Back to work today. I took off all the parts associated with the emergency brake, took out all the carpet and removed the brake calipers. Emergency brake pretty straight forward to remove. Their was heat insulating material in the tunnel by the handbrake totally disintegrated. When removing the carpet be sure to keep the part that surround the pedals. I had to go back on the blue Dino and fabricate this part as heat would come into the cabin from around the pedals. When removing the brake calipers watch for the shims and where they are oriented at. Check first, because when you remove the 2 bolts they will fall out. I had to cut one of the hydraulic lines as there was no way it was going to loosen. All in all a pretty straight forward day.

TAV 108 today, which is basically the trunk and everything that goes with it. Hinges, lights, carpet etc. It appears the trunk carpet was originally gray and black felt like material was glued over it. It was missing the parts that activate the license plate light so I’ll have to find or make those. The car has never been taken down to bare metal as you can see the layers of paint. Felt was also glued to the inside of the trunk lid to hide the wiring which was needed for the license plate light as the original pieces were missing therefore wired direct.

More parts off the car today. I finished TAV 117 and TAV 107. More organized from the git go this time. So basically all the lights, engine lid, pull cables etc. After pulling the moulding off the engine compartment, I found the original yellow color. It appears to have been repainted in red and then black. The US sidelites won’t be going back on as I like the cleaner Euro look. I also got a pair of Euro indicator lights which will replace the USA version. This time I’m going to get them right the first time. Stripping the car down is really a fun part, you don’t have to be quite as careful and you see all the wear and tear that has been hiding from a casual glance over. If anyone is contemplating a DYI restoration I would for FREE gladly take it apart label all the parts, organize all the parts in TAV tubs and give you all the pictures to put it back together, it’s that much fun! Someone out there needs to start now and start posting pictures.

Bicycling in the morning then back to work. While I was riding I stopped at Torrey Pines beach where a 32′ grey whale had washed ashore, hit by a cargo ship. I noticed my last pictures weren’t that sharp. I got a new Mac and so now I have to use a new photo editing program, photoshop elements. Hopefully todays photos will be more clear. I worked on TAV 110 today which includes bumpers, grill, badges and a few other odds and ins. If anybody has a source for the black rings that fit over the bumper posts let me know. As far as colors the grey one is now out as there was another Dino at Bella Italia just restored by Symbolic Motors, done in that color. It is also a local car. It did look fantastic though.

I cleaned the shop today and put the 73 GT on the lift. #4946 started out in it’s Dino life as a yellow, chairs and flares USA model coupe. Only 5 Flares and Chairs coupes were made for the USA. It originally sold June 2, 1973 at Hollywood Sports Cars to Thomas Brockmiller of Rolling Hills, Ca. The original price was $16,999.90 including tax and license. I bought it a couple of years ago where it was living in Las Vegas. I started taking a few parts off today with really no set plan on taking it apart. Pretty much on what I feel like doing for the day. Today I concentrated on TAV 106, plus tires off and battery out. If anybody needs specific pictures of anything, let me know. The journey begins.

I have been digging deeper and deeper. I’ve removed all the trunk panels, the underneath sheet metal and noe am working on the interior. I hope I remember where all this goes back in about a year from now! Can anyone tell me how to remove the rear window and chrome trim, I don’t care about the rubber.I don’t care about the rubber