'59 356 A coupe door identification

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tom collingwood
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#16 Post by tom collingwood »

Jim Breazeale wrote:
tom collingwood wrote:anybody have a picture of a 1959 coupe door on the inside with the door panel removed?
Supposedly 1958 and 1959 are the same door. (different then the early A door ineer structure)

What makes the 58/59 door different then a 1960+ door?
58(T2) and 59(T2) Coupe doors are the same. They are way different than T1 doors that proceeded them. A T5 door is very similar but has a bit of difference at the top to support the window frame with vent windows. The T5 and T2 doors appear to have been made from the same stamping.

Regards

Jim
thanks!
I have recently seen 1957 and older doors and now understand the difference of the inner structure.
The 58-59 look much like the 1960+ and will have a set to compare next week to see the exact difference.

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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#17 Post by tom collingwood »

here is an interesting discovery i made on my 1959 Coupe.

There is no "notch" or "wedge" on the door post of the body in which the Door slots into.
It is an original body that never had the posts replaced.

I assumed the 1959 and older all had the "notch" in the lower door post?

As far as i know, the 1960-1965 coupe never had this "notch" on the body and therefore no "tab" on the doors.
All my vent window collection of doors for 1960+ do not have the tab.

I have a pair of 1958-1959 doors with this "tab" on them however my coupe dosnt have the "notch".

Anybody familure with this? Would it be a "late" 1959 body thing?

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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#18 Post by John Brooks »

I think the T-1 door has the v notch striker at the lower of the door pillar, the T-2 has the later striker toward the top. I think the striker location split was was T-1 to T-2 bodies. Look at your front air grills, they moved at the same time.
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#19 Post by Jim Breazeale »

John Brooks wrote:I think the T-1 door has the v notch striker at the lower of the door pillar, the T-2 has the later striker toward the top. I think the striker location split was was T-1 to T-2 bodies. Look at your front air grills, they moved at the same time.
One of the biggest differences, at least visually, between T1 and T2 doors on the inside is the position of the door handles and the window crank handles. T1s have the two handles one behind the other horizontally. T2 and all later 356 doors have the two handles approximately one on top of each other vertically.

Regards

Jim
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#20 Post by tom collingwood »

here is interesting discovery.

I have a door with a vent window. It does not have a wedge.
The window regulator is dated 6/59

how would a vent window regulator be dated 6/59?

I assumed the 1959 early and late had no vent windows?

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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#21 Post by Nanette Reid »

My 4/59 (107399) coupe doesn't have the notch, nor a vent window.

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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#22 Post by tom collingwood »

Nanette Reid wrote:My 4/59 (107399) coupe doesn't have the notch, nor a vent window.
The notch must have been phazed out prior to 4/59 sometime.
My 7/59 has no notch either.

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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#23 Post by Al Zim »

Vent windows were available on the 356A cars off the top of my head I cannot remember if that started in 1958 or 1959 now in 2019 my guess would be that the vent windows started in 1959. T-1 doors have the latch about 5 inches from the top of the door and only one support through the center of the door. On T-1 cars the window winder did not have a spring assist and took more than 3 turns of the crank to move it through it's travel. al zim 2018/10/03 update 2019/07/04
Last edited by Al Zim on Fri Jul 05, 2019 10:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#24 Post by David Pateman »

This was discussed some time ago, and the following changes noted going back as far as 107300:
no wedges; black (knobs wheel steering column turn signal switch); engine tray pieces being welded in place; T-5 battery box
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#25 Post by John Chatley »

Tom,

FYI.... on page one you mention that your build date on your Kardex is "1/7/59".
Kardexes are written in German and European dates are written as day/month/year, or the 1st day of July, 1959.

As you state later, your '59 coupe # 108252 was built in 7/59.
Some people can get confused because our USA COAs can be written in English as month/day/year.

Mark,
356A Convertible D door measurements wouldn't apply to a 356A coupe as they are different designs, with the D being a lower car overall and modeled after the Speedster's dimensions.
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#26 Post by tom collingwood »

i am selling a matching pair of doors with the wedge.
I assume it is specific to 1957-1958 given the style of door inner structure and the wedge location.
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#27 Post by Jim Breazeale »

tom collingwood wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:48 am i am selling a matching pair of doors with the wedge.
I assume it is specific to 1957-1958 given the style of door inner structure and the wedge location.
Tom

Your doors are exactly the same as 59 doors except for the tiny screw holes that attach the wedges. Your doors appear to be pretty solid. I would go with those rather than buying doors and finding out that they aren't as good as the ones you sold.

Regards

Jim
PS: 57 YM doors are very diffferent!
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Re: '59 356 A coupe door identification

#28 Post by tom collingwood »

Jim Breazeale wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:49 pm
tom collingwood wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:48 am i am selling a matching pair of doors with the wedge.
I assume it is specific to 1957-1958 given the style of door inner structure and the wedge location.
Tom

Your doors are exactly the same as 59 doors except for the tiny screw holes that attach the wedges. Your doors appear to be pretty solid. I would go with those rather than buying doors and finding out that they aren't as good as the ones you sold.

Regards

Jim
PS: 57 YM doors are very diffferent!
thanks!

I actually ended up using a pair of 1962 door for my 1959 build.
I wanted to keep the "wedge" doors for somebody who needed them more then me. It appears they would work for a 1958.

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