Completed Projects

Back over 15 years ago my son Jeff and myself restored our first Ferrari Dino. It was a 74 GTS, and we had no idea what we were doing. He was in high school and we are both very bull headed so it was quite the time. We managed to finish it and went on to restore a Chairs and Flares USA model coupe for our second project. He went off to college and I kept up on my niche I had found. Fast forward 17 years and Jeff works in the tech field, one step lower than a CTO and has done very well for himself in Austin, Texas. I moved from San Diego 2 years ago and built a new shop. Jeff had such good memories and missed working with his hands. I proposed we buy something that needed some work and he could do it on his spare time. We found a 72 Euro Gt that fit the bill. We established a budget and he went to work. We quickly vastly exceeded our budget as one thing led to another!! We ended up doing a whole new interior including glass out so we could replace the headliner. We rebuilt the column switch,new campagnolo wheels and correct tires,new grill,reat light and wiring,trunk carpeting,Ansa exhaust,new batchboards,new underneath fiberglass splash panels,brake calipers rebuild,new engine compartment front and rear heat shields, refurbished the fuel tanks,new fuel lines and fuel pump,mostly repainted and completely rebuilt the motor and gearbox and more! We went over our initial budget by at least 3X but now have a very nice looking and great running car and Jeff got to get his hands dirty again.
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NEW I’ve been working on this car a little over a year now!! It’s taken a bit longer than usual as I had to work through the pandemic and all the shortages and the tremendous price increases on everything!. At least this week has been testing week, both driving and non driving. Every moving part is tested over and over along with every electrical part. Then comes driving with each drive a little longer. I put 120 miles on the car so far and will no doubt put another 50 or so miles making sure everything works as it should. After seeing my pictures from today I need a little more adjustment on the right front. The single post bumpers with only 2 attachments are very difficult to adjust right. The car drives great and has the looks to go with it. Mike with be out in a few weeks to do some testing himself. This in the only Dino in the world from the factory with these unique front indicator lights. These are not easy projects as each one has its own idiosyncrasies and after 20 plus Dinos I’ve done each one is different and difficult. I’ve also done a few early 911 Porsches and everything just fits! The Italians miss on the engineering but the looks are something else. Here are a few driving pics from today.
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More progress on getting this Dino back on the road after sitting in the owners barn for nearly 20 years. All the suspension is now on, fuel system, new fiberglass fitted, most of the wiring is hooked up and today we started on the interior. Headliner went in today which then made it possible to put in the front and rear glass. I always hold my breath putting in the rear windscreen in. Luckily all was a success!
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I got the prototype Dino back from the paint shop last week after about 4 months. TJ at Color House of Texas did a great job on this one and now I get to do the best part of a restoration! I love reassembly with all the restored and clean parts, so far everything is going smoothly. I did have a stud snap on the brake booster so it’s back a step on that one. It’s so cool seeing
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