58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[Scott B]

Love the mods and so in keeping with original applications. So neat and tidy. Great work.

[JTR70]

Thank you Scott. Its a bit of a paradox I know; adding in a lot custom changes that I want all the while making sure what is original is correct. Or as least as close as I can get. thanks again, Justin

[JTR70]

Dash panel hole filling:
I always assumed this lighter unit was original to the car as it was in there when my Father bought it in '68; 6V... sure seemed correct. I was going to send it off to Victor Miles for restoration but I got a crash course in early lighters from him instead.
I found this really nice early A version on Samba shortly afterward.
Funny to think how I just paid 200 bucks more this unit than my Dad paid for the entire car.
One more hole filled on this dash panel. Everything here is original save for the lighter knob. Its a really nice repro though. The color and shape are spot on even emits the same funky smell of the originals. As close as it gets.
A small detail correction was the removal of the lock washers on the outer hinge bolts. My buddy RJ brought this to my attention and though very counterintuitive I understand the clearance issues with the rivet heads on the other side of the hinge; I had them. I used the thinner lock washers to gain the clearance. I reinstalled these very thick serrated edged washers that it originally came with. I hated to disturb the paint to make this correction but I'll spot repair the paint when I remove the doors.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Your comment about the $200- to buy the lighter made me smile Justin. So often I think of the £440 I paid for my car, so in fact a while ago I worked out in 1969 just what that amount was and it was certainly much more than a few thousand pounds back then! You lighter is perfect just like mine!

Never noticed really the domed rivets I have never removed the actual hinges so I have the same as you. Never gave it a thought on rotation the bolt heads would be near the rivet heads!

Roy

[JTR70]

Actually Roy it was 275.00 down from 300.00 lol, It is a nice one though. Yes, when I remounted the doors the rivet clearance really threw me for a loop. I was convinced it was something I had done or changed but no the outer bolts didn't get a lock washer.

[JTR70]

Deck lid grill Seal authenticity detail:

The following detail was shared with me by the late Craig Stevenson many years ago. For those who may not be familiar with him he was a staple in the California Porsche community and had the rare privilege of dismantling many original 356's through the 70's and 80's . Along the way he made note of his findings. He told me even Harry Pellow would pull him aside at events to confer engine detail changes through the years as he was writing his books. In short Craig was a wealth of knowledge and I regret not making more of an effort to record this info before his passing. The following is one detail I did make note of and in his honor I recreated it for my car. I can't confirm this detail to be correct for all 356 but he shared this tip with me specifically for this build.
He told me that the standard deck lid seal extrusion offering was too large. What he originally found was a much smaller and thinner. According to Craig the correct size is the extrusion used for the door top chrome on a B or C car. Photo above highlights the size difference between the two. (door top extrusion with green arrow)
The last minute detail he shared was that the joint was reinforced with a staple.
This smaller extrusion doesn't come in a loop for a decklid grill so I had to cut and join the ends together for a tension fit. Another buddy of mine Mark told me how to melt the ends together. You light each end, blow them out and simultaneously stick them together before the tips cool which is almost immediately. A bit of pressure as you want to be accurate as possible when the ends go together. I also had to double check for any twist in the run before I committed.
The joint of course goes to the bottom as per Craig.
Grill mounted for the final time with the smaller extrusion. This may not be an option for everyone as the larger offering may fill in gaps or short comings better. This lid and grill was set up for this extrusion during the bodywork phase. Again I cannot personally confirm this detail to be absolutely correct. Just a tip from an old long lost expert.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

I had purchased a package of new grill screws in case I could not come up with a complete set of clean originals. Photo to highlight the subtle differences between new and the originals.
As the years past I was able to round up a nice set of original screws.
These screws keep with Craig's recommendation of rebuilding this car with as many original components and hardware as possible. Luggage rack plugs are original too. I scrounged those off of another lid that ran through my hands. The 4 different layers of paint preserved the plastic for me through all of those decades.
The grill itself is an original but not to this car. The one that came with it was too badly corroded to save. This one's not perfect but nice enough.
Lid removed, wrapped in bubble wrap and plastic for short term storage while I move onto fitting that new GT lid.

