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

#76 Post by Justin Rio »

Thank you Kevin. Agree, you have to test fit everything before you commit to final paint or Chrome plating. It will most certainly come back to bite you if you don't. I didn't take this car apart so this initial mock up was needed to asses if all of its components where there as well as the opportunity to get acquainted with an original sunroof assembly since this is my first one. Once I did it became clear just how simple and rudimentary these early manual assemblies are. Justin


Initial mechanical mock up of S/R.
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Reassembly of the actual mechanism is simple once you've done it once but since I didn't take this unit apart I had to rely on a photo and diagram to get me though. These corners can be the most confusing until you see one assembled.
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Lid now fully installed with its repaired sliders. These were adjusted in stages to center the lid laterally in the opening and also for a positive friction fit with the track.
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The actual sliding was a bit stiff and crude but I have to believe this is pretty much the characteristic of this style.
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Initial fit with the lid fully engaged. To my relief it sat pretty close with a nice uniform gap all the way around. Its still factory so no real surprise there.
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Nice and even at the rear corner of this right side.
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and left rear corner.
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But slightly high at the center on the lid side.
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I was looking for shims at the rear for maybe a quick adjustment but soon realized the mechanism itself dictates the final height. Again the corners were good so the center will require some bodywork to level that out.
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Forward corners started out low so with the extra shims provided I added one to this right side and it all fell into place.
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The left side required two more shims but the lid is now a little high at the center laterally there. Have to play around with it a little. Anyway this is how the initial mock up went. Working on the headliner frame next.
Thanks for looking.
Justin

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

#77 Post by Kevin Wills »

Since you didn't take it apart, you might not have seen how the headliner was put together. Let me know if you want some pictures of an original headliner panel from a 59. My dad has one apart at the moment.

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

#78 Post by Justin Rio »

Thank you Kevin, I appreciate it. These entries are actually a couple of years old and I'm in the middle of chassis repairs at the moment but when I get back into S/R mode I'll definitely this in mind. Thanks again. Justin


Headliner frame repair.
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A re-pop frame was supplied but the cancer is so localized that it would be a crime not to fix and use this original. Only the forward lateral sections and four of the attachment clips need help.
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Want to get past the rust and weakness all the while saving as much of the original metal as possible. Decided on making the cut just center of the holding clip to both conceal it and to support the weld joint.
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4 of the 6 clips need replacing but they could not be easier to replicate.
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Left side provided me with placement and center for the release housing.
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So the right side went first. New section all grafted in here. Repeat other side.
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Lateral repair sections complete and this thing is one piece again.
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More clearance was needed a very long time ago in this slot opening and it was crudely tin snipped way back when. Decided to clean up the shoulder and file shape past the damage. Socket was the right OD to etch around.
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All set.
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Last repair was to replace the clips on the header.
IMG_6663.JPG
Quick mock up on the lid.

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

#79 Post by Justin Rio »

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Extra clearance in that slot will come in handy.
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Its nice to see the parts pile getting smaller.
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New clips folded and ready. The OG clips had a small hole which I'm thinking was just a marker to ensure the clips where not installed backwards.
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all the clips on the right side where cooked
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But the left only needed one replaced.
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First test fitment after repairs.
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Its all seating together fine.
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About ready to commit and fold those tabs down to mate these two once again but not for good. It will have to come apart one more time to install the headliner material.
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Now onto a test fit it with the car.
IMG_6765.JPG
Had to round up some small screws to attach the headliner frame to the lid first.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#80 Post by Justin Rio »

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New tabs crimped to header for this mock up but again the eventual headliner material must wrap under these tabs first but I'll relax them back open a bit later.
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Time to fit it all together on the car. Corners were removed and lateral tracks unscrewed to allow the liner frame in.
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Slipping the header frame in.
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It rides in the lower track.
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Now I know why these tracks were not formed and left to "spring up".
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tracks and corners back into position and sliding the lid forward to mate the two.
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Mock up complete.
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Lid assembly locks over and clears.
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Also retracted fully with no clearance issues.

Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking,
Justin

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

#81 Post by Justin Rio »

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Still not able to get a consistent engaged gap on the leading edge.
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I can wiggle it into position with a screw driver but can't get it to "park" consistently and even every time. Maybe the rubber seals have something to do with it.
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or those rubber foot mechanisms at the back?? Anyway the whole assembly is at least in and functional. I went about as far as I could with it for the moment.

Begin prepping the front end.
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Blasted hard in the front at some point in the distant past and hastily repaired.
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Battery box suffered badly too and was pushed back out a bit too far into a nice convex shape.
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Center section was removed, beat back out too far all the while lopsided; gas welded back on and entombed behind a lot of lead. The gas welding and lead tells me its a really old repair.
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Left headlight area also suffered another good one. I think this was separate and came later as there are no signs of lead filler being used here. Really knarly with a lot strikes from a pointy hammer. Once you imagine a nice coat of bondo over this area it is amazing they got a headlight unit to bolt up again but I think that was their only objective and certainly not with a headlight seal.
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A headlight unit does go on but it "looks left" as its sitting in there. Between this and that lumpy over stretched center section the "finished" face of this car in filler and shiny new paint must have looked like some of those old gals that get addicted to bad plastic surgery.
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Began removal by extracting the head light buckets first. Much easier to do this now than wrestle with it loose on the shop floor. Learned that lesson already.
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Both buckets removed at this point. Staying conservative with removal for now so I can plan ahead a little. I'm going to cut the center section out roughly along those old weld joints first to expose what lies beneath little better.

More unpeeling next.

Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#82 Post by Justin Rio »

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Zipped through weld joints. Knew this was all toast under here before hand but I wanted to see about the trough section first before I cut it all free.
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The nose was so misshapen that I thought it might be a homemade panel but no, confirmation this was the original section by the emblem holes. Beaten badly and very heavy with lead filler.
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Where to make the cut...The initial plan was to take it at the factory joint
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and install the full nose section.
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However the more I starting looking at where the old collision damage "wasn't"; in and around that factory joint
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the less sense it was making to cut anywhere near these areas. This section in particular from fender to nose was still pristine and absolutely beautiful. It would be huge mistake to disturb this I began to see.
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A little less unmolested surface area on this side
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but what I was most interested in was the trunk lip and the transition up to the headlight. Some light irregularities here and there but otherwise still very nice and its still the factory panel built and fitted to its hood. I could see already I'd save a lot of hours and heartache if I left this alone.
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Besides I've already experienced the challenge of fitting these new noses when I installed this panel on the coupster project.
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The trough profile is already hinting of alignment issues then there was the skin profile shaping I had to wrestle with. Preserving what's already here was looking more and more like the smart play.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#83 Post by Justin Rio »

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By carrying Trevor's weld joints over to the original it almost perfectly preserves what I want to keep and what should go.
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I could actually cut a little lower and save more of the original metal on the outer here but it must intersect into the bucket hole to work.
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Again can't salvage as much on this side but cutting along the tape still preserves the transition in and around the hood saving a ton of ceremony.
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This was the basic plan for now. More cutting coming up next.

Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#84 Post by Puygranier Antoine »

Fantastic as always, really love your thread!

Antoine

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Jim Clement
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#85 Post by Jim Clement »

Justin, your work is very inspiring for sure !! I wish I had a small portion of your skill..
You should check to see if the horn grill openings are parallel to the ground ??
some of Trever's earlier noses (mine and others) had the horn openings that were not. I figured it out prior to paint, but well late in the process.
I ended up having to cut them out and realign them. others had similar circumstances. That was about 4 years ago, so he may have modified the template by now..
 

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#86 Post by Justin Rio »

I appreciate that Antoine, Thank you.

Thanks Jim, but I'm just a fellow hobbyist with an air compressor and a welder. That is an excellent cautionary point and thank you for bringing that up. I will definitely check those for square when the day comes to fit the new nose on. Its certainly consistent with every other new part that is offered for these cars as they all normally have to modified to fit correctly.
Thanks again guys.

