58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[JTR70]

Short of installing the lower rubber tack strip and decklid cable runner tube the major repair phase of this install is finally complete.


Shot a good coat of epoxy primer then installed the original hardware

It was actually very satisfying putting this hardware in. felt like the car was "going back together" even if ever so slightly.

Two larger bolts fill the removable fender brace which are found on pushrod cars.

My weld joint where I had to cut this shelf is almost undectable.

[gkw]

Justin
What is the large round opening in the above picture for.
The previous owner welded mine shut.
Gordon

[JTR70]

Hi Gordon, The large oval hole is for the oil tank filler neck and the two small ones are for the oil return lines. You're car is a T1 and they came Carrera ready from the factory with holes and brackets installed for the 4-cam engine. Thanks for having a look! Justin


Could not resist a little paint on it just to get an idea of what it will look like.


Cleaned and prepped the release tube. The curved end was a little out of shape due to hanging free in space all these years getting hooked on shirt sleeves and the like. A little heat brought it right back in line.

In final position and fully welded as originally.

Fitting the final piece in!!! Started clamping that tack strip in then ran out of time. Welding it tomorrow. Also finished that reinforment bracket that attaches to the tailskin. Spot-welded it like before.


Rubber tack strip now plug welded in. It also took just a little heat to get it to conform tightly but did not fight too much.

Just need to dress down the plug welds and its finished.

Spot welded the out run so it would look original.

Inner flange also spot welded for an original look.

ALL metalwork in the engine compartment is now finally 100% finished!

[JTR70]

Skipping ahead just a few months for a look at the end result in a final coat of silver.


Waves and wrinkles from the factory stamping process provide excellent cover for any irregularities on the weld seams.

Like it never even happend; until you rub your hand on the backside seam. oh well I can live with it.

Both major repairs to this compartment captured nicely in this shot.

A much later overall shot with entire chassis in final paint.

Installing the rubber perimeter seal here. The trough gets a good coat of grease to slow down rust from any future water exposure.

One more with oil tank fitted; All ready to go! This now completes chassis repair on this car. Metalwork on the fenders coming up next.
Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[merbesfield]

Justin, Looks beautiful. Looking at this I realized that the shelf is not in your car. I also seem to remember reading somewhere about the shelf bolting in? Duh, but if so I could have removed mine last night before painting the underside. I don't have any rust fortunately, but it sure would have been easier if that is the case. I do have a strange situation in my corners where someone took a cutting torch and chopped out the inside corners of the Carrera sealing tracks. Will post on my thread. Thanks, Mark

[JTR70]

Hey Mark, Thanks! Yes, the pushrod engine tray was unboltable pretty much through 356A production. (carrera ready) This shelf was spotwelded in on the pre-A cars prior to '55 (before the 4-cam engine)then it went back to spot-welding them in when the 356B came out. Sorry to hear they torched the corners. It was probably done to provide clearance for an aftermarket or custom exhaust. Like to see pictures when you update your build post. Thanks again! Justin

Right front fender repair.


Shit!! This happened while it was sitting parked in 1969. My father would car pool some days to work. It was sitting on the street in front of his co-workers house which also happened to be at the base of a hill. A single mother with six kids parked her station wagon up this hill and forgot to set the parking brake. It soon rolled down the hill and nailed the right fender cue-balling this poor out matched car into the middle of the street. When My father arrived the police were there along with most of the neighborhood looking on. The lady was very sorry and apoligetic. He soon learned she was uninsured and was just getting by in life. So he felt bad for her and didn't persue the matter. My dad said it was actually more smashed in before this shot was taken. Fortunately this did not get into the chassis. I've looked it over several times for any deformation. He pulled this fender out by installing two eye bolts in the fender with big washers(holes next to the headlight opening) hooked a chain to them and to an old ford tractor we still have. He'd put some slack in the chain; get a running start and just yanked the fender back out. He had to repeat this several times dragging this poor little car across the yard. Crued but effective.


All of the "tractor" pulling was now complete and looks like hammer and dolley finishing here. You can clearly see the holes he drilled for the eye-bolts to hook the chain to. Note the original silver paint on the underside of the trunk lid and around the horn grill opening. A cheap "doorslammer" paint job for sure! There's my little old grandfather Chrispolo Rio. He's been gone since '77.

Headlight bucket back in and ready for another fight! I'm 99% sure that the grey stuff he's got the fender coated in is bondo. Speaking of which notice the big chunk that fell out just under the trunklid. A very early repair. The nerf bars are the best; I think they started out as handles of some sort.

For not being a bodyman at the time he got pretty close; not perfect mind you but I'm very surpised that he did not go too far and stretch it out which is a very common rookie mistake.


