This is the second in a series of posts on the automotive restoration of this 1964 Porsche 356C.  Part One described condition of the Porsche after media blasting and the rebuild of the B-post, Part Three covered the front end reconstruction, Part Four described the rebuild of the right-hand front fender and wheel arch, Part Five covers the difficult restoration of the right-hand rear quarter, and Part Six explains the engine bay rebuild.

The first four photos below show work carried out on the right hand fender.  As shown in the previous post after blasting, we saw how the fender was poorly repaired.  Besides the rust decay, the front end looked as though it had been in an accident at some point in its life.  Looking around the car there is a lot of rust decay in general, luckily for owners and restorers of Porsche 356Cs, there is a huge inventory of panels available to reconstruct and rebuild these beautiful cars.  In this particular build I have used Stoddard reproduction panels.

This takes me to the first point of rebuild, at the right hand front fender.  Stoddard produces the Porsche 356C fender replacement panels in 3 pressings plus the front half panel.  To cover the right hand fender repair, I need the front half panel and the panel directly behind.  In reality, I begin with the panel (black) behind the front half panel and work forward as shown in the photos below.  The black panel is initially put in proper position, along with the front panel, and tacked followed by TIG welding into place.  A large patch repair is also undertaken prior to the welds being metal finished.

Photos of a Porsche 356C fender restoration

First pre-pressed panel TIG welded in

Fender panel repair: TIG welded in

Fender repair panel metal finished

First stage of Porsche 356C fender reconstruction complete

The next stage takes us around to the left hand fender, where the first photo below shows a mismatch in angle transformation from the door to fender.  The angle should be 180 degrees and this is probably a result of the the 1964 Porsche 356C being hit and twisted, this needs to be corrected.  The incriminating area in front of the door on the fender is marked and cut out.  A replacement panel is then made and grafted into place on the Porsche 356C, followed by metal finishing.  In the last photo of the group below (with a ruler laying across the two panels), you can see that the door shape is way too full along with the fender angle turning outwards.

Photos of a Porsche 356C fender restoration

This is the left hand door to fender. The door shape is way too full along with the fender angle turning outwards

Area cut out. Ready to be replaced with material with correct shape.

New section TIG welded in

I always zip off the top of the weld with a 1/4″ grind wheel. Doing this, I only take off the weld material and not the panel metal.

Metal finished and correct in shape

New panel section metal finished

The remaining photos show the inner wheel well construction welded in and completed.  The wheel well side wall was also planished back to factory smoothness, this is an area often checked by judges, if this Porsche 356C were entered in a car show.

Welding complete on inner wheel well. Now ready to build outer front sheet metal.

Front wheel well panel tig welded up.

Left hand inner fender structure panel has taken a beating over the years.

Left hand inner fender structure panel planished and smoothed out.

132.5 hrs in metal work to date.

This is the second in a series of posts on the automotive restoration of this 1964 Porsche 356C.  Part One described condition of the Porsche after media blasting and the rebuild of the B-post, Part Three covered the front end reconstruction, Part Four described the rebuild of the right-hand front fender and wheel arch, Part Five covers the difficult restoration of the right-hand rear quarter, and Part Six explains the engine bay rebuild.

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