AC Frua repaired floors, sills and inner wings

[Emmanueld]

Here are some photo of the 428 bottom with new undercoating, new aluminum panels, etc. One can see the Waxoil sipping out from underneath. the bottom of the sills will be sealed and under coated as well. Massive amounts of Aircraft firewall ceramic insulation have been sandwiched between floors and aluminum panels and on the firewall. There is no way any heat can make it inside! We will see! For the undercoating we have used Wurth SKS stone guard, German stuff, it is great, it dries hard as a rock and is paintable. All the sills, all the rectangular tubing, most of the floors, inner wings and bottom of the fenders are new! What has not been replaced has been scraped clean, primed and repainted.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   The floor of the cabin, has been completely covered with Dynamat! It might be heavy, but it will be cool! I have added a drive shaft safety loop as well, one never knows with big block power!
   
   
   
   
   No more rust, no more bondo, no more fiberglass. Just new metal and lead for the outside panels. The car has been worked on continually for 10 weeks. It is funny that all the corrosion was located down low with the exception of the chassis which was like new (I can see why some of these cars were converted into cobras). Now that everything is beautiful underneath, the mechanical work comes next with more suspension work as well! and maybe air conditioning. Once all that is done, the car will be repainted BRG again. I want to make sure it drives great before I paint it.
   
   First, the 428 motor will go back in with the new 4 speed Toploader box, I have selected a wide ratio setup since I plan to run the current 2.88 ratio or go to 3.08. The Toploader was never offered with a wide ratio with the 1 3/8 imput shaft but David Kee makes a custom shaft for this application. I will see how the car goes, with the Edelbrock heads and the bigger cam, the motor currently has about 450 HP, estimated. If the heat is under control, I will install a 427 block with the current crankshaft which will bring the engine to 454 cubic/inch. Even with a smooth cam, The car should be a monster! It will be dynoed at this point. The goal is 550 HP and 600 F/lbs of torque with very smooth delivery. I might have to install pin drive wheels with this kind of power! This type of modifications have to be done in steps to get good results. [:p]
   
   Emmanuel

[Englishman]

Hi Emmanuel,
   
   This is the perfect time to ask if you have any pictures of inside the front wheel arches, I see you have some.
   
   I am not sure if the original car had some lining in side the wheel arch as in most cars for weather protection, if it was there it is gone from my car.
   
   When I look to the rear of the vehicle the whole innards are exposed which seems a most unlikely scenario. Similarly when you look to the front the whole headlight and side light assemblies are exposed.
   
   My rebuild is going fine but yours is fantastic.
   
   Peter

[Emmanueld]

quote:Originally posted by Englishman
   
Hi Emmanuel,
   
   This is the perfect time to ask if you have any pictures of inside the front wheel arches, I see you have some.
   
   I am not sure if the original car had some lining in side the wheel arch as in most cars for weather protection, if it was there it is gone from my car.
   
   When I look to the rear of the vehicle the whole innards are exposed which seems a most unlikely scenario. Similarly when you look to the front the whole headlight and side light assemblies are exposed.
   
   My rebuild is going fine but yours is fantastic.
   
   
   Peter
   

   
   Actually Peter I do, I will post some when I get home tonight. There is also an aluminum piece that bolts on both side of each front wheel arch. We are making new one. Let me know if you are interested in my old ones to use as a template if yours are missing. I am just going to stick them in the trash otherwise. Let me know, Regards
   
   Emmanuel

[Englishman]

Hi Emmanuel,
   
   May well take you up on your offer after I look at the photographs.
   
   I would of course cover any expense incurred by you.
   
   Peter

[Emmanueld]

OK, here are some more pictures taken mainly during renovation and of my friend Jeffrey's coupe which is a nice unmolested California car.
   
