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

#91 Post by Justin Rio »

Now that you mentioned it Vic, I think that very well could have been the culprit.

Thank You Martin just copying what I see as best as I can replicate it. The welds are MIG' d.


Prepping shell for hoist.
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Tunnel is hanging by a thread so for ease of repair and new floor installation I've decided to remove it.
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Leaving the conduits in for the moment so removal of the tunnel just required separating it from the three cross brackets and the gas weld at the forward end of clutch cable tube.
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Not very pleasant work lying on your back but I eventually got the tunnel free.
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Lower flange back here needs some repair but not sure whether that includes the conduit area just yet so I'm leaving them in for now.
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So much nicer to repair this tunnel out of the car.
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So encouraging to see remains of the original flange still there but whom ever removed the floor got too aggressive and has ground them back paper thin so their shot so the entire run will be replaced.
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Decided to recycle my holding jig from the coupster project. Perhaps unneeded since this one has the triangulation of a roof but both longitudinals have been opened so I want some extra protection and peace of mind from any slight twisting potential until I get the longitudinals closed back up.
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Besides this gets it off my floor and keeps me from tripping over it and scobbing my shins . Fixing and installing it next.
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Subframe/ Holding Jig installed.
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Outriggers repaired with filler sections cut to length. This along with a few adjustments needed to get it to sit down square in there.

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

#92 Post by Justin Rio »

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throughout the coupster build this design pretty much stayed out of my way
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but this being a coupe once the longs and floors are all welded in I don't see the need to keep it in for the duration. Getting closer to rotisserie time.
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Body mounted to the hoist. The real "fun" begins.
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Rear ready and set up into the bracket mounts as before.
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My front has always worked off the bumper mounts too but seeing how this one doesn't have a battery box yet a new sub-frame carrier had to be made.
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Basic frame tacked together here and all made from scrap metal. Triangulating to those rear uprights next.
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Triangulated and all welded up. Uprights clamp to the upper beam to keep the sub-frame from rolling or sagging.
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Begin lifting the front into position.
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My initial plan was to begin hoisting the front up then have my friend and his forklift simultaneously pick up the ass end. However as the front went I could see that the cart was high enough to allow the front to tilt high enough to be mounted without the rear apron touching the ground. Didn't have to bother my friend at all, I could take it one end at a time. Very slow and cautiously though.
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Safely mounted and ready for the first flip.

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

#93 Post by Justin Rio »

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Body dolly removed and the major rust repairs begin.
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First clear views of the longitudinal cavities.
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both equally about as rusty but the rearward section on this side a little more advanced. Both heater conduits are nice so that's something.
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Begin Harvesting right rocker assembly. Going to repair and re-use the original rockers so I began melting the lead at the factory joints. Of course some surprises awaited.
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Knew the leading edge was rusty but once the lead was removed it wasn't as good as I thought.
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A big volume of lead came out here so this hole was leaded shut some time back.
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Removing the lead at the rear joint.
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So far so good
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until I turned the corner. My initial intent was to leave as much of the original lead work as possible but my confidence in it is really being shaken. I'm now worried what lurks underneath the rest of this run.
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spot and seam welds broken as removal continues.

More later...

Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#94 Post by Justin Rio »

Right Rocker nearly out.
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Trying to preserve this rocker so carefully harvesting. Zipping it just ahead of the lap joint here. The inner pan its attached to is of course shot so trying to keep all the cutting to the bad side.
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A few years back I would have been scared to cut through those wire lips but with the coupster experience its not so scary.
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Cutting it ahead of the lap joint to the fender side and will add a new section on when it comes time to reinstall.
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Cut free at the lower hinge boss. Attached in a lot of places.
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Seam welds along the threshold split. Sooo thank full they didn't spot weld the rocker flange here; this is so much easier.
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All that remains now are several gas welds deep in the corners which will be tricky to cut without hacking into the rocker itself.
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Finally got the last of the connective tissue severed for a full removal.
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Extracted with almost all of the edges and corners intact.
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It will need some lovin' but its still a solid savable piece overall.
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Remains of the upper longitudinal run exposed for removal.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#95 Post by Justin Rio »

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Clipped and just need to grind and peel the remaining flange next.
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The rust in and around the conduit runs deep. :(
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A look inside shows how far the cancer goes.
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While assessing continued it became clear that the lower hinge boss will have to come out.
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The closing panel its attached to is rust out right at the foot of it
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and in behind it. No option, to get a clean shot in behind here it needs to come off. Lots to do before this can be closed back up.
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Begin template for the forward tray.
Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#96 Post by Justin Rio »

