11/24/11
7039: Disassembling Parts and the Dashboard

After the parts were removed from the car, they still had to be disassembled so pieces could be either painted, plated, or refurbished. The license place brackets had two brackets that needed to be painted body color, and the light assemblies needed to come apart so the bodies could be sent to the plater.

I took notes and pictures so I could put everything back together several month from now when all the sub assemblies come back from the various shops.

The same thing had to be done with the vent window assemblies. The quarter glass had to be removed before sending the pieces out for chrome plating, but many of the little screws and brackets needed plating as well. I counted 6 pieces in the vent window lever alone! You have to have great faith in your chrome plater not to lose any of these little parts, many of which are irreplaceable. I’ve heard plenty of nightmares from auto restorers loosing parts at the platers.

With the glass out, I reassembled the pieces for our plater so he will know exactly how everything fits together.

With the seats and carpets removed, I turned my attention to the dashboard. All the gauges and switches needed to tagged and removed. I took notes on things that needed to be fixed or parts that needed to be found.

Besides labeling the wires, I also took pictures of all the work. I was not going to leave to chance all this would go back correctly. With labels, notes, and pictures, it should go back fairly well.

I often get e-mails from people telling me how envious they are about what I do for a living, and I find moments like this when I laugh to myself. Lying on the floor of a stripped out interior in God-Knows-What, trying to loosen the heater control cables so the dash can come out is not the most glamorous of jobs. The good thing, however, is that I’m enjoying myself!

With the four ventilation control cables disconnected, the dash came out with relative ease. Next week, we’ll be moving onto the engine compartment.

Reminder: If you have a Ferrari related project, car, or idea you’d like to explore, I’d love to talk to you. I can also help if you’re thinking of buying or selling. This website represents what I love to do, and now it’s how I make a living, so if you’d like to do something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!

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