[JTR70]

Begin fitting new GT to this car. (hopefully without screwing up the paint job)
Completely out of order but this finished lid from Trevor Marshall didn't come in until well after the final paint was applied. As long as I take my time and I don't get lazy I think I might be able to slip this in without damage to the body.
Have to gap and shape profile this lid to the opening. I can already see I'll have to both add and subtract material along the leading edge. Before anything else my baseline had to be established first. I had to get this lid hinged and latched in its best adjusted position to reveal what I had to do next.
It took some careful set up and a bit of doing but I eventually got this lid hinged and latched for a baseline fit. Of course it was very rough and crude but this was my starting off point. I really wasn't surprised, had it fit close, well, that would have been the shocker.
The most obvious misalignment is how the hinges are holding this lid a few MM's too high off of the body up front here.
Both sides are equally bad.

[JTR70]

Way back when I was fitting a steel lid to this car

and ran into the same issue though not a severe so, this seems to be a continuing theme with this car.

The fix that time around was to take the excess height out of the deflector tray. Cut and tacked together here.

That turned the trick. I ended up selling this lid to a buddy of mine shortly after saw Trevor's all alloy offering.

[JTR70]

Some experiments like dropping the bottom bolt out revealed what attitude either the hinge or the tray had to be at
to allow the leading edge of the new lid to come down into closer alignment with the body. A MM or more yet but much improved here.
On the steel lid above I made the necessary change to the tray side but I'm not set up to weld Alloy at the moment so I decided to alter the hinges to keep it moving.
right side hinge was cut just enough to allow the mounting surface that needed angle change with the lid in the closed position.
The left hinge ended up needing a bit more. The mounting surface had to be both re-angled and lowered a touch overall.

More later...

Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

[JTR70]

Hinge modifications continued:
Series of repeated test fits and fine tweaking to the hinges as it went.
Before long I had a uniform fit against the body(upper leading edge only, for starters) with the modified hinges clamped tight against the deflector tray.
Gaps were still very raw down the sides and bottom but the only concern at this stage was getting the upper section of the lid level with the body and the best uniformed gap up there first. Small improvements at a time.
Original holes in the hinges were soon unusable with the predrilled holes in the tray as the fitting continued.
They were back filled for re-drilling in the optimum position for the ever improving adjusted fit of the new lid.

[JTR70]

Holes reopened and slotted with the bolts starting out at the center for any future fine adjustment as it goes.
front of this lid now sits flush with the body with it fully latched. The upper gap spaced out as uniformly as possible. It contours with the body surprisingly well but may need some edge shaping before its all over.
Lower gap is huge but will add to it as needed.
I went to work down the lateral gaps next. The gaps where nearly nonexistent at the centers on both sides. At the same time the corners turned too quick leaving a big reveal. This shot was taken after several rounds of shape filing along the center. Its pretty close but I broke through the skin so the edge will need to be fused back together.
Paper templates to show me how much material needs to be added for the desired width. The edge of this lid has a lot welding in its future. Whether I'm adding to or repairing where I've filed through its looking like about 80% of the edge will need some welding.

[JTR70]

Dropping the lower corners in line with the body.

The next fitment/ contour challenge was to both lower lateral corners. With the lid fully latched the center of the lid's skin aligned nicely with the edge of the body. However as it moved out towards both sides the edge sits too proudly.
This right corner is a little more pronounced than the left. I played around with rubber snubber thicknesses but it didn't solve the issue. The answer was a long relief cut along the substructure under these high spots. About a cutting wheels thickness was what it needed. The cut was then drawn together sucking down these troubled areas only.

Changing gears for a bit and begin custom fitting a New carpet set:

Fitting the new lid was a bit stressful and involved so to stay fresh and reduce my chances of damaging the paint I began fitting a new carpet set. It all has to be addressed eventually.
I bought two tan carpet kits, one brand new(still second hand) and the other newish which was perfect for a practice and mock up series. This is my very first carpet install so I'm on the learning curve. My initial interest was marking out the mount holes for the roll-bar but as it went I realized the sides would have to be fully built padded and upholstered to determine the final location of the lower carpet run.
So I moved onto the tunnel first. When I dismantled this car in '87 it still had all of its original upholstery and carpeting save for the front seats and door panels. They were recovered in the '60's at some point. The only remaining scrap of original interior I managed to hang onto all of these years was the tunnel section above. I could still kick myself square in the ass for not taking care of the rest of it for info and templating purposes but this is what I left myself.
Fortunately it still gave me a great starting point with just enough info to create a new critical eye as to the shape and cuts of these new replacement pieces. All of which ultimately determines how well or how bad the final fit and presentation of the interior is going to be.

