58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

Right rocker now in final paint.


Same as the left; wanted to get all the hard and or blind areas before welding it in place.

Again will clean and spot repair all the burned areas


Initial fitment after underside paint to locate it in best position with the door.


All those patch panels are nearly undectable and without filler just paint.


Same with the rear patched areas. I can live with it.

There are some subtle irregularities with edge of the door and the entire run of the rocker. I'm playing a game of give and take between levelness with the closed door and the bottom gap. Trying for the best average fit I can get with all these variables.



With the rocker in its best position the last couple of inches of the doors front edge taper away from the rocker. Beginning to add small bits of weld to correct the gap. Won't go any further until the rocker is welded into final set position. Its all these little things that slow you down and they always happen.


The original holes for carpet trim strip worked out perfectly for my cleco pins after I drilled the holes through on the new rocker flange. Its in the final adjusted position and will be welding it in next.
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Welding the new rocker in.


Like everything else its never easy. The last 4 inches of the threshold opening taper inward too far in relation to the closed door and the original forward section.


The only answer was to cut that area free and move it outward into alignment. I sure wasn't going to use lead or bondo to correct this shortfall. Note that pesky rust in the pinch seams. Its under every lap joint on this car and every 356 for that matter. A sleeping dog that you can never reach or totally erraticate short of pulling every panel free which is never going to happen. The only thing you can do is to keep moisture exposure to a minimum so it doesn't start growing and creep out from under the seams.


Once the alignment issue was addressed I started tacking in the new filler piece for the outer run.

Outer run all welded up. Stretched the bottom flange and welded it to the splashpan just the way it was done originally. plug-welding the drain pan next.


eveything welded up front, drain pan,even the bottom of the hinge plate which you can just barley see in this pic. Threshold and corner all finished to look stock and undisturbed. a bit more picking and filing on the weld joints but close.


Reinstalled the door to see how much more weld I have to add to the bottom corner area of the door to correct the gap.


Filler weld complete. Some fine finishing to do but the basic shape and gap are there.

Same story with the rear. Had to cut and splice to get the end cap of the original rocker to line up with the new one. Had to cut a relief under the access hole and bring the edge up a touch higher to meet the donor rocker edge. No big deal, just more work.


Also had to cut this relief into the striker panel so I could bump the rocker out further into even elevation with the closed door. Lots of little tweeks.


welding completed; its in!


Spur, rocker skirt and lower gap all look fine in relation to one another. Lots of fine finishing still to do on the welds but the heavy-lifting is done. So satisfying to see rockers and spurs on this car after more than a decade. The battery box floor repair is next. The third attempt! Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Battery box floor repair

Before I had made the decision to repair the battery floor for a third time I was moving ahead and adding drain holes with covers/shields over them as found on my original battery floor on the coupster. My '56 Workshop manual depicts a floor with two drain holes front and back with covers. I went ahead and fabricated one based off of the original from the old floor which I reused.


Here is the second floor repair (done just after the longitudinals 10 years ago) just after I installed the drain hats. It was more correct then our first attempt and looked okay from the outside but the inside I rushed and cut some corners. The other mistake was this vendor T2 floor with incorrect center pressed in rib. Greg and I tried to shink it down but the scar remained.


Shortly after the hat installation I realized I'd never be able to dress and clean up that mess inside like I wanted. It was no longer on par with the rest of the steel work I was doing on this car now. My heart was not in it when I put this floor in and I rushed it so I could go to work on the coupster. So back out it came.


Here is part of the mess I'm talking about; the lower wall was thin and kept blowing through so I had to chase it with weld to close it up. Also you can see what is left of the new mounting flange I had put in. A strip of double walled metal. This is why I cut it back out. No excuses I just half-assed it.

[JTR70]

Planning the third attempt at floor repair.


Another part harvested from the coupster. The old lower front closing panel was just too welded-on to that T2 floor I just cut out to mess with. This was a much fresher piece in good condition. The coupster is getting an oil tank here anyway so this piece was history. Works out perfectly.


Being a T1 car this floor section could not be simplier. Just a plain sheet of metal with two bends in it. The upper sections pictured here both left and right are whats left of the original floor. Fortunately we did not cut past these pressed in strengthening ribs which means all the correct details will be there once this is finished. Another reason I'm thankful these are still here is the repro floors rib details do not come close to the orignals.


