The Restoration - part 2
Discussion
For those of you who enjoyed the thread on the restoration of my Sprint Speciale a while back, I am pleased to announce the sequel. A deal was done this week for a 1961 Maserati 3500GT. Once Paul at DTR Sports has collected the car and got it on site, work will begin. I'll get some photos up as soon as we have the car!
dpp said:
sounds great, can you also post a link to the last project.
Here you go, stunning job:- http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...Paul
OK, the car is now with Paul at DTR. He has posted up a few pics on his website (link below). I'll post a more comprehensive set as soon as I get down there with my camera.
http://www.dtrsports.com/projects/project_details....
http://www.dtrsports.com/projects/project_details....
That is the $64,000 question! It was originally a light metallic blue called Azzurro Vincennes, with cream leather. I would like to go back to the original specification, but I need to see another car in that colour first. The few I have seen in pictures, rather than in the metal, suggest it may not be the best colour for these cars.
Here is a link to that colour on a Lancia.
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/other-italian-cars...
It looks very nice on the Lancia which has similar lines to the Maserati, and not a million miles away from mine!
Fantastic project and beautiful car
Paul
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/other-italian-cars...
It looks very nice on the Lancia which has similar lines to the Maserati, and not a million miles away from mine!
Fantastic project and beautiful car
Paul
Thanks Paul. That Flaminia was the first thing I saw when I found out the original colour of the car searched "Azzurro Vincennes" on Google! It really is a lovely thing, and the paint/interior combination is (I think) exactly how my car would have looked when it was new.
I can find three different codes for Azzurro Vincennes, because it seems to have been produced by three different manufacturers. I need to get to the bottom of which one, exactly, was used on my car. I think it was the Max Meyer one, but I need to confirm that.
It doesn't look as good here, but that could be the photo of course:
http://www.reinecke1902.ch/Maserati107/Colours/Sei...
I can find three different codes for Azzurro Vincennes, because it seems to have been produced by three different manufacturers. I need to get to the bottom of which one, exactly, was used on my car. I think it was the Max Meyer one, but I need to confirm that.
It doesn't look as good here, but that could be the photo of course:
http://www.reinecke1902.ch/Maserati107/Colours/Sei...
So, here we go.
I went to DTR this morning for the first look at the car since Paul picked it up and took it to his garage. If you look at it from a distance, it doesn't look too bad:
First, the good news. The car is very nearly complete, so all the (ruinously expensive) little bits and pieces shouldn't cause too much heartache.
There is a nice selection of little badges:
The original door handles are there, as is the aerial. I am told that these aerials are very difficult to get hold of now.
It also has a rear view mirror. I never realised how useful a rear view mirror is until I started driving the Sprint Speciale which doesn't have one (I couldn't bear to spoil the lines). Although as this car is LHD, I guess it's just going to give me a nice view of whoever is on the pavement..
As a kid, in the 80's I thought that fuel injection was a new fangled thing, basically invented by VW when they launched the GTi. I mean if any of the "car park boys" had an XR3 and rather than an XR3i, he needed to change the badge to hide his shame. Funny to see that the Italians were plastering "injection" badges on their cars in 1961!
More to come..
I went to DTR this morning for the first look at the car since Paul picked it up and took it to his garage. If you look at it from a distance, it doesn't look too bad:
First, the good news. The car is very nearly complete, so all the (ruinously expensive) little bits and pieces shouldn't cause too much heartache.
There is a nice selection of little badges:
The original door handles are there, as is the aerial. I am told that these aerials are very difficult to get hold of now.
It also has a rear view mirror. I never realised how useful a rear view mirror is until I started driving the Sprint Speciale which doesn't have one (I couldn't bear to spoil the lines). Although as this car is LHD, I guess it's just going to give me a nice view of whoever is on the pavement..
As a kid, in the 80's I thought that fuel injection was a new fangled thing, basically invented by VW when they launched the GTi. I mean if any of the "car park boys" had an XR3 and rather than an XR3i, he needed to change the badge to hide his shame. Funny to see that the Italians were plastering "injection" badges on their cars in 1961!
