www.tomyang.net

Does anyone know the status of this project?

Art S.

Believe it or not, we are still alive and kicking. We are just having trouble getting a quote on cutting the metal. We have a new source and hope to have numbers soon. I will let you know when I have something!

Guess What?? We are still alive! I just received a sample of the 250 Kick Plate and it is super. Mark did a great job of translating our measurements into AutoCad, finding a cutter and creating the final product. We are happy with the test cuts for the 250 GTE and the 365 2+2, but we need a little help with the 330 GT 2+2. We have the measurements, but would really appreciate getting a tracing of the plate or even better, borrowing a kick plate from some generous 330 GT 2+2 owner. We want to compare a test cut to the original to make sure that we are making the right thing.

Here is an update on some of the things we have learned since we last spoke: 1. Anodizing makes the plates either too gray or too yellow. We will send them in the raw aluminum and if you want to anodize them, you can. 2. The clearcoat that Danchuk puts on the plates peals off after we use the water cutter. We will try to get Danchuk to send us the stock material without the clearcoat. 3. This is not the aluminum originally used for the 365 2+2. Ferrari used aluminum with a "Herringbone" pattern, according to Mark, which is not what we have here. This is, however, the closest that he has found and it looks good. 4. This aluminum is more common than we thought. I attended the Concours on Rodeo in Los Angeles on Father's Day and noticed that the same material was used on the doors of a 1961 Corvette. It was a large piece that curved around the arm rest and really looked great. Be nice and I will publish a photo. I also disproved my theory that Pininfarina found the material while designing the Corvair. 5. Even though this is a minor part of our restoration project, we can still have a lot of fun creating it!

If you have a 330 Kick Plate that we can borrow, post a note here and Mark will be in touch. I will not be able to reply as I will be in Italy (including the Ferrari Museum, but not the factory, due to the presence of children) until July 19. If we come up with a reference, we will be able to produce Kick Plates for all three models of Ferrari. Stay tuned. We will be right back...

i STRONGLY recommend that a common pattern for these panels NOT be used!!
i have made these and had great success and am very happy with the
results. the overall out side shape is probably the same for all of these
panels, but i am afraid that the notched out areas for the holding clips will
vary !! these notches might have been done during final assembly and may be a few mm off from car to car, if this is the case, you will have a very difficult time with the assembly, or worse, it will not go to together at all!!

Hi Paul,

If owners had to cut these panels themselves, it will significantly drive up the price. Can a master be made, and the owners can "fudge" the slots with a dremel tool to make them fit their cars? Doesn't a trim strip cover the edges of the panel? I know with the GTEs, the frame can cover a sorts of mistakes!

Tom

On the GTE, the trim strip does cover the notches, so any adjustment would not be noticed. We can also make the drawings available on this site so that people can print out full size copies and see if they match the plates for their car.

In comparing the plates from both sides of my car, I noticed that one had been trimmed slightly by the factory to make it fit. However, the notches were in the same place. As the notches on the GTE are made to accomodate the posts on the premade frame, and are significantly larger than the posts, i can't imagine that they could be that far off.

I can supply a 330GT kick plate for a template if you need it. PM me or post the shipping particulars here and I'll send it out. Do you need right and left?

Keith

Keith,

I sent both of mine in to Tom's guy for a template......thanks for the offer, but i think we wait for sample to see.

Did anyone ever get anywhere with this material? I'm a year late to the thread, but I need kick panels too!
Jim Gerken

Last year about this time, Tom Wilson and I generated a proposal to get a bunch of these panels cut. Tom arranged to buy the material from Danchuk and I produced a set of CAD documents that replicated 250 GT (thanks to Tom Wilson) 330 gt (thanks to Ed Montini) and 365 gt 2+2 panels. I had made arrangements to have them water cut and actually produced some prototypes.

Tom posted some information about the process on this site. We were prepared to fabricate a run, but there seemed to be no interest. I still have the CAD files and can ramp up again if there is committed interest.

You can contact Tom Wilson to get an idea of the quality and fit.

Mark

Mark, i think we were waiting on Tom actually........anyhow, lets go??

Maybe tom can jump in and give us some thoughts.....for me im ready to go and would need a set for my 330GT.

Let me know what you or whomever needs and I would like to get them ordered and cut:

Hi Tom:

Where are you with this process? Are you still iterested in putting an order together?

Mark

hi guys
who is taking the orders for these kickplates??
what is the hold up??
i would like a set,where do i send the money?
do i need to order my own metal and then send it to the cutter??
thanks
eddie

Hi guys;

I was working with Tom Wilson on this thing. we separated the work into two categories: Tom was going to organize the orders,money and material and I was going to handle fabrication and shipping.

Tom seems to have disappeared so I guess my responsibilities have increased. Let's start by having everyone send me a private e-mail indicating model and quantity. In the mean time I will contact Danchuk and see what is up with the material. I apologize for the delay.

Mark

Hi Mark. We can fire this up pretty quick. If you could email me the drawings again, I will post them on the board for people to check out. I will also call Danchuk to see how soon we could get the metal without the clearcoat. From there we can see who is interested and get them cut.