AC Frua Restoration Part 1

[Emmanueld]

Here is a recap of the previous rust repairs done to the bottom and the sills of the car. (These pictures are not in order):
   
   Car just been delivered, looks OK:
   
   
   It really is like that:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   One gets an idea of the extent of the repairs. Any more common car would have ended up sold for parts.
   
   Emmanuel [:(]

[Emmanueld]

Here you see the finished job. The plastic plugs were covering holes used to inject Waxoyl in the sills. Picture are not in any kind of order.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Even though the structure was obviously compromised, you could not tell from the way the car was riding, no rattle or creeks, it says something about the quality of the coil spring MKIII frame. I then decided to drive the car with all the repairs spray painted black and focus on the chassis and engine.

[Emmanueld]

The engine was removed twice and then replaced by the new 454 side oiler and the Toploader transmission was replaced by a .82 fifth gear TKO600 which by the way fit without any modification with the exception of the drive-shaft which had to be shortened. The rear end was rebuilt and the ratio was shortened from 2.88 to 3.07. It is still too long and a 3.31 will be installed like in Jeffrey's car. Suspension were also made stiffer in increments. A custom exhaust was built and installed as well since the one on the car was rotten as well. I wanted to do this before the car was painted. Of course, I did not realized that so much patch work had been done on the upper body.
   
   
   
   
   
   The car is now so nice to drive and I am sure it will be even better with all the lead removed. Despite all the expense, I am confident I will get my money back when I decide to sell it. (Which is not any time soon)
   
   Emmanuel

[markn]

Hi Emmanueld, looks like quite the structural re-build on the under side of your car!  It looks like you have it up on the host whilst its been rebuilt structurally! I have been involved in many rebuilds on cars, structural and panel work, but I would advise not doing structural overhauls unless the body is held at least at 8 or more points and jigged. You could find your body now has a slight twist or warp from being un-jigged as the weight at the front and the back would have bowed the body whilst the structural components where out of the middle of the car. Make sure you watch for this whilst doing the next side.  Cheers Mark

[Emmanueld]

Hi Mark, we did this part about 4 years ago and it was my concern that the car would be crooked. He told me that the way he was doing it, and because of the massive chassis, this would not be a concern. As you can see on some of the photos, he never cut the structure all at once but did it piece by piece (Except for the tubing connecting front and rear cross-members under the floors which were missing in the first place and on both sides). Also under the dash, there are two cross-members on each side which were replaced separately. The car is straight and the door shut perfectly and did not need to be adjusted. The hinges were spot welded at the factory so removing these would have been difficult. I remember, he did the right sill on a DB5 at the time and he had to build a temporary cage inside the car before he started cutting into the metal. On the Frua, this was not needed. Also the body is welded to the chassis in the center as well, under the dash and at the rear above the rear end. All this structure made mostly of rectangular tubing (In the pure Italian coach-building tradition)is very rigid and the car is almost a unitized body with a chassis. I think one could run into trouble if one lifts the chassis on each end and cuts the sills all at ones, then the doors may not shut properly. The shop who is doing the current restoration of my Frua is one of the most well known Cobra restorer here in the US and I have not seen a jig used in the restoration or construction of those either. That is unless the frame is being worked on. I had the car aligned a little while ago by a shop that uses a laser system. They set the ride height front and rear measuring first to the chassis and then to the corners and it's very close, probably not any worst than when it came out of the factory. But you're right, it would be always better to use a jig!
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[markn]

Good to know you took the right precautions!
   Cheers Mark