[JTR70]

Cutting new carpet sections to desired shape and fitment:

Like the previous alloy decklid fitment and all the other sheet metal installations I've done in the past the one constant is that nothing fits as it should right out of the box and these new carpets sets (from A.I. in this case) are no exception. These are new reproduction vendor interpretations just like the sheet metal offerings and its up to the final installer as to how far they're willing to carry it for a proper fit and look. As with everything else going into this car I'm going as far as necessary until I'm satisfied. I could message fit this set in as provided and most would never notice a difference but I won't be able to leave an off the rack generic look alone for very long. I need a tailored and proper final presentation to this cars' interior fitment when its all over.
The first and obvious discrepancy is the narrowness and square relief shape for the access cover.
The factory relief follows much closer the covers width and profile allowing for a proper match up joint.

Again I could force fit the new section in as delivered but the rear flaps have to sit much higher up the sides of the cover to compensate for the narrower opening. In return I lose some bottom skirt length that needs to lay and secure under the eventual rubber mat; not to mention that awful squared off border profile shape. It just doesn't fit or look right.
I've got two carpet sets to work with. A mock up test model then a final piece which I will send out for rebinding along its newly established edges. In this shot I have cut my test piece (center) cut to an initial profile that more closely matches my original. Both of these new pieces where profile cut the exact same way so this is not a one-off or a mistake. This is how they all must come.
Test piece initial mock up with the original profile shape . A bit more fine tuning yet to go but it was at least a much more natural fit in and around the cover and replicates much closer how it was trimmed originally.

More to come with this new adventure.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

more tunnel work.
First test piece centered and adjusted in its best position. Moved it a touch rearward to better fit up against the access cover.
Burned in some pilot holes for the seat rails. The original has large square cutouts for them and I assume it was for adjustment options. Even the factory catalog depicts the holes as oversized and square.
Kick panel section mocked up and it fits just as poorly. I would be modifying the arch in this piece as well, more on that later.
Ready to commit. My second and final tunnel cover section with binding removed and ready to cut into final shape. As you can see its also a bit wider than this T1 original. I figure like most new offerings for 356A these sets are patterned and made for a T2 application. The forward pockets along the kick-panel certainly are set up for T2. This additional width is to compensate for the later T2 waffle/spacer plate that is over the seat rail mounts. It adds about another 1/4 inch in height over a T1 tunnel which does not have this plate so not as much width is needed to cover the tunnel down the sides. This structural change along with those lateral pedestal mounts coincided with the phase out of the early Fat-back front seats. I took age and shrinkage into account and cut it out just slightly wider than the old piece.
My final piece shape cut and narrowed for a T1 application. Centered and mounted here.

[JTR70]

You'll have to imagine these raw edges with new binding but it now lays in and fits against the access cover naturally. I can live with this.
It still has to relax and conform into the needed shape but its a much improved fit over the way it came out of the box. The edges of the carpet got a little unstable in places after trimming so to ensure it doesn't unravel before I have it rebound I coated and worked in some clear silicone to hold it all together. Turns the trick as it stays flexible adheres perfectly and will be undetectable once its recovered. Another nice feature is once the silicone setup I could go back and trim those little burrs and rough edges off cleanly with a pair of scissors. Onto the next section.

Kick panel fitment:
Kick panel mock up with my test piece as it fits out of the box. Just as with the tunnel, the opening for the access cover is too small and shallow. I had to double up the tunnel carpet just to get the binding to intersect as it should for this test. The skirt also ends up too short with not enough lead to lie under the eventual rubber mat.
A mock up to this left side only to establish the final fit I'm after. Plenty of skirt along the edge to lay in there under the mat as it should.
Arch contour shape at the corner of the tunnel intersects and breaks where it should.

[JTR70]

The tunnel will tuck under the skirt but just highlighting the desired intersectional fitment I'm after.
A shot with the new section
To gain that fitment on the left side the right completely goes to hell. Again you could message fit these pieces as offered for maybe an okay presentation but I'm not interested in that.
This is just my test piece so I cut it down the middle then remounted it with both sides in the sweet spot and this is how much it is too short and or shallow to achieve the fit I need. As you can see the carpet also bunches up as it makes the turn so the arched opening also has to be radiused more.
I'm happy with this starting off point. Now onto dialing it in further.

Thanks for looking!
Justin