"Might as well.."

David Booth · Post by **David Booth** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:03 am

Okay, no challenge left unmet. As referenced the other day, let's see if the simple page on my ISP's host site I've linked below will let you guys see what's going on with my 1960 Series II Pininfarina cabriolet.

This is what happens if what I call the "Might as well.." school of automobile restoration if left to go unchecked.

I blew a head gasket on this car some years ago. Check it out in the Owner's Gallery to see what it looked like then. As I was mulling ordering a set of new head gaskets, I thought to myself, "..as long as I've got to pull the heads, I really have to idea what kind of shape the bottom end of this motor is in. So I might as well go ahead and pull the motor and throw in a set of bearings. And while I'm at it, I might as well mic the cylilnder bores and do the rings..", and on and on. You get the picture. This is where the car is as of a coupla months ago.

The first couple of pics are of the car with almost all the paint stripped off. Took five quarts of Aircraft Remover for the body, the doors, the hood and trunklid. That dumb grin on my face is undoubtedly a reaction to what an idiotic thing I've done. Getting the undercoating off it was remarkably similar to being mortared: dirt in parts of my body I didn't think dirt could get, ears ringing, body all achin' and wracked with pain. Want my advice? Pay someone else to do this phase.

The next pics are of the car as disassembled as you can get one of these without a cutting torch. Body, chassis and steel doors were powder blasted and then epoxy-primed. The frame tubes were all solid. But the rusty rockers, wheel arches and lower fender areas (right in the front tire splash zone - surprise!), plus the four main frame outriggers that support the floor, the original jack tubes, and a significant portion of the floor itself were cut out and new pieces welded in. This is the part that's a lot like being on a taxi ride in an unfamiliar city. You have only a vague idea of how long it's going to take or what the meter will read at the end. You just sort of have to ride it out.

This is the phase that Tom luckily got to avoid on his 330 America. My main consolation is that there will be a perfect base upon which to build the finished car, with no hidden surprises or glossed-over weak spots down the road.

http://members.cox.net/boothguy/index.htm

lukek · Post by **lukek** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:29 am

Nice rotisserie job....a classic case of "while in there"
---you have gone all the way, young man ! Very nice, indeed. I would not have any regrets.

David Booth · Post by **David Booth** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:12 pm

Yeah, thanks Luke. In the "don't try this at home" category, this one should not be attempted without a rotisserie unless you want to risk serious physical and/or emotional damage.

This particular fixture was designed and built with unibody cars in mind, but you can see the additional fixturing I had to come up with in order to "reach" through the grill opening and catch the front frame cross member and the front motor mounts.