58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

11/21/14

Bogged down with all the small things.

Its been difficult to get motivated enough to update this thread as I've been dealing with nothing but the tiniest body details such as numerous nicks, rough edges and irregularities in and around all the most overlooked of areas of the car. Again most people would never spot them but they would drive me nuts after the fact. I'm sure once its all in final paint I'll find a few more that I missed but I'll have at least reduced their numbers a bit. Here's what I've been chipping away at for the last couple of weeks; Hopefully not too boring and tedious.

Right jamb and threshold area now down to small nicks and the like. All highlighted with marker here.
Double checking the "spill way" to make sure I flushed out all the previous sanding or saw marks from the earlier block sandings. This is one of those tough transitional areas to block without causing accidental wear ridges to the opposing surface as it gets worked down. Door gap is also rough and needs truing.

Prepping hinges on the decklid for final paint.

Hinges in paint and back masked here for the black.

Shaping and cleaning the shoulder of the body plug holes.

Dremmeled out lead, putty and excess paint

I need clean lines and gaps here too.

Another detail of concern is that this "break-line"/ rolled shoulder detail around all four wheel arches is shaped and runs consistent through out.

Roof is in its final work coat here.


A great deal of time spent filling, sanding and shaping all the facets in and around the gutter and window openings.

After this final coat I still managed to overlook a few small nicks to the inner face of the gutter.

as much as it pains me I'm slowly widening the forward door gaps to account for final paint thickness. This steel ruler is just the right thickness and is my guide.

Back filling shaping mistakes; rounded the shoulder a bit too much here.

Same story here so a bit of redo as its going. You can also see the swatch of filler along the inner surface of the gutter trying to eliminate more irregularities in the old lead.

All the major surfaces are complete and have been for sometime but as you can see I have a ton of little "pissy" stuff to address all of which eats up a session pretty quickly.

Getting areas like deck lid and its jamb opening in a fully completed stage helps to keep it going.

A lot of jumping around but its getting closer to final paint. One day soon I'll run out of things to sand. Thanks for looking through all of this! Justin

[Carrera_The_Kid]

Love your attention to detail Justin, thanks for sharing

[John Pierce]

I feel your pain! You're so close to the finish

[merbesfield]

It's all in the prep as they say, whoever they is . Do you have a "clean" room for the build up once paint is complete?

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

It will look perfect, Its so good I would have to choose the time of day and the the road condition, before even driving it . That chassis and bodywork is now superb I realise its still probably years away from the road but tell me will it not worry you to drive it when the time comes?

Fantastic thread, fantastic car. You remind me of Jan on the Samba with his A, you both have the same natural ability. These tasks are not easy and in fact its so easy to cut corners and think that it will be okay. ( I speak from experience of doing just that.)

Roy

[bbspdstr]

Roy, I will offer Justin what I offer all of my own customers....the casting of the first stone. Get it over with before it leaves the shop! Then the suspense of when the first nick or stone chip will be is gone and the fun of actually driving like the cars were meant to be driven can begin immediately.

People come into my shop with 'bras' on the front of their 356 and it's given back with that ugly accessory neatly folded into a plastic bag, in the trunk.....THEY can put it back on if they choose.....UNLESS a customer wants one on a 356 towing another 356 from eastern PA to Aspen, CO. I was embarrassed co-driving such a rig, but it was still a fun trip and in '78, those were "show cars" at the PCA Parade.

BTW, the white C in the background behind the '55 Speedster is one of the last 356s built. It was picked up at the Factory by a higher-up in AAA in '66. It was therefore only 12 years old when it came to me with a LOT of rust, mainly from ill-fitting panels and glass. It was made up of a lot of left-over parts, a true ABC (but not a GT) . It had the most random selection of spare parts I've ever seen assembled into a 356. I wish we had cared more about preserving chassis numbers for reference back then. The number would have been on that billing, but that file is long gone.

The young boy in my cowboy hat (from when I lived in Texas) is my son Peter. He was 7 in that picture.....he is now 43 with a daughter who is 7.....life just flies by!

-Bruce

[JTR70]

Appreciate that Joris!

Thanks John, I know you're in the midst of a crash-course in the pain these cars can cause.

Hey Mark, yes, once its painted I'll be constructing a small "clean/isolation room" in the back corner of the shop using plastic/curtain type walls. After a car body is shot in final paint I'm almost convinced that its polarity changes and becomes a magnet for damage. so far I've been able to walk by it with hammers, screwdrivers etc without a problem but once its painted everything's going to change.

Thanks a lot Roy that's very nice of you to say! I suppose I will worry when the driving experience is brand new but I'm sure as time wears on that will dissipate. Realistically this car will only see a road trip or two per year and maybe a monthly local run to keep the seals moist so its road exposure will be very limited.

Thanks Bruce, that is good advice, just pop the cherry on that new paint and get it over with. I'm under no illusions, I do want it to be as perfect as I can make it in the beginning but eventually a chip or nick or even several will happen over time. Actually there is a part of me that is looking forward to an established settled in look to this restoration. After several years have passed with hopefully no rust bubbles or pealing this restoration will take on real sense of aged legitimacy and quality. Knowing what I do now there is nothing I trust less these days than a freshly painted 356.
Love those old shots of yours!
Thanks again you guys!!!! Justin

[S.J.Szabo]

Mr.Rio, Mr.Baker is right.