My fathers original attempt got it close but there were a few details still to address. You can see in this picture from '87 how the panel just above the bumper bracket hole is still bent in and the curve at the bottom is too flat and relaxed compared to the other side.


This is in early '88. We got it closer but was still was not quite right.


Here it is in '89 and in final paint. Thats my dad putting in the new headliner. The right fender looked really nice on its own but just was not symmetrical to the other side but i could not point out why at the time.


It wasn't until '99 when I had gained 10 more years of experience with metal and had "new eyes" to be able to read the details I just could not see or understand before. It looked odd because my dad had accidently crowned the fender out too much around the headlight opening.


A virgin panel has a nice gentle flat area about an inch wide all the way around the headlight bucket. After the accident and repeated message this detail was wiped out. It was now just a graceful curve all the way up to the bucket making it look odd.

[JTR70]

I pulled the bucket back out and tried to bring this detail back out again. After all that this area has been through; its just fatigued and pulverised. Its also stretched out around The 9 through 2 o'clock area as well. Everytime I'd tap a section down; a forward section would spring up.


I have had this cherry fender section laying around my shop for a few years now. well maybe not quite cherry but far and away nicer than what is in there. The area around the headlight is virgin and is really what I'm after. Note that this is a later 356AT2 front section by the turnsignal hole. It is larger in diameter and the mounting holes are in the 3 & 9 o'clock position. This is set up for the later indicater light pedistal or wedge found on later T2 cars.

I am not a fan of body skin patch panels so I have been debating weather to use this for a few months now. "do I keep the original intact & just get it rough and close; then finish the details in filler" Or "Do I install this really clean section"????


I finally made my decision. This gaping hole was so disturbing to look at by the way. Note the turnsignal light hole. smaller in diameter with mount holes set at the 6 & 12 O'clock postions. This car is a T1 and the light bases would be mounted directly to the body without a pedistal. These are exactly the same holes as found on the rear for the beehive tail lights. This difference is the reason I have cut the donor ahead of the horn grill section.


Thats much better!! I trimmed the donor as big as I could to get as much old damage out as possible.


Its a patch but its so smooth and beautiful there again! I think it was the right choice. This is such a complex and difficult area. I just don't have the tools or the talent to recreate this out of that badly worked original section. Besides I can't get bogged down with this. I gotta keep this moving forward!


Old and new comparison. The filler was no more than 3mm thick which is totally acceptable but this new piece will almost have none! Especially around the bucket!


Fine trimming and fitment begins. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

Replacement panel prep.


Started my Pre-repair work today. This is all the little stuff that needs to be addressed before I can start tacking my new panel in place. The headlight bucket flange was rusted out in 3 places and had a few small holes that needed filling.


Here is one of the repair sections going in. I have my little copper spoon there to back it up so I can weld all the way to the edge without melting it away.


This is old damage repair done when this donor part was still on its original car. They used a pick hammer to bring the dent out. This is an absolute NO, NO! All my books from the big name metal fabricators(Covell, Fournier) say that you should NEVER strike sheet metal with a pointed hammer or object. This is a perfect example as to why not.



They then ground the outer skin smooth creating pin holes where they struck it with a pick. Only a few went all the way through so it could have been worse. At least this was done on the crown so it is stable and does not "oil can". Just some extra time to close them and finish the welds smooth.


Here is the lower lip of the front fender. The inside fender bracket tang partially tore the skin as a result of that old accident. My father put this big blob of weld on there to close and reattach the tang.


Here is an inside shot of it. You can see its still twisted and has a small seam weld on the leading edge.


I went ahead and cut that blob of weld out and will put a fresh piece of sheet metal in there for a cleaner job. This will also give me a chance to straighten out that tang and attach it properly. I know phil and I told you round patch corners Bill but if the patch is too small a square hole is all you can do with a cutting wheel short of a plasma cutter.


Started to establish my reference points so I can make the final cut on this old fender.




I'm using this right angle to get all my landmarks correctly established for the other side. The hole for the headlight mount tab is my main reference for its relation to the beehive light holes and horn grille opening.


Have to be very careful here; There is a little wiggle room where is can lay naturally on the fender in several slight positions. I've only got one shot to make a clean joint here. I'll measure this thing from several angles; probably at least 10 times before I'll be confident enough to make my final line and start cutting.

[JTR70]

Discovered I'll have to take a few steps back to be able to move forward again;as usual! I had no plans to remove the fender brace but after removing the fender mount tab and turning the car over I was able to see that the end of the brace is swollen and rusted through at the tip.


Removal was very easy at least. It will be nice to have unrestricted access the the headlight area as I weld and shape the new donor piece. I can also straighten out that side wall a little better too.


