Restoration of 460489

[BDA]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune but glad you’re able to finally get back at it!

[Richard48Y]

Rats, cannot get this link to work.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/search/Europa%20to%20Sicily

[Rainer]

Fuel tank was sandblasted and a new bottom was welded in.
I decided to rebuild the koni shocks, but was not able to source the bushings, so i decided to cast my own.
The mold were 3D printed, the bushings were cast in polyurethane, stainless crush tubes were turned on my lathe. This worked so well i decided to cast bushings for the lower links also, the bigger crush tube will allow an adjustable link, by using BMW camber screws.
Radiator have been upgraded with an enhanced core, i opted for the original look even if it was more expensive than an aluminum radiator.
New radiator mesh done from stainless as well.

[BDA]

Things are looking good!   

When I had my tanks made (with aluminum), the fabricator poured some sort of sealer in the tanks (I have a TCS). I don't know if that sealant is more appropriate for aluminum tanks or would be useful for steel tanks too, but you might want to investigate.

[Rainer]

I have sealed the tank already, mainly to prevent rust and as double safety if i made a welding mistake somewhere.
I used this set and i am very happy with the result so far.
https://tankrestauration.de/
I  build new aluminum coolant pipes, i thought about using stainless, but i want to add some lightness.
I was surprised how easy aluminum bends if you heat it to the right temperature, much easier than stainless.
Another thing i tried the first time is soda blasting, i used glass beads a lot but did not want to use these on engine parts, as it is really hard to clean them 100 percent.
Soda is a good alternative i think, not as fast but safe.

[BDA]

Adding lightness, eh? Looks good! 

[Rainer]

Final pictures of the frame.
The previous owner cut out the transaxle hoop and opted for an solution to mount the 395 gearbox hanging from above.
I have bend a new hoop, which were slightly shifted to the right to make room for the shifter rod. The mounting plate was constructed in cad and 3D printed. The second prototype fitted really well and could be used as template to cut the plate from 4mm steel.
At this stage i bend all brakelines and converted the system to a dual circuit master cylinder, its a spitfire one same diameter as the original. The reservoir had to be removed and it uses metric fittings but it fits the original bolt pattern.
After everything was welded in the frame got its final black coat. After drying i made the frame installation ready by adding the padding, brakelines, wiring harness and cooling pipes.

A bit of lathe work had been done, i made new door hinges from 27mm hexagonal brass, new door pins have been made from 13mm thick wall stainless tubing, i drilled everything 12.7mm and used an adjustable reamer to bring bushings and bobbins to size.

[BDA]

Sounds like a lot of creative stuff going on! I’m anxious to see how it turns out!

I am envious of your shop!

[Bainford]

Lots of good work, there. It's coming along nicely.

[Rainer]

Earlyer these year i worked on the body parts, i had to close speaker and cable holes in the doors, nothing to serious. The gelcoat was sanded down and all parts were covered in 2 layers of veil.
The engine cover was broken in two parts, after adjusting the position i clamped the parts together with wood blocks and laminated in several steps, starting from the inside. After each layer i checked the part position with a straightedge.
Last step was sanding down the gelcoat again, and covering the engine cover in two layers of veil.

[BDA]

It looks like it all came together very well! 

Another way you can do that is with short strips of aluminum. Once the pieces are aligned, you pop rivet the aluminum across the break or use sheet metal screws. Thicker or thinner aluminum depending on the alignment you need. Thicker for flat pieces that you don't need to adjust. Thinner for pieces you might want to adjust their orientation or that you need to bend to follow a contour.

[TurboFource]

Nice work!

[Bainford]

Nice save!

[Hachille]

Hello
I discover all this restoration work.
Congratulations. You have good ideas.
It is a pleasure to follow your work
 

[Rainer]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.
There should be some stability in the body before reuniting it with the chassis. I decided to repair at least the biggest holes beforehand.
The wheelarches were destroyed, the rear ones were cut out ans substituted by a metal sheet, riveted to the body. The left front looks like eaten by a rodent.

For the front wheelarch i used a contour gauge to trace the shape from the right side and transferred it to cardboard templates one each 10cm.
I cut polyurethane foam block to the basic shape and fixed them with log screws to the wheelarch. By the way an electric kitchen knife is the perfect tool to cut foam, just don't tell the wife.
For the final shape i used an angle grinder with very coarse flapper discs.
The rears were done basically the same way but i had to trace the shape from a friends s2.

After 2 layers glass, i ripped out the foam without big problems, the few leftovers sanded away easily.
From here on it was simple laminate, sand away, again and again until the shape looked right.