6/28/02
The Windshield, Bumpers, and Splash Shields

It’s been two weeks since I worked on the car, and it seems like longer. I got back from a trip to Barbados and Grenada, so I couldn’t have been farther away from anything Ferrari! Having got my fill of seafood, sun, and turquoise seas, I was ready to get back to work!

François began the process of fitting a gasket to my windshield. It takes careful trimming, and fitting to make these things fit right. Making one from bulk gasket material is WAY cheaper than buying one for about $400 bucks!

I started working on the bumpers. They were unpacked, polished and inspected. Some of the pieces were rechromed by the previous owner, but the quality is a little suspect. The front bumper is O.K., but the rear bumper shows signs of severe pitting underneath the new chrome plating. A good chrome shop ($$$) would have ground the rust off the bumper, and built the metal up with copper, filling in all the pits. Unfortunately, this attention to detail was not followed when this piece was rechromed, so the chrome will probably not last too long before it begins rusting again. For the time being, it will be fine to mount the rear bumper to the car, but someday, when funds permit, I’ll be sending this section out for reworking!

I still need to hunt down some bolts, and rubber bumper pieces, but I hung some of the pieces to see how they would look. The America is really starting to look like a roadworthy car!

I got some gasket material to put on the splash shields I made a few months ago. This closed cell foam is glued to the edge of the splash shield mainly to keep the shield from rattling in the fender.

Using some contact cement, and a razor blade, I installed the gasket. I made pie cuts in the gasket for the really tight curves, but most of it stretched easily in place. Strike another task off the restoration list!

Looking at the diminishing pile of parts that have yet to be mounted on the car, I found these two aluminum trim strips. They screw on the lower rocker panels on each side of the car to cover the pinch weld. They has all sorts of over spray on them, so I spent some time stripping off the paint. I believe they’re painted black.
 

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