Thank you, I'll send him an e-mail A bit bright then? Actually I love the ferrari yellow, I always like seeing it on other somebody esle's car... David
Yup, that is a lovely colour... and would you believe it, what were the chances of meeting that young lady with a matching dress??? Anyhow. Work continues and the windscreen is now out, as are the fuel tanks. The first hole has been created, to remove a previous repair and I understand Alun has started making templates for the repair panels. All good stuff. David. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
And the good work continues... Alun is in his element here, making holes and welding in matching plates. The air scoop looked particularly tricky! He make's it look easy. David . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A couple more days have passed and here are a couple more photographs... Alun has now moved forward to the front kerbside wing. I also got home to find my heater blower fans, removed from the car and posted back from Wales. That is my weekend project to knock down the two motors, replace the brushes, refurbish and get them ready to post back to Wales ready for the car's re-build. I was always told that the heater fans were Lucas units, so I assumed a brush set would be easy... Turns out the fans are actually Marelli units, which won't be so easy. I think I'll be talking to my local independent Alfa guy tomorrow!! I supplied badges and other bits to Alun when I took the car in, but this is a good chance to get a few more things tidied up... So when the fans go back there will be a few other things, new Cibie headlights, rear hatch emergency cable pull etc. Incidentally - when did you last check your emergency pull cable? Rather like a fire alarm, the time you want to find it is not working is BEFORE you need it... Mine is ceased solid. David. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well it has been a slightly slower week, but there is still good progress to see on the 308. A small repair to the kerbside wing on the line of the arch liner and the driverside rear wing lower repair has been redone. Still a good bit to do, but ticking along quite nicely. ASIDE: I got the early records from Tony Willis, they confirm a few things I kind of knew about, eg: built as azzuro metallica. Also there is one reference to the leather being 'blu', which would make good sense as the car was originally painted blue. So it appears the current leather isn't original either (although it is OE Ferrari leather). So when the car was painted red the blue leather must have been replaced with the current black leather with a centre red stripe and piping. I've got a feeling that there will be fresh leather in the car before too long, to reflect the new paintwork... David PICTURES... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well I had a tinker with the heater blower fans today (removed and posted back to me by Alun earlier). They both run find at full speed, but I found the reason for low airflow. The ballast resistor on one fan is burnt out rusted out. So while both fans run on the full speed setting, when I select the 1/2 speed setting one fan would stop altogether. If I can find a 2 Ohm ballast resistor this will be an easy repair. Meanwhile in Wales, the work proper continues... As you can see Alun is working his way back along the driver side of the car now. David PICTURES: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just a quick update for those who are still reading... More holes and repairs! Alun doesn't seem to be phased, he just keeps chopping out any rust he finds, no matter whether it is an easy place or tricky one. The finds a way to fashion a new plate to fit. Now doing the driver side, a small hole in the cill top in the doorway requiring a complicated patch and a repair to the front of the cill (front wheel arch) to mirror the other side. It shouldn't really be surprising, but the rust pattern is near identical on both sides of the car, which shows the repeating rust and condensation points. David PHOTOGRAPHS. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wouldn't it be better to send a PM rather than post this publicly? David, great thread! My UK 365BB is Rosso Corsa and was Dino Blu originally. So I can relate! I think mine will be restored to its original colour when the current paint job starts looking a bit old, but I haven't decided yet. Plenty of time for that. BTW - that's Boxer365's Daytona that is parked next to your 308, and with Peter's 308 also at this shop it's starting to look like one big happy F-chat family at AlsaAutomotive... Onno
Perhaps Alun needs to rebrand himself as the "FerrariChat paint shop"... or have "as seen on FerrariChat" on his web page. The acid test is, of course, when I pick up my car and see it finished. But I have only good anticipation of this moment; so far I can not fault the attention to detail, workmanship and, of course, quoted cost! Getting a photographic record is important, but getting the update e-mails every few days is wonderful. I don't mind how long this job takes (within reason), as I look forward to each update and each update crosses another nasty little rust spot off the list! Until I saw the threads and reviews on FerrariChat last year I had been dreading getting the car painted, because I didn't know anybody who I had real confidence in. Sure, I knew of a son-in-law of a good friend who is a cracking good paint sprayer, but he doesn't do restoration work as such, more new cars and insurance. So another few weeks, then I get the car back for summer - I just hope we get a summer! David