The Trusty Coupe's first day on the road after the preservation effort (with its still-new looking pre-purchase paint job) was punctuated by a fair dent to the right front fender that broke the paint, picked up in the back of a deserted parking lot. I speculate that the car drew an ugly attention from a passing mope. Once the frustration subsided and I had pushed out and scabbed the wound, I was fearless.

I had a similar nightmare with the then-young Supra while visiting Arkansas. I came out of a pit stop to find a nose-to-tail key job down the left side one day. Two days later, I came back to the very remote corner of a large, empty parking lot, to find another on the other side. I speculate that it was the California plate that drew both. Unfortunately, this incident(s) had no moral to profit from.

[JTR70]

1/17/14

Just a quick update since there is finally something new to report other than the same old details I've been obsessing over.

My buddy Ritchie came through in spades and got me my entire base/clear system to get this thing finally painted. This is the top of the line German stuff I was after with the smaller Euro-version metal flake. This system retails (to a guy off the street like me)for 1,800.00 but he was able to get it through his bodyshop for a grand.

Still slowly widening my gaps to account for the paint thickness

The side is all but finally done.

removed the door to finish out the striker post and jambs as I did earlier on the left side. I'm really motivated for two reasons now, I've got the paint and I suspect Tom's car is at the body shop now.
hopefully more new things to report soon! Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[Don C]

Justin,
What are you setting the gaps at before paint? That sucker is going to look like it's one piece! GREAT JOB!

[DG58INNM]

Hi Justin,
Looking good as usual. Are you working on the car today? Just had a thought. I'm in Nevada. My daughter is playing soccer today and we may be close to you. Would be fun to meet you in person if you have time. Don't remember where you are at, but we are playing this afternoon at a field in Henderson, then this evening in NW Las Vegas. Probably the time won't work out, but feel free to give me a call. Wife's cell number is five oh five, six one five, 5298.
Thanks,
David

[gkw]

You are getting real close to paint Justin.
The gaps will drive you crazy, Too tight is bad news and too much gap
looks lousy.
keep up the good work, Gordon

[JTR70]

Thank you very much Don! I'm averaging at or just shy of 3MM. By cutting it this close I know I've created a lot more work and danger as I have had to stay on top of all the material thicknesses as the bodywork has progressed but I greatly desire to keep the gaps as tight as I possibly can once its in a final coat of paint. I already assume that the color sanding process is also going to bring me back to safe clearance on the hinge side of the closing panels. Will proceed with great caution when that time comes.

hey David, great talking with you this evening! Sorry we didn't hook up this time around but hopefully next time you're in town you'll give more warning.

Thanks again Gordon! Yes, I've almost reached the summit of this body work phase at long last! The excitement of seeing it in final color is building and I'm fighting myself a bit not to cut any corners just to make that day get here a little sooner. The final shape of the gaps is the last critical and major hurdle at this point.
My thanks again to all of you guys for all the great support through this journey! Justin
1/18/15


Like I did on the left side I'm stripping out the remains of that incompatible base primer in the jambs I used back in the 90's

Just about ready for a coat of DP40. More remnants of that old factory Hot-pink bondo which they used to fine finish the lead work.
moving it forward tomorrow. Thanks again! Justin

[JTR70]

1/20/15
Windshield frame drains.
One last tiny weld job I wanted to finish up before final paint.

Water accumulation in these lower corners is another major contributing factor to the demise of the original longitudinal and related areas. As you can see Once the water level seeps or leaches over that vertical lip caused by old or poorly fitting front seals its all unfortunately downhill from there. If it wasn't soaked up by the dash padding first it easily found its way right into the defroster vents. As you can see the outer leading edge is higher than the vertical flange so any residual water is encouraged to go in, not out.

As a result this cars original steel dash top was severely rusted out on both corners and along the right leading edge. There was also a very thick callous of rust at the base of this pillar and the welded flange seam was also rotted on both corners.

Here is a direct result found on the current "coupster" project from years of corner water seepage. Pooling water rusted out the bottom of the heater tube and the upper closing wall or bulk-head at the neck.

Drain tubes are my solution to give any water that will eventually find its way behind the front seal. Initial hole drilled here using water in my first photo to find the lowest settling point. Might be overkill as this car will never be exposed to moisture as in years past but its good insurance. There is still sleeping rust down in the bowels of this old heat system and I have a cherry original replacement dash top I don't want to see get ruined. Besides they are installed with the most minimal of modification (2 small holes) and will be all but undetectable once the car is fully reassembled. I did the same thing to the rear window frame a while back. You can see it here: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restoration-Projects/34-58367-The-75-Junkyard-Carrera-coupe-restoration.html?limit=6&start=54

Stainless sleeve insert and basic vacuum tubing ready to go.

Flared and ready to weld.

welded and dressed

lead inserted into the tubing. After much thought about the least invasive and stealthiest exit I settled on a small hole at the base of the speaker housing.

Once the carpet is installed this tube will be nearly undetectable. The housing perimeter hole(s) also doubled as a great clamp to secure the tube flush against the wall.

Once it exits the housing it snaked around nicely in behind the hinge gusset for a secure wedge fit then finally dumps out of the existing hinge pin hole which means no more modifications to the car. Again once the door is installed you might catch a glimpse of the tubing if you really try. Finishing up the left side next. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JOP]

That is a good modification for drainage....but heay your 356 will only be driven on sunny sundays
I will remember this good tip
Over & out from a snowy, salty Porsche deteriorated Land in the North
/ Per