57 356 A mild resto

[JTR70]

I completely understand not wanting to punch the hole in it. I could see where the buckles could be a pain for fill-ups etc. without it. Guess you'd have to "top it off" everytime to make it worth your while. No 20 dallor quick fills. Come on now no sensoring of the work progress Just kidding! I understand your pain, it was difficult enough trying weld and grind on the hoist. reaching down into that trunk well to do the metal work was a royal PIA!!!

[merbesfield]

I usually don't sensor my work, but this is some ugly welding. Not too worried, it will end up pretty, just going to take some time to get me back to smooth panels.

[roy mawbey]

I also think cutting a good front hood would be a shame. The engine lids are cheaper and as Justin has mentioned there are a number about.

The front straps are a matter of taste, you either like them or dislike them. To me the front looks best plain.

Looks like you will have a nice car when finished.

Roy

[JTR70]

Absolutely Roy, everyone has thier own ideas of what looks good and how they choose to outfit thier car. Keeps the world fun and interesting for sure. Justin

[JTR70]

Mark, I saw your question on the what to do about the cork-float on the sending unit. The cork on my unit is in the similar condition with coating now compromised. Don't have a picture but I cleaned the remaining cork then gave it several heavy coats of gas tank sealer to protect it. Haven't got a chance to try it yet but its epoxy and is desiegned for fuel immersion so I believe that is the answer short of replacing with a plastic float but that was always last resort. Hope this helps! Your battery floor turned out nice! Justin

[merbesfield]

A quick update. I continue to move forward, though not as fast as I would like, but progress no the less. I have not posted many pics as I pretty much live on my Ipad these days and it is not conducive to forum posting with pics. The battery box is basically finished, it needs some seam sealer and another coat of paint. Most of the front end brakes and suspension are are on the car. My body cart is preventing me from installing shocks and sway bar. Engine is now out of car. I have removed the minor parts in preparation for powdercoating of tin and some new seals. I have to buy a new oil cooler. When I test started the engine, the bypass valve stuck and blew the cooler out along with the seals. So I guess I will buy an aluminum version. Any opinions on this would be appreciated. Engine has been cleaned and is on stand waiting for parts delivery. On to the rear axle. I disassembled that last night and did the major scraping and cleaning, lots of fun. Next up is the cleaning of the inner fenders and prep for paint. Once the rear inner fenders are in paint, I will paint the axles and reassemble them. One of my rear bearings had failed and when pulled basically fell apart. Good thing I decided not to run it like without changing. To get the bearings out I used a method I read about on the registry where you cut a slot in the bearing. Using a screw driver and a BFH you pull the axle out just a bit then drive it back in. I decided to modify the design a bit when one of the bearings was stuck. Entire process was fairly easy and straight forward. Will post steps below this post.

[merbesfield]

After doing a bit of research on the 356 Registry I found a posting about how to remove the rear wheel bearings if you do not have a puller. I am sure I could have waited a day a borrowed a puller, but you know how it is when you are in the thick of a project and want to move forward. Here is the link to the original post.

Bearing removal trick

One of my bearings was already slightly out so I did not even have to cut a groove, however one was a bitch. I did a little head scratching bc I did not want to chance marring the face of the bearing hub while wresting with this stuck bearing. The pictures should tell the story, but what I did was bolted some flat stock to the hub so I would not have to hold a third item, the drill bit, against the hub. The bearing was so stuck that the bit kept bouncing out. The spacer on this axle was also stuck so that made it tougher. In the end the bearing popped loose and the trick worked great. Once I got the bearing to start moving, I used varying thicknesses of plate steel between the hub and the bearing, taping the axle shaft. It only took a few minutes to get the bearings off. I used a ziz wheel not the dremel tool mentioned.

