WHAT did they use to weld the bodys together on the old ferraris?!?!?!

I know some old timers that used coat hanger for gas welding rod with pretty good results!

 

They were "stick" welded, in most cases-on steel cars.
Alloy bodies were gas "welded"
Copius hammering and lead were then used to "shape" the final contour, prior to a skim coat of the "tan colored" base coats...primed, painted...

Body guys...correct me if tghis is deemed incorrect...been stripping these since early 1970s, and have seen some pretty scary stuff under all that red paint...

 

It's been said "Mr. Blobby was a Factory welder.."

That said, the welding machine is only as good as the input voltage, and Maranello is WAY out in the country!!

 

Bailing wire is a local favorite...
Regards, Alberto

 

Lead was often used to stitch several smaller panels into larger ones.

 

LOL!! Great point.

When I started out making my sculptures I did a lot of research of the common construction techniques to try and keep them in the same "spirit" as the original, As you've pointed out you aren't going to see any "rows of nickles" in their welds. The word "booger" would be more appropriate.

 

What's wrong with those? That's what my welds look like.

 

Yet, another side of the coin is that all this held together for 50 years ? ;-)

 

You "artistes" have an elegant way with words!

Jack

 

Those do not look like original Ferrari welds. Even though the frames and frame tubes were originally stick welded, the original ferrari stick welds would be of much better quality than those depicted in the photos.

The Ferrari welders were craftsmen, who could stick weld much better than most people can MiG or TIG weld today. At some point in time your car was repaired by someone that did not know how to weld.

 

What are the serial numbers of these cars? Best wishes, Kare

 

What's captured in the post-blasting pics in this thread, and in the progress photos of the two linked restorations is very indicative of what I found on my SII cab (#71 out of the 200) as well. I've heard that they had the junior guys doing a lot of these welds, on the theory that their work was going to be covered up by that thick layer of undercoatiing. It's definitely pretty rough.

Also, they all seem to have rusted in the same way and the same places. My car spent most of its time in Virginia, and had the same rotten rockers, outriggers, floor panels, door bottoms and trunk floor as the cars documented in the restoration pics.

 

Here I was joking.

Here I was not.

 

I've always, always, been amazed by the poor build quality of Ferrari road cars.

~Ciao

 

I fully agree with Brian Brown.
Those who think this is PF- quality haven't seen much.

Kare the black one is#2381GT

C.