   
   New inner fenders and old corroded one on the floor:
   
   
   
   
   Inner door sill, rusted:
   
   
   Repaired:
   
   
   Undercoated: The other Cylinder in the back is actually a small box made to install a pair of period ADS 300I speakers.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   With the aluminum panels on:
   
   
   
   
   On the red coupe, you see the aluminum panels (undercoated) which form the wheel well. Make sure you check deep in the front wheel wells for any sign of corrosion, you can see, there was some on my car, this is actually the door post and if not removed it would actually pierce through on the other side. we cut and replaced the panel! These are the aluminum wheel well panels I am talking about! Now on my car which is a late model, the cold air ventilation hoses travel in the wheel well which is the best way to keep them cool. On the red coupe which is an earlier model, they travel on the inside of the engine compartment! bad arrangement if you want cold air inside the cabin, good if you reside in the north pole. Like most Italian cars there was absolutely no thinking about corrosion protection, make sure everything is sealed and that water has no way of sitting in some dark corner for any long period of time. This is why we under coated the rear inner fender and all the intricate space in that area as well as the front inner fender area with Wurth SKS stone guard, amazing stuff. The red car has the original undercoating which soft and messy. Hope this help!
   
   www.wurthusa.com
   
   Emmanuel

[Englishman]

Emmanuel,
   
   Thanks a bunch, you have also answered a second question about the air vents and tubes.
   
   My car was purchased in pieces and is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to put together but we are getting there.
   
   If I can be a little bit cheeky and ask you to e-mail all of the photos in this subject to p.davis@keller.com.au it really would be more than helpful.
   
   I will get back to you on the template before you dispose of you old bits.
   
   Regards
   
   Peter

[Emmanueld]

OK, I will do so tomorrow. As far as the vents, on the later models with the vents in the wheel wells, AC made a flattened piece of fiberglass tubing to clear the front wheels. If my metal guy did not reinstall them yet, I will take photos. I already called and asked them not to dispose of the old aluminum flaps yet. Please let me know if you need anything else, I have had access to 2 other cars besides mine already. I might be able to answer you question.
   
   Regards,
   
   Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

Ok, I have sent the photos, I hope this helps!
   Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

The Frua getting back together slowly:
   
   
   
   
   
   The console has been patched up with fiberglass:
   
   
   
   
   
   Underneath again:
   
   
   Rear between fender and trunk:
   
   
   Rear sill with Waxoyle plugs:
   
   
   Emmanuel

[Damien]

Hello guys,
   
   Great work on these cars !
   I own a RHD convertible frua but I am looking for a LHD.
   Do you know one for sale or somebody wanting to consider an exchange ?
   
   Damien Heymans (Belgium)

[Emmanueld]

Damien, about a conversion? If the interior of the car has seen better days, it's feasible! The steering rack is MGC I believe, that sould be easy to change, the pedal box can be moved over to the other side, the intrument cluster no problem! The main issue is the top of the dashboard and fabrication will be required! The car is so rare that it is your best bet. A shop I know over here does it regularly on DB4 and DB5. The dash will have to be untirely recovered after, it will be your main expense. I don't think it's a huge deal! you should ask Alan Shepperd of Uniclip, I am sure they have done it.
   
   Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

Regarding the undercoating, Wurth SKS Stone guard, the stuff is great, it dries hard as a stone, it stick to anything and it is paintable. I understand it is used by BMW and Mercedes Benz on the their new cars. Great stuff! It's the first time I see an undercoating I like.
   
   www.wurthusa.com
   
   Emmanuel

[Damien]

I am plannig to restore my AC 428 convertible (CF9).  The bodywork is OK and just needs respray, but I want to change inner panels and sills as well as the trim (see impressive work of Emmanuel).  I will convert it from automatic to manual and (maybe) from RHD to LHD.  Electric loom will be changed where necessary.
   I have been in contact with Brooklands who seem to have worked for Uniclip to have an estimation of the size (cost) of the work, but they adviced me to inform with owners having restored their cars for getting a better idea of the size of the job.
   As there is a lot of litterature regarding the engine, I can estimate the cost, but for the other things it is more difficult.
   Can somebody give me more information and can some of you do the work ?
   The car is in Belgium, but I guess that for such big job it might be worthwhile to send it where I find the better workmanship/reasonable cost.
   Thanks in advance for your information.

[Emmanueld]

Damien, as I have said before in another thread, the work is not difficult just time consuming. you need to have somebody really good but also be prepared to spend money. If your car is still together, the rust you see is probably 10% or less of the actual amount. also it is terrible work and it is difficult to find somebody who wants to do it! If you want to discuss further let's do it by mail, Msn or Skype. The engine is the easy part, the 428 installed in the Frua was the pickup truck version. Emmanuel

[Damien]

Emmanuel, I just tried to send you an e-mail, but it was returned as undeliverable.
   My e-mail is damien.heymans@alcopa.be. Could you send me your right e-mail.  I would like to discuss this further. Thanks