55 Coupe project

[Bruce Baker]

Steve, thanks for the tips. The wooden boat stuff might be an interesting resource. No doubt that involves a lot of of interesting curves. Will check it out.

My specific issue now is that I am putting two brand new fenders onto 89379. (104006 will get a new left fender when the time comes). NOS fenders are just flat at the trailing edge, with a considerable amount of meat to be trimmed away. The doors are in quite nice shape already, and are fitting the rear and bottom gaps correctly. I would seem to need an x-ray machine to see the profile of the leading edge of the door when the fender is fitted over it! For obvious reasons, I'd like to get this right the first time. Something I've been puzzling over for a couple of months now.
DG

I'm just getting into this thread and it's late and I'm tired, but I'll try to tell you how I get the door arc on new fenders.
Lay the fender 'about' where it will wind up (tech screws, clamps), overlapping the set door. Mark the edge of the fender onto the door, remove fender.
Measure from the leading (that's leeding) edge of the door back past the mark for the fender, all up and down the door with horizontally measured, parallel marks, the same distance from the forward edge.
You then can replace the fender and go forward from the rearmost marks on the door to mark the fender where the front edge of the door is, by measurement, and then do a gap approximation from that, forward, knowing that a nice tape line will be the final guide for smoothness and the 'leeding' edge of the door, as mentioned, was designed for filler ('lead' or led) to perfect the gap as a last step.
Allow 13-15mm for the return and factor that to about 5mm for the gap before you trim the 'extra' off the new fender edge.
The most difficult aspect to predict is the amount of space lost or added to any gap space by bending and that is altered by the thickness of the metal used.
Being sure the trailing edge of the inner splash panel is not too rearward or forward away from the newly formed bend over it, as mentioned earlier, small bites with a reverse narrow pliers gets the curved bend started a little at a time. When a good start is angled back, a hammer and dolly is used to continue the fold.
A couple of tack welds inside to secure the averaging of it all when satisfactory is the last thing in that area.
Heck, it's easier to do it than describe it!

OK, Phil, I guess I better read more, like maybe Ron's book. (I am just distracted by the irony of Ron in his "kill 'em-save 'em" garb on the cover, but that takes nothing away from his 356 experience and I'll probably learn something.)

[Steve Harrison]

Bruce Baker quote:

"Lay the fender 'about' where it will wind up (tech screws, clamps), overlapping the set door. Mark the edge of the fender onto the door, remove fender.
Measure from the leading (that's leeding) edge of the door back past the mark for the fender, all up and down the door with horizontally measured, parallel marks, the same distance from the forward edge.
You then can replace the fender and go forward from the rearmost marks on the door to mark the fender where the front edge of the door is, by measurement, and then do a gap approximation from that, forward, knowing that a nice tape line will be the final guide for smoothness and the 'leeding' edge of the door, as mentioned, was designed for filler ('lead' or led) to perfect the gap as a last step."


BAM..!

I knew it... Bruce, you just described perfectly how plank curves are put on planks in boat construction. It's also how boats are "lofted" from plans...to "get out" a plank from the wood, you measure from a fixed point to another intended desired point or angle, and do this a number of times along a desired curve, then connect the "dots" with a batten ,..usually a very flexible strip of thinly ripped wood. Technically, in this instance, it's a combination of spiling and lofting. Some work methods transfer between disciplines. These types of things really get me juiced up. The interdisciplinarianism of it all. (Did I just spell that word?,...like you said,...it's late....., note my post time It's 3 AM East Coast...

I won't go into how on a boat plank there's a third dimension,...the edge angle to deal with, because planks are thick, and the edges are not square but, rather, angled, to make a "V" shaped cauking joint when laid up Carvell, edge to edge. You have yet another way to screw up the cut, even after you get the curve right. But I digress....

It's kinda what I was getting at when I said to lay the fender on the door and draw a scribe line of the "extra" metal of the fender where it lays on the door...then remove it and measure forward to where you want to be on the door,..the edge. Transfer these measurements to the fender as a series of target points, and connect the dots with a batten, or just draw the line in freehand if you've made enough measuring points. If you do your level best, you'll hopefully be within what the "leading"..(soft toxic metal) of the leading (forward) edge of the door will allow for final adjustment by filler or lead.

Man,..we need to come up with some sane way of delineanting between "leading",...and,...."leading". Gets confusing. You really have to rely on context.

[Steve Harrison]

At the library today so I thought I'd post a few new pics.
I noticed the lip of the engine tray on my car had a different profile than the two rear repair panels I have. On the car the edge turns a 90 straight down, and then turns another 90 to make a lip that curls under. The repair panels just turn at an angle and stop.

So today I fixed them.


This is the panel as supplied. Note the slanted profile.



To get this thing to turn a 90 the metal has to stretch. I use heat to help this along. I find it easier to clamp off the torch and move the panel to it. Easier to work that way.



A little heat



A little hammering.



You constantly have to keep correcting the panel on top to keep it flat.





And now it's a 90

[Steve Harrison]

So, now to form the turned under lip.
First the layout.



This is a good example of the use of a fid, which is essentially a spacer of the thickness you want. Scoot it along with your finger while marking. This will be the fold line.



Then using a slightly thicker fid, marking the cut line, and the excess is trimmed away.