[JTR70]

The back end is cleaning up nice Mark! Looks like you have been elbow deep in grease and grime. From the photos I can appreciate all the dirty grunt work you have done here. Hand sanding the axle tubes, cleaning that trans case WHEW! what a mess, been there and done that! My nails are getting dirty just looking at these photos. Nice job wrestling that bearing out! This might be helpful to someone in a similar jamb in the future. Thanks for posting and explaining it. Its always something with these cars isn't it? Thank you again Mark and please keep them coming! Justin

[merbesfield]

Here you can see that I was able to get some paint on the freshly cleaned areas. I did not work on the inner fenders yet. I concentrated on the area around the seat pans and axles. I guess I will shoot some undercoating once I decide which way I am going to go with that. Next up will be some seam sealer and then more paint on top of the seam sealer. Unfortunately, some PO torched out the two lower corners of my engine surround that would have been used for Carrera engine install, I think. Not sure why someone would do this? Would it have anything to do with the 912 engine installation? Not sure I will deal with this now since it has little to do with anything. Just depends on my energy level.




Here in this before picture you can see the old undercoating, which I removed. You can also see the dented in PS rear seat pan. Not sure how that would happen. It is pretty tucked up in there. But I was able to get it pretty straight.




Its hard to see with all that shiny aluminum foil. I have not pulled it yet since I have to seam seal and apply some more paint. I guess I should decide about the undercoating and try to knock it out at the same time. The challenge is that I am not removing all the old undercoating. I have some black Wurth SKS stone guard that I was thinking about using, just not sure if it would blend with the old tar based stuff. Need to shoot some test samples.

[merbesfield]

Mounting point differences.

First step channel the channel.

Weld it closed.

And finish it off. Same treatment both sides.

Next step add material to the end to match the factory.




After that fit and install. This is when I ran out of gas, literally and figuratively.

[JTR70]

Hi Mark,
Really nice work! I like the extra attention to detail concerning the tip. Its very easy to say "to hell with it who's gonna ever see it anyway" but its these small details that really add up in the end. I've said this before about any aftermarket part regardless of who produces it; they are all only close replicas of the originals and its up to the craftsman to bring it up that last 10% they all fall short on to make it look and fit right. The channel stock being off a few MM is the perfect example. Close but no cigar! On your previous post I am absolutely convinced that shelf was trimmed out of the way for an exhaust system. Running a 912 motor would not matter unless they were trying to use a 912 exhuast system with it. I know how you feel I'd like to kick the old owners of my car square in the ass for the stupid shit they did to it but all you can do is fix it. Never used tin foil for masking but I'm gonna try it; looks really nice to work with! Your car is coming along great! Thank you for this update and look forward to the next one! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Yes Mark, Also enjoying looking at your work. Looks great.

Roy

[merbesfield]

How would I know if the exhaust is 912 vs 356? I am betting it is 912, bc the entire engine looks almost new. It has been with the car for over 30 years.

Saw the alumninum foil trick on some TV show. First time I have used it and it worked great. Very big time saver and great results.

Thanks guys.

[merbesfield]

Got some shop time yesterday. Finished the welding of rear fender braces, applied seam sealer to front battery pan and started working on the heat exchangers. The exchangers were in excellent condition. Again, based on the condition, paint, remaining plating etc. the engine does not appear to have been used too much. I disassembled the HE and metal worked the minor bumps and bruises. Made sure all the doors sit nice and even. After that, I had time to glass bead blast one of them. I am using a new product called New Age Media. It is recycled crushed glass. I use the Fine grit. This product works great. A little dusty at first, but it leaves the metal with a beautiful finish. I am going to have these along with the engine tin E coated, followed by some form of black paint. I have never done it before, but from what I have read the Ecoating gives great results. I will have all the hardware re-plated in yellow zinc. Once the seam sealer is dry, I will apply one final coat of black paint. Thanks for watching.

Before

After



Seam sealer

[merbesfield]

Question for you guys, is this double spring correct? It looks like something that would have been added, but both sides were exactly the same. None of the other hardware had been touched.

Edit, also notice the control lever. It looks like it has been welded or rather brazed in some custom configuration. Stock? This is a 69 912 motor in my 57A, which someone installed over 30 years ago.