Trying to finish Carrera coupe 58367 before I die!

[Justin Rio]

I have enjoyed following all the recent project build posts. I decided to add my long term project, in the hopes of keeping the fire lit under my ass to finally complete it. Rusty and several other guys have really shown me what a slacker I have been. I won't bore you with the early history of this car; Adam Wright already wrote a very nice article about it on his unobtainium web page. (the 75.00 Carrera) I started this car in 1987 after my father was kind enough to give it to me when I turned 16. Over the next two years I learned alot about paint and body work from my dad and this rough old car. He was a master bodyman and painter with a high attention to detail. Welding on the other hand was not his strong suit which I later found out.


Here is the car in '87 getting its first coat of Dp40 epoxy primer.

By 1990 we had it running and about 85% assembled. I had a 912 engine and disc brakes for it. I ran it up the street a couple of times but there much to sort out and I was leaving that fall for school. It then went into long term storage until 1999.


summer 1990

by '99 I had made friends with a well versed 356 restorer here in town. On my many visits; watching several 356's undergo steel work I soon realized that all our early good intentioned rust repairs were completely wrong and would have to be corrected. Mainly seam welds, instead of spot welds. Partially patched longitudinal repairs instead of full clean replacements. I wanted it right so I set back to work on it; blasted it clean again and putting it on a rotisserie.

2000
I removed the rockers and our old repairs and did a full replacement. Correctly this time. I was over the color red by now and decided to take it back to Silver/red as it came originally. I stripped all the paint off in the jambs and the underside surfaces. I left the outside of the body panels alone and just block sanded them down as far as I could go. I had way too much of my youth invested in getting those surfaces straight. I added a thin tracer coat of silver and white to start lighting it for the final paint job. In 2002 I had to put it on this steel cart and attend to other projects I had going.

So here I am over 20 years later and I still dont have a finished product. I'm turning 40 this december and have decided to make a hard push and get the final welding done and have a painted shell.

Its back on my rotisserie and in my new shop which is much closer to home. I'm hoping this thread keeps me on track and at the same time maybe to inspire someone else to get back on thier stalled project. Time keeps slipping!

My first small welding task is to repair the rear seat pan. No rust, just an old hatchet job to one side from an attempt in the 1960's to fit a Corvair drivetrain. Not by us by the way.

its done now, Will post its repair shortly.

Thanks for listening!

Justin

[John Parker]

Hello Justin,
I am also in Henderson, NV and thinking of buying an old 356 to tinker with. I will be watching your build progress with interest. Good Luck!

Regards,
John

[Adam Wright]

Here is a link to the story. A great one, a truly great one.

http://unobtaniuminc.wordpress.com/2009 ... d-carrera/

[Justin Rio]

This one of the repairs that I'm please is behind me. This panel was not rusty but the last owner had hacked a bunch of slits in this corner of the panel as reliefs. They then took a large hammer and had severely beat it in to make way for thier modification. It was too mangled to fix.

Here is one of our famous patches from the 80's. You can just make it out in green. (note the missing face/bulkhead off the tunnel.) Its a partial fender from a VW bug. It had close enough contour to the rest of the panel so my dad thought it was a natural fit. He was the master on site and I was the lowly young apprentice. It looked great at the time! In '99 when I realized everthing must be certain way I removed it; along with many others.

I recently found a very nice original donor piece from this very corroded chassis from the Hawiian islands. It was about the only section that wasn't badly rotted. "it was meant to be"

The most difficult part of installing this piece was making the raw leading edge and metal flange under the trans hoop mount look natural and undisturbed. This would require the parcel shelf on the top side to be removed so I could have access to fit and weld it into position. So I drilled all the spot welds out and removed the shelf. Though it was a pain it was nice to have it out so I could address all the surface rust properely fit my new repair panel , weld it in and then paint and seal this compartment. I also got about a cup of fine blow sand out that had worked its way in. A moisture holder for sure! Here is the panel welded in, primed and all the joints filled with 3M heavy drip check.




