Nigel Wilcox Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 I recently responded to Vittorio who is embarking on his own Doretti Restoration. I thought it may be of interest to others who were working on their own Doretti at the moment: Apologies Vittorio, I put your PM to one side a few weeks ago until I had a little more time to respond. There have been a few challenges along the way and I'm sure a few in front of me as well. I think the first thing to establish on your car is the accuracy of it's current alignment. I was very cautious about taking anything off until such time as I was confident that the whole lot would not fall into a pile of rust sweepings. My car had effectively collapsed in-situ and I had to leave everything attached to the chassis an jack and prop up the sagging rear end into the correct position before I could set about fabrication of replacement inner steel panels. I used the rusty doors as well as the boot panel to help with that alignment. I cut out and replaced one panel or part panel at a time. I found that this was absolutely essential if I was to stand any chance at all of achieving an acceptable panel fit in the finished car. When fabricating the inner rear wings I wrongly assumed that the right side was a mirror image of the left and fabricated a matching pair. The result was that one side fitted and the other was relegated to the bin and I sarted again. I did not remove the front or the back until I was happy that there was enough structural integrity for them to hold together unsupported. The chassis needed unexpected repairs which was something of a challenge. This was due to previous accident damage. The main chassis tubes are really strong and made of very high quality steel. You would need to be quite unlucky to have to do any work on those. The fabricated front suspension uprights are rust traps and you should inspect the lower portions carefully. The Skuttle Hoop which connects to the chassis rusts at the bottom. It would be wise to check this carefully. If it needs repair prop it up from the chassis and lock it in position (tack weld a temporary prop in if necessary) but maintain it's position as this is a good datum from which to locate the front body section. I avoided blasting the steel inner body because I was concerned that it was so thin that blasting might damage it. I would not have been concerned about blasting the chassis. When I was happy with the repairs to the inner body and the chassis I re-assembled the rear and front sections but raised the body sections from the chassis on 2 inch spacers. I then took it to a specialist company who stripped ALL remaining paint and ALL rust from both the outside and inside of boxed in sections before applying what is known as an e-coat. The process strips rust like nothing you have ever seen - It comes out surgically clean. The 2 inch spacers gave the separation of components to allow the chemicals to do their work. After stripping the e-coat was applied which is incredibly strong and durable. If you want to check out the process do a search for Surface Processing Ltd. It was unfortunately quite expensive. The engine box suspension & wiring is now finished on my car and the inner steel work is finished and painted. The car drives. I am now waiting for an alloy body specialist to work his magic on the outer panels. This part of the process is very expensive. One big tip which I should have told myself is believe others when they tell you you how expensive it is all going to be. Even if (like me) you think that you can do a lot of the work yourself be prepared for some hefty bills especially when it comes to the bodywork side of things. I have made loads of changes on the mechanical side. A larger boot and re-located custom petrol tank as you may have read before about 300 hours work. I used a TR2 transmission tunnel with a newly fabricated front to give more cockpit space about 120 hours. TR4a engine with 87mm liners which gives about 2.2 litres. All syncromesh overdrive gearbox, Steering rack conversion (Lotus Elan). Collapsible steering column a mixture of MG midget and Triumph TR4 axle which gives you a much stronger Girling axle and evens up the track front to back. - and many more. Many purists will shudder at the thought. My response is that I intend to use this car and to that end I want performance, practicality and a car that my wife will be prepared to enjoy with me - too many original cars are locked away because "The wife prefers the modern". It's taken me a year of hard slog and a load of cash and there's still a long way to go. Current Status: My wife is grumpy and the bank account is empty! Will it be worth it - ask me again in another year - surely it will be finished by then! Regards Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
D1092 Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I recently responded to Vittorio who is embarking on his own Doretti Restoration. I thought it may be of interest to others who were working on their own Doretti at the moment: [...] Current Status: My wife is grumpy and the bank account is empty! Will it be worth it - ask me again in another year - surely it will be finished by then! Regards Nigel Nigel, another great post! I have PM'd you back. Please tell Mrs W to look at the bright side-- her husband is now a hero to many and has fans as far afield as Texas, USA! Speaking of which, the Texas Section of the Nigel Wilcox Fan Club has at long last kicked off the restoration of #1092. According to the US Doretti Registrar, Mr Tom Householder (aka "the Guru"), #1092 was originally owned by Gene Beach, a racer of some repute in the US state of Florida. At this time, there is no documentation of this-- the paperwork with the car goes back only to the mid-1960s, at which point a different name appears on the registration-- but clues are turning up as the car is stripped. Tom heard from Mr Beach that his (Beach's) car had been in a fender-bender that caused some damage to the RH headlamp area, and #1092 shows evidence of a repair there. Also, #1092 has a tidy pair of holes in the scuttle consistent with an aero screen, as well as some sturdy loops bolted into the floor panel either side of the driver's seat that could have been mounts for a racing harness. More news as it happens. I'm aiming to complete the stripdown over the next two months, and to have the chassis and suspension freshened up and back in place by July. Hold me to that! In the meantime, thanks again Nigel for providing the helpful pointers and inspiration! Regards, Vittorio #1092 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tas Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 Mr Wilcox, I was curious what color code of red paint did you use on your Doretti? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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