Nice looking GTC in blue
I was organizing my photo program a few days ago and found this photo of a nice looking GTC to share with you.
We had 3 dark blue GTC’s at this time and I think this car was sold to a guy in Switzerland.
I know, this is such a thrilling topic. I had to make brackets to attach a modern cooling fan to the radiator of a 250 Pininfarina Cabriolet. The part that’s the most exciting to me is that box board material for making templates, I love this stuff because it’s easy to cut while being rigid enough to handle bends and maintain shape. Whenever I get FedEx envelops or a Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche (which is where this box board material came from) I save it in a secret location so no one else can steal it from me. When you combine this box board with a sharpie marker and sharp scissors, anything is possible.
The box board template is a mirror image (fits left and right) so I sandwiched it on the top of two sheets of 12 gauge steel and traced the pattern with the plasma cutter for the final piece.
Ferrari Radiator Cooling fan
Ferrari 250 Radiator Cooling fan
Over the last Month I’ve been disassembling a dark blue1967 Ferrari 330 GTC to re-finish the paint, chrome and interior. Even though Pininfarina did a spectacular job building these beautiful Ferrari Coupe’s, there are some things that I can’t live with. These photos show the fit between the “B” pillar cover trim and the “C” pillar window surround trim just behind the door. The gap was enormous on both sides and was filled in with black urethane rubber from the factory. I ground off the chrome and copper and welded some new brass on the trim (which is made of brass) to tighten up the gap.
Trim on GTC Ferrari
Ferrari Pininfarina detail
Brass welding and fitting
Another area that bothers me on the most of the Ferrari GTC’s that I have seen is the fit of the center console at the shifter opening. Like the other cars I have looked at, the shifter isn’t centered in the opening so naturally, I have to adjust this area too. This GTC used to have an odd reverse lockout tab like some of the 60′s race cars, but it didn’t fit so someone bent up the sheet metal in the opening on the left side of the opening.
GTC Interior
Now it fits properly
Trim looks great!
i love your attention to detail. artisan
Thanks Tyler,
Good to see you the other day, please stop in again, maybe I won’t be under the welding hood and can socialize more!
It is surprise to know that there can be a gap in a Ferrari car…
boss@alanmakoev.dyndns.org
Cast Iron Horse Head
While I was visiting New Zealand for business, the counterpart of the Kiwi side company is the gear-head (they call as the petrol-head) and he told me the shops where they reproduce the cast replica parts which serves the job as the original. He told me to bring the worn out or the broken one for them to refer. So I sent the thing by air parcel post ahead of time to let them see whether it is possible to remake or not. It was the engine parts for the old Toyota and the shop did make it perfectly with even the old casting marks. Nowadays, there are resin with metal particles in it and does the job as the original. I’ve seen a shop making the parts with such resin and putting the steel bearings to add weight. The shop was forced to close by making fake exotic cars. Can’t believe there are people wealthy enough and have such cars for vanity and don’t pay much attentio, or don’t even have the knowledge to what they would have. BTW, when I was resided in England (long time ago) the next door neighbor’s wife was using the 330GTC for grocery shopping and making her husband upset. Well, it means the car was drivable for her for sure. Nowadays, I’m wowing with the car’s price of today’s market. I remember the Daytona at the used car dealer near Newport Beach, CA with the price tag of $16,000.
330GTC and 365GTC are still my favorites.
so long as you don’t find it in your bed….
Only a gangster like you would make that comment Jack
Thanks for the comments Kenn. It is amazing what’s out there both for capacity to make parts on a very small scale and the cubic dollars that affords this kind of service. Thanks for sharing your story on the GTC user, these are very usable cars and very few people use them enough!
Rolls Royce Continental
Is this a Rolls Continental? I think its a 1954. If anyone out there wants a very nice example of a Rolls Royce that has a classic look and can keep up with modern traffic, here is your car! It has those iconic Grey Poupon Mustard Trays in the back seat for the filming the next Wayne’s World Movie.
Pardon Me? Do you have any Green Poupon!
Carrozzeria Touring Berlinetta
Ferrari Headlight detail
Touring Carrozzeria Body Dashboard
High Build Primer Ferrari
Here are a series of photos of the block sanding process on the Ferrari 166 Touring Berlinetta. The sheet metal is all sorted and gaps are perfect but the body needs hundreds of hours of serious elbow grease (sanding) to make sure it is all straight as an arrow. Syl isn’t scared of the “mud”, he completely fills in all of the door and hood gaps allowing him to block sand right across them so when the light hits the highly polished top coat you won’t see any waves or change in reflection.