Perhaps we have turned a corner. Alun reckons he should finish the welding in the next week and the first areas of profiling filler have been applied. There is still a lot of work to do, but it feels as if the end is now nearer than the beginning.... David PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Plenty of pictures came through in the last couple of days, Alun has started on the doors and more profiling filler has been done. Still a long way to go, but consistent progress. David PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi David What is Alun using to strip the paint off (as a matter of interest)? I know you have probably already saiud - but what colour are you going? Cheers Nick
Nick, Alun does it the old fashiond way, hard work and sand paper. Consequently he and his workshop is covered in pink dust! He isn't a fan of chemical stripping, as this can leave a residue that spoils the re-paint. I think this picture shows the grind through the layers quite nicely. Colour wise, despite the back history (blue), some discussion and persuasion "right here on FerrariChat", it is going to be red again! I bought a red 308, because I wanted a red 308. I suspect you might relate to that sentiment. Mind you I do like the yellow...... nahh, red it will be. David Image Unavailable, Please Login
Alun's good work continues... the body welding is complete and he has started teh profiling filler in earnest. The doors are away to get lower skins made by a fabricator, presumably using a rolling mill to get the plate curves right... I now have a completion date of early June (roughly), so there is a faint chance it might be the same weekend as 'AutoItalia', Stamford Hall - Lutterworth. I would have to stop over somewhere near Rugby / Lutterworth on the journey back home anyhow, so that would be brilliant. Realistically, I suspect it might be the week after. We shall see. Meanwhile I had a quick look at the heater blower fans and fitted new resistor ballasts (1.6 Ohm) to repair the slow speed running function. This explained why the ventillation was particularly weak, when low speed was selected one fan was stopping altogether - due to a rotten ballast unit. (Incidentally the ballast resistors came from my local car part factor and cost £13 each. I think they are meant to be alternator ballasts, so well able to hand the power) David 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
Starting to look like a car, instead of a project. The profiling filler has been rubbed down at the front, leaving fascinating contour like marks... showing where the low spots were. Still a long way to go. David PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well now the initial profiling has been done and the car is ready for its first paint. Still a bit early to get too excitied, there are many coats and a lot of blocking down before it is finished. Still moving forward and sitting in good company (again...) David PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Dave Shouldn't be too long now Mate! all the destructive stuff has been done now its all positive! Slap a bit of nice red slop on her and she'll be as good as new Just in time for posing round in the heat wave
Sure I can see it is on the way back, but I'm not quite close enough to plan an unveiling ceremony! I've just turned down a Sporting Bears charity event and Lutterworth AutoItalia is looking rather unlikely. But after this time I don't want the final stages rushed for anything... It will be ready, when it is ready. I just hope it still runs... I've now got two invitiations to stop overnight on my return from Wales to the Great North. Must be the smell of new paint, better than Channel No.5? David
Latest installment... The work continues. The body has been profile filled and rubbed down, next Alun did a marker paint coat and rubbed that down, but that should be the low spots filled and polished out! So getting quite close to some primer? Effectively the body is ready, but just waiting for the doors to come back... so Alun has moved onto the engine cover and lamp pods instead. The engine cover is in good order, but had a rather heavy filler coat on it. Underneath the panel has no real problems. The lamp pods are okay, but I know one has a rust dot, so a small repair might be in order there... David LATEST PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well now we have some primer on the panels. Still a couple of low spots to sort out, but looking more and more like a car again... David PHOTOGRAPHS: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I am replacing the U channel felts in the glass runners, all other rubbers are okay. I suspect that I will regret not putting new vinyl headlining in, but this can be done later. I might try a mild bleach solution to improve the colour a little. Likewise I expect the leather to look really bad once the car is painted. But it is all servicable, so I will continue to use it and review when and how much to spend. While I can improve and conserve the body, this is a good working example and it could never be concours as I use it too much! Well, that is when it isn't in bits in Wales. Yours, David.