Then, it's some heat and the initial bend started with some pliers.
Man, this looks ugly, but it'll clean up,...honest.



Here's how it looks after getting the turn started.






Then, using a dolley made up to the right thickness, start hammering the fold up neater.





Again, you constantly have to go back and correct for straightness.



A little work with the flap wheel. I love flap wheels.




And finally a bit of filling. Now it's starting to look like something.



Here's the profile, and now it matches the existing in the car.



And finally, a dry fit. A little tweaking and these guys are ready to go in for good.

I don't know if these are made now with this type lip, but the ones I had came with the car all those years ago so I decided to go ahead and make them into what I needed.
I can't afford to waste anything at this point.

[Steve Harrison]

Well it's been a year and a half since my last post about the coupe.
I have to laugh when I read my first post, "I can see the end in sight"...HA.
In the interim we had our first baby (see avatar) and now I am a full time stay at home Dad. We started late.

His name is Finch, he will be one this week, and it's his car now. Finally,..somebody to leave all this junk to.
Things have progressed, only more slowly. The last post shows the rear engine tray fab and now it's in and the rear end is finished. When I got the car it was in pieces with the rear end cut off by P/O to start fixing a badly smashed and poorly repaired previous mishap. I had never seen the car with the rear end on it in the 25 years I'd owned it. Imagine how I felt seeing it look "whole" for the first time.
I hope to post more often here, and have some catch up to do. Here are a few pictures of the rear clip job.

[Steve Harrison]

This shows the fitment process. What I did was go ahead and set the gaps with the deck lid and then I just lightly welded some scrap pieces across the gap to keep it from changing. Cut them off later with a wheel and ground the bumps. They left virtually no marks. I don't know if other people do it this way, but I just thought it up and did it. It worked.

[Steve Harrison]

The lower bit of the rear skirt or valance as some people call it, was pretty bad. I checked with Trevor and he doesn't make just this part so I was on my own. Here's what I did to make it.

[Steve Harrison]

Here's how it all came out.
When working with the metal I leave it in the treated state to keep surface rust from forming. I live in Georgia you know,..it's humid. Well, just before PPG epoxy sealer I cleaned it all down to spotless metal.
After the sealer,...yes, I know,...filler. But this is as you can see more of a skim coat,..incredibly thin. Most people won't show you this shot. But with just about every car,...it's there. I worked the hammer and dolly for quite a while getting all the bumps and bruises out, but in the end, there's just no way to get the perfect surface I'm after without a skim coat,..so here it is. Then it's on to a second coat of PPG epoxy sealer. I am basically done with the bulk of the body work at this point. Being too cold to do any more primer and blocking I have spent this winter working on the original engine. It's nearly done at this point and I'll post some pics of that soon.

[Steve Harrison]

I almost forgot to mention,...you don't see Sammy the cattle dog in these pictures. Sadly, Sammy died this summer and is now out by the creek that he loved so much. I still have the beagle, but he'd have to get off the couch to be in the pictures....not gonna happen.

[Phil Planck]

Steve
Thanks for the interesting posts. Nice work! Sorry about Sammy.

[Will Scheidegger]

Nice work Steve!

You've mentioned the "heat absorbing wadding" you used against warpage. Do you have a product link for more details on that? Thanks!

-will

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Will,
It's from Eastwood. I bought it a long time ago found that it is reuseable and also you can "recharge" it by just adding water to the can. I've used the same can of this stuff for years and years. You lose a little each time because the bit closest to the weld gets crunchy but the rest is recoverable. I love this stuff. http://www.eastwood.com/ew-anti-heat-compound-1-qt.html

Another trick (which a lot of other people use also) is to back up the weld with a piece of copper. You can see a strip of it lying on the floor in the picture where the back end is cut off. Clamp it behind the intended weld and you can weld even thin metal with ease. The weld will not stick to the copper. It also makes the reverse side of the weld look really good. Eastwood sells copper pieces, but I just use a piece of scrap copper roofing. When it gets rumpled, I just hammer it flat again on the anvil. They also have those clamps I love. It's an ingenious way to get the butt joints perfectly aligned both in gap and surface elevation. Indespenible in my book.

[Will Scheidegger]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the quick reply.

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-anti-heat-compound-1-qt.html

Interesting. I think I'll give that a try.

Another trick (which a lot of other people use also) is to back up the weld with a piece of copper.

I've got my piece of cooper ready

They also have those clamps I love. It's an ingenious way to get the butt joints perfectly aligned both in gap and surface elevation. Indespenible in my book.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these clamps will work fine for MIG welding. For TIG I would guess that you'll be better off with a the two panels touching (no gap)...

BTW: That rear end really turned out nicely!

-will

[Steve Harrison]

Thanks for the kind words Phil and Will. It's been a long haul to get to this point.

Will, as far as Tig,..I don't own one and have done very little of it outside of a class I took once. I'll defer to others with working experience as to optimum gap (or lack of).
The clamps hold the metal about 40 thousandth's inch gap which seems to work very well for mig.

[Steve Harrison]

I want to thank all the people who have helped me out with this project, with advice, tips, and parts. I owe a few beers yes.
Now that the body work is nearly done, and I'm getting ready to start posts about engine I went back through the many pictures taken along the way and found a few random ones that I thought I'd post.