First thing to address was the rear perimeter wall. Not only was the flange gone but the initial 3/4 of the verticle was is just too thin from battery acid. This is why it kept blowing through. making my paper template here to address all of it.


Final template that will include the flange and 3/4 up the wall into undamaged metal for ease of welding.


ready to move onto metal. Took a piece of 20 guage into my bending brake to create the initial part.


Two relief cuts and make the 90 degree bends. Simple, simple so much fun when it is.


left myself enough on the ends to make the final turns outward and end in a lap-joint like the rest of the wall. You can see the last section of the verticle wall I cut out (laying on the torsion tube)which eliminated my old lousy repair attempt that was double walled. Glad this garbage is gone.


You can see the lap joint on the other side of the spring tab where this piece will also end. Have to remove these tabs to get a clean result out of it. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Cleaning away the last bits of original lower flange of the verticle wall here. I could not get my drill into position to get at the spot welds on the tabs. I cut enough away for now to continue work. I would eventually get the rest off clean them, weld back together and reinstall.


That extra length on the repair flange now folded over into final position. Its scribed with a line for final trimming. It will continue the lapjoint to the new floor seamlessly. My second repair in no way had this clean repair detail.


Both sides just about ready. One more hole for the plug-weld.


With the center section just about ready I began fabricating the right and left flange runs.

All three pieces fabricated. Now slowly tacking the new piece into position.


The repair flange is almost in but I went ahead and finished up the corners. cleaned, welded and reinstalled the spring tabs. Lap joint detail back and angled ends will be left raw down to the new floor as originally.


Welding of the new center section complete!


Left side fange runner now fully installed.


Fortunately I had an original flange section to refere to otherwise I would have never gotten these details right. The joint seam here partially wraps around the bottom under the corner and is left raw. The front portion is seam welded to the edge. I gas welded here for an authentic look.

I just have the right side to do next and this back wall is done. Exact same proceedure so I'll spare you the details. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[George]

Things are looking good, going to be really nice once everything gets it's final finishing touches and painted. Thanks for posting and have fun. George

[JTR70]

Thank you very much George! It is really fun and satisfying to get these metal tasks into the finished column after all these years. Best regards, Justin


Rear wall/flange repair finally completed! Some detail grinding to do on the welds but its ready for a new floor section now.


Initial trimming and fitment of the new lower front wall/flange donor section. Almost ready to tack into position.


Before welding it into place I needed to make the front edge profile for the new floor. The original seam joint left a ghost of the original floor shape. making an accurate template of this front floor contour.


Front donor section now tack welded into place. Ready to start making the paper template for the new floor section.


evolving template. lots of trimming, tape, adding and subtracting as it went.


desired shape and fitment of the template achieved. Ready to move onto metal. Its marked out on a piece of 20 guage here and ready to be cut out.

[JTR70]

I have my new floor section. I had already put the two bends it needed but they were a little tight so I had to relax them just a bit. Also mocking up the little drain hats/shields.


Here is my 1956 factory workshop manual illustrating two drains with shields. I had the original one up front by the flange (under the #6 in the photo) but the rear one under the battery I did not have. Had to fabricate one.


Pictured here is my original and my new blank I have just cut out. Part of the flange was cut off from the factory because this mounted right next to the floor and front closing wall seam joint.

I had a large steel hallow handle which was the perfect O.D. of the cup.
The round blunt end of my small ball-ping hammer was the correct I.D. Alot of heat and repeated swedging slowly gave me the desired shape I needed.

All done here with drain hole.

The bottom of this cup is not level but is angled slightly to encourage the water to leave. I had to spank it in on this slight angle. It sort-of took on the shape of a small hood scoop. The drain hole is placed at the lowest point of course. Shortly after these shots (picture installed on page 6)I welded them to that T-2 floor I had in there. Another redo!

New floor test fitting begins.

I have removed the new front closing wall I had tacked into position. Though it was needed when I was making the paper template; now that I am in metal it is a pain in the ass to wiggle that thing in and out from the top. Once I removed the lower wall installing and removing the floor could not be easier. It just slides right in and out the front.

[JTR70]

It fits! After much fine trimming and repeated installs I have a tight uniform fit with the verticle walls and new floor lines up nice and even with the remaining original floor sections. Should be a seamless transition once its all welded up.


