57 T1 Coupe Project

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Matt McGinn
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Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 10:34 pm

57 T1 Coupe Project

#1 Post by Matt McGinn »

After having owned this car for a while, it has been gratifying to be able to make some progress on it.

Its a 57 t1 coupe, bought as a project, this is what it looked like coming home:

ImageDSC_0120 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/29110923@N05/

It was silver/red and will go back to that. The car was originally sold in Los Angeles, and likely either remained there for a long time or was used sparingly, which explains the lack of deep rooted corrosion. What struck me most is that the car still had its original floorpan, battery tray, longitudinals, etc. This does not mean that they panels are without fault and won't need repairs or replacement (longtudinals) but what it means is that there is generally factory rationality to how it is put together so I won't have to spend endless days grinding someone else's nasty plug welds to get some questionable repair out of the way to begin doing good work. Unfortunately some type of rear end accident meant that there rear body panel and left quarter panel had been cut off.

Most of the original paint had been stripped from the outer body panels.

ImageDSC_0064 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

The hood, happily unkinked, had never been removed.

ImageDSC_0108 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr


Mice had nested in both longitudinals and they had a few soft spots, so they were cut off so I could properly clean inside them. Note the lack of corrosion on the heater channel supports. The jack spurs were in good shape, albeit dented from use with a floor jack, and will be straightened and installed.

ImageDSCF2827 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

Most of the car still had what was left of its original undercoat. In spots it had been recoated. Scraping the undercoat and removing the factory sound deadening panels (most of which had been started to be removed already) and wire brushing meant that when it was media blasted, it could be done lightly without damaging the metal.

ImageDSCF2881 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

When I started media blasting, I noted some markings under paint/sound deadener or undercoating. There was also a "25" marked in yellow paint on the underside of the roof skin and also on the backside of the nose panel. My assumption is that this was done to keep the two panels together as the noses and rear body panels/quarters and roof panel were built separately at Reutter and reunited once the "chassis" had been built.

[*]ImageDSCF2891 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

Grease pencil writing on the right rocker panel:

ImageDSCF2897 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

Successful removal of foreign matter means using the least destructive yet still effective methods which are scraping, wire brushing, sanding, solvent washes, and of course media blasting. A rotisserie makes things so much easier.

ImageDSC_0295 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0897 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0888 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0901 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0871 by Sports Car Restoration, LLC, on Flickr

Next is to completely coat the body shell in epoxy primer.
Matt McGinn
57 T1 Coupe

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Jim Nelson
356 Fan
Posts: 2138
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:18 pm
Location: SoCal

Re: 57 T1 Coupe Project

#2 Post by Jim Nelson »

Great project, wish I could find an A with good bones. Love the workspace, I bet it fills up fast.

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