1957 Sandblasted Coupe

[bbspdstr]

Drew nailed it with his factory plan and elevation diagrams.

Those points are the most important but still be sure the chassis is as level as possible when measuring and that leveling also facilitates the measurement of inclination (side-to-side) of the front beam, as they can be twisted and still have the bottom come very close....the difference being from either a high hit or low hit in it's past....if any.

Most all prior hits are visually indicated if you really look closely. There will be creases and shifts that don't match side-to-side, wrinkles beyond what the force-fitting of the construction left behind, added rust from overlap separation long ago, etc. Also, most inner deformations were not well repaired when the 356s were not worth what they are now or cared for as they are now when they were....can you believe it?.....just daily drivers.

[ukinusa]

I really need to level the car - to get accurate measurement of any twist - my rotisserie isn't helping !

In the mean time cleaning up the front area exposed by the removed half nose revealed 2 'drain' pipes - really confusing as I had seen no mention if this anywhere before...



Closer inspection reveal one to be plastic ! When the main pipe was blocked, someone decided to drill down and insert an inner plastic drain !



To get to that pipe and replace it means moving the hood latch mount. DO NOT do as I did, and cut the lower and side mounts and bend it up - STUPID.




New drain in.


Getting it back true was a nightmare. It would have been far easier to have just cut it off altogether and refit afterwards.

And another task to get ready for nose fitting was to get my new bucket sorted. Step one was remove the excess material on the rim (2-3mm) they so kindly provided.


Inner and outer painted with what seems like tar paint - it melts ! as that added almost 1.5mm to diameter.


Still have to finish (file smooth and level) the rim.

[ukinusa]

Family injuries & a quick trip to UK have taken up time but that's life ! However back at it now.
Following in footsteps of others (thanks Justin) I disassembled the front fender support, there was no way I could get it to work otherwise...Then I had to rebuild the other side that had rotted at the end.

Disassembled and clamped back,almost there but will finalize when fender is fixed. And yes mine pitches slightly forward too...


Other side rotted at fender mount; so needed to recreate it. I don't want to replace the whole unit as it was a)solid & b) holding everything true.







Welded back in and some black paint to seal...


Now with the both side brackets set up I could test fit my horns; with some adjustment both within 1mm distance from grill and centered on grill too





Nose came off one last time to paint as once installed the front areas would not be accessible.





Back on yet again -- lost count of how many times...



Then started cutting and peeling a section at time. Tacking for now every 1-1.5 inches. Don't want heat distortion and if I screw up it's easier to cut small welds...

Ruler to give me the 'OK' I was flat on both parts...







Almost there...


The holes are testament to other failed alignment tests...!

Hard to see from picture but its there (apart from the two ends); old screw holes plugged. Now where was I from 6 months ago ?





Oh the headlight bucket too needs spot welding...getting ahead of my self

[JTR70]

Looks great Steve! If had it to do over again I'd have replaced this section on my coupe too as it clearly eliminates alot of sin.
Glad to see you back at it.
Justin

[ukinusa]

Sometimes it stares you in the face and you still can't see it ! I guess its called living in North Africa ...(de Nile) Anyway Ed Rutherford of Klasse356 kindly suggested I check my new grill opening alignment as apparently Trevor is 'known' to have this issue ... I did and oh my !

Taking a measurement of the original side showed I was good 1/2 to 3/4" off...




Cut lines drawn up and new center line added...


Cleaned and clamped back in with the fill pieces...


Welded and cleaned up ...


And back to where it should have been ...

[ukinusa]

The front V support under the car once installed, makes access for spraying the underseal in every knock and cranny in the area behind the battery box really difficult. So I primed painted and then undercoated that section prior to mounting.





Then the dreaded clamps came out ! I had checked the fitment prior of course.



Then tacked and welded in. The metal curve by the mounting holes didn't match of course, so tacked in the middle and heat treated and shaped into the U profile shape as I worked outwards. (As seen on Justins' better pics. around his page 17/18. So Thks..)



