It’s hard to improve on a beautiful new Jaguar XK but a good friend and client entrusted his new Jaguar to me to make some suggestions about enhancing its appearance. I gave him a few of my ideas and the next thing I know he’s given me full rein on his new set of wheels.
And wheels were part of what we ended up doing…
We prepped and painted the wheels a gorgeous graphite gray/black. They’re now a very unique satin finish — not shiny but matte finished — making the car look lean and mean.
We also tinted the windows, took the chrome off, lowered the car, and color sanded and rubbed out the original factory paint. Along with a few other enhancements we turned this new car into a distinctive and dazzling driving machine. The client loves the new look! It certainly is a head-turner.
I’ll be at the Dana Point Concours d’ Elegance this coming Sunday, June 24th. This event is an excellent opportunity to see some beautiful automobiles at a beautiful venue. I’ll have my phone with me (949-922-3013). Give me a call if your interested in cruising the exhibits or if you’d like to discuss any new projects. See you there!
The Fiat Jolly (only two in existence) shown below took best of show in its class at the Dana Point Concours d’ Elegance in 2010. This was one of the first cars I completed when I got back into the business in 2009. I did the surfacing, paint, and the wood refurbishing as well. Owner, Bill Cord, contracted me through a referral from Theo’s Matchbox Motors in Costa Mesa. Plan to attend. There’s plenty to see of the finest of automobiles. You won’t be disappointed!
This Dino was shipped to me from a gentleman out of the Fresno area. The older restoration had some … issues. Remember, it was cool to “shave” the car. I mean … removing bumpers, emblems, lights, door handles mirrors.. you know that was hip back when… maybe a ’51 Merc but not a 206 GT!
Now that all the fabricating and aluminum work is done the car is finally back to original specs. We have stripped the red paint and now we are re-blocking and surfacing the entire car. The original Cromodora knock-offs have been walnut-shelled, Allodined, etched primer and are now in epoxy primer. They won’t be painted until the car is finished. Just mounted the Michelin XWXs, which were original equipment on the 206 GT. It’s also going back to the original color (it’s not red!)
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- What’s missing?
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- What’s missing?
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- All jams were filled with filler… not factory!
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- Found original lock assembly and installed.
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- Front Dino emblem.
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- Fabricating inner bumper brackets.
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- Bumper bracket.
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- Finished front bumper mounts.
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- Hand stripping paint the “old fashioned” way.
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- Stripping out filler in jams.
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- All tacked off and ready to primer.
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- Apprentice Beau trimming out the hard spots.
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- Finished with encapsulation epoxy primer — first stage.
The sought after Cromodora and Campagnolo wheels are a thing of beauty and a desired feature to a classic Dino. These older, light-weight performance wheels are magnesium and aluminum alloyed mixed material. They are not 100% magnesium. Because of their makeup, coating or painting them require a very special process. Read more…
Congratulations to Tom Kearns on winning best of show for his 1974 Dino 246 GT at the Bella Italia car show in San Diego this past weekend!
It was a real pleasure surfacing and completing the color change to this Dino. It really turned out beautiful. It’s so great to know it’s now recognized as the winner it’s intended to be. It was a real honor to work with Chief Designer Tom Kearns as well as Jon Gunderson and his team.
What a labor of love to finish this Dino 246. Shipped back to Ohio on April 7 and now just waiting to hear from the owner. This Dino turned out really, really nice and will surely be a show piece. At the very least it will turn a few heads in Ohio!
The latest project that occupied us last week was a Xplore Jeep Wrangler Special Edition. It was the third one we’ve done for the company and this matte silver grey is quite the stylish beast. If you’re looking for something that’s rugged and strong but yet elegant… this is it! We painted the surface of this Xplore Jeep Wrangler Special Edition in a medium silver grey metallic with a matte clear. Check out all their vehicles at www.xplorevehicles.com
We worked late Friday finishing the Rosso Rubino Metallizzato and readying it for delivery to Jon G’s on Saturday. On our way to San Diego Beau and I brought the Dino to Cars ‘N Coffe (our local Saturday morning car show). It sure drew a lot of attention. Here I am pictured with Chief Designer Freeman Thomas and Matt DeLorenzo, Editor-in-Chief at Road & Track Magazine.
After drinking coffee, eating donuts, and talking Dino for two hours we loaded back up and headed down I-5 to Jon’s shop. This beauty is now in the more-than-capable hands of Jon Gunderson for reassembly. I’ll be updating photos here and on www.FerrariChat.com when its completed.
Now that I’ve handed this off to Jon for final assembly I can focus on the 206 GT that’s waiting for a color change … back to original.
Back in October of 2011 I had the great opportunity to meet up with friends, co-workers and Alain & Kathy Clenet at the 35th Clenet Anniversary celebration. I had the pleasure to restore a few of the cars that attended the reunion.
Please take a minute to check out some other photos from the Anniversary festivities as well as a couple Concours events where the Clenet was featured throughout 2011 on the Clenet Restorations page.
We just received delivery of this amazing sportscar over this past weekend! This Lamborghini Miura is a beautiful vehicle. It’s in for a color change and a bit of a freshen up. It’ll be ready for some cruising on the long summer days to come.
Bella Classics by Steve Kouracos 