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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:40 pm Post subject: 1958 A T2 coupe restoration |
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Hi,
I come from Germay and after finishing a complete restoration of a 1967 T1 CrewCab I just started the restoration of my 1958 Porsche 356 A T2 Coupe. I bought it this summer in Barcelona, Spain where it was stored for several years in a parking garage.
The last owner disasembled the car. Some parts are missing and some details I don't know if correct and what they are for. I hope to get some further informations.
Enclosed find some picture of the car. Thanks in advance, Jan
First meet in the garage in Barcelona, Spain
Wrapped and loaded on trailer to bring home 1500 km
Unloaded at garage in Germany
Completely disasembled.
Builded a rotisserie
Body fixed in rotisserie and ready for work.
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foamcar Samba Member
Joined: April 26, 2010 Posts: 136 Location: michigan
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for posting. Looks like a good body to restore. Neil's Book would be a good acquisition as it has many photos of an original A coupe. Available from Block's Books. |
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roy mawbey Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012 Posts: 397 Location: Sussex England
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:53 am Post subject: |
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I agree, your car looks to have good potential for restoration. Nice find indeed. If you are not sure about items probably can help you. I run a 59 T2.
Like your working area, much easier witht he spit and space to move around!
Roy _________________ Roy
RHD356A super75 106954 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 8:48 am Post subject: |
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After disassembling, I cleaned the surfaces and brought the body to media blaster shop. He knows what to do and what not ). Really nice results after blasting and just very little "ugly" repairs from previous owners. Lots of originals parts and lots of work
Looks like a good body for restoration as you can see on pictures enclosed.
Merry Christmas ot everybody out there from Germany, Jan
Finished after media blasting
Nice engine hood
Previous owner changed doors to better quality - different serial number
Looks like a B T5 front hood - because of the lock holes. Does it have the same outline like A T2?
Somebody tried to repair front hood
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roy mawbey Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012 Posts: 397 Location: Sussex England
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:58 am Post subject: |
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Jan,
Impressive work and great photos so far. A tip: look on www.abcgt.com and the restoration pages for the 356A carrera and coupe2speedster pages.
Justin has put on all the repair work welding and fabrication wise in full detail with hundreds of photos as good as yours. You will save yourself many hours of work if you look at them
The 356A T2 and 356B T5 front hoods are different but are interchangable.
The height of the hood on the T5 is slightly different to the T2 and some structural differences on the underside as far as I am aware.
But.. the T5 will at least fit the T2.
Your hood must have suffered the 'kinking' problem either because it was not lowered properly or the hood came up at some time?
If you look on the Registry help pages ( free to do that) you will find the info on the hoods and from memory there is as company possibly in Germany? that produce now new 356A T2 front hoods. I expect expensive but look a super job.
I think you know all the new panel people to use to buy new sections?.These cars all rust in the same areas. That back torsion bar area will not be that easy to do but I guess?? you have the welding experience ? Also the fabrication of parts you cannot buy needs some special kit to help in the making. The cardboard template procedures by Justin Rio on his abcgt site make that job a litle easier.
Viel glueck Jan,
Roy _________________ Roy
RHD356A super75 106954 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Roy,
thanks for the informations. The hundrets of pictures in the internet really help. I also have the books of Jim Kellog "Guide to restoration", Ron Roland "The nuts and bolts of Porsche 356 restoration" and Dr. B. Johnson "A restorer's guide to authenticitiy" to find out, what is correct for my type of car.
I did two complete rotisserie restorations of a 67 T1 Splitbus CrewCab and a 66 T1 Dormobile Camper Splitbus. So I know what to do with rusty metal - splitbusses have lots of rusty metal parts
Thanks for the infos about the front hoods. Will see, what to do with the one I have. It has a good surface and nice seams.
Will add further pictures of the process.
Jan
Last edited by jan_t4 on Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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Some additional pictures from the last week.
The media blaster shop cleaned most of the attaching parts and painted them in black 2K expoy primer. The media blaster guy - Tino www.dersandstrahler.de - did a really good job. Nice to have such helping hands in the area here around.
I powder coated most of the parts for my CrewCab project. Here I want to try painting like Porsche did.
I don't want to build the Porsche original
Enjoy the pictures - like I do.
Jan
Tried to zinc-coat some parts to see the results. The galvanizing guy did a good job.
