The Official 356Talk Forum

Made some good progress on the build today. Start working on the inner fenders as well as the metal around the shock mount. The first piece came out pretty nice but it was only one curve. The next piece was a lot of banging, shrinking, stretching, and more shaping. I ended up cutting it in two piece which helped get the curves better.
So far so good.

And some more.

So we are getting about a foot of wet snow today. Why is that good news? Because no one will show up at the shop except me, and the hearty UPS man, can't stop him!
But I got to set up a bunch of new equipment and try it out. I was able to get the new Planishing Hammer going, only a couple of strange fittings and stuff, but it's now fully operational. I also set up the shrinker/stretcher which came with a cool mount that mounts to the vise, so I can put it away when I'm not using it. That's handy for a tool you might only use a couple times a month, it isn't taking up valuable floor space.
Between the P Hammer, English Wheel, shrinker, and hand hammer, I am getting the curves I need. Metal work is slow, but you can see progress.
I think I'm going to try and head in this weekend so stay tuned!

Very satisfying day today. Up at 6AM on a Sunday is strange but you do what you have to do for the project, right?
I brought in some reinforcements on this one because I was making too many guesses with the front suspension so my mechanic Rick from Bavarian Rocket Science was kind enough to make an early morning cameo. Sure enough in a little over an hour his skill was on full display, setting up the front suspension beam as well as figuring out we needed to shorten the front sway bar in order for the shock to clear.
Not only has Rick been racing for decades he also worked on these cars when they were new, so his eye can quickly do what would take me days of trail and error to figure out.
Now that the suspension was set I got to work on the inner fender well and it went really well, sorry, bad pun. But the metal really flowed the way I wanted it to. It was a combination of shrinking, pounding, wheeling, and P-Hammering, then repeat. I got the piece within about 80% of where I want it before I ran out of time. I told my kids I would be home by noon to hit the flea market and spend the day working on craft projects. I got back at 12:11, off to the Flea Market!!

As Ice Cube would say, "today was a good day!"

I started with the middle section of the cowl under the suspension beam. It went in almost perfectly, a little tweeking, but I was happy with the result. I then went to the passenger side piece and it was all wrong, I messed with it for about an hour and finally tossed it and made another, which I was much happier with. The driver's side piece needed a little finishing but was un-eventful. I got all three pieces welded in and it's strong. I plan on doing more metal on the back side and in the corners to make sure the strength is there, but I am happy with the result today.

What a task! Nice watching it come together.

Chuck

Ok, now that winter has hit and I have some time I've made some good progress. I got the front buttoned up with the front cowl and fenders done. My mechanic Rick is coming over Sunday to help me set up the suspension, then I can get the car back on wheels for the first time in years. Hopefully by next week I can cut the center cut and finally get the chassis done. After that it's body fitting time.

Skipped out on a party on Sunday and made some progress on the car, it's starting to take shape.

Coming along great, Adam.

Chuck

Ok, today was kind of a big day, I put the car on 4 wheels for the first time in years. Now that it can roll I can move it into the main work area and start on the final chassis cuts. Oh, and bye-bye to the big brakes!

That's about the ugliest welding I've ever seen.

Well, it hasn't been cleaned up and how many people are going to have their heads up my wheel well?

Ok, finally caught up at the shop with all the Covid backlog, now I can spend some time on my projects.
Started cutting the sides down in anticipation of the big cut, shortening the body.

Got the driver's side where I wanted it. I'm hoping I can retain the jack spur, it would be nice to have a hard jack point.

Feels good to get back to work, almost back to normal, at least the shop is, not the outside world, normal is far off there.

Our selling season is over so I can concentrate on long term shop projects and my projects until Spring, so expect weekly updates moving forward.

Very excited catching up on this thread. Keep up the amazing work.

Nothing crazy today, just clearing the car for the big day tomorrow. Tomorrow we cut, the car in half! The day I've been both wanting and dreading. In order to make the 904 body fit I have to take 5 inches out of the length.
More updates tomorrow!