Here is the tip of that old brace. Swollen and rusty but probably very nice depending on what part of the country you're from. For the desert this is terrible!!


This fine blow sand has probably been there longer then I've been alive. It all just packed in at the tip and held any water that contacted it.

[JTR70]

I made this paper template from the left side then just flipped it over for comparison use on this side. Its all lined up as best as I could hope for! I put down four small tack welds on it and etched in my final cut line.


Donor section is tacked on overlapping the fender. Its all sighted up and I can now make my etch lines around the donor to make my final cut on the fender.


cut the tack welds and removed the donor for my final cut. Got out the tin snips and started cutting on my etched lines.

Finally ready to start welding this in permanently. Thanks for looking! Justin

[JTR70]

Started tacking it in slowly today. I began at the bottom and worked my way inward. Both side are vurtually undamaged in this area so I thought it would be best to let this section set the tone.


Fits like a glove so far..

The 1 o'clock-6 o'clock area lined up beautifully. This will allow me to chase all the irregularities on the other side out with some confidence thats its mounted like it should be. Just a theory! We'll see.


The rest is going to be tricky and super slow I can tell already. Alot of deformation as you can see. This fresh piece of steel is really highlighting where my dad had pushed areas of metal out too far and also not enough in other places. Before I was just lost in a sea bumps and waves with no true fixed and correct point to bring it to. I do now!


Perfect example here. The corner of the old fender still needs to come out a bit more to continue that flat area on the new piece.


Put two temporary tacks on the outer section so I can plan my next move. This whole area slightly overlaps a bit so I've have some more fine trimming too!


I Have the outer donor section in its final tacked position here. Both these pieces have old damage on this outer contour so hopefully I can get these two wrongs to make a right when its all welded together.


The overall contour of the fender is rough but defintely getting there. I know already I'll have to get the torches out and heat shink it in several areas. I'm welding it in about 2-3 inch sections and then dressing it smooth. This keeps the heat and the boredom down. I would get very impatient with it if I was grinding the whole seam down at once.

Inner seam is fully welded and dressed smooth both front and back. Just needs a little hand filing and some mild hammer finishing.

[JTR70]

Welding complete!

A long road stitching the outer run together but I'm happy with the basic shape.

Repairing a fatigue crack here and also welded in that small repair patch for the brace mount tang area.





Began heat shrinking the nose panel and raising up some flat spots.



Before I install the headlight bucket I wanted to try and get a little more shaping done on the fender. its so nice just to be able to reach in through this opening to hammer and dolly.


Raw steel doesn't give me too much in the way of a detailed overall picture of the highs and lows in the metal, But shinny black surface shows everything.



I went ahead and shot a thin tracer coat of primer and gloss black paint to highlight all the bad spots. This also works out perfeclty since I am not a proponent of laying filler on raw steel.


I'll never get rid of this old hammered brail effect to this surface; at least not without an English wheel. That would make it perfectly smooth again but that requires removal; gonna have to live with it! My goal is to just get the big stuff in close so the filler will only have to be a thin vennier. I can say one thing for sure; this fender is on its last chance. One more collision and I would definitely have to replace it. 8/14/10

[JTR70]

As luck would have it right after this last entry talking about how I would have to live with this hammer tone finish to the surface of this fender; my good friend and metal guru Jason bobruk just happened to be cruising the registry. Here was his response:

"Mate ,

you are into it ! I haven't been on the talk list in a while and really admire both your dedication
and progress. keep it up for the both of us!
Time is something that seems to be getting the better of most of us, you know how it is.
I haven't touched any of mine at all. clients cars first.
If I get to sema this year I will give you a day and we won't need any filler in that fender ( no e wheel required) I owe you that! " Jason


Here was my response:

Hey Jason! Great to hear from you! WOW! If you can message this fender smooth without an E-wheel I would Love to see it and maybe learn your technique. You don't owe me anything I'd pay you for your time. I'll leave the fender alone as of now and will contact you. Maybe we can set something up in November. I've got plenty to keep me going in the engine compartment until then. Thanks again! Justin 8/14/10


I left the fender as is and went straight to work on the engine compartment which I covered a few pages ago. Since this is not in real time I'm keeping all the repairs together start to finish with no skipping around.

