GTE Dash and Doors



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I’ve been sorting out the parts needed to assemble a GTE and I’m addressing the dash.

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I salvaged a dash from Shaughnessy and it needed to be disassembled so I could take the parts I needed for this car. The part of the dashboard that forms the hood over the instruments was missing, so I had to cannibalize it from the dash I acquired, but first it needed to be unscrewed from the rest of the dash.

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Pininfarina bolted these parts together with nuts and screws, but then lopped off the extra length with a set of side cutters making it nearly impossible to unscrew these small nuts off the slotted screws. I ended up cutting off all the nuts to get the dash apart.

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Since this car is going to be a “driver” we decided the chrome on the window frames was not too bad. After some polishing, the chrome came back fairly well.

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I decided to change out the window felts however, because the original stuff was pretty rotted and frayed.

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When a car is back from paint, all I want to do is start bolting parts back on, but sometimes parts still need to come off before the assembly begins. A couple of pieces of weather stripping needed to be installed with the door off, so I was still taking parts off!

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With the doors off, I also had a good chance to take inventory and see what was still missing. This car was partially disassembled by several people, and a couple of shops, so there will definitely be parts missing.

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The biggest problem I’m facing is what to do with the window mechanisms. I don’t think this is a Ferrari window mechanism, and certainly not for a GTE! It was supposed to fit the left door, but nothing lined up.

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The right door had a partially installed window mechanism and it’s very different from the one I had for the left. Having done my car years ago, and working on another GTE at my upholsterer, I’m pretty sure we have a problem.


3805_27The window parts for the right door is not much better, with a lot of rusty structure. I’ll either have to fix these rusty and weakened pieces, or we’ll have problems with the windows going up and down!

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On a positive note, I installed the one piece of weather stripping that goes on the leading edge of the door before anything else goes on. This piece of rubber only installs with the door off the car, and if often omitted if short cuts are taken.

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I also took the grille out to clean it up and put on the weather stripping. You guessed it, the grille didn’t come out unless the bumper came out. I’ll start bolting stuff back on soon, I promise!

 

 

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Shoot me an email if you’re planning on going. A few of us Vintage Ferrari guys will be there and we’ll find lots of opportunities to meet and chat in person!