58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[merbesfield]

Your thread is much better, JP is a little over the top. He much have a really big comp w all the pics he has of girls. I am probably paranoid about the lead. Have you tried that lead that is supposed to be safe? My hinges and hood are original so I am betting everything wil aligne up. Got busy at work today so missed my goal for dropping my engine tin, but there is always tomorrow. I hope to get it back before end of year so I can use some off time to put the motor back together. Thanks

[JTR70]

Hey Mark,

I have never used the lead free solder that Eastwood sells but they claim it to be very much like regualr lead to work with. It is alot more expensive than thier 30/70 sticks that I buy from them though. Unless you work with it on a daily basis a limited hobbiest exposure like us should really be nothing to worry about as long as your careful. When I did this last application I didn't go all out; just put on my paint respirator and kept my hands clean. It was a quick little job so I'm not worried at all. Good luck with the engine tin! Justin

[JTR70]

Blocking and fine filling the trunk gap transition.

Now I believe I am finally done with the torches and it is now just down to blocksanding and fine finishing.


long even strokes with my plastic board over the nose gap area for a smooth even transition. Just like on the doors before. As you can see some lead and old putty (pink stuff from 25 years ago)is being shaped and thined a bit more to match the hood.

Second pass of filler to perfect the gap and to fine finish the left side gap run. The shoulder was a bit rounded and weak as it approached the hood. Its so subtle and small that I could not justify the trouble and work of applying lead here. I almost could ahve just left it alone and most would not pick it up but it would have bugged me so I am applying a thin swatch and again blocking it against the hood.

I skip back and fourth between applications with the left door and front fender transition. This is getting real close to being done as well.

I remounted the #'s matching decklid just to make sure I was still in love with the final gaps here. Gaps are okay but the lid will have to blocked like the hood is.

I really jumped the gun here by thinking this was in final paint before fitting and blocking it in first with the body. I did this 3 years ago before I really got back on this car thinking I was making headway by completing individual parts at time. A rookie mistake! You can't do that with the body panels if want it to look right. I at least have learned this lesson now. You know its literally been 30 years+ since all of the original #'s panels have been fitted and installed on this car at once. Hurray for small miracles! Back to more of the same tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[admin]

Hi Justin , Your panel gaps are incredible ,especially considering what cond. the car was in back when you started.That is Perfection in my book. I can only hope mine appear half as nice. Very nice work.
I have been unable to work on my project much for the past couple of weeks ,as my wife needed the other half of the Garage for a Christmas project of her own . But that will all be gone in a couple of days.
Keep up the great work and Merry Christmas, Bruce

[merbesfield]

Justin, you're car is going to be too nice to drive. Those gaps are amazing. I say haul it to Earl Shibe and shoot it .

[JTR70]

Hey Bruce,

Thanks alot!! It has been a ton of work and you're right this was a rough old car! I hope you'll be able to make some progress on your car here shortly; will look forward to it! Merry Christmas to you and your family! Thanks again! Justin

Hi Mark, Thank you! We'll I am taking it to a shop for final paint; maybe old Shibes might be a smart move! Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

More trunk details:

Now that the hood is fully mounted and adjusted Joris Koning Had brought it to my attention that I may want to double check the fitment of a fully mounted gas tank in relation to the hood. While I have prided myself on test fitting just about everything before final paint I had overlooked fully strapping the tank and checking for hood clearance. I sort of assumed while initially fitting this tank to the car that it was all going to workout. Tank fitment here:
http://porsche356abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restoration-Projects/34-58367-The-75-Junkyard-Carrera-coupe-restoration.html?limit=6&start=162

A fully mounted tank means test fitting it under the added pressure of padding. I had cut some new floor insulator pads from some comparable wool type stock several months ago. They have been bagged and ready for quite some time now. Porbably don't need the oval knockout pad but made one anyway.

Access cover fully mounted for the first time. Pads in and ready for the tank.

Because everything was pretty much ready to go it literally only took about 10 minutes to get it strapped down. The hood closed shut with no clearance issues! Another potential problem solved.

At the time I did not have the felt strips for the tank straps but they are thin so it won't change anything really.

A few days later I got my hands on some felt and cut out a pair of strips. Everything still fit and cleared just fine. I may bleach them to tone down the green before final assembly.

[JTR70]

Trunk gaps and skim coats continued. 1/1/13


Intial coat of primer to see what the gap looked like with a uniform covering. Tons of fine details to do yet but the basic fitment and shape is there.

Began block sanding and working the cowl and hood transition. Another critical detail I completely over looked the first time around as a much younger bodyman. Like the doors you have toblocksand and work everything together. A lesson learned; finally.

Here is a spot easily overlooked. You can see the shiney edge of the hood here where its low and untouched by the sand paper. As I rubbed my hand over it I could feel it was slightly bent and low. The hood by itself seemed fine but once you work it as a whole things start popping up. I have to pull the hood off and spank this edge up a bit.

This rightside fender is finally done! No more skim coats! Just primer and a few blocksands to go!

With the hood gaps getting close I am making my way to the nose of the car. Began skimming the sides here. Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year! Justin

[merbesfield]

Tank and gaps look great. I have been looking at your gaps and comparing them to those on my car. I have to say I really lucked out with my car, the gaps are almost perfect except for where some PO fixed (if you can call it fixed) the front fender rust at lower corners.

A trick I saw, which you may know about, for checking how close your gas cap is to the bottom of hood, is to take modeling clay and stick it to the cap. Slowly close hood, raise it and then see how much height is left on the clay.

Keep on posting for all our entertainment. Happy New Year everyone.

[JTR70]

Hey Mark,

I am glad to hear that your gaps are close! You really did find a nice car. Yeah, the clay is a really good idea I should buy some. All I had on hand was some grease which I swiped the handle ridge with it and there was no transfer to the hood. I don't know how close it is (the clay could certainly tell me that) but it does not touch. Thanks, I'll keep slinging bondo! Happy New year to you!
Justin

[gkw]

Great looking work Justin, you are a hard act to follow. Your work
is as good as I have ever seen, keep up the posting.
What type and brand of material are you using to skim your fenders?
I am getting close to start on the exterior body soon.
Thank you. Gordon

[JTR70]

Hey Gordon,

Thank you so much! Nothing magical going on here; just slinging mud! I am using RAGE GOLD by evercoat. I love this stuff!! It does not clog the paper and is fantastic to work with. Its on the pricey side though 50-60 bucks a gallon; I know for bondo!!! buts its well worth the money. I recommend buying it on Ebay; much cheaper than you find it at the local paint store. So glad to see you're making some headway on your coupe! Justin



My father ran across this long forgotten gem a few weeks ago while going through some very old paperwork. Just got it last night and was so excited to see it! This was taken in early 1970 and after the right fender was crunched and pulled back out. I had completely forgotten he had rattle canned most of the body in grey primer after the repair. Gave up at the roof though. While looking at it I had a memory of when I used to play in it after it quit running (probably about 1976 or 1977)and it doubled as a mini-storage for junk inside; everytime I touched the body my clothes or hands came away with a very annoying grey transfer coat from that cheap stuff degrading. Funny fuzzy little recall moment. Anyway, thats mother in the passenger seat. The car is pictured on a frontage road just outside of Barstow Ca. off of Route 66. So glad he found this!!! I hope there are more still to be discovered.
Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[merbesfield]

Justin, what a incredible find! I can only imagine the memories you must have of this car. Needless to say, you will be buried in this car. Thanks for posting.

[JTR70]

Thanks Mark! I have felt burried in it for about 20 years now.
Justin

[Trevor]

Great picture Justin, so cool to have photo history of it!