Rear fender bottoms:
I have many more photos, you guys can get an idea of what is involved here. The inner structure down below is quite complicated, lots of little pieces welded together, this makes for a very rigid structure but very prone to rust. If it was a lesser car, I would have sold it for parts. But I think it's worth preserving and it should be done properly. We stayed faithful to the original design (we had my friend Jeffrey's car as a pattern). In a few areas, we added extra gussets and re-enforcements. Amazingly, the upper body is in great shape and there is no rust anywhere. Once it's perfect mechanically, It will be stripped to bare metal and given a show quality paint job like Peter Davis' wonderful restoration down under! You can see from the photos how much Bondo is under the paint. For the finish to be really nice, we have to go to bare metal and start over. I think this car must have been sitting out in the rain with a leaky top for a long time. The carpets got wet and rust took over.
I am looking forward to have what will probably be one of the best Frua out there. Not too many shops would be willing or would have the know how to tackle such an enterprise, this is why people have converted some of these cars to Cobra replicas. If the car is worth 50Gs is does not make sense to do it. The man worked for 3 months, 8 hours a day, non-stop to do this! It is so solid now, like a rock, no rattle at all, no coil shake. Coil springs and shocks are 400lbs up front and 600lbs rear, just like a MKIII SC cobra (originals were 325lbs all around, way too soft). Also, I now have a 3/4" front anti-sway bar as well.
Make sure you look at the first page as I have added quite a few pictures!
Emmanuel [
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