I second that! Hello Curtis. His craft of metal working is first rate. A pleasure to watch. Curtis is currently fixing a minor nose dent on my Cabriolet. The process involved stripping chrome and reforming the original brass surround. Also reshaping a dent. Here are pictures from Curtis. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like copper not brass. Does that mean it has had the first plating process completed for chroming?
Ask Carol Roush of Ferrari Market Letter in Stone Mountain/GA. www.ferrarimarketletter.com With a lot of luck you might find a copy on ebay, they are now commanding prices of up to US$ 500. Cost when new was US$ 50. A total of 5'000 copies was printed, all sold out. Marcel Massini
In the morning I took a drive to get a coffee. Arrived at the coffee shop, set the brake and went inside. I heard some commotion, turned around and saw the car rolling down the street. A post at the edge of a creek and stopped the car. I guest the brakes cooled and loosened up. Almost pulled a Faris Buler -dropping off into the creek. Made me very unhappy.
Proper Chrome plating is (at least) a three step process; copper, nickel and then chrome. After each plating the surface should be examined and finished off, especially the nickel which will add depth to the luster. Looks like it has come back from copper plating and is being finished off. On a similar note... A friend and I were going for a ride, so I was warming the car up and pulled it outside. As I set the handbrake I had a fear in the back of my mind about it not holding, but quickly dispelled it as I had firmly set the brake and wasn't intending to be long. We got to tinkering on my workbench when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a red blurr rolling past the garage on the gentle slope outside. We dashed out chasing the Ferrari and finally stopped it short of broadsiding the neighbor's Rover. We laugh about that mad dash now, but at the time I was willing push hard on the bodywork and also put my foot under the wheels to let it roll over me several times to slow it down. It works, but I would not put much of your foot under it as I was later cautioned about the potential for foot damage. PS - Wurth and TriFlow make excellent products for lubrication in the hand brake pivot pins.
I live right up the road and have seen your cars there before. The mention of the creek gave it away. Sorry to hear about it BTW but Brians guys will fix it up. You going to be at Rodeo Dr.?
I note the slots in the rear glass. Is the glass actually PLEXIglass plastic? It would seem VERY difficult to cut slots in a piece of auto safety glass.
No Yes. The rear louvers are mounted on Plexiglas. A slit is cut behind for air flow. It's kind of a Pininfarina design theme that dates back to 1955. Louvers and plexiglas was also used on a 375MM , then TDF(metal) etc. For what its worth, heres a close up: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
what is the process of restoring or recreating one of those plexi glass rear windows? anyone know? you dont exactly pick one of those up at the local hardware store.
1. Don't break the one you have! 2. If you violate rule #1, get a sheet of aluminum and hammer out a mold for the shape that you want. Cover aluminum mold with thin fabric. Get a large sheet of plexiglass. Place supported aluminum mold and plexiglass in a very large oven, heat, and let plex drape over the mold. Let cool and trim to fit. 3. Make more for friends and family since you now have the mold!
I believe the fabric will provide a little seperation between the plastic and aluminum thereby preventing the plastic from sticking to the aluminum after it cools. Otherwise the slight stickeness of the plastic all across the joining surfaces will make for a difficult seperation process. From what I remember about plexiglass working in my 8th grade shop class, you don't want to heat the plastic any more than necessary to form it. Heat it too much and it becomes like syrupy glue.
This is a great thread. Am I the only one here to remember David E. Davis' account in Car & Driver of driving a blue 250LM into NYC ending, as I recall, at the Chanticleer restaurant? What a drive that must have been.
When I was 18 I got to see Joe Rosen with his 250 LM at one of the final Bridgehampton events. It was actually the first time he had it on track after having it rebuilt due to a vintage race accident with an Aston Martin (I think that was the story anyway.) If I remember correctly, it was S/N 5901. Does anyone know where this car now or have any recent photos of it? Thanks. Scott