Both sides were then fully painted and the parcel shell was ready to welded back in.


the bottom only needs some final finishing on my weld seams. The panel gives me back every correct detail I was after. The missing rolled strengthening rib that the VW fender could not provide and even the metal holding tang to the wiring harness.






leading joint seams is clean and left factory looking


restoring and installing the original jack spurs next............. Thanks for reading this! Justin

[Antonio Garcia]

Justin,
Great to see you are kickin' it into gear! Btw, is your shop still in BC or did you move?

I've seen some of your work and it looks pretty good. I still have a few repairs to do to my '65 356 SC...maybe I might get in gear too.

[Edwin Ek]

Hi Justin,

I read in the blog on Adam's site that you have 5.5" RSK wheels. What makes them RSK? I ask because I also have a pair of 5.5"s, and I don't know what they are from. They have no provision for hubcaps. Is that the way yours are? I too have Carrera 4.5"s for the front. Were there ever 4.5" RSK wheels?

[Justin Rio]

Hi Edwin,

I made a mistake when I gave Adam the details on the wheels. They are 5 inches wide not 5.5's They do have holes for the hubcap clips. They are a different offset then a 4.5 carrera wheel. They also have a unique part number. I'd have to look at them again though. I don't know if they made a 4.5 RSK version. I'm sure a member has the answer to that.

Regards, Justin

[Justin Rio]

When I started the longitudinal replacement in '99 I was using new after market units of course. My plan was to also include new rocker assemblies and jackspurs. though my original rockers & spurs had only some mild spots of rust and a few dings, my though was that it would be a much cleaner job using all fresh steel. With this intention I set about aggressively removing my original rockers and spurs with my diegrinder. A move I would later regret very much! (original rocker reapir post later) With the longitudinals done I put the car back on the steel cart and moved on before I bought and installed new spurs and rockers. In 2005 I became really good friends with the late Craig Stevenson. Many of you are familiar with him I'm sure. He was a long time 356 restorer and an expert involving anything Porsche related. he had a shop at the L.V. Speedway and I would visit often. I learned a great deal. He advised me to keep the car as "authentic" where possible. With that advice I'm repairing all the original stuff. I realize this is not usually a feasable option; especially is your paying someone to do the work, but I get obsessed and I'm doing my own work so here goes.....

Okay shape, but I butchered to top and side of one during my hasty removal. Live&learn!




Top and sides repaired. Cleaned & primered. 3M drip check in the center joint.

Inside spur and face of longitudinal painted for extra rust resistance with some old spare stuff I needed to use up. I know this is all overkill & that this car will never be subject to the eliments like before but I just feel better about it.

All welding surfaces clean, holes punched in the flange for my plug-welds. "ready to install" Wait! It could not be this easy could it? of course NOT! What is?? The proper elevation must be found first. Not Too low whare it excessively hangs below the the rocker skirt line. Not too high into the skirt line whare it interferes with the jack socket. there is some play in there and it has to be right.
To do this I had to mount the left door complete with striker and latch. establish my door gaps. Insert the old rocker; establish the correct gap between it and the bottom of the door. Then establish the right elevation between the rocker skirt line and the top of the jack socket. WHEW!! This burned an afternoon alone.

Spur plug-welded in and rocker refitted for a second look.

Plug-welds dressed smooth and followed with my spot-welder for a factory finish. I'm a stickler for detail! This is probably why its taking so long!! 3m drip-check on the seams

Longitudinal and spur in final paint! 2-stage urathane Silver.I'm going with a GT theme so NO undercoating! I want the bottom to be as shinny as the top. This will be no trailer queen! it will be driven! Infact the way I have it figured this little car owes me some serious fun after what i've been through. I'd just like it to be nice out of the box.



Note the spot weld detail on the longitudinal seam.





Rocker reapir and install next!
Thank you for listening!!

