My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

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karl schuenemann
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#91 Post by karl schuenemann »

Tom,Thats funny you have the same hood flew open theory on those dents that I also have.That is one reason to leave the floors out also ive got quite a bit of work to do on the hinges [probably not fun],gas tank shelf and I thought maybe even straiten out wiring under dash.That must be nice to be able to turn your work as needed.The pla was to get my bumper brackets repaired then just mount to those,but as you know when you start at one end at the chassie you have to just keep going because its all connected ie,head scratching.Im debating on cutting my rear sheetmetal off to make the repairs on those rear inside corners and if you noticed the very trendy inset license area that would be much easier from both sides.Are you going to blast when your done with metalwork,that was what i was thinking,before painting and undercoating the bottom.
Karl Schuenemann
1959 A coupe

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Tom Perazzo
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#92 Post by Tom Perazzo »

Thanks Karl,

That's weird that your car has damaged hinges and cowl dents too. The safety latch appears fairly robust, but who knows.

If a dolly fits behind the panel where your recessed license plate was, I would wait before you cut the rear end off. With the car upside down on my rotisserie I found that the access was quite good. Might take less time overall to make a rotisserie than cut and re-weld the rear clip??? Certainly your call :)

Negative on blasting after metal work for me. I did most of the hardwork already and I'm afraid that media will go in bad places, such as A, B, and C pillars, tunnel, seams etc. Most areas are just too hard to mask off completely and the 356 has tons of blind cavities as you already know! Its hard enough just to keep grinding and undercoating dust from flying into those places.

My approach has been to wire wheel, degrease, metal condition (etch), epoxy primer, and then top coat. I'm going to leave the outer body prep to a professional painter, but I will paint the chassis black and maybe undercoat. If I were to do it again, I would media blast at the start.

I little more progress on the rear clip:
This might be the only spot on a 356 where you can use lumber to check the body.  I looked at some factory photos and they all look straight like this.
This might be the only spot on a 356 where you can use lumber to check the body. I looked at some factory photos and they all look straight like this.
I cut half moons into the lip if it was cracked and welded new metal in.
I cut half moons into the lip if it was cracked and welded new metal in.
A few templates to compare left and right edges and fenders.
A few templates to compare left and right edges and fenders.
Still more metal finishing work to do here, but its generally in good shape. I think I'll move on and then come back to this area for final metal work before paint. Now for some trivia. I found lots of holes welded shut where license plates once lived. Hole dimensions are in the picture below. The two un-marked ones are the current holes for my USA plate bracket. Based on these hole locations, does anyone know what non-USA plates may have been on the car?
IMG_7241 with dims.jpg
Thanks,
Tom


Tom Perazzo
1964 SC Coupe (under restoration)
www.ZalexIndustries.com

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karl schuenemann
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#93 Post by karl schuenemann »

Hey Tom,Thats a great improvement on the rear allready.Cant help with the holes.I suppose the cowl damage could happen in very heavy gusts while fueling.Mine has fairly sharp dents about 5" long.Looking back through your posts,It is quite impresive when areas are finished and in epoxy.Here is the first time Im able to see the actual body line after many hours setting the doors by workshop manual measurements,or at least close,and clamping the new full rocker on. Keep up the progress between cookies and chocolate. Happy Holliday Season.
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PC061092.JPG
Karl Schuenemann
1959 A coupe

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Tom Perazzo
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#94 Post by Tom Perazzo »

2012 already? Damn....I better get to work on my project! This morning I disassembled my drivers door and began cutting the rust/Bondo out.
Before shot of right lower corner.
Before shot of right lower corner.
The previous owner just filled a rust hole with bondo and steel wool. I found oozed Bondo inside the door. Not a recommended repair method for more than about 6 months.

Stripped and removed lower skin and door bottom.
less0001.JPG
There is rust under the hinge and strengthening bracket. It may be hard to see in the pic, but the rust is bulging the metal around the rivets. A small hole is visible too. At this point its best to take a break and see what parts are available before cutting more. My initial opinion is that the hinge needs to come off.
less0002.JPG

The bumper bracket is caved in and deformed.
less0003.JPG
Some patching needed on inner panel.
less0004.JPG
So, basically its a total door restoration. Wish me luck.


Tom Perazzo
1964 SC Coupe (under restoration)
www.ZalexIndustries.com

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Trevor Gates
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#95 Post by Trevor Gates »

Tom Perazzo wrote:So, basically its a total door restoration. Wish me luck.
Good luck! :D
https://www.instagram.com/trevorcgates/

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karl schuenemann
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#96 Post by karl schuenemann »

Wishing you luck on your door work!The doors I found,were not really very difficult,the top hinge locates the bottom with a rod.I went with a bit lower guage for the stop pearch.Of course the long wide open welding on the outside panel is the most susceptable to warpage.I will be very interested in observing your process on the outer skin,be it tig or mig.I will be the first to say I was happier with one door skin over the other.
Karl Schuenemann
1959 A coupe

David Gensler
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#97 Post by David Gensler »

Tom,
Good to see your car progressing. Nice work, as always. I'm delighted that you are tackling the doors. I'm going to start repairs to the door bottoms on 89379 soon. But I'm going to make certain I stay a step or two behind you and let you lead the way!
Take care,
DG
David Gensler

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Tom Perazzo
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#98 Post by Tom Perazzo »

A little more progress on my door. My hunch told me that the lower hinge had to be removed, so I went for it.
door stop bracket removed
door stop bracket removed
view from door bottom
view from door bottom
view from inside the door
view from inside the door
I actually expected worse damage under the hinge, but the right thing to do was repair the entire area.

