I started disassembling the SII 330GT at my shop. It’s here for a full restoration and I’ve been preparing for weeks to get ready for the disassembly. There are a ton of parts on a car, and parts need to go for cleaning, fixing, painting, plating, and inspection, but most of all organized so it can all go back together!

I’m taking a bunch of pictures of the mechanisms and assemblies. Even though I’ve worked on a few of these cars, there are subtle changed between models, and sometimes with modifications made by previous owners. I have to figure out what is correct, and what needs to be repaired.This is a picture of the inner workings of the left window.

The other struggle with restoration is the disassembly of stuck pieces. The vent window rod extension had fused to the chromed vent window rod, so I needed to get it off. I eventually got it off with brute force!

After getting the left door disassembled, I moved onto the right door.

The right door offered it’s own set of challenges. Instead of the rod extension being seized on this side, the actual knob was stuck to the vent window assembly! Even with the set screw removed, the knob wouldn’t budge. I managed to get the whole assembly out without removing the knob, and will address the removal of the knob later.

The SII 330 doors come apart differently than the earlier GTEs and GTCs. The vent window structure has to be removed in order for the window glass to come out. It’s a bit of a puzzle, but I got it all out. The next step was to carefully remove the stainless steel trim off the window frames.

Moving on, I removed the sill plates and door surround trim. The screws were a little rusty, so I had to take care not to strip or shear off these screws. Getting these fasteners off in one piece will save a lot of time, so patience is more efficient.

One trick is to get a good #1 phillips head screw driver, seat it firmly in the head of the screw, and strike it firmly with a hammer. This strike will help seat the head of the screw driver better into the head of the screw and dislodge some of the rust between the screw and the metal underneath.

Cleaning out the head with a sharp pick and some penetrating oil will also help the process. These few steps will save you a lot of time if the screw comes out without drilling it out!