1960 356B Coupe restoration

[ScottBerry]

Thanks for the compliment Geoff. Need to turn my attention to the rear and the splicing in of the rear piece from Trevor. First step was to address the rust issues in the rear lid.

[ScottBerry]

Fabricated up a piece to replace the rougher section - spot welding with a mig just blows through holes.

[ScottBerry]

Made up the dog bowl rain tray - using a dog bowl - cut a hole then wrapped in small rubber u-channel for a nice tight fit.

[Michael Doyle]

You’re doing a fantastic job on your chassis restoration. When interior time comes, I make the proper recreated Reutter Headliner for your car. The material is color matched very light grey with the elongated Diamond hole perforation pattern. Contact me for more info if interested. best/Michael

[ScottBerry]

Great thanks Michael will do.

Starting to tackle the rear now. I have struggled with where to cut. The panel is nicely done but is wider at the top around the gutter which will be a challenge. I can gather some of this is but a lot of work I think. In the end I have decided to cut inboard of the fender indent for the bumper. As well the rain gutter ledge on the new panel is not as crisp or deep as needed. The original deck lid and the new louvered deck led both fit well now with good gaps. So I have decided to use the original gutter. This solves one problem and saves some work but makes the seam more challenging to close and dress because the area will be too tight to dolly.

[ScottBerry]

With part of the centre cut out of the rear fender the metal has lost some authority so the side fender wants to splay out and in a relaxed position knocks out the body lines of the side of the car. I can really see the effect around the rear panel bracket supports that do not line up with the fender line. To partially solve this I made up some brackets and attached them to the number bracket then with some bolts and spacers pulled the fender inward to assume a more accurate profile.

[ScottBerry]

Cut out some of the excess metal from the original car and the new section so I can slowly sneak up on the future seam. A new rear for the new year! The script backer plates are in good shape so will be able to remove -save- and reattach to the new tail. If any member has a need for the tail sections I cut off - they are in great shape - send me a note - happy to pass along.

[ScottBerry]

Initial fitting underway. Decided to pin and cleco the upper lip around the rain gutter first and also attach the lower section to the rear brackets. However in the end there is a lot of material to gather in. I can get it close with a lot of clamps but a lot of pressure here as the new panel with all the compound curves has a lot of authority. Not sure of next steps yet. Being my first restoration it always seems like it is one step forward and then a new problem presents itself to be solved.

[ScottBerry]

Started to work on the left side. Too much material in the new panel to follow the original lines of the car. I cut through the original seam and then gathered the panel together. The curve was a bit much so I needed to shape and recurve it a bit. I then pulled the two halves together and overlapped the pieces in the best position. I then tack welded the two pieces together then started to take little slices between the two pieces down the middle and then rewelded little sections as a flat butt weld until the whole seam was rewelded. Piece fits a lot better and closer now to the curve.

[ScottBerry]

Right side metal gathered in as well fit is getting better. Edge joggled over the lay in tighter.

[ScottBerry]

Transposed the script backer plates. The plates were in good shape so removed old ones and rewelded to new panel

[ScottBerry]

Final position for the rear panel is now set. Tack welding complete. Time for some slow welding and plenishing to control the heat and any potential metal warpage.

[ScottBerry]

Tacked in. Lots of welding, grinding and dolly work ahead. Weld and grind repeat and repeat .... etc

[ScottBerry]

Tail section is close to being in the done column.

[ScottBerry]

With most of the welding completed now turning to seam sealing the miles of edges in areas that have all ready been expoxy coated.