Dino GT #03664 rebodied in Aluminum

Who can remember the squillionaire was that had his f-car rebodied in platinum ?

Some involvement with first commercial space flight; memory fails me

 

Nice to see your Dino out of the shop, off the hoist and in the parking lot! The last time I was at your shop, you were still pounding and stretching aluminum. You are an awesome metal-man! If you ever sell this car the new owner is going to get a re-skinned Dino done by a real pro! Are you going to put bumpers on it? I hope so. I'll stop by the shop soon to visit.

Great work!!

Steve
http://stevekouracos.wordpress.com/

 

that's fantastic! ....a polished alloy body sure would be amazing!

 

Remarkable work. Very good..
Congrats.

Best

 

platinum? what would a platinum body weight?

stupid idea for many reasons.

 

IIRC, Alfa Romeo did a platinum coating or finish or body or something with the Milano? I seem to remember from one of the car magazines I read as a kid.

 

I seem to have a vauge recollection t'was implied the rebody not for aesthetic or practical reasons; rather platinum as the most valuable metal on the planet.

Standing by; to be corrected.

Salute'

ID

 

Does the panel consider it enormously foolhardy to re-body a 71 E series 246 in aluminium? I confess to quite liking the idea for the sake of performance - I have no plans to sell - but given the additional expense of construction vs intrinsic value, is that quite mad? Discuss...

 

not bad if the car needs a new body . don't know how I would feel about it If to equal cars were sitting side by side (i.e. fully restored) i would probably rather have the original steel body.. looks like a nice job...

 

If one has a basket case car, I see this as the right way to go versus creating a new body in steel.

 

Yes, wow indeed.

 

Any posted pics of the completed car?
Would it be rude to inquire about the price of this rebody?

 

Simon is an amazing gifted panel beater. The panel surfaces and flanges are absolutely exact and precise to to original body except in aluminum. He even did the air cleaner housing as the original except in aluminum. No one could afford to have someone as skilled as him do this (at least in the U.S.) as he did it for himself and took many years to do it. It is now running and driving with a restored interior. He has left the body in naked aluminum.

Freeman

 

Any pictures?

How has this not been shown so we can all be in awe?

 

I thought the 206's were already alloy ???
Pete

 

Yes 206's were all aluminum. Early 246's partial aluminum and later 246's were rust prone Russian steel.

 

What in the hell, that is impressive. Weight savings I conjecture aren't massive (70-100lbs) but what an impressive feat.

 

3:1 ratio. As a for instance, an Alfa GTA (alloy body) vs a GTV (steel body), there is a 400lb difference in the skin alone.

Cost? Huge...

Regards, Alberto

 

I don't see how the panels alone can account for such a weight difference considering a Euro steel bodied 308gtb vs a euro glass 308gtb doesn't have more than 80lbs difference at most, and that fiberglass.

 

I believe aluminum is much easier to work with because it is softer.
So a no-brainer regarding which to choose if you are doing it yourself

 

Trust me Jim, not really a no-brainer at all.

Ally, as an alternative to steel, provided you are extremely proficient in what you are doing, as aluminum is much harder to shape and weld, and though there is the assumption that soft equates to easy, is not such a panacea as it may appear.

Welding mild steel vs. alloy is analogous to being an every day street driver vs. a race car driver.
On a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, steel is 1 and alloy is 8. Just take a look at my avatar.

Do you think it was done by a pro? Yet the weld, albeit Frankenstein-like, did its job.

Steel you can 'lead fill' as is in all our Dino, but try that on ally
This means, the body sections have to be perfectly shaped before joining.

Also, and it may not matter much, quality aluminum is much more expensive than mundane sheet steel, more delicate, issues of dissimilar metals start rearing their ugly faces, which become an electrolysis factor.
Installing an aluminum body onto a steel chassis is more complex and difficult, although new technology affords better solutions to this problem.

Fiberglass, if strong enough for the street is heavy, and Ferrari backed off on the 308 for obvious reasons.

Anyone would charge considerably more for an alloy body than a steel one, even if a hood or a door, thus you can see why Simon values his body at such a high rate.
As an aside, any body shop will work on steel, but ally...good luck

Regards, Alberto

 

Other parts of these Alfas are lighter too due to magnesium castings ...
Pete

 

You are quite right Pete, the valve cover, oil pan, transmission bellhousing and shift tower.
Wheels by Campagnolo, thus same stuff as Dino.
Nevertheless, the ally body is the mainstay of the weight reduction.

Regards, Alberto