The Official 356Talk Forum

Justin, what's the measurement down from the hood lip to that center hole for the emblem?

Here ya go Steve. Keep in mind the lip has been leaded and gapped to the hood so this maybe off by a few MM's. Justin

Man I wish my hood fit half as good as that. Your progress is amazing and your car is looking awesome.

Hey John, thank you so much its been a ton of work that has really tested my patience. You have been here since I began this thread a few years ago and I have really appreciated your posts of support. I hope your at least driving and enjoying your coupe on occasion. Thanks once again! Justin

Front and right side of the car are just about to my liking. It can always be better of course but I am shooting for final color this fall so I've got to keep it moving. Here are a few shots and details of last months progress. More photos and details can be found on my other build thread on ABCGT.com Thanks for looking! Justin

Dear Justin, you inspire us all. Know it has been said before, just had to say it again,

Thanks,
Shane

Thank you Shane! I appreciate all the support on this very long road. I'm hoping to reach your destination of a finished car here one day soon. Thanks again! Justin

Entire right side of the car is now ready for final paint. A ton of time spent A-B pillars, gutter details but I can finally live with it. A few photos below. More details and photos here: http://abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restorati ... =372#10631 ABCGT.com

Justin I wish I had your skills. The car is looking wonderful.

Hi Andrew, Thank you very much I appreciate you saying so! This car has been ALL up hill and any improvements being made are all in the course of doing it wrong at least once and sometimes for a third go-round but in the process I get a little smarter. I hope... Thanks again! Justin

Working on gapping and leveling the old deck lid in with its opening. Some trial and error but its at least headed in the right direction as of this evening. Below are a few pics. for additional photos and details please stop by: ABCGT.COM Link: http://abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Restorati ... =384#11195

Beginning my crash course in shrinking metal with a disc on that left rear fender. Very much on the learning curve but the fender is ever so slowly drawing back up and headed in the right direction A few progress shots are below. More photos and details here: ABCGT.com or http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Resto ... =396#12668

Left rear fender shrinking and shaping taken about as far as I can go. What remains will only require a skim coat. The shrinking disc is an absolute keeper. More photos and details at: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Resto ... =402#13018 orABCGT.com Thanks for looking! Justin

What a great thread...gives me some hope if I decide to go this route with my '55.

Hey Dave, Thank you very much! Wishing you the best of luck with your project should you decide to take it on come spring. You'll have more than enough help and guidance from this group of guys here. Thanks again! Justin

Into the left side run of this car and with that puts me down the home stretch of the body work phase. Only taken me 25 years to get here. Below are some recent progress shots. More pics and details can be found here: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Resto ... =414#13852 or ABCGT.com
Thanks for stopping by!
Justin

Justin Rio wrote:Only taken me 25 years to get here.

Well, maybe 25 years ago your skills would not have been at level to do such a great job. Haste makes waste
I'm currently schooling my skills on 4 different projects with high hopes that by the time I get to my 356 I can do a job at least half way as good as you are doing. Although I do also hope that it won't take me 25...

Technical question though: What are the pros about using a shrinking disc instead of a gas torch and wet sponge?

-will

Hey Will,
Thank you! Yeah, that's true its taken this long to make my mistakes and hopefully learn from them. As far as the disc versus the torch for shrinking each has its place during a specific phase. The torch is great for the initial metal bumping phase. When your in the fine finishing stage as I am in now the Disc is what you want to be using. The disc works so slowly and gradually which is perfect for control if you only need a small section to come down a few thousandths of an inch. If I put a torch on the same spot I showed earlier it would have made more work than it was there to correct. After cooling It would have sucked down 3-4 times the area That I needed and then I'd be back to hammer and dolly work to try and get it back close again. I've been down that road. With the disc I just heat and quench and gradually shrink it with no hammer needed unless of course I take it too far but the beauty is that its so controllable it hasn't really happened. Hope this made sense. Thanks again! Justin

Another detour/redo before this is over.
Unhappy with the forward section contour of the rear quarter panel and door joint/junction I ended up going back down to metal again to reduce the need for both my plastic filler and the factory lead thickness due to poor panel alignment from the Reutter factory. A few pics of this latest disaster are below and a full detailed description of the process can be seen here: http://www.abcgt.com/forum/14-356-Resto ... =420#14477
Or ABCGT.com Thanks for looking! Justin