Ugly Dino Restoration

Hi All,
Just got around to taking a few photos of the "project". I've sorted though all the stuff to see what I'm missing and have started collecting missing parts and fabricating others I'm pretty sure I'll never find. I've also been rebuilding suspension components. The plan is to get the body into a rotisserie in 2-3 months (after I finish another project) and install the front and rear clips along with doing all the other metal work. I'll probably send the hood, doors, engine lid and boot out to be acid dipped in the next couple a weeks just to get them ready to hang. Any help locating parts would be greatly appreciated! I'm still missing a rear sway bar, under dash ventilation plenum, engine (or parts), clutch bell housings and transfer gears. I do think I have a gear box lined up!

Steve
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holy mother! that poor thing is in real bad shape.

Good luck with your project, thanks for sharing and for trying to get back to life a ferrari, always appreciated

 

Has that other project got a propellar ?

 

Steve, this looks like fun and from the early photos looks like its going to be a thorough job. Looking forward to reading your updates.

I don't wish to deviate from your thread, but something that caught my eye was the shape of the suspension mounting brackets. I note that the two left restored brackets have an assymentrical form. Both front and rear brackets on my late 1973 car have only symmetrical form as per your right two restored brackets. Attached photo shows the fronts of my car. I am curious if anyone knows if/when/why these changed. The differences in "A" frame mounting hole with respect to the chassis bolt will cause a difference in geometry.

Kevin
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Definitely if for a lot of work, but to see a Dino brought back to life will be a great experience for us all. The only restorations documented here have been Dino's that were still road worthy. This looks to be a lot of fun for us to watch and a lot of work for you, but a lot of celebration for us all.

 

Holy mackeral Steve, are you fabricating all these parts yourself?
That is super impressive and your dedication deserves a serious tip of the hat.

Keep up the good work!

-Scott

PS - what is the VIN of this Euro Dino?

 

Steve, I can help you with any fiberglass copies you might need, if it is an "L" series car, under dash ventilation plenum is out of my car so readily accessible, shipping might be slightly more expensive. As far as Acid dipping goes, I would not do it, as aluminum is not very happy in it, and by personal experience, I would definitely open all folded seams and get rid of the rust that was there from Scaglietti...;-)
Let me know. Regards, Alberto

 

Makes my project look like a walk in the park. Those front a arm brackets are welded onto the frame, I believe. This is an heroic and epic project. Feell free to discuss anythin w/me. I don't know everything or even most things but I am finishing up my car this year and have some knowledge of what you are in for and therre are other members who are deely involved these love labors who seem very interesting in aiding us all.

clay

 

My suspension mounts had the asymmetric shape for front upper. The parts book confirms this. Thus, 4 of the 16 mounting points were of this shape. Furthermore, one of these asymmentric mounts has a shorter stud. Be careful, I believe it is the one closest to the steering upper universal joint. If a long-stud mount is used there it will interfere.

Jim S.

 

Wow that is a ROUGH Dino....

 

The chassis # of my Dino is 04630 and yes I'm doing all the machine work on the parts myself....that's half the fun!
The off set U brackets are for the upper A arms and bolt to the upper frame rails on my car. I've seen other Dino's with these brackets welded in as on your car Kevin....not sure when this change occurred. My Parts manual TVA. 32 shows these brackets and their direction of installation. As for the acid dipping, the doors and trunks had been dipped in the past. Soooo to remove the rust from under the folded seams they will need to be dipped again. The trick is to make a large tub to dip the newly cleaned parts in a watered down primer such as DP-40 (epoxy) or a metal etching primer like Variprime. This will seep into all the folds and prevent rust from weeping out after final finishing.

I do have an airplane project also...but the 2-3 month delay is due to a house remodel that seems to be sucking the fun out of the good projects lately!

Steve
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My 73 Dino 04788 is a USA version. (currently under restoration)
It has a different, beefier front bumper trellis, and also has the removable front upper suspension mounts.
Both 73 Dino's referenced so far have the Euro front trellis mounts, yet one has removable upper front suspension mounts, and one has fixed mounts.

That makes 3 different build variations for this detail alone. So much for consistency...

Your project is going to be a great one to watch Steve.

You will receive lots of encouragement and help on this forum.

Jon in Michigan

Where are you located by the way?

