Dino Restoration

I am just throwing this out there for consideration but if the windshield is too big in some area (too tight) you could use a belt sander with a fine grit belt to plane it down. Sounds crude but it is effective. I did this on restoration glass (wavy with bubbles) on the house I am restoring and it worked great. You would have to be the judge on whether this would be appropriate or not. Try it on a junk windshield to satisfy yourself that it is a workable solution.

 

I would like to see a picture with the ill fitting windscreen in place to see what the problem exact is.

 

Good idea.

Mark

 

Looks like a deep breath helped. Lookin' good.
John

 

Jon, does your body shop guy (or blasting guy) recall if he removed filler in this area? Seems like 1/2" of filler, especially in a corner (it's like a flexible joint) would be susceptible to cracking.

 

Could lead have been in this area?

 

Jon,

From meeting you and looking at the quality of the work so far I think after trying another windshield and if it still does not fit then you should have your body guy fix the windshield frame. You car is going to be fabulous and you do not want to settle for a quick fix. I'd be interested in seeing a close up pic of that area before the windshield came out? That said I talked to a guy that rebuilt some daytonas and said that both he worked on they made templates and both left sides did not match the templates for the right! hand craftsmanship was sometimes less that uniform if lovely to behold!!

Rob

 

How do those hot rod guys fit there cars with windscreens, i quess they are made as one off's.

If you dont want to bodge the corner with filler (i wouldn't) then you either have to:-

1. Cut and alter the frame.
2. Get a windscreen made to fit.

IMHO - You have done a text book restoration on this car, dont let it down at the last fence. Remember these are hand built cars, not every one is the same, 1970 italian cars are not renowned for there metal work skills, just the styling!!!
Tony

 

The Hot Rod guys use Lexan for custom windshields. Speedglass is the one I hear about, here's the link: http://www.percyshp.com

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

 

That will work.

 

Jon,

I had a similar problem with a broken screen to an old Aston Martin DB5 I used to own.

Eventually after speaking to very many specialists it became clear that most new screens did not actually fit properly! One restorer actually said to me the DB5 cars were mostly okay you are lucky that it is not a DB6, apparently they never fit!!

I was naturally quite amazed at this acceptance that glass that we buy to fit our cars needs adjustment!

In my case I laid the glass down and could see that one corner was very clearly lifted, I was able to choose a more suitable fitting glass from a pile of them.

We then laid the screen in the car on small two inch sections of screen rubber at the bottom. Then with masking tape on the edges we marked in felt tip the edges that in my case needed to be shaved off to achieve the correct fit. This shaving or planing is carried out at the glass shop on a tool that is more normally used to polish the glass edges, it looks a bit like a bench grinder with a very fine wheel on it.

I concede that your problem seems to be more that the glass appears warped at one corner, see if there is any way you can choose a better "twist" to your screen. You might be surprised at the variation in them.

It sounds barbaric but they will bend a huge amount too!

Sit with the problem for a while, think about it and take lots of specialist advice, you will overcome it!

We in the Uk are all with you on this, good luck!

 

Hi Jon:

A while back, I promised to supply photos of the bowden cable housings which enclose the e-brake cables on my Dino. I made new ones this past year as the originals were in rough shape. BMW motorcycles have really heavy duty bowden cables so I bought their thickest ones, cut the housing to size and put a new end on using ends and a tool I bought. They fit like a dream and after adjusting the clearance of my e-brake with a feeler gauge, things work perfectly.

Let me know if you have questions.

...Keith
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Jon,

With thanksgiving passing and Christmas coming soon, I thought
that I would post a simple "Thanks" for sharing your restoration
experience with us. You have definitely gone out of your way to
please all of us on Ferrari Chat. Pictures and description of your
beautiful Ferrari along with the process is incredible. I hope that
the windshield problem "clears up", and it will. Be patient, it will.

I hope that your family and you have a wonderful Christmas and
fantastic 2008. I am glad that the "fire" did not get your house or cars.

Thank you for everything , . . . . Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Tom Geer in Tennessee

.

 

+10000 (and also to everyone who has made substantive/positive contributions to this thread - I'd list you all, but there are SO SO MANY!!!

Mark

 

The other day, I noticed the caption to a picture in the book FERRARI DINO 206GT, 246GT & GTS PININFARINA V6 ROAD CARS by Ian Webb page 89 and couldn't help but think of this resto: "...Although an expensive operation, the perfect car is well worth the effort. Many large motor manufacturers would consider Dino construction primitive." .......she's not just a car, she's a work of art. I'm certainly not the only one around here that is just in awe of the pride and effort put into this restoration. The windshield drama truly is no worries as our Aussie friends would say its just a little bit of extra time. So many guys have done such great jobs like Newman and UK Stephen etc. but I have to admit that this is my favorite resto. Your car is without a doubt the nicest 246 I have ever seen. Thanks a ton for sharing the resto with all of us Jon Merry Christmas!

 

Funny, I got my interior from Matt, and my windshield from GT.... I guess because I am on the east side of the Rockies!

 

Jon, since you have a few moments waiting for your new windshield and the interior to arrive...can you help me with an interior question. I looked through all of your disassembly pics and couldn't find a shot of this area. Where the three release levers mount to the fiberglass tray behind the driver's seat is there a cover that finishes off the assembly. A friend with a Dino swears that his disintegrated over time. I looked in my collection of parts and couldn't find one at all (car apart). Any help, pics would be appreciated.
Have a great holiday and New Year...we're all cheering for 100% success on engine start-up!!

Jeff

 

Jon, thanks for the photo. It looks like a simple plastic grained cover; not metal. Is this correct? Are they still available?

 

Superformance.co.uk has an aluminum replacement piece for that. About 1/2 way down the page.

http://www.superformance.co.uk/a-246/fittings.htm

 

We replaced the part last year as the plastic on ours had likewise just disintegrated over time. Since ours is a right-hand-drive car, I ordered a RHD part from Superformance. (The cables are all of different lengths from LHD version, as the panel is installed on the opposite side of the car.) For some reason, our mechanic, Karl, could not get the aluminum backing plate to fit into the bulkhead properly. We ended up ordering a plastic (LHD) part from Dennis McCann, which Karl was able to fit into the bulkhead. He laboriously grafted the original RHD cables onto the new part, and it looks and works perfectly. Except for one little thing...

When I handed him all the parts, I totally forgot about the locking bar, so it was not reinstalled. I decided to let it go, since it's kind of a pain anyway. It's in a box in the garage (along with the Superformance part), and I haven't lost any sleep over it!

Anyway, based on that experience, I would advise ordering the (plastic) part from McCann, as much as I generally like Superformance. Of course, I do have the Superformance aluminum plate available, with a set of LHD cables from the McCann part. I would be willing to deal...

Good luck!

 

Jon,

I constantly refer to this thread, and even after seeing it countless times I am still breathless at the attention to detail, and the passion that has been infused into this restoration.

It serves as perfect motivation for the up coming restoration/build of our 400, with 456GT mechanicals.

Keep up the good work!

Andrew.