"Bello Nero" Dino 246GTS*08054* 1/63 20-B-50

It's the start of a New Year with lots of work scheduled. I picked up my newest Dino surface and paint job from Jon G's shop last week. Jon is so meticulous by the way he pulls these Dinos apart. Everything is in separate plastic crates, labeled and in zip-lock bags. Don't forget about the subcontractors and all the missing parts that he locates, not to mention all the new fasteners he purchases. We laugh together when these cars come apart... he finds that most of these Dinos from previous repairs were put back together from stuff that was bought from the local hardware store down the plumbing department aisle. Jon is a magician when he puts these cars back together.

The owner (Mel Bahri) lives locally and I am sure he will be around frequently to check on progress. He has owned this Dino for more than 4 years and has only driven it a couple of times. Why?... well, we won't go there. He is a great guy and loves his Dino very much. And also loves Black. All his cars are black.

Last week we started stripping his car to metal. Oh Boy! I have seen a lot worse I tell Mel. Mel's Dino has very little rust repairs needed but some old sheet metal damage from a few fender benders. Repairing old damage can be challenging... when there's lots of brass repairs (no good) all the brass and most of the old sheet metal has to come out. There will be some fabricating involved.

I will post the repairs as we get into them. Here are a few photos.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Steve
http://stevekouracos.wordpress.com/
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The lower rear quarters are always a good place to start. I always finds treasures in these areas (but no gold coins yet). This will all be cut out, re-fabbed with new metal, rust proofed and undercoated. I'll post some pictures of it when we're done but we're well on our way.

Steve
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After we found Jon's Crescent we found his Allen wrench. HaHa. Now back to business. Let's get this thing stripped and start replacing all the bad sheet metal so this black beauty can get on the road!

Steve
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We hope to have the stripping completely done by the end of this week. We'll then figure out what metal work and fabrication we'll have to do. Where we are right now, it's looking really good.

With most of these older restorations they have been stripped before. They've been stripped by somebody using 36 grit on the end of grinding wheel.... when I get a car I don't know how much metal there is left, especially on the edges. This is a really big problem with the 206s and aluminum cars. We know that the safest way to eliminate material is by hand. It's very tedious work and a very slow process. There are only a few projects and depending on the client's budget the cars get media blasted. This is only when a car gets completely taken apart and stuck on a rotisserie. I also use a method when it's thick with filler, I heat up the area with a torch the filler peels off like butter.

The following photos will give you an idea of the work required in hand stripping.

Steve
http://stevekouracos.wordpress.com/
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The owner came to the shop and viewed the progress on his "Black Beauty" Dino this last weekend. He's happy to see as much work as we've done on the car and has given us the go-ahead to move forward with some necessary repairs as we move toward body work.

We'll post some photos over the next couple weeks.

Steve
http://stevekouracos.wordpress.com/

 

This will be the last bath this Dino will ever see. Now that the surface material has all been stripped off we de-greased and pressure steam washed the entire car -- inside and out. Everything that needed to be masked off, such as wires and fuse block, were masked off and wrapped in plastic tighter than a drum. After the bath, while the metal was still wet, we sprayed an etching material on the sheet metal to prep the steel for body/sheet metal work. The material was worked in by hand with Scotch Brite pads and rinsed off one more time after the etching process was completed. The car then moved into the spray booth oven and baked until all the moisture is out of the car and has completely dried out.

Steve
Steve Kouracos | Fine Craftsmanship In Automotive Restoration & Resurfacing
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Not so scary if done properly and with the right equipment for this process. This is not a rotisserie job where you can media blast. I have soda blasted before and will never, ever do that again. They both have their drawbacks. The de-greasing and steam cleaning is to remove all the grime, oil, and grease and to make sure the chassis is 100% clean. As I mentioned, after the body gets metal etched, we return the chassis and body to the heated, down draft spray booth where the air is constantly moving and stays at a constant temperature until the car is completely dry.

 

Just got the parts back from the walnut blaster. We seam sealed and will get in to primer quickly so they can go back on the car and we can start our surfacing and fit and finish. As you can tell by the photographs the factory numbers are etched into the aluminum. It's too bad, they'll soon be covered with primer.

Steve
Steve Kouracos | Fine Craftsmanship In Automotive Restoration & Resurfacing
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