 

Steve, great photo of the fiberglass parts...Now I understand that there are
additional fiber straps to seam them all together. Break a leg! Regards, Alberto

 

Indeed I had not noted the differeces in front suspension mount point design before. Not obvious to see why the design changed, but it obviously did. The welded on ones don't allow for shiming. Perhaps variation in this part of the chassis did not occur so they simply welded them on to save effort. Hope you don't mind Steve, I pinched one of your photos to show the difference wrt mine.

Kevin
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I've been meaning to update my thread but am just now getting back into it. I was in the middle of a house remodel/rebuild that took a little longer than expected and I wanted to get a winged project further down the road before I started the Dino. In the interim I spent the time tracking down parts I was missing, which was considerable!
With a lead I got from greg246, I was able to track down an engine/transmission in Australia! It came with a Dino Replica and a ton of extra parts. I had a mate of mine in Melbourne travel to Fremantle to inspect the car and parts and get it into a container. It took a month to get it to the California...I was on pins and needles! I also collected sway bars, interior parts, half shafts and misc. parts from the internet, Ebay and Dennis McCann's.
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When I got all the parts unpacked I did an inventory. I was like a kid in a candy store! All the parts were as described. The engine had all new pistons, cams, chains, and gaskets. The block, crank and heads all machined and ready to assemble. The transmission and transfer case are all there along with all the small bits and pieces.
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With most all the parts located, I started on the chassis. The car had been in a major accident. I believe it did a high speed spin that took out the right rear quarter panel, then hit a curb on the right front. The lower A-arm and spindle/rotor collapsed into the frame rail. This diamond the whole chassis and lifted the right front corner of the frame up. I was able to find a body shop that would let me use their frame pulling equipment. After chaining the chassis to the floor and cutting out the damaged frame tube I set the frame pulling post to pull out and down the front end. With some judicious pulling and using a rose bud torch, it all pulled out. I welded a steel tube in place to stabilize the chassis and prevent any movement during transport.
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Once home and on jack stands I welded 2 frame tubes back in place. The tubes were made of 3" OD 4130 tube. I made two 4x4 blocks that were hollowed to get the proper oval, then used a huge hydraulic press to squash the tube. I had made a rotisserie of my own design and once the tubes were installed the frame was set into the rotisserie so the rest of the metal work could start. I installed a new right front shock tower support tube and new right radiator support tubes.
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With the frame looking good I started on what was left of the body. The right quarter window and door frame were off and needed attention. I pulled the right roof rail/qrt window junction down 1/4" and the lower part of the quarter window had to be replaced.
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Great work Steve, it's nice to see a car that's suffered being resurrected properly.
I'm interested in how you made the chassis tubes. I'll send a PM.
Andrew

 

With the door frames repaired, the next step was to install the doors. I had removed the door pins which had rusted in place and had reamed them to fit a standard US bolt long ago. I purchased new pins from Superformance and needed to re-bush for the proper new pins. This was just a little more complicated that expected. The only way to drill the hinges on the door was to drill between the hinges not from top or bottom because of clearance with the door skins...Dang! I made two drill bits to fit a 90 degree drill and made bushings out of 4130 tube. The bushings were driven into place and I brazed then in so they wouldn't ever rotate! The doors were installed with dummy pins and the hinges were heated to get the doors properly aligned. The dummy pins were removed and the bushings all reamed again with sand paper to clean them up. Viola!

With doors installed I'm starting on replacing the sheet metal on the door sills and in front of the door posts. I've made all the patterns and when I've finished the sheet metal I'll update you all!
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Steve, I really like your approach. No nonsense, whatever is wrong I fix. Period. Way to go!

I sent you a pm.
Regards, Alberto

 

Steve- how impressive!! This is just great! Thanks for posting...

 

And the hinges...wow, the hinges...

Regards, Alberto

 

New rear inner fender panels! Thanks Alberto!
You just can't beat personally delivered Dino parts!

I've also been working on new trunk hinges. I copied what was left of my old hinges into CAD and had new parts water jet cut. After cleaning edges, reaming and counter sinking the holes I made a bunch of new round head rivets on my lath. I reamed brass washers to correct diameter to replace the nylon washers used in the originals. I had purchased a number die set to stamp the body numbers but they're a little different style so I'm still looking for a better set. I still have to make a drive bit for my rivet gun to make the proper finish on the rivet heads and once done I'll set the rivets the send all the hinges out for for cad plating, I have enough parts to make 6 sets of hinges......it was just as easy to make 1 set as a couple of set!!

On another note I just received Matthias's book and all I can say is WOW!!
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