58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

5/19/13

Final trunk preparation for the hood. I shot the Anchor straps in semi-gloss black yesterday,then glued the new hood seal in for good. I wiped and clean all the petroluim jelly/dirt off of the inside walls and floors. This work was so rewarding and fun I could not stop there. It was bit premature but I also installed the insulator gas tank pads and felt strips I had cut out quite some time ago. Now was just as good a time as any; once the hood is on and latched this area is sealed & protected from the eliments.

Seal in and break line for this jamb and the final paint job to the body. Just have to run some more tape to cover the seal. Joint for this seal has been glued and mounted under this right side clamp as mentioned earlier.

Again, I could not help myself and glued on the insulator felts, base pads and the seal for the access cover. Could not find my seal for the fuel cock opening but it will turn up.

Anchor straps finished in correct semi-gloss black yesterday. Original NSF strap bolts with correct beveled edge washers were cad plated several years ago. I tried bleaching the felts to tone down that green but it did nothing soaking in pure bleach for an hour. Brilliant Green it is. Really won't be seen once the tank is in, maybe a sliver of it might show at the edges is all.

Insulator pads were cut after original patterns but I shortened them just a touch at the bottom in case water finds its way down here. This buys me a little more time for the water to drain out before being absorbed by these pads. The football shaped pad and the rib above it I added extra there was no padding on these two embossments.

Trunk lid goes on tomorrow. For good!!
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Hood finally mounted on for good.(hopefully) Another tiny milestone today. 5/20/13

Finally all set. I spent some time detailing the underside and hinges of dust etc. I had cut and polished this paint over a year ago. Just a quick hand rub brought it right back. Color sanding this area is overkill I know but I wanted it just a little smoother.

The right side hinge has always fought just a little while the left slides in with no issue. For whatever reason it was a bit more stubborn on this final time. After that I was convinced this was the right choice. I do not want the stress of this hood install with final painted shell. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Back to block sanding the left side of the car next. BTW: thinking back on it now it truely amazes me that during this cars stay at the wrecking yard (before my father bought it) that hood was never Kinked! Thank goodness for small miracles.. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JR]

Justin,
You and Gordon are true artisans.
It is really inspirational to see the results of your efforts.
I'm still waiting for Fed Ex or who ever to deliver the seat covers for the Roadster from A.I.
Door panels could be next on the wish list!

Dick

[Restomod]

Lookin SUPER Justin!! I for one think the bottom of the hood should be just as nice as the top.

[gkw]

Justin, what did you use to glue the but joint together?
The 3M product, or something else?
Thank you, Gordon

[JTR70]

Thank you Dick!! I hope your interior package arrives soon! You'll have to post some shots of your progress.

Thanks Brock! Yeah, I could not let that orange peel on the underside stand...had to polish it.

Hey Gordon, I just used plain old fashioned Super Glue. Bonds instantly and is permanent. The seal we put in this car in '89 has two joints (we cut it short ) both were super glued and are still intact to this day.

Thanks again for all the nice responses you guys, its always greatly appreciated!!
Justin

[JTR70]

6/17/13

Moving onto the left side of the car. I finally tied up all the loose ends concerning the nose and fine detail fitment of the hood-fender-cowl transitions. Its very nice knowing that the roughest part of the front is now at last squared away and ready for final color.

The front of this thing is now 90% there. I am onto the left fender which has never been damaged so I am expecting it move forward alot faster than the right side. I've taped the hood gaps off here to keep water and sanding sludge out of my new rubber seal and detailed jamb area.

Gave the left outer surface a quick block this afternoon and a follow up coat of primer.

Will be getting into the door gap transition here very soon. Again I expect this area to go alot faster. Famous last words I know.
Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

6/24/13
Addressing the left side of the car.


Initial tracer coat and block sand on this front fender and door is quickly highlighting a few flaws I have to fix but nothing major as I was expecting. However a nagging flaw that I really could not address while it was on the hoist is some old incorrectly repaired damage to the forward part of the left rear quarter panel. I thought I might just leave it but I have come so far with all the rest of the old damage that its impossible for me to ignore. Here are some details:


This is very old damage and occurred before my father even bought this car. Here it is in '69 again and you can plainly see the primered repair on the forward section of the rear fender. It wasn't hit hard but it was quickly hammered back out and also pushed out a little too far giving the opening a raised crown. Actually I really like the look of a little more muscle on these rear fenders which is part of the reason I left it alone all this time. I even tugged on the right rear fender to give just a little more dimension while I worked on it a while back but this side is still a little too strong and I need it to match a little better.