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PASHN8 Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011 Posts: 152 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:28 am Post subject: |
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Looks like a great project and i'll be watching this one with interest.
How are you planning to tackle the rear torsion area? _________________ www.dinography.com.au - Dino!
1957 11-Window Split Bus
1954 3-fold Sunroof Oval Beetle
*** Looking for '56 Porsche T1 356A 1300 engine no. 22373 *** |
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roy mawbey Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012 Posts: 397 Location: Sussex England
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 4:17 am Post subject: |
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Jan,
Like Dino I also will be watching this with interest. The powder coated items all look nice, and glad to say my old brain still recognises all those parts. You need a good memory to to put it all back together
Very pleased to hear you have had the experience before on the VW. That means like Justin on abcgt you must be brave enough to start the cutting out.
Roy _________________ Roy
RHD356A super75 106954 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:19 am Post subject: |
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Some new pictures.
The media blasted body, doors and hoods are 2k epoxy primered to protect from surface rust in the areas, that don't need to be welded. I used "LECHLER 2K Epoxyprimer" which can be ordered in each RAL colour in the paint shop. I chose "RAL 5014 dove blue" this time to see, how a color like this will appear on the 356 body. For the welding areas I use "Standox Haftprimer" which is weldable.
Jan
before
afterwards
before
afterwards
_________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964 |
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roy mawbey Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012 Posts: 397 Location: Sussex England
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:48 am Post subject: |
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Jan,
So much better when you get all the mess out of the way Give yourself confidence every now and then by standing back and looking at the engine lid you just sprayed. If only all the 356 cars built had survived as well as their engine lids. If you buy an old 356 with a rusty engine lid then you will have trouble for sure!
A question for you Jan, If you look at the rear panel under the back drivers side quarter light window I would like to know how you intend to make that rust repair? The top seams and the bottom seams look to be sound. The 3 vertical flutes seem to go under the top seam. To replace that panel would be hard with many spot welds to remove and other panel movement. The section is available to buy complete but the price is around £500- over here. You also have the rear suspension shock absorber mounting to consider as well.
With great care possibly you could cut the rusted section out to sound metal and form a new piece with the flutes. Not easy at all though.
Thats a case of not cutting out until you are really certain of the proposed procedure.
This repair reminds me to look at Justins abcgt site to see if he has done it on his 356 repair work. Maybe others looking at this thread can advise? Is it actually easier than it looks?
Roy _________________ Roy
RHD356A super75 106954 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Roy, thanks for your input.
The "inner rear fender" should not be so problematic - hopefully. I have repiar panels for both sides and will see, how much of them I will use.
The price is okay - 195 Euro, so approx 250 USD. I bought nearly all my 356 panels from http://www.werner-kotter.de/index_003.htm. Mr Weilemann is a German producer, good quality, nice prices and really helpful service. Only some parts I ordered from Restoration Design (Canada with European Distributor) or Joma Parts (Belgium). The problem is the expensive shipping costs for oversea shipping of such large and sensitive metal parts.
I'm just thinking of the best order for all the parts to repair. Will give some pics from the restoration panels. Will see, how much of each panel I will exchange - partially or in total.
Jan _________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:35 am Post subject: |
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Some pictures of the metal repair panels. I ordered all parts, that are partially infected by rust on the car. Will see, how much I will change and where i just repair the problematic areas and where I change the complete part. Rest will be sold afterwards. I don't have an Eckold and flute-machine, so need to buy repair panels. The prices at "Kotter Bleche" are fair and quality really nice. Have to be adjusted in detail - like all repro panels.
Lot of sheet metal
complete floor halfs for A-Model which are partially rotten, especially the outer edge (Kotter Bleche). Needs to be shortened at the outer edge
complete battery box with all details for A-Model (Kotter Bleche)
inner rear fender, one for left and one for right side (Kotter Bleche). Will use just a part of it, not the whole panel
rear seat base area, the vertical parts I don't need, the horizontal parts have to be changed. Material is too thin because of rust (Restoration Design)
Front axle strengthener parts (Kotter Bleche)
fuel tank lower part (Joma Parts). Not like original in detail. Will see, how much I will change.
Have to be changed on inner upper edge for my A-Model (Kotter Bleche). The corner edge is wrong, has to be straight.
