a new project begins

zac · Post by **zac** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:09 pm

Hi Jon,

yes we are making progress but not much that is picture worthy.

Finally got a paint sample we are happy with and I will pick up the painted dash today to confirm we like the color than the car should be painted by the end of the month.

wiring is ready just awaiting delivery

plating parts are sorted and ready to go out and I will deliver them to the plater this week when I pick up the prototype Daytona parts that I had done first.

trim pieces and grill have all been fitted and I will have them polished once I have the painted car back so they don't sit on the shelves getting scratched.

I believe Jens has the mechanicals just about ready and I will be up at his place checking on progress this week. He and I are also going to try an experiment on a new way to remove Daytona liners to save them after they were incorrectly bored in the block.

Zac

JonBrent · Post by **JonBrent** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:09 am

Thanks Zac, sounds like you've made lots of progress on some of the hard stuff. Can't wait to see the final result, I'm sure it will be fabulous.

Best of luck. Jon

zac · Post by **zac** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 12:57 am

The car is now one step away from paint, it has one last bit of blocking and some final corrections I wanted before the car is painted. We had the color matched by a specialist and painted the dash and column pieces. After trying several time I think we have a good color and I am meeting with the owner tomorow for color approval. If all goes well the car should be painted in the next couple weeks. The transmission and rear end are now done along with all the suspension and undercarriage pieces, so once I get the car back from paint it should go together pretty quickly. I have to deliver some final parts for the engine and it should be ready by the end of the year.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

the trunk was never fitted right and you can even see the poor alignment in the press photos, it's going to take a bit more welding and hinge correction to fix it but it's almost there

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... facer6.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

The color is very hard to photgraph but here is an idea of what it looks like, the original is on the door panel trim and the spray out card is below it.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... eddash.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

Zac

John Vardanian · Post by **John Vardanian** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:58 am

What color is it going to be, Zac? This is the exciting part.

john

Tom Wilson · Post by **Tom Wilson** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:18 pm

Looks to me like you could show the car in the primer and still win awards! Very nice job.

JonBrent · Post by **JonBrent** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:54 am

Oooo thanks for the updates Zac. I love how light the car looks, floating on eight little sticks like that.

zac · Post by **zac** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:35 am

I see you like my improv body cart, I found some ex Home Depot lumber carts at a local metal scrap yard for 35 bucks. I couldn't resist they were already built and the price of the wheels alone was more than I paid for the cart.

Zac

JonBrent · Post by **JonBrent** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:22 am

Ah, I see it now! Great idea. Did you transport the GTE to the shop on it, or use something else? (I know, I know, a trailor) Even stripped GTEs are too heavy to just carry around.

zac · Post by **zac** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:12 pm

almost painted!!!!!!!!! unfortunately it is going into the booth while I am away at Cavallino to get painted but here are the pictures of it in the booth with the Jams done and getting wet sanded before paint. We decided to paint the jams first than hang the panels and paint the car as a whole to keep any color differences to a minimum. We are also doing the color sanding in two stages, first we will put three stages of clear and than color sand the entire car than reshoot the car with sevral more coats of clear and do the final color sanding and buffing this should give us the real wet look and the ability to fix any minor imperfectios before we start buffing.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... nkjams.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... oorjam.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... orjam3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... orjam2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... oorjam.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... ftdoor.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... htside.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... ftside.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... ayjam2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... bayjam.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e38/d ... rsjams.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

Art S. · Post by **Art S.** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:21 pm

Very cool. I'm wondering what a restoration done to this level would cost.

Art S.

zac · Post by **zac** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:31 pm

Art,

this one is not as much as you would think, but in general a full restore like this would run you anywhere from 150k on up and sometimes a lot more on up depending on the shop and what extras are needed.

Zac

Dr. Ian Levy · Post by **Dr. Ian Levy** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:38 am

Hello Zac
Looks like you have started a new religion.
14000 odd views & 121 postings in a week
I look forward to the finished result as you are bringing back happy memories of my own GTC4 restoration
I also agree that the body in primer alone could win an award!!!!
Regarsd
Ian L
UK

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:39 pm

Why not paint fully the inside of the doors?, ie the inside of the door skins and the rest. Surely this would help against future rust?

I know nobody will see it but the reason panels rust from the inside out is because the paint protection on the inside is not as good as the outside. Thus in a restoration we should endeavour to paint the insides of panels properly to make the cars last, ie. learn from our (or car manufacturers) mistakes.

A really good example of this was a restoration of an Alfa Romeo GTC in Australia. The restorer actually removed all the outer panels by drilling out all the spot welds (he then repaired the inner and outer panels) and then he fully painted all the inner panels to proper quality. He THEN re-installed the outer panels and finished painting the car. One would thus expect that car to be very resistent to rust, the curse of any Italian car. I assume also that he painted the inside of the outer panels before installation. And yes where the spot welds were redone the paint would be burnt off, but a vast majority of it would still remain.

Pete

Rudy van Daalen Wetters · Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:47 pm

I would venture to guess that the inner door panels are yet to be painted with a rust preventative paint. A restoration of this caliber would command such a process.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:48 pm

Here is that Alfa Romeo GTC restoration:

Main outer panels removed so inners could be properly repaired.

Inner panels fully painted.

Installing outer panels ...

Very impressive restoration. Full details here: http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/showthread.php?t=35395

Pete