Cheer up, if it exploded under Warranty I'm sure the Factory took it away....back home for a proper burial. Into another mold of course.... You've done the best one can do.
Mark what was the original color combination and what is it now? I think the short nose version looks much better than the long nose cars. Do you know which country the GTB was sold into when new? Thanks CH
The body and interior are at present being fully restored in Italy (I will post a series of pictures shortly) - the car is being returned to its original colour (Argento Silver - 106-E-1) and the interior to its original (Red and Black - Rosso VM 3171). USA specification Model - Though built to North American specifications, the Ferrari was delivered new to Swiss race car driver Willy-Peter Daetwyler, in Italy at the Modena factory. The car spent the early part of its life in Monaco before moving to California with Daetwyler. The car received Italian Tourist license plates "EE 02289". The car was serviced at the Factory Customer Dept. in Modena twice before being exported to the USA. Ownership History as I know it........any corrections welcomed: 1st owner: May 1965 - 1981 - Willy-Peter Daetwyler then on consignment with Bruce Craig Lavachek or was he an owner? 2nd owner: 1981 - 1983 - Bill Locke then on consignment with Nostalgia Cars - Not sold then on consignment with Rittermark Porsche 3rd owner: 1983 - 2004 - Henry E Payne III then on consignment with Michael Sheehan 4th owner: 2004 - 2009 - Scott Stupay then on consignment with Autosport Designs - Not sold then entered in The RM Auction, Monetery 5th owner: 2009 - present -myself Mark McCracken - car now in London. UK
Mark thank you for sharing the historic details about your GTB. I greatly like the silver/red combination and applaud your choice to restore in the original color and trim specification. Look forward to some images when motor and body are put together. Very special to have a short-nose GTB! CH
Hi sorry for the long delay, i now have a good selection of pictures to continue from where we left off..... The car arrives in Italy.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
the boys at the bodyshop start the strip down..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
46 years of condensation causes a lot of surface rust!!!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
some more, next the paint comes off - what hidden delights are we about to discover! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
a few people saw the car before I started, they questioned why i was doing a full restoration? Now we will see, this is a big lesson for everyone - "Buyer be very aware". More horror stories to be unveiled soon. cheers Mark Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Going through this now in the Porsche 356 world. Paint lies; bare metal tells all. Looking forward to the rest of your story...
Great thread; looking forward to more. I have visited Scaglietti in Lusso days and Daytona days. In both instances I saw shells out in the rain, gathering a coat of rust, before being brought in and sanded for primer on the outside only! So these cars started life with a rust handicap. No doubt you'll find a few surprises (or maybe they're not surprises?). In this situation one can truly say, "a restoration better than new."
Now jus wait a minute der podner, that's classiche rust you be messing with. You sand that down, and you're gonna have to pull the shell and let it sit out in the rain again, in Italy of course. Dale
Why send the body to Italy? Anyway shell looks perfect to me, just needs to be blasted (with warnuts, etc ... not dipped!) and then even the inside will look pretty good I suspect. Pete
I'm really curious about the rolled lips of the wheel openings for two reasons; - Firstly, I can't imagine how they would form this feature, unless it was by hand (and how did they maintain the contour of the wheel opening); - And secondly, I would expect that the cavity formed would be a perfect place for rust to start. Some close-up pics would be appreciated. Interesting threads - thanks for posting!
Hi, you see shortly after stripping and blasting - a whole world of pain is about to be revealed!!!! I think everyone will be a bit shocked......
The car is still in Italy, so i can't get any pictures easily - I will have a look through the hundreds i have and see if i can find anything. The car was used for historic racing not long ago, it ran over-sized wheels & tires, so i would not be surprised if the arches were rolled for that purpose (always by hand, there is a special tool for doing it), i have done that myself on many non-Ferrari cars to get that extra clearance when needed - my rally car, a Mk1 Ford Escort Mexico has that done - no problems with rust fortunately.
Nightmare No1 - the nose cone.............. here are some of the before pictures, looks nice and straight, not a bad paint finish, even the experts gave it a nice write up for the auction a few years ago.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
....then the true extent of the cover up is revealed! the guys in Italy were so impressed with the quality of body filling, that they said they would employee the guy who done it in a heart beat. As i will say many times in this thread beware what you buy, especially at auction, unless there is a photographic record of a bare metal restoration or a water tight history on the car. The crazy thing is, the guys down the shop believe this car is at the top end of work they see coming in! as Warren Buffet said Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked. Enjoy............ Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
and a few more..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wow. I'm always drawn to these restoration threads; admire your committment. I admittedly don't know much of the 275 world... were they trying to make a long nose out of a short nose? A short nose from a shorter nose? I mean, your car looks fine stripped, so how did the extra 2" of length not get noticed? (Sounds like half the 'add inches!' emails I get.) Just curious. Looking forward to your progress, as I know you are too.
This is going to be a hell of a thread!! I've subscribed. For a complete novice, what can we deduce from all the filler? The nose is from something else? It's been crashed? Saving cost during the last restoration? Etc Thanks