User Profile

[JTR70]

Getting ready to make the first cut.
Before cutting the bar it was slid inward by that one inch that was removed out of the bumper to establish...

[JTR70]

Best place to make the changes:
Tube mounted directly to the upright as starting point.
Not only too long now but swings very high and wide...

[JTR70]

Going to have to cut the overrider tubes.
The bars at the stock length mounted into the bumperette with the stock hole reach way too far now making...

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, I can understand wanting that small change. Those exhaust ports can get very sooty if you don't stay on top of them.

[JTR70]

So many peripheral repairs...Good thing its close by now. Keep up the great work!

[JTR70]

Next issue raises its head:
Excess removed then onto shaping and heeling over the arch flange.
Locating the best bumperette profile shape...

[JTR70]

Hi Roy, I meant to ask you a while back; does your car have that raised embossment for the 356B reverse light? Thank you! It was very nice to scrounge...

[JTR70]

Congratulations on finally getting it back to your shop, the progress will really get going no doubt. Interesting bumperette/nerf bar. Paper thin clearance!...

[JTR70]

Reestablishing the exhaust arches.
Paper template traced out from the original shape. You can see the remains of the old arch has just been moved...

[JTR70]

Repair patch complete. New bracket mount fabrication:
After several rounds of hammering and filing I had chased it about as far as I could. Deco...

[JTR70]

Rust repair patch:
Began with a flat piece of 18 gauge.
Gradually planishing in a soft rounded shape to match the bumper profile.
...

[JTR70]

Rust and old collision repair:
Here is how a stock 356A deco now fits. Like the bumper it would had to have been cut and sectioned just like the...

[JTR70]

Test fitting deco:
Locked in the needed shape and just about ready to commit to welding up this run. 90% of that buckle from a previous old accident...

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! It was a very lucky break with that deco strip, sometimes things work out that way. Definitely it all has to look factory correct when...

[JTR70]

Making changes requires more changes:
One inch removed from each side is our magic number to achieve that uniform fit and reveal with this tail...

[JTR70]

Chopping and recontouring the rear bumper to suit:
We had this rough T2 bumper on hand so I decided to use it as the test bed for the best places...

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, The difference is so subtle that nobody could really pick up on it. Not even with an A and a T5 car sitting side by side. I only found it through...

[JTR70]

Direct overlay for comparison:
356A tail skin clamped directly to this T5 tail for further confirmation regarding this shape discrepancy. Clamped...

[JTR70]

This is a full on 356BT5 tail skin factory installed on this late 356AT2.

Took a hard detailed look as to why this factory T2 rear bumper...

[JTR70]

Always interesting to see the creative ways guys come up with to do things wrong. Five hours on a bumper I can surely imagine as the time slips by quickly...