A-Model correct longitudinal supports and jack stands. (Kotter Bleche)
Fender support, U-Profil has to be folded inwards on the inner end, where welded to battery box (Kotter Bleche)
Parcel Tray rear seat. Seems to be a T1 version, needs to be changed partially for T2 version (Restoration Design)
Longitudinals, inner ones just need to be replaced at lower end (Kotter Bleche)
outer longitudinals will come later (Kotter Bleche). The ones that came with the car where replaced very badly, rusty and do not fit correctly.
_________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964 |
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MMW Samba Member
Joined: April 30, 2012 Posts: 846 Location: northern NJ
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:19 am Post subject: |
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Those repair panels look very nice. They should make the job go easier as you can "pick them off the shelf" as needed. _________________ Mic
1959 356 coupe
Missing the original engine 72488
Update - third pc. found!
Now just need the case halves.
1965 fenderless beetle |
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roy mawbey Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2012 Posts: 397 Location: Sussex England
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:58 am Post subject: |
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Jan,
I had no idea you were so well prepared for this restoration. Your inventory of sheet metal ready to start is most impressive. The info on Michael Weilmann and his 'Kotter' pressings are really great. I have looked at the website in detail and his photo's ( as well as yours) and the parts look so good. If only I had the chance to buy those over 35 years ago when I was welding mine! ( I see like others who have done this work you are prepared to have to make small adjustments to the new panels as and when needed.)
I cannot say I have ever heard of Kotter, the others you mention yes, it would seem to me its possible over here parts are purchased maybe from him and sold on with a mark up? as the price you are paying is so much lower than in the UK. I can understand the German text but I did not notice if he offers a catalog in English?
Really nice info Jan and as said before, look forward to seeing you proceed and restore.
Roy _________________ Roy
RHD356A super75 106954 |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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After all preparations, the metal work can begin - yipee. Working with the right tools makes everything easier. I use 3 angle grinders, one with 1mm thin cutting disc, one with rough grinding wheel and one with flap disc for final work and surface smoothing.
To drill out the rusty welding spots I use 6 and 8mm spot weld drills. The machine is a special power screwdriver, which has high torque und runs low RPMs, so the drill will not overheat.
_________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964
Last edited by jan_t4 on Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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I started working on the front area of the floor panels with the front axle strengthening parts on driver and codriver side. These replacements are not so complex and good to start the work on the Porsche and get familar with the tools and the restoration process again.
Starting on Co-Driver side. This new piece should go there. As you can see, it is too long and has to be adapted.
Drill and cut out the rotten piece
Adjust the new underlayer part with the inner edge for floor panel and prepare the welding areas with weldable primer (red paint)
welded in spot by spot to prevent from wrapage
Inner side after welding from outside and before grinding and cleaning.
Same situation on Driver side
Finished underlayer after welding, grinding and rust prevention painting.
The outer layer is adjusted and fits well to use spot welding gun - like factory did.
The repair panels have to be adapted and detailed, as you can see comparing original (background) and final adjusted part (red paint).
_________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964
Last edited by jan_t4 on Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:31 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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PASHN8 Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011 Posts: 152 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Great start Jan! _________________ www.dinography.com.au - Dino!
1957 11-Window Split Bus
1954 3-fold Sunroof Oval Beetle
*** Looking for '56 Porsche T1 356A 1300 engine no. 22373 *** |
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jan_t4 Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2012 Posts: 146 Location: Germany
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:18 am Post subject: |
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First area is finished, but lots of work to do.
I love tools - and thisone is really perfect and timesaving. Different arm sets really help. Thinking about building a really big arm set to spot weld the inner floor edge to the tunnel. Just like the factory did. Don't have to drill, weld and grind afterwards.
Driver side finished.
Co-Driver side finished.
Inner front area finished.
Starting with lower floor edge.
This one will be next. Cutted out the tank floor, because too much separate spots had to be repaired and the surface was almost really thin from rust. Too dangerous to carry the fully loaded fuel tank with around 50kg.
With the tank floor out of the car, it is easier to repair the front hood hinge pocket, which somebody had welded realy ugly.
_________________ -------------------------------------------
My 356A T2 Resto.Blog: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=579964 |
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PASHN8 Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2011 Posts: 152 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:50 am Post subject: |
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Great progress! What brand and model is that spot welder? _________________ www.dinography.com.au - Dino!
1957 11-Window Split Bus
1954 3-fold Sunroof Oval Beetle
*** Looking for '56 Porsche T1 356A 1300 engine no. 22373 *** |
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