View looking down through steering box cover - I chose not to underseal the V section top as that stuff burns well; will deal with that later and it's going to be awkward too Maybe in hindsight I should have risked undercoating that too...

[bbspdstr]

Back to front grille opening alignment: I have seen many (guessing maybe less than 5%?) "off a little" (or occasionally a LOT, like tipped at an obvious angle) released from "the Factory" so seeing variations from Trevor could maybe be considered "original."

You have done what we all could face....so we just move 'em. I posted recently that Rick Mullin had to weigh whether to use a Trevor "pre-A" nose on a '55 Speedster or move the openings on an NOS (expensive!) A nose.

He picked the latter and I picked the former for a '56 A that shouldn't have needed a Pre-A part (but did, from new)...and our times couldn't have been that far apart.....but there was at least a $4k difference in money overall, parts plus labor....OK, 'labour.'.

All part of 'restoration.'

Nice work,
Bruce

[ukinusa]

Floor now cut and trimmed to fit...hours of getting it 'just so' but now with nice edges and good fit all the way around.







Now the trial fitting of the pedal cluster; all looks good (I think)- fitting the tunnel makes me a little nervous but that is for another day.



QUESTION ...
My '61 B coupe cluster, has a pivot mount for the clutch cable:



The cluster I have for this '57 has "fork" for the clutch cable ! So do I have the correct pedal cluster ?
I tried the manuals and on line bit can't find a clear picture or info...Anyone please comment??? (sorry for picture angle)

[roy mawbey]

Steve,

That's some very nice work you have just done. Looks good!!
Nice photo's.

Roy

[Drew.s]

Hi Steve
Great work.
I am pretty sure that the cluster on the right in the picture is for early cars and the 'fork' on the left for 62 and later cars.




Regards
Drew

[ukinusa]

Exactly what I needed - thanks Drew. Ok who wants to buy swap exchange or even sell a cluster !(Could I use your picture in an ad. pls Drew ?)

[Drew.s]

Hi Steve
Glad to be of assistance.
Unfortunately the picture isn't mine I think it was on the Registry site.
Regards
Drew

[bbspdstr]

Steve, about pedal clusters;

Yup, the change was c. 8-'62 in my books. A and T-5 B cross-shaft was 644-23-022 and T-6 B&C number was 695-423-043-00, with of course the attending small parts changes. Don't forget clutch cable end thread diameter changes as well. Check clutch cable lengths-if 2057mm for an A with 6&8mm ends needs to work with what you have that uses a 7mm end and you can make that 7mm hole into 8mm..with the 7mm end pass-through collar made into 8mm and a common 8mm/12ATF jam nut (available new and usually needed anyway)... ....no one but you will know once installed and greased and covered by floor boards and mats, etc.

One thing to check and where newer is better than older are the bronze (maybe brass?) bushings in the cluster through which the shaft passes. They can wear and break down and allow the cross-shaft to have LOTS of slop, negatively influencing the clutch free play adjustment.

"Ask me how I know."

Check the cluster you have and then decide if you need a replacement, as you never know what you will get, even if "original." I have had a few good spare clusters from which I have scavenged bushings for cars I have restored to "service the original clusters," taking bushings from newer clusters to put in older clusters.....that procedure last performed for a '57.

Good luck, great work,
Bruce

[ukinusa]

Thanks Bruce a useful insight. I did figure that no one will see and as they say - out of sight and out of mind...I guess the purist in me is tweaking my conscious.
The set I have is just fine - I saw on Stoddard that you can get the pivot part...695-423-405-00

[bbspdstr]

Steve, you can say that the later one was a replacement done with a Factory part in '62 ....or one of my favorites- "that's a rare prototype unit that was mistakenly installed by a Factory worker in '57, just off break, who thought it was just a revised part."

Bruce