Some new metal going back in.
Lower patching begins
Lower patching begins
This area is high up on the door.
As welded.  Epoxy primer was injected into seam and allowed to flow out.  (drips shown in photo)
As welded. Epoxy primer was injected into seam and allowed to flow out. (drips shown in photo)
As sanded.  Need to die grind the hole.  Weld line was intentionally placed through hole.
As sanded. Need to die grind the hole. Weld line was intentionally placed through hole.
This picture didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but this is a fillet weld.  The metal flowed so well in this corner, I was estatic.  So I had to share.  BTW, the new metal is 22 Ga.
This picture didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but this is a fillet weld. The metal flowed so well in this corner, I was estatic. So I had to share. BTW, the new metal is 22 Ga.
Close up of the top weld along the ridge.
Close up of the top weld along the ridge.
That's it for now. Thanks for checking out my pictures.


Tom Perazzo
1964 SC Coupe (under restoration)
www.ZalexIndustries.com

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#99 Post by Vic Skirmants »

Nice, nice, nice.

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Phil Planck
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#100 Post by Phil Planck »

Tom

Save your Cheerios boxes. Been there. Done that. Make sure you use that long rod to get the hinge exactly aligned. I did not on my first door, thinking the old rivet hole locations were "good enough". Had to relocate the hinge. Apparently the bent metal just above, when straightened, moved the hinge location a tad.
Attachments
Hinge misalignment.jpg
lwr frt rust under stop bracket.JPG
dr stop brkt template.JPG
door stop bracket in place.JPG
door stop bracket finished - top.JPG
Phil Planck

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Tom Perazzo
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#101 Post by Tom Perazzo »

Hi Phil,
Thanks for the advice and pics. What rivets did you use for the lower hinge plate and where did you get them? Good work on your door.....looks nice.

Whatever happened to your front fender dilemma? Did I miss the update on that or are you holding off?
Best Regards,
Tom


Tom Perazzo
1964 SC Coupe (under restoration)
www.ZalexIndustries.com

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Phil Planck
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#102 Post by Phil Planck »

Tom

I did not use rivets. I used round headed socket bolts with red loctite. You can weld in the socket(allen wrench hole) when everything is correctly in place. Might be able to see the "sockets" in pic below with the alignment rod. Did the same thing for the tow hook under the trunk pan. Also pic of back side of hinge showing nuts.
And, found a pic of how far I had to relocate the hinge. Some pics are of drivers door and some passenger.

As to the fender, I have spent hours trying to smooth it out. I have a log of hours I have spent, but quit keeping track on the fender, as I was getting nowhere. I think the main problem may be that the fender wire is stretched, thus preventing a vertical bulge from shrinking down. I am going to open up the hem over the wire, cut the wire to shorten it slightly, and try to shrink the bulge while the hem is open.

I have not messed with that problem for quite a while. Right now I am making and installing a new rear fender section where it creates the door gap. My first attempt using a hammer form to flange the repair section first, then shape the curve did not work out. I had a great match to the fender, but the door gap at top was too wide, so I have given up with this particular hammer form and am trying the Roland method whereby the curve is made first, part welded in, then the hem flange is formed. This method has also been recommended by several "advisor" on metalmeet.com. So, my current efforts are centered around the door fit and gaps on the passenger side. Very time consuming process for me
Attachments
Lower hinge repair.JPG
lwr hinge bolted in.JPG
New hinge rivet holes on door.JPG
Phil Planck

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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#103 Post by Justin Rio »

Nice metal work Tom and Phil! I admire your commitment to saving the original doors! Very nice patch panels! Justin

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Mark Dionne
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#104 Post by Mark Dionne »

Tom,
I just read through most of your project thread--very helpful! It's nice to know I'm not the only one lurking around inside 356 longitudinals.

I'm getting near to closing up one side on my 1965 Cab. I have the Stoddard longitudinal with the black paint, like you mentioned way back. I see that later you had shiny metal. Did you keep the Stoddard part and strip it? What paint treatment did you use inside? Did you use a weld-thru primer?
Mark Dionne
1965 Cabriolet 160920

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Tom Perazzo
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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.

#105 Post by Tom Perazzo »

Hi Mark,
The Stoddard paint was removed, because I wasn't sure how good it was. If my memory serves me right, the paint wasn't easy to remove so it might be worth keeping.
I re-sprayed the inside with epoxy primer and then top coated with some rattle can stuff leaving the areas to be welded raw. Weld thru primer is a good idea, but I didn't use it. After welding I injected epoxy primer into the longs and rotated the car a few times to allow gravity to pull the primer into all the seams. I also injected epoxy primer from the outside seams wherever possible. An air hose can force primer into tight areas too.
Best of luck. Post some pictures of your progress.


Tom Perazzo
1964 SC Coupe (under restoration)
www.ZalexIndustries.com

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