Here's a couple of old shots from 1987 of this area when my father and I were attempting to smooth it out. Again I was the apprentice and knew nothing except how to take things apart. I do remember my dad spending very little time on the metalwork. We heat shrunk a few spots and then quickly went to bondo.


I remember him holding up a large sheet of metal against the wheel well and checking for day light and uniformity throughout the arch. It did end up uniform and square but the fact that is was crowned out too far while doing it escaped him. We would not catch this mistake until after it was in final red paint and I had my fuchs mounted on with tight clearance on the right side and about an inch of clearance on this side.


So with that I made my decision this afternoon to take this fender all the back to metal and put some of my planishing techniques that Jason Bobruk taught me toward this area much like I did on the other old fender damage. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Interesting story there. Tell me, the doorshut area looks perfect to me, without me going all the way back on your thread did you put new metal in that area that always fails ( or did over here )?

The other area here that often rusted out, was the back area of the body under the bumper about a foot or so in from the rear wheel opening. I guess that caught all the water from the rear tyre.

Was yours good there?

Needs some skill there what you are doing.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy! Fortunately this car did not suffer rust in those typical areas. For the past 43 years it has sat idle and motorless except for what might constitute a month maybe two when it had a running VW engine in it. Aside from it being a desert car there were no road miles put on it in wet weather where moisture could have been slung up into these areas.

The only spot of cancer it had around the door was a dime sized hole just under the sill flange in the corner where my patch is in this shot. The cut and missing sliver was from me removing the rocker to get at the longitudinals for replacement.

[JTR70]

Steadily getting it back down to metal. All that pink stuff is from 26 years ago. The base coat from the old photos from '87; hard to believe its already been that long. Again, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Just a couple of MM's thick with no signs of cracking, lifting,or breaking down. Its just that this fender is the wrong shape so off it has to come. Proof positive of bondo's longevity as long as its thin and applied correctly.

Looking at this bare panel now with more experienced eyes I can see the original damage. There are two gauge lines that run almost the entire length of the panel just above the wheel well. Someone most likely grazed it with a nice heavy-duty old fashioned chrome bumper. Thank god they missed the door! Unfortunatley I have secondary "repair" damage; not only is it pushed out too far but they also hit this panel with a grinding wheel. Guys who don't know what they are doing end up doing more damage with thier attempts at repair than the original collision. I know crying over 40+ year old spilt milk but this poor old car really had a rough life. You can just make out our old heat shinking marks from way back when...I can still remember watching my father use his torch here. I was in charge of holding the torch of course. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

Left rear quarter panel stripped to metal. 6/30/13


As I leaded this area several years ago I mistakingly set the door striker a touch further out than it should have been to smooth and compensate for that stretched/crowned rear fender. I leaded and filed this area to bridge these two wrongs.

Now that I have decided to shrink this crown a bit some re-adjustment was needed.

I beveled the inside corner of the striker so I could move it back a few mm's to suck the door back in where it belonged.

With the door now set tighter and not worrying about matching the swollen fender I began filing back the lead and taking off a few MM's all along the leading edge. I felt this was the right track instantly.

All the filing just about complete and the whole quarter panel is now down to metal. I've decided to give Wray Schelin's Shrinking disc a try to help me tame this surface. So until that arrives I've gone as far I can go here but there is plenty of other things to do while I wait. Thanks for reading this. Justin

[Restomod]

I have ran into the same "old damage" and un-needed grinding marks of dumb people. The door gaps look great, and the shrinking disc should get the quarter back down. I have one and it works but its slower than the torch but less likely to make more damage.
Keep it up!

[roy mawbey]

Looking good Justin, especially the door gap,thats very nice already.

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! They are close but will need a little more messaging in the primer paint phase. I never get off easy.

Thanks for the confirmation on that wheel Brock. I've watched several videos and looks like a great tool. I want stay conservative and bring it back slow so I want to limit the use of the torch to shink it.

7/1/13
While I wait on that wheel I've got plenty of other things to keep me busy. Started the roof and window opening detail on the right side.

All that is left on this side is the roof area. I began filling and blocking the slight waves and irregularities in the old lead around the gutter and window openings.

I'm running the GT windows so more of this ledge will be visible. Swatched this area to smooth out little imperfections in the old lead here as well.

Again, did not take much to chase out these waves and irreguarities along the edges of the roof. Teadious and easy areas to overlook but these are the detail spots that will make or break the quality of your final finish. Primer and tracer coat next. Thanks for stopping by! Justin