Hi Guy's Mike was felling a bit under the weather, but is now back on the case big time. Mike had found that the neck of the left fuel tank had been bent for some reason during the original conversion, and his eagle eye thought there was something wrong with the filler housing. this was born out when he managed to get a new spyder filler housing [ god knows how] and pic. 1 and 2 shows how right he was. Pic. 3 shows the new rear clip being tacked in place, exactly in the right position [ check out the jig]! pic. 4 shows the same but you can see the new rear bulkhead in place and just make out the stainless steel tubing Mike has used for the cables for the fuel flap [ the old one had the pipe cut and bits of rubber tubing and tape added also at the time of the first conversion]. pic's 5. and 6. are the best for me as they show the difference curvature between the EG conversion and the newly fitted correct spyder rear end. I have always said the EG. one never looked right at the rear, but could not say exactly what it was and here's the proof. Most of the work Mike has done is under the surface and will not be seen, but this is the part where all his hard work starts to come together. I still can't believe the story of the rear clip. Someone was looking over me the day i found it, and at a price i could afford! Grant Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here's the latest pic's from Mike. Rear parcel shelf now complete, and the hood frame being tested for fit. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Grant- Great thread and beautiful Daytona. Can you explain the attraction of the bumper bars I see on so many UK Daytonas and Dinos? Not trying to be derogatory, just want to understand why so many have them. Noted that when I last lived in the UK in the 80s and 90s and was always curious. Were they mandated like our side marker lights here in the US? Taz Terry Phillips
As far as I'm aware they were only an option although the importer at the time was making all sorts of mods to UK cars (boots over the shifters and fixing prancing horses on Dinos where two examples). Not sure why so many UK cars have them over other countries but. I suspect that parking standards in London may have something to do with it.
Matthew- Thanks, that would have been Maranello Concessionaires, I guess, from whom I ordered tons of parts and literature when I lived in the UK. They actually had a regular truck they sent down to Maranello to pick up parts in the 80s, when I had a 308 GTS. I was flying F-111Fs at RAF Lakenheath and living in Bury St Edmunds at the time. Always wondered how those bumper got on so many cars and that makes sense. Parking in London was a pain, even in the days when it was free to drive in London. Taz Terry Phillips
Wonderful thread, good to see she's coming together and starting to look good! Can't believe the simplicity of the rear bulkhead; was anything done during the resto to improve the rigidity in that area? One more question, I may have missed it, but why was the windscreen left in place?
Hi Guy's I think the reason why they were more prelevant in the UK was, they were not a Ferrari Marenello part, but designed for Ferrari UK by Mike when he worked for Ferrari, and as the word spread, so they got further afield. [ well at least the one on my car was]. Grant Image Unavailable, Please Login
Grant your over rider is the same as mine, but the one on Anthony's (Ferrari_Nut) "top gear car" is different again, did Mike design that too? Also if the overriders are not factory fitted do they have to be removed for Chassiche certification? Matt
Hi Matt. No the one Mike designed was the only Ferrari UK sanctioned one. I have no idea where Anthony's came from but its very chunky. I would imagine, that because they could be bought from Ferrari UK and maybe Ferrari dealers in other countries that they would be ok for concourse etc. but i am no expert on this! Re the windscreen Jack. Due to all the major mods to the A post's etc Mike was trying for size, as its well know how difficult new screens are to fit to Daytona's due them being slightly different sizes. [Daytona's and screens] As for the rear strengthening, the tube sections within the sills have been beefed up to the right size, as have the rear cross members that attach this to the chassis, and also the diagonal bracing has been increased in size , the rear inner wheel arch's will be steel instead of fibreglass, the plate at the bottom of the parcel shelf will also be welded up fully [ EG did not bother to weld it, they just covered it up with under seal type stuff]. There maybe more but this is all i can think of from the top of my head. Grant
Thanks for the kind comments guy's. I told Mike what the questions were, and he has sent me the reply below. Better to have it from the horses mouth so to speak! Hi again Grant, Would now be a good time to announce my book where all the answers will be revealed in detail, it will include a couple of jaunts to the factory in my youth with my dear friend Bob Sinclair, who drove the parts department truck, and was held in high esteem in Italy, there are some stories to be told from those days, good days they were as well. The nudge bars were designed by me and the thinking behind it was indeed for saving some damage when parking. They were approved by the factory so will stand the approval test. I did have to repair a few little bumps even with the bars fitted, and with the flatness of the panel together with the lack of space behind it due to the frame work it was not an easy job to carry out, please note I did not use plastic body filler, the metal was beaten out and if a filler was needed it was solder. One other thing Grant, the metal panels to the rear bulkhead are all welded to the frame and this will have added a bit more rigidity to the rear but as you said the side members and the chassis pieces from the oval to the out riggers are the main pieces that give it the extra strength needed to stop any twisting motion to the rear end. I was told quite recently by one of the people involved years ago in the destruction (sorry I meant the conversion) of a Daytona that by welding some flat sheet in the front arch areas was all that was needed to strengthen the car once the roof was cut off, I waited until I was in my car before laughing. Mike.