Justin

Nose cutting continued:
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Before I could commit to my final cut line I had to melt the rest of the lead off to see what was going on under there.
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Of course the old gas weld went up a lot higher than I thought. Had to adjust my final cut line to get past this old sin.
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Went as low as I could possibly go on this outer line before the wrinkles started. Trevor's joint line represented by the tape so I was able to preserve a bit more.
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Again Trevor's line is the tape. I'm saving a little damage here but I can always cut it back if I can't get the shape I'm after. Just more options.
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Decided on an angle cut here which saves a little more while getting me past the old weld joint.
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First cut. The top of that fender is so pretty; would have been such a mistake to cut into it.
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While nothing saved laterally the preserved inner contours are really giving me a head start.
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Preserved as much of the original nose as I could.
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Now onto removing the underlying mess. Front wall first.
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Onto removing the sides of the battery box next. She's cleaning up little by little.
Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#87 Post by Justin Rio »

How much has the beam been moved? Since I first saw how hard the front had been hit a worry in the back of my mind was how far back if any has the front beam been moved? I took some time to carefully study it for deformation behind the front beam to get a better idea.
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The right side of the battery box is the crinkliest so I started with this side. The obvious is the bottom lip.
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It looks to have been struck downward with a hammer so I can't attribute all it to the crash. The damage to the other side will better explain this.
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However this upper deformation highlighted in green is definitely from the accident. It has obviously moved but those wrinkles can't be worth more than a few MM's at worst and there is no deformation any where else. Very localized.
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Most the energy spent itself in between the beam and the bumper bracket mount.
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By contrast the left side show no deformation behind the beam what so ever. That slit confused me but
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once you look at it from this side you can plainly see its the work of pneumatic chisel. I can only guess at some point it was decided the car was going to be clipped but they quickly changed their plan. Much like the beginnings of the hammered bottom deformation to the other side.
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Deformation to the box wall on this side is also much less severe and further confirmation of the integrity of this left side.
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More confirmation is minimal bulging of the inner overlap panel in and around the beam.
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Right side by contrast bulges quite a bit. I'd have a Cellete bench here a bit later on to confirm just how much it may have shifted. A few initial sight marking measurements put the right side of the beam back only about a quarter inch. Anyway it is localized but before I can pull it back out the chassis integrity between the A and B pillars must be rebuilt first. Rust repair duties to the rest of the chassis will be first then I can pull the beam back out and lastly will be the battery box repair. At best this damage isn't as bad as I feared.
IMG_6738.JPG
Cutting and cleaning this side away next.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#88 Post by Justin Rio »

Battery box prep and planning
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Right wall roughly cut(the easy part) but still need to clean all the flange areas.
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Upper closing wall embossment shapes a little rough.
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As luck would have it I have this remnant section to donate that just eliminates the damage.
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Will graft this in before its all over for a cleaner repair.
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After cutting the right wall out I had a closer look at the left side and began thinking about options.
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By the time I drill all the spot welds and unearth all the flange remnants to prep for the new wall, then install the new wall, plug weld and dress. I think I'd shave a lot of time if I just iron this side back out. I'll also be saving more original metal which I like.
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The bracket housing will have to come off but its looking more like the way I'll go.
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While working in and around the car I noticed a pocket of advanced rust on the upper right side of the trunk wall.
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Another surprise repair, who could have guessed?
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Gone as far on the battery box as I can for now. Moving onto getting the body prepped for the rotisserie next so I can begin floor and longitudinal repairs to bring back overall chassis integrity in preparation for the front beam correction.
Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#89 Post by Vic Skirmants »

I'm guessing that the deformation of the lower part of both large holes was caused by a violent downward displacement of the tie-rods.

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Martin Benade
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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#90 Post by Martin Benade »

Looking great, you are giving 100% attention to details. On the finished door skin, is the long seam MIG or TIG welded?
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