Rebuilding a 1958 356A

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:56 pm

First off I started to put the sound deadening kits in, I used Wurth product that was recommended by them - seems to be good stuff although the proof of the pudding is yet to come

The product used to stick the sound deadening in was this one

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:57 pm

Just in view in the last photo is the new wiring loom I bought – the old one had seen better days and having spent this much on getting the car right I don’t want to be putting 52 year old dry joints and brittle cabling back in.

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:57 pm

So the first job is to work out where to put this lot

All I can say is this is an absolute PITA job

– fairy liquid came to the rescue for some areas, but it started to get there eventually

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:58 pm

And by the end of yesterday it was starting to look a lot more functional - here’s the front loom entering the battery box with the battery cable

And the dash starting to take shape with some blink for good measure

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:59 pm

Couldn't resist putting some shiny bits on the outside too

Anyways, onwards and upwards....

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:03 pm

Looks fantastic James

The 'doing it properly' bug has well and truly caught hasn't it

roy mawbey · Post by **roy mawbey** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:12 pm

James,

Your work and the car just looks great. It will be a fantastic car when finished. I can't get over the underneath views it looks better than new to me.

Roy

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:17 pm

Another big step forward was taken this weekend with the amazing help of Mr and Mrs Mycar

– there was a thread on here recently about DDk'rs asking for help with projects - well our experience is that many folks have already freely volunteered their time, knowledge and experience in helping us get to this stage - gotta love DDK

Anyway, the big step forward was the headlining

We are all headlining virgins, but with time, patience, enthusiasm, lots of fags and cups of tea we decided to have a go....
First off was to replace the old sound deadening behind the headlining which was passed it – it was more like dust than material and was in a poor state

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:18 pm

New material was sourced from a local trimmers (A S Pickering in Bradford http://www.aspickering.co.uk/veteran-vintage/ ) which has a black fabric side and a brown felt like side and some proper high temp upholstery glue

A template (in two halves) as per the original was cut – shown here half in and the other side glued ready to take the next bit – Mr Mycar happy with the result

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:19 pm

The trimmer’s tip was to put a layer of glue on both the roof and felt and allow to dry. Then put another layer, first on the felt and then on the roof – sticks great that way

Next the headlining bows and rubber ends were inserted into the new liner and roughly put into place, held with bulldog clips

Then position adjusted centrally and held up front, back and sides with bulldog clips

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:20 pm

It is then pulled at the front centre - a Mrs mycar comes in handy for this job

(The headlining is marked with a pencil to show where to glue)

Then rear centre and the sides and the special clips put on to hold it as well

58A - 71E · Post by **58A - 71E** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:23 pm

It was left overnight and then the smaller pieces for the pillars and rear can be done
and the end result,
even though I say so myself, is a real triumph

The latest version (second) of Jim Kellogg’s restoration guide came in useful as the process is well documented over 3 pages in there - onwards and upwards....

mycar · Post by **mycar** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:20 pm

Dr. Alan would have been proud of us. I can`t believe how a baggy bit of cloth stretched itself into a taught bumptiousness. The tricky bits were the pillars but we had Hayley so that was alright.

For further reference you`ll need lots of this,

And plenty of these,

The patience of....

And some dogged determination.

Add it all together and the car gets one step closer.

Just everything else to do now.

Mike.

petric · Post by **petric** » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:19 pm

i looking good , working well as a team, that was the only job i never did myself when i done my old 911!, had no fancy for it all car looks fantastic keep up the hard work peter

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:36 am

A really tidy job, lookinng forward to further installments.

Keep up the hard work