Blue vinyl was also a choice. Rarely seen and looks pretty hideous on anything other than a white car.
Blue vinyl trim?? Don't know as I've ever seen that. My car had blue leather seats, black vinyl trim and red carpets when it left the factory. The paint was originally white. It sat at the dealer for nearly two years. No big shock there, eh?
Coop- your photos were hugely helpful. I have the same interior minus the black trim. I will change that as I like the way yours looks & my exterior is red too. I can't really tell but is your carpet tan or black? That would be the last question that I have(for now). Thanks for the photos- just great. Another good catch on the "Nicht wermat" or whatever. The car was exported to Dusseldorf Germany im May '71 to Auto Becker (importer). The tire surround has an information plate all written in German too. At some point it was shipped to California. I am still reconstructing the history of it. Thanks again
'glad I have something of interest to share. My car appears to have been (still is) a driver. From what I can tell, the interior is reasonably original. In lieu of perfection, it has patina & is a lil' rough around the edges. There are a few discrepancies/substitutions/replacements, but nothing drastic. I'll post another interior shot that will give you the Big Picture. Tan. Locate the sunlit swatch of carpet that's bracketed by the left corner of the pax seat, a shadow under the seat, the tunnel, and the steering wheel rim. It's nearly bisected by the pax seat adjustment rod. Find it? There's your sneak peek at the carpet color. Thanks for validating my guesswork on the country your car was built for. Doh! 'guess I could have checked out the Dino Registry. Is that where you found out about its German domecile? Fast forward to today. Is the car/are you here? (As you can see, we are in SoCal.) If so, we may have to get these two Europeans together for a close-up comparo. Take care.
What do you think about using datona style seats on an early Euro 246? I was thinking of it for my "L" series. Then I decided to not too!
Get on the Dino Registry: http://www.dinoregister.com/. Your car was originally sold in Germany. Pietro
How come some seats (other than Daytona style) had a central panel with rivets whilst others did'nt? Do you think that vinyl seats originally had this because of ventillation issues whilst leather did not require this? And then over the years perhaps those seats that were originally vinyl have been upgraded to leather but in doing so the owners have kept the original styling of the vinyl with breathing rivets???? Or am i completetly down the wrong path? Just thought i would ask as it's so quiet here at the moment! G P
That sounds like a good theory to me, given the likelihod that A) owners with vinyl would want to upgrade to leather, and B) upholstery shops would tend to duplicate in leather what had been there in the vinyl. You're right, it has been pretty quiet here. Maybe I'll start a thread about replacing the engine in my car with one from a Pontiac Fiero. That should stir things up!
ok so far the responses have been very helpful. A few items that I have noticed on my car 1) it does not have door pockets (did they come on a '71 euro gts?) 2) there is no choke however there is what looks like a heater slide on the tunnel close to the fire wall (where your right elbow would be when in drivers seat)...is this the choke? 3) I could use a close up of the sun visors as mine are missing but the mirror is correct & shows the 2 holes for the visors ...did they have something that fit up toward the top of the windshield in the corners? 4)I like the tan carpet & will probably keep mine 5)the door jambs in mine (see picture ) look awful & appear to be missing a cover that I have in my '74 GTS...they look very unfinished 6)there are various German info plates on the car which tipped me off to its' provenance. The Dino register confirmed this. 7) Unfortunately my car is in the snowy Northeast & wont be seeing the sun for some time! 8) Coop- I am curious to know what color the material is next to the rear window is...in other words next to the firewall trim (is it black or tan?) 9) i have wind up windows & not electrical yet the center console has holes for switches but they are missing as is the ash tray so a large rectangular hole & two smaller rectangular holes...what to do? just cover em in the black material? So lots of questions & thanks for the help...pictures to follow.
champtc Ref Q-1: I don't know about the early 246's. However, it looks like Pietro's 01296 has door pockets Ref Q-2: You've discovered it. Now, for a bit of trivia: "Choke" is actually a misnomer, even used by the factory. The 40DCNF carbs on the Dino are equipped with an enrichment circuit for initial starts. Unlike a true "choke," which has a butterfly at the top of the venturi to restrict the amount of air relative to a given amount of fuel, the Webers are set up to increase the amount of fuel relative to a given amount of air. To fatten up the mixture for initial starts, more fuel is added via a seperate internal starting circuit. The idle speed is increased, too. At any rate, it seems that many cars have had the 'choke' feature disabled (that's a whole other issue). Look at your carbs. On the firewall side of each, you will find the starter cover and lever connected from carb to carb via a metal wire. The wire should then turn down and go through a guide on the clutch end of the engine, down below the firewall & into the tunnel to hook up with the slider you described. If all of the pieces seem to be present, and with the engine off, slide the choke lever full-travel rearward, then go back & see if the wire has pulled the little arms on the starter covers. Hey, wait a minute! Doesn't your GTS have the same lever & rigging? You probably know how all of this works anyway. Ref Q-5: I believe that the threshold plates are available, if they are what you are referring to. a bit pricey, but avail, none-the-less. Ref Q-8: Black, on my car. Confirm that you mean the wide horizontal molding just under the rear window and on the top edge of the firewall cover? Whew. That is all.
