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Restoration From Hell!


GTAm

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  • 4 weeks later...

Another visit on Saturday. The floor is more or less done if not yet dusted. :)

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And then it was time for another shocker. The guy had removed the panel adjacent to the firewall to reveal a shocking botch up by the previous tinker. Riveted pieces of sheet metal on the inside to cover the rust. Then glass wool :speechless-smiley-003: over that. And a mix of metal, rust and filler to top it all off.

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Now this means our man has to do a lot of temporary reinforcements before removing the wind screen and the whole scuttle is weaker than we anticipated.

Found the boot lid and the bonnet in Oz. They should arrive here next month.

On my previous visit I took large digital prints for the tinker to paste on his wall for reference. He immediately noticed a design change that my car seems to have under gone in the hands of a previous body artist. The rear wheel arches which needs to be square, has been "rounded". I really can't imagine why some of these tinkers do this and wonder how they get away.

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GTAM, if you can find bonnets and boot lids in good condition, are the panels not still in manufacture as well?

Alas not for this model Don. The Coupes and Spiders being more desirable they are the ones which have panels re-manufactured (buy specialists not by the company). Many of these Berlinas have been scavenged for parts for the above (that's the reason I bought this car initially) which has reduced the population dramatically. With Coupe and Spider prices steadily rising, the Berlinas have suddenly seen demand rise. But the population is too small I guess for new panels to be made.

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Any progress with the mechanical side GTAm?Or are you concentrating on the tinkering only for now...

None at all MasterDon. The body is the critical part. This car is very similar to the Giulia (It's basically a big Giulia sedan). Therefore EVERY mechanical part is available. So it is very straight forward. I will leave it for after the body is done.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Another visit to Hell and back yesterday. Even though I've seen the scale and ferocity of the rust many times before, I still am shocked to see them again. Just look at the lower C-pillar (where the rear door closes) in the pic of the inner sills.

After I recovered from an initial dizziness I noticed what a lot of work our professori had done. The front scuttle is completed. The sills, A-pillars and various other parts that contribute to the structural rigidity is being done. I'm guessing the outer panel work with be relatively easier as this is quite a boxy car despite many subtle creases.

Anyway I consider myself so lucky to have a tinker as talented as this guy and above all who accepted this project which I am certain that most would have never done.

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Nice to see the progress GTAm...I wouldn't advertise your tinker's abilities if I were you,artists like these are hard to find and even harder to keep.I'm considering buying a shot gun to keep away the people who come and try to steal away my guy....lol..

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Nice to see the progress GTAm...I wouldn't advertise your tinker's abilities if I were you,artists like these are hard to find and even harder to keep.I'm considering buying a shot gun to keep away the people who come and try to steal away my guy....lol..

Don't be so selfish MD ;)

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Don't be so selfish MD ;)

Sorry MD, but I have to agree. Keeping this guy under wraps isn't the way to do it.

Artisans like this should be lifted up and out into the public's view. Such talent should be celebrated and passed on (hopefully). Too bad this guy ( by that I mean GTAm's talented tinker) doesn't have the resources to set up a larger shop and advertise his talent. If I knew where I could have such talent looking over my car, I know I'd certainly get in line. And hopefully such an increase in business would mean that this skill / work ethic would have to be passed on; so after a while, the place would have a few more panel beaters with such competence.

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Haha Don and Kavvz I agree,but honestly speaking you do have to be a little bit selfish and greedy to get a car done in SL.Untill quite recently restoration was a quite enjoyable hobby but as the market for classics have gone up the sharks have moved in and it is really stressful thing nowadays.And Gtam's guy is not as obscure as one might think.The classic car community is fully aware of him and appreciate his talent.I'm told,after the Berlina his next project will be a Buick Super Eight.

Kavvz that sounds like a good business plan on paper but 'tinkering shops' just never seem to work.Ideally a tinker should only do one car at a given time,particularly if its a classic.The quality of the work will inevitably will drop once he sets up shop.And that is big no no cos people like Gtam and myself want absoloute perfection and attention to detail...And its not like these guys are exactly poverty stricken minimum wage earners either,I won't go in to detail but the even a moderately talanted tinker fellow can earn a VERY decent living going solo.

