T5 resto back on track; now I know where all that grease went

[William Crowell]

Thanks for the reply, Jack! I hope to meet you someday.

I think Alex deJonge of Restoration Design told me I should use the T2 striker. Alex has been very kind to me in offering advice, but I'd better check with him again, just to make sure I understood him right. I'll also run the idea of using a T6 striker past him, as well as asking him about the T5-specific ones, and will let you know what he says.

[Jacks]

Restoration Design has T5 specific striker panels, but they are twice the price. Why don’t you use a T6 panel and dolly out the dimple?
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Jack Staggs
Actual name

[William Crowell]

It seems that the exact door striker panel for a 1960 356B T5 is NLA, so you have to use the T2 part instead (no. 644 502 041 01 for the driver's side striker panel). The T2 striker has a small accommodation for a rubber wedge that is not used on the T5. What would you do: (1) install the T2-type striker panel as is (and maybe try to install the T2 rubber wedge); or (2) remove the wedge accommodation from the T2 striker before installing it?

[William Crowell]

Mr. Lighthall is very upset with me because I want to rescind our contract. I don't want to be unreasonable and want to give his position fair consideration before pursuing my case further. I sure would appreciate it if anyone who is familiar with Mr. Lighthall's business practices would message me and tell me if they think I am being unfair to him in wanting to rescind. If the consensus were that I'm being unreasonable, I would definitely want to consider backing down. Thank you.

[William Crowell]

The Administrative Law Judge issued his decision recently in the case of Lance Lighthall, dba Lighthall Classics, in Shingle Springs, CA. Here's a link to a copy thereof.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1is7KBe6diDLjVJECw5ixFJFB7lIfp4IW/view?usp=sharing

I think Mr. Lighthall can appeal from this decision, should he desire to do so.

[William Crowell]

When Mr. Lighthall at first refused to register with the California Bureau of Automobile Repair as an automobile repair facility, the BAR issued a citation and an abatement order requiring him to cease working on customers' cars until he did register but did not assess any monetary fine for his failure to register. Later, Mr. Lighthall did register with the agency. Had Mr. Lighthall dropped the matter at this point, it would have remained a private citation; however (and somewhat inexplicably since no fine was imposed) he appealed to an Administrative Law Judge in the California Office of Hearings and Appeals, arguing that he was not subject to the registration requirements of the California Automobile Repair Act. We had our hearing before the ALJ yesterday, and the ALJ's decision will now become part of the public record. When I receive a copy of the ALJ's decision, and since it will be in the public record, I will post it in this thread.

[William Crowell]

I got tired of Lance Lighthall promising to do a certain amount of work for a certain price, but then demanding more money before doing the work he had promised to do for the money already paid while denying that ever entered into the prior agreement. He refused to put anything in writing, claimed he was working on a monthly "salary draw" and refused to specify an hourly labor rate. So I brought the car back home and now I'm looking for a different restoration shop. The quality of Lance's work is OK, but his business practices suck big time.

Then when you tell him you want to take your car home, in order to change your mind he tells you he's going to assert a big mechanic's lien against it before he will release it to you. But after you agree to pay his claimed lien under protest in order to obtain the return of your car, he backs down and doesn't assert a lien against it after all because he is not registered with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, so he is precluded from filing a lien under Business and Professions Code Sec. 9884.16. Of course he is supposed to be registered with the BAR.

[Sebastian Gaeta]

This has got to be very exciting and rewarding. Nice shot of the dash, I love the early T5 with no clock. Did your car come with the Porsche script on the nose? The first few hundred T5 cars had the script and they are a different size from the A nose script and are not interchangeable. Just curious.
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Sebastian Gaeta

'63 Beetle Turkis
‘64 Karmann Ghia Coupe Manilagelb/Black Roof
'64 356C cabriolet Signalrot
'65 356C coupe Rubinrot
'66 Single Cab Velvet Green
'67 Karmann Ghia convertible Heliosblau

[William Crowell]

"Very tidy work indeed, you have some real craftsmen on it!"

Yes, Lance and Josh are excellent metal men and painters who are deeply interested in 356s.

They are now installing new rocker panels.

[Starbucket]

Just think if you had a Faro Arm and recorded all those joints, stiffeners, and all the other bits and pieces you could 3 D Print a 356.

[Sebastian Gaeta]

William,

Very tidy work indeed, you have some real craftsmen on it!

Also a very nice touch with the German tubing in the longitudinals.
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Sebastian Gaeta

'63 Beetle Turkis
‘64 Karmann Ghia Coupe Manilagelb/Black Roof
'64 356C cabriolet Signalrot
'65 356C coupe Rubinrot
'66 Single Cab Velvet Green
'67 Karmann Ghia convertible Heliosblau

[William Crowell]

Repairs were necessary in the longitudinal area.

[William Crowell]

Lance and Josh are installing the longitudinals.

[William Crowell]

The floor pans are in, and a perimeter kit was installed.

[William Crowell]

Did you ever wonder exactly what the underside of the transmission tunnel looks like with the floor, the shift rod and all the cables removed?

[William Crowell]

S.J. Szabo said: "Why not do the "kill two birds" thing and thoroughly undercoat the bottom after the paint?"

Mr. Szabo, thank you very kindly for your reply. Your knowledge of 356s never ceases to amaze me.

I think the argument goes like this: Delfleet is so strong and hard that it doesn't chip when hit by rocks like ordinary paint does, so you don't need to apply any undercoating material over it. I'm not sure if this is entirely true or not, but I think it must be true to some extent if the big trucking companies are going to all the trouble of painting the undersides of their trucks and trailers with it.

In the past I have had undercoating (even bed liner) start to detach from the paint after a long time. Then water starts collecting in the space between the undercoating and the paint. At this point, I feel like I want to eliminate that water-collecting interface. However, as I pointed out above, I am still learning about this and am open to suggestions as to what brand of undercoating would continue to adhere, rather than starting to fall off after awhile.

[William Crowell]

After abrasive blasting, I discovered that the body had several problems that were covered with Bondo, and of which I was therefore previously unaware. And it does need floor pans after all. But having seen several examples of their work, I am confident that Lance and Josh Lighthall can make it like new again.

[ensys]

Mr.Crowell:

While I am not familiar with Delfleet, I should imagine that something could be added to its mix to flatten it some.

Of course, there is that rock-chip thing, and a paint-only finish is not the way they came from the Factory.

Why not do the "kill two birds" thing and thoroughly undercoat the bottom after the paint?

I don't know that I would use the stuff the Factory used (unless this is to be a Concours restoration). I went with a rubberized product. It sticks well to hard-shell paint and if applied correctly, its resilient nature will provide enough cushion to protect the integrity of the paint.

Just $.02 from the cheap seats...
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Keep 'em flying...

S.J.Szabo

[Starbucket]

Woolwax is a rust invertor and preventer so it will change any rust that was missed into a primer and it seals out oxygen to prevent future rust. Woolwax was designed for out door industrial equipment that gets banged around while epoxy based finishes will tend to chip if a rock hits it letting in moisture.

[William Crowell]

starbucket, if I understand the argument in favor of Delfleet correctly, it is that Delfleet prevents rust more or less permanently; while products like Woolwax will provide good protection for quite awhile, they don't last forever.

Now it is quite possible that I don't know WTH I am talking about, so if I need to be corrected, please let the lashes commence at this time.

I would like to hear everybody's comments about correctness vs. preservation, too.