Ccarlisi/mandeville/ect 20b Street Car Project
10-25-2006, 07:53 PM
#111
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 8
$100 flat bed trip to the body shop:
The place was recommended to me by 2 members of a Ferrari club that I am a part of. I had a couple conversations with them, saw some pictures of their work and was generally impressed . . . . . .However, when I dropped the car off I noticed a couple tell tale bad signs. I tried to be optimistic, but when I stopped into a nearby high end sports car shop the best thing they could say about their work was, they're easy to deal with. That was the end of that.
$100 flat bed trip to body shop #2:
-so sad it's funny isn't it?
The car is currently at Automotive International http://www.automotive-international.com/ a high end foreign restoration shop. They have a bunch of really neat projects to their name, including a Mercedes 300SL 'gullwing' restoration.
When I got there the first thing I noticed was the evil looking gargoyles on pillars outside of the building (look in the background of the 300SL photo). However, up to this point every shop that looked 'good' has turned out to be evil, so maybe the opposite is also true, or maybe the best place to get a black FD that has consumed 4 motors for no apparent reason, a 35R turbo (bearing failure), and two peoples' savings is an evil body shop. Whatever the case, AI's work is very impressive and they come highly recommended by a long list of people.
The place was recommended to me by 2 members of a Ferrari club that I am a part of. I had a couple conversations with them, saw some pictures of their work and was generally impressed . . . . . .However, when I dropped the car off I noticed a couple tell tale bad signs. I tried to be optimistic, but when I stopped into a nearby high end sports car shop the best thing they could say about their work was, they're easy to deal with. That was the end of that.
$100 flat bed trip to body shop #2:
The car is currently at Automotive International http://www.automotive-international.com/ a high end foreign restoration shop. They have a bunch of really neat projects to their name, including a Mercedes 300SL 'gullwing' restoration.
When I got there the first thing I noticed was the evil looking gargoyles on pillars outside of the building (look in the background of the 300SL photo). However, up to this point every shop that looked 'good' has turned out to be evil, so maybe the opposite is also true, or maybe the best place to get a black FD that has consumed 4 motors for no apparent reason, a 35R turbo (bearing failure), and two peoples' savings is an evil body shop. Whatever the case, AI's work is very impressive and they come highly recommended by a long list of people.
10-25-2006, 07:55 PM
#112
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 8
My marching orders were, compromise on nothing. The car is being repainted black, but using a very high quality paint and clear coat ($180 an oz for the clear alone-does that sound right?).
(Note the tapped trim at the top of the doors is also being removed.)
One of my reasons I bought this particular car was that it purportedly had original point on everything but the front fenders. This is true. However AI discovered that it is burried under another layer of some pretty shitty stuff. Nothing more money can't fix . They are stripping almost the entire car down to the bare metal (roof was ok).
Doors have also been completed stripped since this was taken. I also had them remove the stone guard that was tapped off.
Mike paid $500 to have this bumper painted brilliant black. It got stripped before it was ever put on the car
I told them to make the firewall look as OEM as possible. As I mentioned above, the entire tunnel/firewall was seam welded. However, AI added a coat of seam sealer over the welded areas after sand blasting the metal to make it look more like stock.
Lastly, I dumped the feed headlight cover and am replacing it with a new OEM unit. They are moving along very quickly on the project. With any luck it should be done in about 2 weeks.
(Note the tapped trim at the top of the doors is also being removed.)
One of my reasons I bought this particular car was that it purportedly had original point on everything but the front fenders. This is true. However AI discovered that it is burried under another layer of some pretty shitty stuff. Nothing more money can't fix
Doors have also been completed stripped since this was taken. I also had them remove the stone guard that was tapped off.
Mike paid $500 to have this bumper painted brilliant black. It got stripped before it was ever put on the car
I told them to make the firewall look as OEM as possible. As I mentioned above, the entire tunnel/firewall was seam welded. However, AI added a coat of seam sealer over the welded areas after sand blasting the metal to make it look more like stock.
Lastly, I dumped the feed headlight cover and am replacing it with a new OEM unit. They are moving along very quickly on the project. With any luck it should be done in about 2 weeks.
10-25-2006, 10:25 PM
#113
to infinity & beyond, me
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: santurce
Posts: 5,124
wow!!!
gargoyles are cool. i stripped down my beetle to teh bare metal when it was painted last. not a fun job, but the outcome is awesome. now if i just got off this chair and started putting it back together...........
project is looking great. whats the purpose of the car again?
gargoyles are cool. i stripped down my beetle to teh bare metal when it was painted last. not a fun job, but the outcome is awesome. now if i just got off this chair and started putting it back together...........
project is looking great. whats the purpose of the car again?
11-15-2006, 07:53 AM
#115
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Disclaimer: posts made after 11AM are most likely alcohol induced. Please disregard unless very funn
Posts: 2,436
Originally Posted by treceb' post='842513' date='Oct 25 2006, 10:25 PM
. whats the purpose of the car again?
to destroy Chris's life savings.
Looking good Chris... looks like i'll be home in about 70 days. I'll road trip up to see you when i get home. Hopefully your **** will be finished by then and mine will be very close by that time.
01-08-2007, 07:02 PM
#120
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 6
Project looks great.
Out of curiosity, is their a noticeable difference in handling when you have such a huge turbo mounted that high and so far towards the front of the engine bay? Would the car feel nose heavy or anything?
I would imagine with the weight of the block pushed so far back in the body and being so low it would counteract that.
Out of curiosity, is their a noticeable difference in handling when you have such a huge turbo mounted that high and so far towards the front of the engine bay? Would the car feel nose heavy or anything?
I would imagine with the weight of the block pushed so far back in the body and being so low it would counteract that.