Coop, Pietro & others...thanks for the info on the interiors. I did pull apart what is the choke on the 246 gt (different from the gts) and removed the center console etc. The question that I so inarticulately posed was if the trim that is horizontal & right next to the curvature on the window (so it is horizontal) is black or is in tan trim? I have a shot of it in the 1st picture. The last picture is how everything looks with the console etc removed. I will pull the additional trim pieces this weekend & get it all covered. I have also enclosed a shot of the weird (right elbow) choke! You have convinced me to leave the carpets tan. I will replace the ignition switch (from Bavarian Auto...last time $100 bucks for the entire assembly) while the dash is out & possibly re-grease the heater cables or replace them. It is much easier to do with the dash out. Thanks again & I show you the "after " pictures when it is finished. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
early cars had the choke in the rear part of the tunnel. all gt's had the rear shelf in the painted body cover with a cap covered in dino material at the edge of the interior firewall. almost all cars that have this area covered in vinyl or some other interior have had a repaint where it was easier to cover the ares than repaint them as it was on the inside of the car.
Ahhh! THAT 'horizontal' piece. True to wspeer's observation, my shelves are painted body color, too. The black panel I mentioned is the trim cap the goes across the firewall cover from side to side...just under the rear window. Yours appears to be tan, or biscuit, or whatever. Good choice with the tan carpet. You can always have some carpeted mats made, even in black, for day-to-day use. Lay 'em on top of the good stuff; that'll keep it a lot cleaner. Then just pop them out when you get to the car shows. Once you retrofit all of the black accents/trim in the interior, I'm sure you'll really be pleased. OK, I don't see the choke cable in the tunnel. Is it missing, or am I missing it? Even if you don't plan to use the enrichment system, I'd suggest you install the cable all the way up through the bracket on the intake cam cover on the forward head (at the clutch end) & to the lever on the 3rd carb. You may decide to actually hook it up in the future. Besides, the cable is somewhat conspicuous by its absence in the engine bay, if not installed. Be sure and check out John Corbani's Dino Saga 050911, regarding ignition switch diode mod that will make the new one last forever: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74532&highlight=Ignition+switch (or you can click on the Forum 'Search' option, then type in "Dino Saga 050911" in the window.) Enjoy the project. Coop
Wait. Do I see a hand written label that says: "TO CHOKE LEVER?" If so, it appears to be attached to an electrical wire that goes forward. I still don't see the push-pull, single-wire cable that goes from the lever through the firewall & into the engine bay.
Guys- thanks again...very helpful. I will look under the tan material & see if it is red underneath. If not I will likely redo that section black. Coop- you are on your game. Yes that tag says "to choke" & you can see it in the second picture. In the last picture on the bottom left in front of the needle nose pliers you can just see the cable(coiled in a circle). The choke was attatched to the rear cam cover held to it by a clip & then the cable was safety wired as well. On my 246 GTS the cable is disconnected and I don't use it. I will re-install this one & likely never touch it as they seem to work without using the choke. I am waiting fo a sample of the black trim material (black ambla from world upholstelry) and will try to get this done within the next few weeks. So stay tuned!
OK, champtc. I see the choke cable. I take it that it just feeds through the small hole in the firewall & into the engine compartment. The cable on my car is missing. I'm just finishing up the rebuild of my carbs and then I'll replace it while I have reasonable (sorta) access to the front of the engine compartment. At your convenience, would you measure the length of your cable & take a picture of it? Since I have to fit a new one, that'll save me some time. Thx. 'looking forward to your updates.
Could someone please post some pictures of a correct L Series interior? I have found remants of a light grey colored carpet below the dash and believe that the current black finish is therefore not correct, but not 100% certain. My car is chassis number 00512. Thanks in advance.
Coop, I have attached pics of the choke cable & housing (34" in total length-incl the wire), the hole that it goes thru on the fire wall & the bracket on the rear cam cover that it was attached to before attaching to the carbs. You will notice the remnant of a safety wire on the left end of the choke cable. The wire was attached to the clip that is pictured on the rear cam cover so that it would not slip when pulled. I found out why the horizontal panels on my rear deck were covered over with tan material. The car was originally silver & it showed the silver color underneath the material. They did a good job as even underneath the door panels it was changed from silver to its' current red. It will likely stay red too I have decided. If you need more pics pls let me know. I hope that this helps. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
champtc, Thanks a bunch. You've streamlined my project & motivated me to take care of it next. As I said earlier, with carbs & air cleaner & breather hoses out of the way, it'll be easier to reach down & pull the cable/housing up to the bracket in the engine compartment. And, now that I see what's lurking under the upholstery & on top of the metal tunnel, I realize that it will be easier than anticipated. So, yours was silver. From the info in the Register, it's been red for a long time. I wonder if it was changed from silver in Germany or after it arrived in the USA c.1978? 'not that it really matters. Hey, if the paint looks good & you're happy with the color, leave it alone. When the time comes to re-spray (major undertaking), you can decide whether or not to go back to silver. (Mine's red & I love it; however, argento looks super on a Dino.) Take care, Coop
