Tony Willis kindly got back to me last week on the subject of the Ferrari badging - "Iain, the fitting of Ferrari logos certainly assisted the sale of Dino cars in the UK however it was an option and not all cars were so fitted. If your car has them then the Factory would accept this if the car were presented for Certification as I have supplied them with original images. If not then no problem. Also for your information headlamp covers were part of the extras offered by Maranello Concessionaires at the time."
You also have the dealer installed bumper bar. The UK concessionaire was the Ferrari importer and every UK Dino I have seen, including my first K reg (1971) had these items.
Both the grill guard (bumper bar) and Ferrari badging were added to my car at some point after the first owner purchased the car as neither are listed on the original invoice. I looked at a few other UK cars before buying mine and they didn't have the grill guard either. A few of the cars Nick Cartwright has sold in the last 12 months also didn't have them - http://www.nickcartwright.com/details.asp?StockID=155 http://www.nickcartwright.com/details.asp?StockID=1016 Here's another Uk car that doesn't have the grill guard either - http://www.clivesutton.co.uk/carsavailable/ferrari/ferrari-dino-246-gt.php I wasn't sure whether to keep the grill guard as I'm not a big fan but it requires stripping and replating as the centre mounting bracket has got surface corrosion. In the end I opted to remove it entirely and fit new bumpers. Should I change my mind at some future point I can get it restored.
I started a thread on UK cars. Owners can change cars and restorations take place, bits get lost in the changes, it would be nice to know if there was a pattern with the UK models.
My dash has arrived back from the trimmers with it's new covering of mousehair. Looking at my sliding ventilation controls they appear to be incorrect looking at the owners manual. According to that the two outer controls should be air intake controls and marked with DEF? Also does anyone have any suggestions for how I can relabel the fan and hazard light toggle switch panels where the lettering has disappeared? I had thought about water decal transfers. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd love to see some more photos of your dash and details of where you git the mouse hair from. Did you put foam underneath it? My car is arriving in a day or three and it has a leather dash at the moment that a previous owner fitted. Although I haven't even seen the car yet I know I want to retrim the dash and I have been looking at mousehair suppliers. Are you pleased with the finish? Is it original looking? I am now based in Qatar so I don't really have a lot of cars (read none) I can go and look at as a comparison. Any advice welcome.
Simon I sourced the mousehair from Superformance.co.uk and it's been fitted by a specialist trimmer called Trim'll Fix It in Exeter who do all the trim work for Carrs Ferrari. I haven't seen it in person as yet but am told it looks fantastic. Unlike alcantara, which can appear to look different shades due to the texture of the grain, the mousehair has a uniform ink black colour and has a velvet like texture.
Quick progress update. The suspension has been built back up after being stripped to have new bushes fitted and the wishbones powder coated. The radiator has been re-cored, repainted and refitted, new cam cover gaskets fitted, valve clearances set, carb's overhauled, and the windshield/rear screen/side glass all removed. The car goes into the paintshop tomorrow. The bodywork is in excellent condition after a major rebuild in the 90's and no new panels are required. There is only one very smal patch of corrossion on the underside of the left rear wheel arch. This will be cut out and new metal let in. The repaint will take up to 3 weeks then the car will come back for the next phase of remedial work before going to the trimshop. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