More to come..
Edited by SprintSpeciale on Friday 25th October 17:14
OK, now that I have confirmed that I remember how to post photos, I'll stop messing around and put up some stuff that folks might be interested in.
The "iniezione" badge does mean, of course, that the hateful Lucas FI system lives under the bonnet.
The plan is to return the car to its original specification, so we won't be ripping this out and replacing it with carbs (unless I am bankrupted by the attempt to get it running properly). I suggested to Paul that we might ship it out to an outfit in Belgium that specialises in overhauling these systems, but Paul is confident that he can get it done locally. There is the expertise, apparently, which I suppose reflects the fact that the system is basically the same as that used by Triumph.
Talking about original spec, these pictures of the interior show the colour of the dash which reflects the car's original paint colour of Azzurro Vincennes (with a Max Meyer paint code).
Something tells me that the gear knob may not be original..
The leather interior appears to be original, but the leather has been dyed red. In the bottom left hand part of this picture, the original (cream) leather colour can be seen where the red dye has been scraped off. The combination of red leather, blue dash and green (?) carpet is particularly interesting.
I need to check whether this Isophon speaker on the rear shelf is original. It looks terrible against the red leather, but presumably the colour is pretty close to the original colour of the leather, and it would have looked much less obtrusive. If anyone has any knowledge on that point, please post a comment!
I'll save this down. More to come.
The "iniezione" badge does mean, of course, that the hateful Lucas FI system lives under the bonnet.
The plan is to return the car to its original specification, so we won't be ripping this out and replacing it with carbs (unless I am bankrupted by the attempt to get it running properly). I suggested to Paul that we might ship it out to an outfit in Belgium that specialises in overhauling these systems, but Paul is confident that he can get it done locally. There is the expertise, apparently, which I suppose reflects the fact that the system is basically the same as that used by Triumph.
Talking about original spec, these pictures of the interior show the colour of the dash which reflects the car's original paint colour of Azzurro Vincennes (with a Max Meyer paint code).
Something tells me that the gear knob may not be original..
The leather interior appears to be original, but the leather has been dyed red. In the bottom left hand part of this picture, the original (cream) leather colour can be seen where the red dye has been scraped off. The combination of red leather, blue dash and green (?) carpet is particularly interesting.
I need to check whether this Isophon speaker on the rear shelf is original. It looks terrible against the red leather, but presumably the colour is pretty close to the original colour of the leather, and it would have looked much less obtrusive. If anyone has any knowledge on that point, please post a comment!
I'll save this down. More to come.
So far, so not very scary. A few more pictures to suggest it isn't too bad:
The rear bumper and valance suggest that it has had a scrape (or two)
A bit tatty around the front vents
But, what's it like underneath....
Well, for a start, the front anti-roll bar is missing - although, helpfully, it is in the boot, in 2 pieces.
Front suspension looks complete
Although it looks like there is a guard of some sort missing, which should stop crud from the front wheel being thrown up into the engine bay
Underseal appears to have been brushed on fairly thickly at some points
The rear suspension is not quite a double wishbone set up..
And now go back and look at that photo again, and this time admire the fantastic 250 PF in the background..
A final couple of "happy photos" before we get to the horrible truth.
The rear bumper and valance suggest that it has had a scrape (or two)
A bit tatty around the front vents
But, what's it like underneath....
Well, for a start, the front anti-roll bar is missing - although, helpfully, it is in the boot, in 2 pieces.
Front suspension looks complete
Although it looks like there is a guard of some sort missing, which should stop crud from the front wheel being thrown up into the engine bay
Underseal appears to have been brushed on fairly thickly at some points
The rear suspension is not quite a double wishbone set up..
And now go back and look at that photo again, and this time admire the fantastic 250 PF in the background..
A final couple of "happy photos" before we get to the horrible truth.
Edited by SprintSpeciale on Friday 25th October 17:16
Now, we all know that the Superleggera construction method was, in its day, fantastic. I mean it was used for the DB4 and DB5. It must be awesome, right?