Clearing things away for room to work.
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Lower hinge boss removed for a clear shot at the rust in behind it.
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Basic paper template done so the remains of the inner tray floor was removed next.
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My preference would have been to save this inner closing wall as the rust was repairable in through here.
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It only rusted out at the lap joints.
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In the end I had to remove it for clear access to weld and dress the new inner tray section when that time comes. I'll get the remains of its spotted mount flange later.
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While planning and assessing all of this I noticed that the OG mount flange ("X") remains here are a touch wider than the standard vendor repair offerings. I'd like to replicate that so I needed to determine if that is only in this area or the entire run.
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Fortunately I have this original Floor section from a 58 coupe for detail reference. As you can see it was crashed severely in the front and its got some rust in the corners but otherwise this would have been a killer drop in piece for this project as the tunnel is still with it and its otherwise very solid and its an original floor! That's too sad :(
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As you can see the lower flanged wall sections are intact. Everything is here that I'm prepping to replace. again too sad....
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Going to compare the flange width on this one to determine what I'd eventually do.
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Note the drain holes on the lower gusset.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#97 Post by Justin Rio »

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Not found on this car.

Touching bottom on rust removal in the door well.
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Last strip of rot in this area just about ready.
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Finally past all the unsavable metal in this corner. So relieved that bulkhead around the heat tube isn't shot like on the old coupster donor chassis.
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Would backfill those two small holes to the right there without a patch section.
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Back to the template for a matched shape along the vertical wall.
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Paper template developed enough to go to metal.
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First a rough mock up with the new longitudinal closing panel. Learned the hard way to check all of together as it goes.
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Main concern was the flange heights from this forward in relation to the threshold flange.
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Fun to see a closing panel on it but miles yet to go before this cavity is ready for closing.
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Basic tray now in metal.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#98 Post by Justin Rio »

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A lot of fine tuning but I can at least work with this piece.
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Another check of the flanges. cockeyed at the moment but it will all change as it goes and well within striking distance.
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Fresh closing panels sure brighten things up.
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Bending and tapering to improve the fit little by little.
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Had to taper the end and weld the corner to get the right approach angle.
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Taper allowed the needed forward movement to seat in even and tight. Will add that slight step detail at the leading edge before its over.
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New pan section is pretty much ready to go.
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Begin making the secondary closing wall.
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Making sure Flange width and other details replicated.
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Flange widths and angles all dialed into the paper template and moving onto metal later on.
Thanks for looking.

Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#99 Post by Justin Rio »

Begin some perimeter flange repair.
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Nice to have this kit on hand which I had ordered just as a spare some time back.
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Again the OG section is wider through this area. I did confirm that it narrows to this standard width as it makes its way back but I'll replicate this width up here.
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Very little of the vertical wall on this project needs to be replaced so what would be scrap will provide the flange run I need. What's nice is I'll get double the mileage out of these sections. I found a bunch of other uses for these sections on the coupster project as it went so these are very handy indeed.
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Continuation width I was looking for.
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Establishing the flange height for the cut-off line.
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Again the vertical wall is pretty good so just less than an inch of the bottom of it will need replacing. At least so far.
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begin stitching the first section in.
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Nice little short run to begin with. Original lap joints along the wall will be replicated.
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Quick test fit against the outer closing section. Flange height seems fine.
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Wasn't sure whether I'd have to replace the entire flange run all the way up to the end but as you can see the rust gone through up here as well.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#100 Post by Justin Rio »

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Also noticed this buckle in it from that old front end collision. This is the side that bore the brunt of it so just more confirmation that the beam has shifted a little. But a silver lining is that its localized here and does not go past this bulkhead wall. This confirms further, my plan of attack of building everything from this bulkhead wall rearward getting structural integrity back first then leaving everything forward of it loose until I can get it on a frame jig to make any adjustments needed to get the beam back into square with the rear beam.
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Begin forward flange repair prep by opening the reinforcement gusset.
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A lot of heavy thick scale in here. :shock: This was full of water on more than one occasion.
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Removing this entire bottom run out in one shot.
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Past 90% of the rot up here. Things where looking up immediately.
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Going to save most of the original gusset except for of course the bottom and about a 1/4 inch of this vertical wall where its gone through.
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Hard to see but at this angle it made a nice holding tank so I pooled some acid in there to begin clean up.
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Continuous bathing as it slowly dissolved the scale.
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First round of it showing good solid steel underneath.
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As I said before its a mixed bag. This forward section got so bad that the last bit of heavy gauge flange of the suspension that the wall attached to has gone.