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Haha Don and Kavvz I agree,but honestly speaking you do have to be a little bit selfish and greedy to get a car done in SL.Untill quite recently restoration was a quite enjoyable hobby but as the market for classics have gone up the sharks have moved in and it is really stressful thing nowadays.And Gtam's guy is not as obscure as one might think.The classic car community is fully aware of him and appreciate his talent.I'm told,after the Berlina his next project will be a Buick Super Eight.

Kavvz that sounds like a good business plan on paper but 'tinkering shops' just never seem to work.Ideally a tinker should only do one car at a given time,particularly if its a classic.The quality of the work will inevitably will drop once he sets up shop.And that is big no no cos people like Gtam and myself want absoloute perfection and attention to detail...And its not like these guys are exactly poverty stricken minimum wage earners either,I won't go in to detail but the even a moderately talanted tinker fellow can earn a VERY decent living going solo.

Well I'm glad to hear that, the bugger deserves to live well for he's seems very skilled. The floor pans GTAm posted up previously looked like they were machine pressed! And as for the 'tinker shop / body shop' plan: Yes, sometimes reality isn't the same as theory that's for sure!

Quick question though: How come the demand for restorations has gone up? Is it simply because the cost of new / newer second hand cars is so high, that rebuilding a 10-15 year old classic into a daily runner makes economic sense? Or is there some other demand factor at play?

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Well I'm glad to hear that, the bugger deserves to live well for he's seems very skilled. The floor pans GTAm posted up previously looked like they were machine pressed! And as for the 'tinker shop / body shop' plan: Yes, sometimes reality isn't the same as theory that's for sure!

Quick question though: How come the demand for restorations has gone up? Is it simply because the cost of new / newer second hand cars is so high, that rebuilding a 10-15 year old classic into a daily runner makes economic sense? Or is there some other demand factor at play?

it's just the fact that the demand for classic and vintage vehicles has gone up worldwide,but as with everything else SL has a twisted idea of what exactly a classic is.In other countries a classic car's value depends on it's make,vintage,rarity and so on but here if it has and old number plate and British it's a classic.For example just recently I was offered a stupid A40 farina for 1 mil!\,and the owner seemed to think it was genuinely worth that much...

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Quick question though: How come the demand for restorations has gone up? Is it simply because the cost of new / newer second hand cars is so high, that rebuilding a 10-15 year old classic into a daily runner makes economic sense? Or is there some other demand factor at play?

I did a 4 part article on the M*T*R mag which is still running about this very subject. Demand has gone up because loads of newbies have got the craze to restore an old car. And so many young people which is surprising. As Don says even if it's not exactly a classic they seem to value it. Can't blame them too much as in a country such as ours, supply is non-existent unless by illegal means. In most developed countries old car imports are allowed so supply is always strong.

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Sorry MD, but I have to agree. Keeping this guy under wraps isn't the way to do it.

Artisans like this should be lifted up and out into the public's view. Such talent should be celebrated and passed on (hopefully). Too bad this guy ( by that I mean GTAm's talented tinker) doesn't have the resources to set up a larger shop and advertise his talent. If I knew where I could have such talent looking over my car, I know I'd certainly get in line. And hopefully such an increase in business would mean that this skill / work ethic would have to be passed on; so after a while, the place would have a few more panel beaters with such competence.

Many people have suggested various offers to this guy to try and expand his workshop. But he's a stubborn monkey. It's his way or no way. He would not hear of getting an assistant. He's got another source of income as well and his kids are grown up and have decent jobs. One guy's an electrical engineer and works overseas. So this is additional income.

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Kavvz that sounds like a good business plan on paper but 'tinkering shops' just never seem to work.Ideally a tinker should only do one car at a given time,particularly if its a classic.The quality of the work will inevitably will drop once he sets up shop.And that is big no no cos people like Gtam and myself want absoloute perfection and attention to detail...And its not like these guys are exactly poverty stricken minimum wage earners either,I won't go in to detail but the even a moderately talanted tinker fellow can earn a VERY decent living going solo.

Agreed. When the 'Body Shop' opens up the first thing they may realize is that there is a lot of money in the 'Accident Repairs' business than in a painstaking restoration.