Jason and his father Ludy drops by the shop! 11/7/10

I was almost ready to wrap up the right front fender repair as best as I knew how. I had shot a tracer coat of black paint on to locate all the big flaws so I could keep the filler as thin as possible. My thought was that the bumpy, hammer-tone finish on the damaged area would just have to stay. As fate would have it my good friend and metal fabricating guru Jason Bobruk from "down Under" read that last entry and generously offered to help me with the metal finishing come November while here in Las Vegas for the SEMA show. Being a man of his word, both he and his father came by my shop on Friday to give me a crash course in old school metal finishing. It included gas welding and shrinking with a Dillon hand torch, planishing and shrinking with hammer and doly, finishing with a body file, and finally lead wiping techniques. After putting in a full 7 hours both Jason and his dad expertly transformed this nasty old fender into something to really be proud of!! I just wanted to say THANK YOU once again to Jason and his father for sharing thier expertise and Valuable vacation time to teach me and work on this old beater! I am now practicing what they generously shared with me. Its going to make me a far better metal finisher. (hopefully soon) Maybe in a few years a can replicate the clinic they put on for me here. Thanks to you both once again! Its greatly appreciated! Justin



My man Jason pictured here getting ready to tame this fender gone wild! Intitial passes with the body file to highlight all the irregularities.

Planishing begins with anvil doly and shrinking hammer.


Another round of filing. These two processes were repeated as needed several times.


Bumps are steadly softening. Watching these two masters work was like seeing an artist paint a picture. It was just transforming right in front of my eyes!!!


Jason has now moved onto the top to address the the old high spots where my dad had beaten the fender out too far way back when and also my repair patch joint seam.


While Jason gave his arms a rest, his father (the master; actually they both are. Jason teaches this art at tech school back home. Wish I was close enough to take his class again!) took over and began to address the lower front section. Check out the skin now above the crown of the wheel well opening. Smooth and beautiful once again! I was and still am in Awe of their skills!


Getting toward the end of a lengthy session! They started to double team it to make the final push. Both Jason and his father are extremely hard workers! I was impressed with that as well!


Ludy gave it a few more pecks before we called it quits.


Jason here demonstrating lead wiping techniques. I have alot of homework!!

[JTR70]

The very impressive end result!


At days end most of the heavy lifting in this area was done! Only a few small spot areas remained. I was not only impressed with the end result but with how much progress was made in such a short time! What can I tell you; Master metal men!!!


Old damage and patch panel seam virtually wiped clean. Thank god my welds didn't fail they were gettin' worked!


I still can't believe this is the same piece of metal!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!! Justin

11/9/10
Back on it (solo) and on the learning curve. Slowly and very carefully working with my new tools and techniques I picked up from Jason and Ludy last week. The first several hours were unproductive. I was afraid to touch it with a hammer for fear of screwing up what they had just fixed. I spent most of Saturday just staring at it and rubbing my hands over my "new" fender. All the while trying to decide what to do next and which tool to use. It was paralysis by analysis at this point. I eventually became frustrated over the loss of production time and made my first small step.


I decided to start small and simple with some tiny low spots on top (middle) of the fender. I sprayed it with rattle can rustolium then block sanded it to expose these low areas. Played and experimented for a while here. it eventually went okay and I learned a few things as it went.


After gaining a little experience and confidence with the small spot on top I decided to go after my weld seam on the inner part of the fender. You can see the low spots and weld line which is still a bit high.


After some careful/slow hammer & doly work with one small area needing some heat; I was able to get the low spots pretty close. The file handled the high weld seam and my hammering marks. I'm very conservative with the file for fear of thinning the metal too much. Jason said it takes alot to thin it but I still get nervous. Anyway this little area is finished and am happy with it.


Slowy picking and filing the weld joint up front and the low spots.

Tiny black spots are slowly disappearing which means its leveling out just a bit more.

Found a few more low spots and carefully repeated the process.

Again the low spots are slowly being brought up.


could not be happier with crown and patch transition.

One more tracer coat for a final pass.

Some scars remain but I can certainly live with it!
Well, I think I'm about finished working this fender. With my new metal finishing tech experience;I've pushed it about as far as I dare to go. There are some very mild irregularities still in it that several more years of hands-on experinece could probably over come but as it stands now I think I'd better cut my losses. I'm just not comfortable working this area with a hammer and file any longer. Besides its better now then I dreamed possible short of full replacement. Thanks for stopping by! Headlight bucket and fender brace repair up next.

[roy mawbey]

Jason,

That 'patch' repair process with all the photo's was so interesting. It shows the process so well. Your friends help was also good to see. The result looks really good. I can understand just how you feel looking at the final result. Nothing explains the process better than a series of photo's.

I remember so well cutting 6 inches off the bottom of my drivers door in the 70's and fabricating the perfect repair panel. Then the tack welds then the horror of distortion. No chance really to get in from behind and no experience on really what to do next.
I put so much lead on the door you have hear it to believe it the solid thump as the door is closed.

I can say it doesn't look bad after 35 years have past but I know whats underneath the paint!

So, you understand why I liked your efforts here with your 'patch'.

Roy