With the trimming complete I put in four cleco pins to "locate" it in its final adjusted position. marked in my center line for the drain holes.


Drain holes in. I flanged the openings for more strength and a better finished look. Not the way the factory did it but they will be covered by the shields anyway.


Getting them oriented in position and just about ready to plug-weld the rear one on.


Ready to go!

[JTR70]

Both hats now plug-welded on dressed smooth and spot-welded for a factory look.

I was able to harvest the cross-brace from the old T-2 floor I had in there. Good fit and will only need some minor tweeking.

Brace now tack-welded into position. floor back in for yet another test fit to make sure its not deforming on me; which it was slightly due to the heat but it went back enough to fit correctly.

Brace fully welded and plugs dressed smooth. Battery ground cable mount also finished.

Again went over the mount flange with my panel welder for an authentic look.


Top side. refit again to make sure the heat did not distort it.


alot of details and steps to get here but my new floor is finally complete.

All welds and rough edges have been polished.


Mounted back on for the last time. Welding it in next
Thanks for reading this! Justin

[JTR70]

Welding to the back wall complete. Plug-welded, smoothed then spot-welded for a factory look.

Gas welded the corners and overlapped the welded just like on the original sample I had.

Slowly stiching the sides together now. Alot of time spent making sure the two pieces stay level with each other. Note the staggard weld joint with the floor seam and the eventual front flange area. Better alignment and stronger.

both sides all welded together. Finally time to install the front section.

[JTR70]

Last piece of this puzzle. Of course there was a bit more fine trimming to do on the leading edge of the new floor to allow this closing panel seat tight and evenly with the rest of the front bulkhead wall. Always something!

Everything is now lining up pretty well on this side. Had to use sheetmetal screws to mount it into place. The cleco pins just did not have the clamping power needed to sinch this panel into position tightly enough. trying to preserve the factory spot welded appearance so all the plug welding will be done on the inside.


This side was close but not quite. Its a complicated shape that has been bent up over the years. Its going to take a few more screws and some heat to tame it but it'll get there.

[JTR70]

welding the front closing panel in.


A very slow process of mating the new floor to this old mounting flange. To get a tight fit I had to drill a hole and put sheet metal screws on both sides of the plug weld which is on the inside. Once plug-welded the screw holes had to be closed as well. A repeated process all across this panel.


Here is that plug-welding process on the inside. A pain in the ass to reach and grind smooth but I wanted to preserve the original spot-welded outside surface as much as possible. Notice the near seamless transition between old and new floor on the leading edge on the left side. Getting this finish and detail cost me alot of extra fitment time once it was complete.


Replicating the spot-welds on the new floor now. This was very nerve racking; sticking those two electrodes down in this well with the lead cables resting on the body to get into position. I cringed everytime I had to hit the trigger in anticipation of an accidental ground-short on the body. glad its over and I did not zap myself!


Flange to new floor welding complete.


I was able to save alot of the original welding details by plug-welding to the inside. Alot more work but I'm so much happier with the end product.


The old welds and roughness really give the illusion its never been repaired which is what I was aiming for.


Slowly stitching the verticle wall together. The last bit of welding business here.


Battery box repair welding COMPLETE!


All the enclosed, gritty and uncomfortable finishing down in this trunk well completed. Thank god! This was not fun; So glad to have this behind me!


Ready for primer! Like everything else, it was so much more work and frustration then first anticipated. However its at least done to a level where I won't have to do 4th repair attempt.

[JTR70]

Now with metal work complete I primed the areas in a good cover coat. Ran my 3M heavy drip-check along all the seams


Primed and tracer-coated the outside to see what I had left in the way of fine finishing.

began sanding the area to start softening any repair blemishes

I'm good with it. The seams are nearly undectable. The old dings and damage from road miles give it a real unmolested look. As you can see I've applied small amounts of finishing putty to a few irregularities. I know once this thing is on the ground no one including me will care but its waist high and in plain sight right now and because I get nuts I could not leave them alone.

Skipping ahead a few months here is absolute finished product in final color.












Onto the next deal! Thanks for reading this! Justin

[gkw]

Justin,
What is the diameter of the drain cover you fabricated for the
bottom of the battery box?
Previous owner replaced box floor in mine and vent is now
missing. Your repair is excellent.
Thank you, Gordon