Unless the guy has a passion to continue on it they'd just start focusing on people who'd come in and say 'Basunnahe, mata meka hondata penna, tak gala karala, insurance ekenuth ganak ithuru karala denna, hari?' (Basically, please fix this quickly, make it look good and save me a couple of bucks from the insurance claim also.). Not bothered about the quality of material used, mandatory wait time between filler to paint & paint to polish etc.

So the owner himself requests substandard quick job allowing them to get a better profit quickly vs. Hours and Hours of panel beating for few months for a bigger pay.

Then the shop becomes bigger, the bloke will hire a bunch of 'Golayas' who has 0 talent and experience then becomes the boss man removing himself from day to day work resulting the joint to become a pretty worthless place then onwards.

By all means its unfair for the guy to be caged and kept but unfortunately that's sort of the only option for a serious restorer.

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What is unfortunately happening as a result is their skills and craftsmanship is not being passed on because we need these guys to take on apprentices and train them on the fine arts.

Also the world has moved on in terms of metal work, and unfortunately our artisans are still using traditional techniques. The technology around sheet metal is pretty advanced that you can model most cuts on a computer using a cad program (loaded with original dimensions ), lazer cut them and then beat it to shape. I think we also don't use things like sand blasting before getting metal work ready for the base coat.

Of course with machines, the skill required from the technician goes down, but you get a more consistent result.

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What is unfortunately happening as a result is their skills and craftsmanship is not being passed on because we need these guys to take on apprentices and train them on the fine arts.

Also the world has moved on in terms of metal work, and unfortunately our artisans are still using traditional techniques. The technology around sheet metal is pretty advanced that you can model most cuts on a computer using a cad program (loaded with original dimensions ), lazer cut them and then beat it to shape. I think we also don't use things like sand blasting before getting metal work ready for the base coat.

Of course with machines, the skill required from the technician goes down, but you get a more consistent result.

Yes like our Ayurvedic experts who died without passing on the recipes that could save hundreds of lives. Selfish and self centered. I think the older generation of our country is blighted by this evil trait.

Hopefully there will be a new breed of panel makers with CAD and lasers to replace the old panel beaters. But that's when Art and Craft dies and manufacturing begins. Which is also a loss.

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Yes like our Ayurvedic experts who died without passing on the recipes that could save hundreds of lives. Selfish and self centered. I think the older generation of our country is blighted by this evil trait.

Hopefully there will be a new breed of panel makers with CAD and lasers to replace the old panel beaters. But that's when Art and Craft dies and manufacturing begins. Which is also a loss.

But the Ayurvedic experts somewhat had reasons not to pass some of their knowledge. (I am not borrowing this from Spiderman :)) but as they say knowledge is power, and with great power comes great responsibility. Many did not get committed enough apprentices to pass the knowledge on. The same is true of the martial arts which came with Buddhism and was once practiced in our land (made famous by the tele drama Dhandubasnamanaya) and even in India it still only lives in Kerala.

I do note that many of our master craftsman struggle to keep hold of apprentices. Many venture off to start their own ventures well before they are ready. Then makabass forever!

And I'm still looking for somebody good to replace the roof of my old Mitsi suffering from roof rust :(

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But the Ayurvedic experts somewhat had reasons not to pass some of their knowledge. (I am not borrowing this from Spiderman :)) but as they say knowledge is power, and with great power comes great responsibility. Many did not get committed enough apprentices to pass the knowledge on. The same is true of the martial arts which came with Buddhism and was once practiced in our land (made famous by the tele drama Dhandubasnamanaya) and even in India it still only lives in Kerala.

I do note that many of our master craftsman struggle to keep hold of apprentices. Many venture off to start their own ventures well before they are ready. Then makabass forever!

And I'm still looking for somebody good to replace the roof of my old Mitsi suffering from roof rust :(

craft is a dying trait all over the world

gone are the days people spent time, money and effort into fixing things...now it's all about replacement.

Saving time is the key thing so spending hours and hours to craft something doesn't make a lot of sense

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And I'm still looking for somebody good to replace the roof of my old Mitsi suffering from roof rust :(

Not sure how long this Hell project with take but after that I could ask him to do your roof. He's a rigid bugger and will not do another car while working on one. This is what he says although I distinctly recall him doing other small jobs while my cars were with him. Does the roof thing absolutely require a guy like this or can a reasonably good guy do it?

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