More on this next.

Thanks for looking.
Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#101 Post by Justin Rio »

Forward chassis flange repairs continued:
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New runner section trimmed back to the width I need.
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Now its got to make the turn.
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Always used a series of relief cuts for this bends on my previous attempts but I went with heat this time as I get more and more comfortable using the torch.
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Several rounds of heat and refits but I eventually dialed it in. Like this much better than the cuts.
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close with a good weld joint up here.
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Brain faded and forgot to take into account of the lap joint offset so the gap is a little wider back here. Just have to backfill it.
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Close enough as I can fine tune it as its tacked on.
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Final cut on the gusset, the rest of it will be saved.
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cavity pretty much cleaned back out.
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I was just about to begin tacking this flange on then I remembered that forward bulkhead wall flange will be harder to weld and dress with the new lateral flange sitting on top of it.

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#102 Post by Justin Rio »

Forward bulkhead wall flange repair:
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The time is now to get this portion of the bulkhead wall repaired. I have found installation much easier by cutting this new section in half. Once its complete that weld joint is buried and supported a couple of times over.
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Will be cleaning and prepping this forward center next so I can get this half of the new flange in.
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Then I can go back to installing the lateral flange section it hides under.
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Much easier and cleaner to weld this inner corner up first than to do it with the new flange runner over top of it.
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Began trimming a relief in the flange to allow the inner mating lip to come in enough to reach the vertical wall.
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As this progressed it began to dawn on me that this flange and corner relief wasn't shaped quite right; Too exaggerated.
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The drop in the flanges shoulder is a little too strong compared to the OG.
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Step relief on the OG runs approx. 22mmm
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This new one was coming in at well over 8mm higher.
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Even taking into account the eventual additional layers of metal the drop was still too much. Maybe not the end of the world at this point but if left alone this feature will cause a definite fitment issue once I begin fitting the new floor section in. The relief stamping in it would never allow a tight uniform fit without a fight and lots of heat. More on this later... Thanks for looking! Justin

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Re: Late 1959 S/R coupe project # 108625

#103 Post by Mike Wilson »

Truly impressed with the progress and workmanship. 👍👍👍

Mike
Mike Wilson
Lomita, CA
'63 B coupe

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

#104 Post by Justin Rio »

Hey Mike, thank you so much; just trying to copy as best as I can what was there originally. Justin

Reshaping the new bulkhead flange
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Since the original shows this stepped flange not that pronounced.
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Relief cut to begin lowering and softening that feature.
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Just relaxed the curve to allow the mating flange to come up.
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Test fit to dial the new height I'm looking for.
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Coming in right around 20mm. Close enough...
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Carries the line and attitude of the original section in the background.
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While I'm at it I can use the excess metal to widen the mating flange.
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Lowered, widened, and welded up. The other half( on the left) will get the same treatment eventually.
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New mating flange width now reaches in flush without the need for anymore relief trimming to the outer flange run.
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In the not too distant past I would have mounted pieces like this in without question. "This is the way they made it, so it must be correct" Leading to all sorts of fitment issues later on. This where having a reference car or original reference sections is so vital otherwise how could you know until it was way too late setting off a chain of new and unfortunate events.

Prepping to install this new bulkhead flange next.
Thanks for stopping by.
Justin

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

#105 Post by Justin Rio »

new bulkhead flange repair final installation:
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Begin cleaning and straightening these flanges for the new section.
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Cleaned and ready to accept the new piece. Again a mixed bag; just the fact that these flanges survived is amazing.
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The initial remover got a little aggressive and burned through the shoulder so it will need some love a bit later on when I'm ready for the new floor.
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New section seats in just fine.
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All set and ready to make my final cut.
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Cut and all tacked in.
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Begin stitching up the corner first after this I was free to mount the new perimeter flange.
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Stopped at about half to get back on the flange.
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Flange reinstalled over top. The inside will clean up fast. Once I run across a few gas beads this transition will be hard to detect.
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Again would have been impossible to clean up that corner weld joint with the flange hanging over it.

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