The Restoration Starts Here: 275GTB Shortnose 07333

Good Evening, this is my favorite part of the restoration so far, it is the giant leap where we make a significant change to the car forever, where we give it life for the next 50 years.
For me it is also the time where we see the true craftsmanship of the the restorer, everything that has happened so far on the job could have been achieved by an amateur DIY restorer, here we take it to a new level - only a true artisan would dream of doing this to such a magnificent machine.

Joe Macari I have a lot of faith in you and your team, but even my jaw dropped at the next one!

Drum roll.................pictures 1) before, 2) during & 3) after.........
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In the above picture you can see we have completely removed the offending rear section, it has been done in such a way to preserve as much of the original metal as possible - mainly the boot floor. I am also very fortunate that all the structure is in great shape and avoided any impact damage over the years.

The left corner has only been cut off a fraction, the right has lost a much larger area, but this had to be done to get to good metal.

Also if you look into the boot area you can see light thought the corners of the wheel archers where the metal perforated by rust (earlier pictures) has been removed.

 

and from a different angle.......
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then it is finally time to give my baby the nose job she has been crying out for!

pictures 1) before, 2) during & 3) after........
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In the above picture, again we have had to remove a great chunk of the offending nose cone and wing before getting to good metal.
Once more I am hugely fortunate, in that the inner wings and structural metal work is in fantastic order and again seems to have survived the test of time without any impact damage or rust.
If you look at the baulk head, you can see that the rotten metal that used to form the battery tray (earlier pictures) has already been removed and replaced. On the opposite side you can see the area where the brake fluid reservoir and servo used to sit, has been cut out and awaits its new metal.

 

and finally for tonight the 3rd nightmare area - the right hand wing, lower screen area and door pillar. I am afraid, again we had no choice but to cut out the offending area - this time he had to go quite deep to get to the good stuff.

I think Joe and the boys have done enough work to deserve their dinner tonight!

pictures 1) before, 2) during & 3) after........
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Above a nice picture of the already repaired battery tray area.

I love the way the guys have no reservation about cutting large areas of metal out!

The way the channel that runs around the engine compartment where the hood sits - just stops!

The way the windscreen surround is retained although only about 1 inch wide in places, it continues on round to retain the perfect shape!

Just stunning work - thank you Joe and team!

 

Hi Alberto, the areas of replacement metal will all be reformed on a buck of the 275GTB as per original. The craftsmen will make them slightly oversized for the area - i.e. so they have a small overlap. They will then trim them to fit the space exactly - resulting in an absolutely perfect fit. All done by hand and eye, along with 40 years experience - some of the guys worked on the cars of this era originally.

 

next job is to cut out and replace the old rusty and damaged floor sills....
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sorry, those pictures don't give much of a view!

Here are the old sill cut out and laying on the workbench......
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damn! i have ben rumbled! The car certainly gives you a few "uppers" and "downers".

 

Morning, hope everyone is having a fantastic Easter weekend.

Here are a couple of shots of the perforated areas in the wheel arches getting cut out (pictures of the rust on an page 10 earlier).
First picture is the front wheel arch, second the rear - similar job done on both sides of the car.......
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Making progress with the new metal!

on page 5 of the restoration thread we had the before, during and after pictures of the boot lid - we concluded that the skin had to be remade and the frame re-skinned.
This picture shows the freshly fabricated boot skin. A few things to point out here, you can still see the pressing tool sitting in front of the new skin, that makes the indentation for the boot lock button recess.
Also below the workbench you can see the old cut off tail section.

The second picture shows the old boot lid skin leaning against the workshop wall.
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Hi Oscar, Thanks.
I know the engine lid is certainly made of aluminum, i think the boot lid is but i will have to check, with the car in Italy at the moment I don't get to see or touch it very much at the moment.
Cheers
Mark

 

Many thanks Dave glad you are enjoying it. When Joe and myself first discussed the project, we had one aim - to do the perfect restoration, the way it should be done, with no corners cut - everything to the highest standard available anywhere in the world.
cheers Mark

 

Hi Ryan, I am keeping all the old part the are removed, they will all stay with the car. I was thinking of getting the old nose cone painted in a clear lacquer (to stop surface rust) and have it mounted on my garage wall.

Cheers Mark