Thanks Matt, i was very pleased with it. I had a cold at the time, so the spell check was working overtime! I managed to out fox it ,with a lot of my speellligs! I Even managed to get in a few pug's for F-Chat, and the helpful info, i have been given on this site. Pic's for today from Mike:- First shows the inner rear wheel arch Mike has been making. Second shows the inside of the same, with the the V shape as per the original Spyder [ it is the bit with the two crosses on it] Third shows the the same thing but on a real Spyder. Grant Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here's the latest pic's. The back is now almost complete. The second pic's shows one of the fuel tanks, light and bumper in place for a trial fit. Grant Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just found this thread, great project Grant, heart warming to see her being corrected and amazing work by Mike.
Grant just to add to the overrider story, I discovered from Dad that he had the overrider fitted after he brought it when the car, (and me incidentally), was about two years old. He wanted some extra parking protection for the front end. It was his everyday car then and he covered something in the region of 30,000 miles in the first two years of owning it.
Thanks Neil and Matt. It's a long job, but thank god i found Mike. I now have the old rear end sitting in my garage and the bottom of it was as rusty as heck, and it looked fine when it was on the car. I will post up a couple of pic's of the old parts when i get a second. Grant
I nearly have enough parts now to build a second car! [ it might be a bit rusty though]. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Grant, did you one time have an MGB(GT)V8? Observing your registration plates on the wall, they have quite some value in the UK, don't they? As always, a pleasure to follow along with your rebuild process, you've given us quite an education about the 365 GTS/4 that we would not have otherwise known.
Hi Randy. Kind of owned a MGB GT V8, but as per the norm. with me, it was not straight forward so i had an MGB sports convertable [ the V8 was only fitted to the GT which was a coupe] and fitted a high compresion 3.5L V8 engine as fitted to a Rover Vittese. The reg. number i got cheap, as i found out the region that had MGB [ west Scotland] as their area letters on their number plates, and put an advert in the local paper to see if any one still had it on a car. It was on a old Ford escort which i bought just to get the number and let them keep the car, 250 pounds, but that was in the 80's. Number plates can be very expensive now in the UK and can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds for something like F1. Here's my old MGB V8. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice, even has reverse boxer paint. My first sportscar was a 1973 MGB Tourer in Blaze/Navy. I bought it new, with payments of $97.33 per month. By the end of the 20th Century, I'd had sixteen (16) MGBs, MGBGTs and a lone MGCGT. I liked to play too, so I put a Buick 3.8 Ltr V6 into an MGBGT. The V6 was shorter on the outside (by 5-1/4") and bigger on the inside (235 C.I. with a .030 overbore). As I was more interested in the mechanical challenge, I never got around to the cosmetics, but here it is: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/v8_conversions/BuickV6/buickv6.html It's interesting to note, that I had done a full polymer treatment on that engine; thermal barrier, thermal dispersant and dry-film lubricant coatings. What is most interesting, is that two (2) days ago, I had an oven delivered (3'W x 4'H x 2'D inside dimensions) so I can do pretty much the same process on a supercharged (BMW) M Rdstr that's due to arrive later this week. As it now stands, my estimate for labor/material on his parts is only $106.00 shy of what I paid for the oven and delivery (it's a powder coating/curing oven, but it will do nicely for me). Next job, it will turn a nice profit