Well, there do seem to be a few issues. As I was saying to one of my friends today, I now understand how the "super light" effect was achieved. There are aluminium panels stretched over a steel tubular frame. As the years go by, the steel tubular frame rusts away, and the car gets lighter as it gets older. Super.
Here are some interesting "rust bubbles" in an aluminium panel (Bottom picture - I have cocked up the picture insertion)
This is the result of the steel below having gone rotten and it has caused the aluminium to bubble up like this. The panel needs to be replaced. The next couple of pictures - which show the channel that the exhaust runs through (basically through the sill on the driver's side) demonstrate how bad things are
The combination of rust and galvanic corrosion mean that the steel frame and large parts of the aluminium panels are both shot. There is going to be a lot of work to sort through that!
Now that I have seen the car in all its glory, Paul is going to strip it ready for media blasting and phosphate coating. Once it comes back from that, hopefully before Christmas, he and I will sit down and assess how much panel work there really is and what the full extent of the work will be. The going in assumption is that this project will be an 18 month endeavour, but I am more concerned with getting the car perfect than finishing it in a set timetable, so it may be some time before there are any pictures of shiny bits!
That's it for now. I now know what The Surveyor felt like when he embarked on his Mexico odyssey.
Well, there do seem to be a few issues. As I was saying to one of my friends today, I now understand how the "super light" effect was achieved. There are aluminium panels stretched over a steel tubular frame. As the years go by, the steel tubular frame rusts away, and the car gets lighter as it gets older. Super.
Here are some interesting "rust bubbles" in an aluminium panel (Bottom picture - I have cocked up the picture insertion)
This is the result of the steel below having gone rotten and it has caused the aluminium to bubble up like this. The panel needs to be replaced. The next couple of pictures - which show the channel that the exhaust runs through (basically through the sill on the driver's side) demonstrate how bad things are
The combination of rust and galvanic corrosion mean that the steel frame and large parts of the aluminium panels are both shot. There is going to be a lot of work to sort through that!
Now that I have seen the car in all its glory, Paul is going to strip it ready for media blasting and phosphate coating. Once it comes back from that, hopefully before Christmas, he and I will sit down and assess how much panel work there really is and what the full extent of the work will be. The going in assumption is that this project will be an 18 month endeavour, but I am more concerned with getting the car perfect than finishing it in a set timetable, so it may be some time before there are any pictures of shiny bits!
That's it for now. I now know what The Surveyor felt like when he embarked on his Mexico odyssey.
Oh that looks both daunting and fantastic in equal measures, but what a stunning car you have there.
Very complete but i'd agree that the white ball gear knob may not be 100% original. The one on my Mexico isn't original either so maybe there was somebody with a dark Maserati gear knob fetish in the past! This one looks more original:-
If the interior leather is in good condition, re-colouring is feasible. The Furniture Clinic did mine and the results were fantastic although mine needed a re-colour, not a colour change.
Thankfully there was much less rust under mine and I've got my fingers crossed for you that the corrosion is local to the exhaust tunnel. It'll be worth it and do keep the photo's coming, I'm in need of professional inspiration.....
Paul
Very complete but i'd agree that the white ball gear knob may not be 100% original. The one on my Mexico isn't original either so maybe there was somebody with a dark Maserati gear knob fetish in the past! This one looks more original:-
If the interior leather is in good condition, re-colouring is feasible. The Furniture Clinic did mine and the results were fantastic although mine needed a re-colour, not a colour change.
Thankfully there was much less rust under mine and I've got my fingers crossed for you that the corrosion is local to the exhaust tunnel. It'll be worth it and do keep the photo's coming, I'm in need of professional inspiration.....
Paul
I am sorry that there haven't been any updates for a while. The car has been off for media blasting and should be back at DTR by the weekend. I am going there on Saturday to see what we are up against. This is the worst time, I think. The initial excitement of sourcing and buying the car has passed, and the enthusiasm for the new project is about to bump up against the reality of what the passing of 50 years means for the superleggera bodywork..
I'll post pictures on the weekend.
I'll post pictures on the weekend.
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