Berlinetta build and restoration

[andyf]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Looks good. I need to do the same to my inner wings to clear the uprights...

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Paint work advice required. Some of the alluminium panels have paint bubbling up due to corrosion. One example is shown here. The underside of the bonnet at the center piano hinge. I drilled the rivets out and you can see the corrosion.

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I was going to clean both the bonnet and the hinge with a flap disc. Then paint with aluminium primer then rivet it back together. Any thoughts? Bodywork is not my thing. The plan is to get a proffessional to paint the car.

[djj_engineer]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

you need an ETCH primer on Aluminium. then I guess a high build primer to smooth the hinges, before the top colour coat.
Poss ask your painter his advice.

[Alan c]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

The brass and aluminium is in contact so being dissimilar metals with different levels of nobility they set up an effective galvanic cell - the aluminium being less noble corrodes worst (Like a sacraficial aode). ensure there is no metal to metal connection including the fasteners as it creates th electrical (galvanic) circuit

[Alan c]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Or be 100% sure no moisture to form the electrlite can get in the joint (even an overall paint at some point will get a fine crack at joint or fixngs - so near impossible)

[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

All good advice and true. Flap discs will strip it really quickly, go steady on the curves. Avoid having it blasted if possible as it will warp unless your blaster is very knowledgeable about thin ally. Once clean degrease thoroughly with panel wipe, spray etch primer (as DJJ says) then high build primer and top coat (get painter to do all the paint so he can guarantee the work - dont be tempted to etch it yourself with rattle cans then expect the painter to make it nice). When reassembling the hinge run a smear of grease along the hing before bolting or riveting it back together and it will last for years.
My own bonnet is bolted together not riveted. I used M5 interscrews and stainless M5x10 bolts on the inside.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Thanks for the advice guys.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Door mirrors.

The original mirrors were too low to see anything apart from the rear wing!

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The new mirrors are much higher.

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[jon_wilkinson]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Great choice. I like that design; fits in really well with the car.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Thanks. Got them from Europa.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Inner wings. Some of the paint is bubbling up due to corrosion, no surprise considering it was painted in 1993. It would probably rub down, but I thought that if I could make new ones the end result would be better. I was careful not to damage the originals, so that if I made a mess I could try to fettle them and use them instead.

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[Cameron F]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

nice. Stainless or ally?

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Ally. I love stainless but I thought it would be tough enough bending the flanges in ally nevermind stainless. The top flange under the main wing is curved so I did it a bit at a time with an adjustable spanner.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Aluminium has a significant grain structure, not so pronounced in Stainless, but it’s still present.
Bend it ‘with the grain’ can result in cracking. I suspect that this is one of the contributory factors with Roadster pedal box area cracks.
The saving grace is that the wings are only really subject to vibration, not direct forces from the brake pedal.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I got two oblong offcuts of aluminum from ebay, so there was only one way to use them. It sounds like the grain would be important for structural use though.