Even though the grill we made fit the opening in bare aluminum, Syl spends hours making it perfect with skim coats of body filler and attacks the headlight rim contact areas with the same level of perfection. There isn’t any room for error when working with super fine trim that is used all over this car like the delicate headlight rings and the low profile windshield and rear glass surrounds. Imagine these surrounds, start with a long section of 1/4″ aluminum rod and whittle it down so only a quarter of it is used. We re-made this trim because the delicate original material was destroyed when the car was disassembled.
Right now, the car is sealed up in high build primer with a blue tinted epoxy primer that seals the polyester filler from moisture and greasy finger prints. Now we have some more fitting here and there before it goes back to Syl’s shop to work out some more details such as the incredibly complex belt-line crown that goes from the headlight to the tail light..
We’ll probably have more hours in sanding and painting the dashboard that it would take to paint an entire late model car like a Mercedes or Honda. The dash on this car is a thing of beauty but it requires a perfectionist sicko to finish it because like the rest of the car, the trim that surrounds the gauges and switches are like string bikinis
We used to send these Overdrive Units off to a specialist to be rebuilt but something always went wrong on the first test drive. Come to think of it, sometimes they were leaking so badly that we had to take them apart and re-seal them before knuckle busting installation into the chassis. Considering all the time to properly package the part, the cost to ship the 40lb crate as well as the weeks it takes to get it back, Nate decided to overhaul this Austin Healey 3000 Laycock deNormanville unit on his own. All the parts are available so once they arrive, he’ll slam it back together and test it by spinning it up on the lathe so he can be confident things are right before the installation.
Moss Gearbox
Overdrive Repair and rebuild
I would say I admire your site, it really brings users a great atmosphere to comment.
Anyone want a very straight and solid California “Black Plate” Alfa Guilietta Sprint? I think it has a 1600 engine. We’ve had it at the shop for awhile and I’d like to sell the car so let me know if you are interested.
Alfa Giulietta Sprint
Alfa Sprint Bertone
How much do you want for the Alfa Sprint Bertone?
Hi Steve,
What kind of shape is this car in, and what kind of offer would buy it? Michael
Michael,
The car is solid and complete but I don’t think it has the correct engine. It has a 1600. I will get you some more information on the car
I don’t know. I have had so much feedback I should get busy and come up with a number
Keep us informed. Us Alfa lovers will be watching for your updates!!
This is so cool, it must be some sort of World War II Aircraft Manufacturing technique for welding aluminum by smashing it together that was used for cars. This trunk lid was made by Carrozzeria Touring in the late 1940′s and as much as I curse the way they build cars, this is some of the most amazing craftsmanship I have seen. Since it isn’t adding any new material its keeps the panel very light and super strong and without the heat of welding, the panel doesn’t warp and distort. I’m guessing that the force of smashing the two aluminum pieces together in a focused area causes enough heat to melt and stick them tight.
Welding aluminum with a punch
Aluminum welding technique
I’d like to see other examples of this attachment procedure and find out what it’s called.
Isn’t that just spot welding? It looks like the welds on my old beetle.
It looks like a spot weld in the photos, just pinching it can’t generate enough heat to weld it. We’ve made clinching presses at work that use mechanical distortion to hold copper sheets together, but you wind up with a sizeable welt on the upper surface. Always fun to see how these cars are put together, I attended FCA meeting in Toronto a few years ago and got to inspect a 365 very closely.
Yes, there should some electrical current to attach the parts but in stripping all the paint, there aren’t any markings of heat or signs of distortion. It’s odd, I’t like you to see the parts in the flesh!
Ross,
I don’t know, as I mentioned in another comment, there doesn’t seem to be any distortion from heat or difference in surface finish of the material. There has got to be some electrical heat to make it stick but I can’t find the evidence
RPM on Ebay
Rob said,
January 11, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
I love the GTC which I had the means to aquire one. Those aren’t factory wheels are they?
admin said,
January 12, 2012 @ 10:33 am
Yes, those are factory equipped cast aluminum wheels made by Campagnolo. From what I understand, all of the late 60′s cars (275, 330′s) were delivered to the dealer with these cast alloys but the Borrani wire wheels were very inexpensive so nearly all of them left the dealers with the RW4039 Borrani’s. I think the cast alloys are much more appropriate to the shape of the 275′s and 330 than the alternative