Justin

[Tom Perazzo]

Nice work! I'm curious to know how you made the appearance of spot welds without access to backside of the longitudinal? Very nice touch, but can you elaborate how you configured your spot welder to do this? Also, did you fabricate the embossed drain holes in the longitudinals or did they come that way from your replacement panel?
Thanks,
Tom

[Justin Rio]

Hi Tom,

Thank you very much! The spot welder I have is a very old model from the 1970's. It has two cable leads coming from the machine. Both have handles and copper tips on each end; with one having the trigger button. they move independently in each hand and I just ran them down both sides of the spur. I believe you can still buy this configuration. This is why plug weld first. I would not trust this style for thorough penetration; just for looks. I put the drain holes in the new longitudinals. I got the idea from a '65 356 with prestein longitudinals and these holes from the factory in them. its not correct for my car but water Always finds a way no matter what you do and I wanted it to have some place to go. Thanks for taking the to read the post!

best regards, justin

[Ken Daugherty]

Its called a panel welder. We have had it for a long time one and it is
invaluable when duplicating factory spot welds. As I recall the brand is
'Lenco'.

Ken Daugherty
kend356@insightbb.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Rio [mailto:justinrio356@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 1:36 AM
To: 356talk@356registry.com
Subject: [356Talk] Trying to finish Carrera coupe 58367 before I die!!!!


Hi Tom,

Thank you very much! The spot welder I have is a very old model from the
1970's. It has two cable leads coming from the machine. Both have handles
and copper tips on each end; with one having the trigger button. they move
independently in each hand and I just ran them down both sides of the spur.
I believe you can still buy this configuration. This is why plug weld first.
I would not trust this style for thorough penetration; just for looks. I put
the drain holes in the new longitudinals. I got the idea from a '65 356 with
prestein longitudinals and these holes from the factory in them. its not
correct for my car but water Always finds a way no matter what you do and I
wanted it to have some place to go. Thanks for taking the to read the post!

best regards, justin

------------------------
justin Rio




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[Antonio Garcia]

In 2005 I became really good friends with the late Craig Stevenson. Many of you are familiar with him I'm sure. He was a long time 356 restorer and an expert involving anything Porsche related. he had a shop at the L.V. Speedway and I would visit often. I learned a great deal. He advised me to keep the car as "authentic" where possible. With that advice I'm repairing all the original stuff.

Justin,
I too miss good ol' Craig. I especially miss visiting his shop and being surrounded with everything "356/912".

[Justin Rio]

Yes, Ken is right. Its an old lenco unit.

Thanks! Justin

[Justin Rio]

The only thing nice about using the old stuff is that it fits right back in.




The front drain tray area is where I did most damage by my hasty removal. None of it was rusty; I just didn't feel like drilling out spot-welds. I still kick myself in the ass over this one. The repair patch in the threshold area (black area) Is complete. I have a really nasty unsavable original rocker that is yielding me alot of great patch panels.




It took several attempts but I finally got this cardboard templete to the shape I needed to move on to metal


New drain tray is complete and welded on. Made from a wasted original speedster door skin. Original X-shaped water channel at the center drain hole has been punched in. Ratt tail file in the hinge marks my placement for the hinge pin access hole.


Note that the inner hinge-halves are bolted into their final adjustment position and will be painted along with the car. The porsche gods hate it if the paint is broken or disturbed on the bolt heads! The back of the hinges, shims and nut plate have already been lightly painted. Also each bolt thread liberly greased. More protection from water.

back portion was much easier and straight forward. Small patch panel from rust this time; not me installed.




welds are dressed on new tray and is ready for install.

Rocker underside in final paint and is ready to be welded.

I decided to paint the underside first to get a cleaner smoother and overall better coverage end product. Too many obsticles once installed. The 90 degree turn at the bottom edge, the jackspur; even the longitudinal would make it very difficult to get a spray-gun where I needed it. I'll go back and spot paint my welded areas.





rocker welded in! Here is the jack spur spacing I was looking for.

Next would be the right spur install But I have to rebuild the rightside door first for all my gaps. Another bad patch job from the 80's

right door repair next.

Thanks for reading this!
Justin

BTW: this is not all happening in real time. I wish I was this fast. this work is a few months old.

[Justin Rio]

Just finishing the fine detail to the welds etc. before final paint.


Note the flange seam detail to the left has also been repaired.




With door installed


Door gaps and door elevation to body set

Bottom door gap To rocker To jack socket relation. I can live with that!


Gaps overall about 90% there;just some fine tuning before paint.


Rear corner done