Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

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Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#16 Post by Justin Rio »

Left door bottom:
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Drilling out the old spots for removal.
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Removed in one piece exposing a very crusty inner flange.
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Old and new: relief shapes are a little tighter on the new one.
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Same with the center with two pre-punched holes to backfill.
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I'll add in other correct details as it goes but I'm not sure if I'll soften the shoulders because once these are mounted and finished they'll be hard to see.
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Wasn't sure if I was going to get away with just a clean up and save some of this flange but its too far gone.
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Needed to come up with a hammer form to make that sweeping turn. This old piece of tubing had just the right OD.
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Cut free except for that shaped relief center section. I have to figure out how I'm going to replicate that later.
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New forward section.
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Repeated test fitting and fine trimming.

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#17 Post by Justin Rio »

left inner flange repair continued:
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All stitched in with new access hole punched. Some excess yet to trim on the edge but not ready to commit.
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Rear section next then onto that center relief shape.
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New Rear section.
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trimmed to fit and all tacked in. Leading edge still needs trimming but that will be one of the last chores to complete.
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Final center section of this flange now cut free. Now to figure out how to copy this semi-complex portion.
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Lower flange rolled in first then the hunt for a hammer form with just the right width was next. As luck would have it the angle iron on my table base was just the right width.
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After a few rounds of heat and doming the ends with my ball ping a promising shape was starting.
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Next was to pound in the arched relief found in the lower flange for drainage/strength.
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New section and what was left of the old to copy from.
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Basic part complete. Now onto to trimming and final installation.
More later...
Thanks for looking.

Justin

Dave Erickson
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#18 Post by Dave Erickson »

Very nice fabrication work, Justin. Thanks for showing the details.

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#19 Post by Justin Rio »

Thank you very much Dave, just another thread to detail what went into fixing this rusty car.

Left door flange repair continued:
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Next working it in by heating and welding as it went.
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All stitched in here.
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The arch flares a bit so I wanted to make sure the eventual door bottom flange will clear represented by this piece. No issues.
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Excess removed with flange trimmed to final width.
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Just a little more stitching to finish up.
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More bending and manipulation as the bottom goes on for sure but this new flange at least exists now.
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Several more repairs yet to go but it was a little closer.
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Heading up the sides now. I was going to replace this lower wall section as a complete run but the inner rot is very localized so I decided on just small repair patches to save as much of the original as possible.
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tedious small patches but ready for a final stitching in.
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Now onto paper templating a new forward closing wall section.

Puygranier Antoine
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#20 Post by Puygranier Antoine »

Always enjoying seeing nice metal shaping ! Please continue sharing, really interesting!

Antoine

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#21 Post by Justin Rio »

Thank you so much Antione, will do...
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Once I get that lower forward strip section built I can begin fitting the new bottom.
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Fresh steel instantly changed the outlook even though it still wasn't even close to being ready to reassemble.
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Paper template completed and now onto steel. I'm recycling portions of the original door skin and using it to make my repair patches when possible. I prefer making structural repairs out of this stuff not because its old German steel but because its 19 gauge and the new parts feel more substantial than the 20 gauge I'd have to make them out of otherwise.
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New section cut free, fine trimmed and now dialing in the bend points.
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After a few failed attempts I had all the breaks in but the outer flange bend. I can add that in later once its tacked into position.
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This outer corner is a very wide/soft radius so the handle of a breaker bar was just the right OD to fold it over.
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Acid bath coming up next to clean up the remaining surface just before I can glue this in.
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Plug weld holes punched ad ready to install after the remaining surface rust is removed.
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Began the templates for the flaps that extended off of the bottom originally. The final layer of steel.
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I have this crusty door section floating around loose which helped me with those flap templates.
Acid bath was next.

Thanks for looking.
Justin

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#22 Post by Justin Rio »

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Acid bath
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Most of the old rust dissolved but not all of it, Needed a little more time to get the last bits.
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Last of the rust cleaned with the acid thoroughly neutralized I began stitching in the new patch.
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All welded up with plugs and seam welds dressed.
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The exposed portion of this patch will clean up quick. Almost ready to begin fitting the new bottom.
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In preparation for that I Picked out the last of the original door bottom flange tucked under the vertical runs. Front above
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Then onto peeling out the rear.
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All clean and the last of the remnants that needed removal.
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Officially touched bottom as far as removal or deconstruction went. Everything from here on in would be building the door back up.
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Begin locating and rough fitting the new door bottom. More on that next.

Thanks for stopping by.

