antique cars, automotive repair, automotive restoration, car body repair, classic cars, metal working, porsche, restoration, vintage cars
So here's the subject: a fine Porsche 356A

1959 Porsche 356A rear end rebuild and restoration – Part 1

Another Porsche 356 restoration! And a cool one at that.  This 1959 Porsche 356A is in great original shape, bar a paint job or two throughout its life.  The reason it’s in my hands is the evidence of paint bubbling, just behind the rear arches leading to the assumption of some historical below standard bodywork.

In order to check out the level of bad bodywork, the first stage is to break the paint surface directly over the bubbled areas to see whats going on.  After this was undertaken a good level of bondo was removed to reveal the sheet metal overlapped and crudely welded.  This suggests the rear clip was replaced in the past after an accident.  So, whats our next move?  We will remove the rear clip, media blast it, repair it, and seamlessly graft the rear back onto the body.

Check out the first stage as we begin the process of restoring this awesome car!

Photos of the Porsche 356A before restoration

antique cars, automotive repair, automotive restoration, car body repair, classic cars, metal working, porsche, restoration, vintage cars
So here's the subject: a fine Porsche 356A
antique cars, automotive repair, automotive restoration, car body repair, classic cars, metal working, porsche, restoration, vintage cars
The paint is removed to reveal a multitude of sins!
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Crudely overlapped metal
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Close up view of the historical repair
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Dropping a rule across the overlapped joint to reveal a valley like gap.
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This gap was then filled with body filler - no wonder the paint was bubbling here!
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Next stage awaits

As always, stay tuned for more pictures of the automotive restoration of this 1959 Porsche 356A.

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