Daytona restoration question
Daytona restoration question
Hi everyone. I've been lurking around the site for the last 6 months while I am restoring my 365GTB/4 and will finally jump in and start participating. A few pictures of my car are posted in the owners gallery for those that are interested. Right now we have the car pretty well stripped and will start body prep and paint next week. We have been going through all of the sub-assemblies one by one, rebuilding/cleaning and in some cases replacing the old parts. Most of the car has been very straight forward, but I am unsure haw to deal with the grill. It is aluminum, (possibly anodized?) in fairly good shape, but very oxidized and just plain grunge. It is held together with rivets that could be drilled out to take it apart but I am somewhat reluctant to do this. Any recomendations?
Hi Mark,
Ahh yes the grill...
I think your grill is anodized, but I don't think early ones like mine were. Have you tried cleaning it with a polish for aluminum wheels? If the grunge comes off, and it gives you an acceptable finish, I'd leave well enough alone, but if you really need to get between the pieces, drilling out the pop rivets is no big deal. The pieces should be numbered, and slotted to "eggcrate" back together. If the anodizing is intact, try to clean the dirt out. If the aluminum has corroded past the anodized layer, then sanding it all off, and polishing may be your only way. The problem there is without the protective anodizing, the grill oxidize quicker. Fabricating a new one, well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
Tom
Ahh yes the grill...
I think your grill is anodized, but I don't think early ones like mine were. Have you tried cleaning it with a polish for aluminum wheels? If the grunge comes off, and it gives you an acceptable finish, I'd leave well enough alone, but if you really need to get between the pieces, drilling out the pop rivets is no big deal. The pieces should be numbered, and slotted to "eggcrate" back together. If the anodizing is intact, try to clean the dirt out. If the aluminum has corroded past the anodized layer, then sanding it all off, and polishing may be your only way. The problem there is without the protective anodizing, the grill oxidize quicker. Fabricating a new one, well, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.
Tom
Re: Daytona restoration question
[quote="Jason"]Hi Mark, I clean my air intake grill by soaking it in Coke - the drinking kind that is! As its mildly acidic it removes most muck without causing damage to metal on mine though unsure what it may do to an anodized one. :shock:
If the grill is anodized and it's worn in places, I wouldn't sand it to remove the anodizing. The anodizing is a lot harder than the underlying aluminum. The sanding will wear away the aluminum faster than the anodizing so you end up with dips where the anodizing was thin or damaged.
Instead, the anodizing can be stripped chemically. Then any imprefections in the aluminum can be sanded and polished. After that, you can get it re-anodized and it should stay looking great for years with just some wax and buffing periodically.
I would look at a place that does plating on aircraft parts. There's one here in Seattle that I've used for cad plating but they also do anodizing.
Instead, the anodizing can be stripped chemically. Then any imprefections in the aluminum can be sanded and polished. After that, you can get it re-anodized and it should stay looking great for years with just some wax and buffing periodically.
I would look at a place that does plating on aircraft parts. There's one here in Seattle that I've used for cad plating but they also do anodizing.
I just did the trim on my 365 it was also anodized but was pretty easy for my polisher to buff right off I think he charged me less then $600.00 for the entire cars worth of trim and than you can choose whether or not to anodize again which is nice but tends to not keep the polish for long especialy when it sits in the sun or you can choose to leave it bare polished and just protect it with a coat of wax when your waxing the rest of the car that way when the shine goes you can just polish it up with metal polish(that't an old show car guy's trick)
anyways good luck and make sure to number the pieces of the grill so you can ease the reassembly process
Zac
anyways good luck and make sure to number the pieces of the grill so you can ease the reassembly process
Zac
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Edward 96GTS
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2003 12:21 pm
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John Vardanian
- Posts: 1908
- Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
- Location: San Francisco Area
markl,
A good number of Daytonas were converted to "competition" cars, so off came their grills. You may be able to find a replacement grill in mint condition. In the meantime, an easier alternative may be to sand the slats and fill the pitting with plastic filler then paint them to a close-enough shade. The pitting cannot be that substantial and you shouldn't have to use very much filler.
John Vardanian
A good number of Daytonas were converted to "competition" cars, so off came their grills. You may be able to find a replacement grill in mint condition. In the meantime, an easier alternative may be to sand the slats and fill the pitting with plastic filler then paint them to a close-enough shade. The pitting cannot be that substantial and you shouldn't have to use very much filler.
John Vardanian
Ed,
Like most restorations, it seems endless at times. Motor and the rest of the mechanicals are nearly done, but the body is still being painted. Unbelievable how many guide coats go on before before the final paint is sprayed! With any luck it will be ready for reassembly in a month or so, then we see if goes back together easy or hard. I'm guessing hard. The Italians never did anything easy!
As far as the grill is concerned, I took it apart, wet sanded the old anodizing and other road rash off the pieces, reanodized them, and riveted it all back together. Looks nearly new. Today it sits on a shelf waiting.
I will send some update pictures to Tom to post in the Owners Gallery.
Like most restorations, it seems endless at times. Motor and the rest of the mechanicals are nearly done, but the body is still being painted. Unbelievable how many guide coats go on before before the final paint is sprayed! With any luck it will be ready for reassembly in a month or so, then we see if goes back together easy or hard. I'm guessing hard. The Italians never did anything easy!
As far as the grill is concerned, I took it apart, wet sanded the old anodizing and other road rash off the pieces, reanodized them, and riveted it all back together. Looks nearly new. Today it sits on a shelf waiting.
I will send some update pictures to Tom to post in the Owners Gallery.