Justin

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#23 Post by Justin Rio »

dialing in the bottom:
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To help me with the fore and aft adjustment I mocked up the door frame with its footings.
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Also gave me a chance to figure out if Trevor's prepunched holes where going to work with this frame or if I'd be filling these and drilling new ones.
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The holes would work just fine and I now had my baseline orientation to work from.
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cautiously trimming back the excess.
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Rough cuts though as I left a touch extra for the unexpected adjustment as fitting continues.
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Inner flange not only too long but also too tall.
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Removed 20mm's in sections to more closely match the original.
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Initial trimming complete here and onto fitting the forward tray area under the hinge next.
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While adjusting for lateral fitment I almost mindlessly set the bottom flange for level up front here like you're supposed to do at the back. Luckily I realized that there has to be a relief step in it to accommodate that leading edge flange in the skin. Metal ruler laying on top represents the eventual skin and how much the bottom flange must rise up to meet it.
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Relief isn't perfect but its close enough for now. Original section laid over top to compare that needed step.

Puygranier Antoine
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#24 Post by Puygranier Antoine »

👍👍👍

Antoine

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#25 Post by Justin Rio »

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With the inner flange set I have an issue on the opposite side. The inner flange overshoots the door by about 6mm.
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At about the midpoint back the flange sits nice and flush against the door. This means that the trajectory of the bend was set just a touch too wide; at least for this particular application. Left it for now and will adjust later.
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Templated and folded the inner pan to further lock in the outer established lower flange.
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New mount flange a little short as this is where Trevor made the cut but I'll tack on a little more length later.
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Double checked my relief step at the lower edge and all is well enough.
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Again this forward overshoot will have to fixed but later.
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Length added and final tab shapes trimmed in to replicate what was originally there.
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After a bit more fine trimming I had the entire piece clamped into near final position. Time to add in a few set screws next.
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Initial set screwed position. As tightening went some torsional force seemed present so I mounted it back on the car to see how much it was possibly changing on me.
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Also mocked up the window frame to see how it was still going to clear the opening. So far so good.
More later...

Thanks for looking.

Justin

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#26 Post by Justin Rio »

Left door repair Cont.
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Window frame confirmation fit into the body. Almost the same as before.
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This also confirmed that the bottom and the embossed areas are at the right height to work with the frame and its footings.
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A flush fit at the base with the right approach angle; Going smoothly so far BTW: notice the right side door in the background. Its clearly going to be a repeat.
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Same at the rear mount footing as well.
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so far so good and now time to break it all back down...
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and fix this fitment issue along this forward corner so I can get this bottom welded in for good.
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Need to quicken this bend about this much...
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Chalked up and ready to adjust. Thought about just cutting and welding it back up but I prefer to keep panels in one piece if I can help it.
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Used some heat so I wouldn't have to beat the holy hell out of it to get it to move; Easier on everybody this way.
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New bend line well established here but I stopped short as my initial hammer form is too sharp. The final bend is much softer so my search for a closer shape began so I could finish heeling this over.

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#27 Post by Justin Rio »

More left door bottom install
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This length angle iron had really nice soft radius edge. Amazes me sometimes that I have just enough junk in this tiny shop to get me by.
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That turned the trick: done...
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Now onto finishing out the remaining loose ends so I can get this new bottom welded in.
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Loose ends= Finishing out that looong seam weld finally.
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These twin prepunched holes in the center of the bottom are not for an A-car; must be a T5 or 6 thing so now was as good a time as any to back fill them.
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Plug weld holes punched and all other loose ends complete. These two are finally ready.
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Started welding up front. After clamping the hinge down I fully welded up the ends of the old pins to fully secure them once again.
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As a final finishing detail I took a pair of washer and plug welded them on to replicate the old heads.
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Just a touch larger than the Originals but once the new skin goes on they won't be viewable again.
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Then moved to the outside and plug welded along the length of the flange and also started gas welding up the edges as they were done before.

More to follow and thanks for looking.

Justin

Kevin Wills
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#28 Post by Kevin Wills »

High quality work, Justin. Looking good.

Puygranier Antoine
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#29 Post by Puygranier Antoine »

Fantastic save of the door!

Antoine

Justin Rio
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#30 Post by Justin Rio »

Thanks very much Kevin. Just trying to replicate its original construction as closely as I can.

The door wasn't quite out of the woods just yet Antoine but things were looking up.
Thanks again guys.
Justin

Left door bottom continued:
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More seam welding details replicated to the rear. All flange plug welds dressed and followed up with my spotter for final detail at the lap joint.
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No more and no less on the spots for the best authentic repair I can do.
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Inner pan flange to bottom all welded up. Originally there were just 5 spot welds widely spaced holding this together here. I put extra plug welds in for added attachment points for strength but replicated just the 5 spot welds for an original detail.
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Back corner fully gas welded up and the small repair patches on the wall finished out.
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Forward gas weld details in and replicated what was there originally.
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Leading lower edge repair section also seam welded up as found.
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Officially done welding and repairing the door shell frame.
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A ways yet to go but its now ready to accept a new skin.
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Begin rough fitments.
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Original skin laid over top of the new one here in preparation of cutting the cap off. Only an initial cut with plenty of excess overlap to ensure I left myself with enough to deal with any unforseen adjustments as this goes. The last thing I need is to be short and have to weld more length back on.
More on this stage coming up next.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

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