wrench those caps on when the heater cable tube sits right in the way.
You'll get it Steve, keep chipping at it!
Justin

[ukinusa]

Clearly I need to look closely at the tube, mounts and spacing - looks like the holes will have move out a tadge to facilitate the cap movement on the threaded boss. Not the end of the world but something I could have easily missed without you guys looking out for me. Much easier to correct with panel on the bench than welded into the car. Thanks Jack and Justin.

[ukinusa]

I "ovaled" the hole to give me more room on the ebrake adjuster mounts and think I have enough space to get everything in; I realize that I can get to this part fairly easily once the back panel is in, so I am not going to sweat it too much now.


The final position is in large part interdependent on the tubes in the tunnel mating up with this part, so another reason to leave till later...

I have been trying to squeeze every last .05mm out of the floor to get it as level as I can. I finally decided that my clamps (as much as love them) had to give way to some tack welding and really see how this all snugs up. To be honest I am pretty happy

My screwed on ankle iron level shows I am fairly close.





So I carried on tacking and before long everything was mounted pretty well, apart from the inside of the snout which I always knew was going to be off...


But after some pondering, I realized that two simple relief cuts on either side, should allow the metal to mate to the inner snout,



(opps picture sideways sorry !)




Some pie pieces to make, and trim the height of panel to match the inside and that should be it.

As an aside I realized it would easier to paint the "back" of the torsion tubes now, rather than later. I also primed the both sides of the joints with copper weld through, to at least give some rust protection later.




Picture was before I also painted the outside of the panel black as well.

[JTR70]

Looking good Steve, I think you're going to pull it off!

[DG58INNM]

Steve,
Very complicated job, and you turned it out very nicely!
Take care,
DG

[ukinusa]

This section is almost done, it been a long hard slog and I couldn't have got it done without you guys chipping in and helpingwith ideas, so thank you.
I need to sort out the height of the "arch" and the seat retainer/riser; I think its all a bit too tall so will be looking at some cars and taking measurements. As its not structural, actually kinda of cosmetic, I can leave that till I get down the road...

I think I have enough room for the gear shift rod...about 8-10mm


FYI - The picture is actually sideways - but the floor angle looks so much better that the first attempt.(Hereafter called "Jacks Floor"

[ukinusa]

I was so in need of a break from floor issues, I decided to tackle the loom/harness cover that had also been cut off . I chalked it to remind me to do it before fitting the floor, as access would so much easier !



First thought was to cut out the holes and re-weld a new strip;


However, as the metal was damaged and not rotted (apart from small areas at the front - the low part of the gas tank shelf) I decided to plug weld and use a brass plate behind to control the welding metal. (I don't have ultra long arms so a friend was pressed into service to hold the brass!). There are some interesting curves in the gas tank floor pan so another reason to repair the existing.
End result was OK, well good enough for government work



So now I need to finish a few pin holes and remaining small rotted areas and fit the cover plat. I am not sure how far back or forward it goes, the old weld marks are very different on the car Vs the 'new' part. I am assuming I should mount it as far forward as possible, to give me room to thread the wire harness...that will be an exciting day.



A big thank here to Vic Skirmants for this part, from his stash of parts from (I guess) his modified race cars No way to make this part !

[JTR70]

Looks great Steve! As for that sheath, just leave yourself ample room away from the forward bulkhead for the loom to make the turn comfortably. The factory position is still quite hard on it as it makes the downward turn so I'd back it off a few MM's still.

[ukinusa]

For a change of scene I went back to the front foot well area, I recalled Justin having some issue with master cylinder/pedal box mount holes. So mounted a fake floor panel and inserted the pedal box. Humm - the pedal box wouldn't sit flat as the holes were about 10mm too low, forcing the box 'up'.



Some work with the rasp etc to remove the extra metal now visible in the hole




and some back filling the lower part of the hole with an arc of metal, had everything looking round and box level.


Now where was I


And another small point that needed resolving (again thanks Justin !) was the elbow (aka BOOMERANG )strut in the front torsion bar area. My elbow had a large hole and despite searching couldn't find a definite answer as to it being there or not, on my particular car.('57)



I posted on the 356R site and Vic (thanks again) came back and pointed out that the hole was there for later cars when the grease nipple/zirk was moved on the torsion tube. On mine and earlier cars it's to the front and so accessible.


Obvious in hindsight.

But I take comfort in the fact that Mike of Restoration Design also picked up on this tidbit in the chat thread, and will now be making 'elbows' (aka BOOMERANG )sans holes for earlier cars. So I felt a little better !


(aka BOOMERANG ) Now welded closed

General question - is it best to fit the elbow before or after fitting the floor ????

[Phil Planck]

Steve
Based on your pictures it sure looks a lot easier to do the elbow first. I did mine after the floor, but only because I tried to salvage the original one.
Phil

[JOP]

Steve
I got litle confussed when I read "elbow" in your text ...but heay many names on same part
It goes under boomerang in my part of the world

There aint no problem to get your ELBOW mig/mag/tig/gas in place before getting the BIG floor in
JOP
( so are you welding the "grease hole" shut ? )

[JTR70]

Looking Good Steve! definitely, you cannot trust the pre-punched hole for the master cylinder; its never in the correct spot. I welded my "boomerang" on before the floor pan as Phil noticed, its much easier to clamp it tightly for welding with it out of the way. However, there are several ways up the mountain; do what suits you best. The knockout hole is definitely a later B/C feature. Most vendor items I've noticed are not T1 detail oriented.

Original brace on '57 T1 coupe.

[ukinusa]

aka BOOMERANG - now welded closed ... everything is upside
down there

[ukinusa]

The front fender damage has always been 'out there' waiting to be done and I have been putting it off...but no longer.
The panel I brought was crap (see earlier discussions) and the proffered solutions (thanks folks) was to selectively cut sections out and fit these 'parts' to the fender, as I still have good overall shape to work from.

First step was drawing up lines a about 5cm intervals to make some metal profiles. My extendable profile gauge gave me curves... which I first transferred to cardboard, but way too flexible, so some spare sheet metal and angle iron to stiffen, was pressed into service.






you get the idea !


One of the four profiles

Next - not being shy - was to cut out the first section of damage - tried to keep it tight to good remaining curves.



Overlaid the crappy panel and the cut out damaged piece, to give me approximate guide lines:




Then cut out my patch with a good extra edge, to work back from.



First trial for my new profile gauges - not as bad as I had expected, but still bad. The patch is riding on the underlying metal so the profile is going to ride up at that end, but when the patch is "cut in" the profile will be closer (maybe!)


Questions:
1 really thin cutting disks - anyone have a good source...?
2.My metal snips are in dire need of replacing - suggestions please as to brand and source You get what you pay for and I was a cheap bastard, now it's time to pony up !

[Phil Planck]

Steve
Can't go wrong with Wiss snips, available many places. Bruce led me onto the Dremel thin discs. They actually have one labeled "thin cut" and they are quick change. Not real cheap, but hold up pretty well and work well.

Good luck - will be following as I will be doing similar on front passenger lower nose when I get running gear project finished. Check out the 49 Cadillac custom build on allmetalshaping.com. This guy is a real master and is basically sharing many of his "tricks" learned over the years. His latest posts are similar to what you are doing but at a much higher level.

Phil