AC Frua Restoration Part 2

[J Jones]

A benefit of lending my car to Emmanuel is the discovery (Yay!) (boo!) that my left rear wing has apparently had a repair. Not too serious, but there IS some rust/corrosion under the paint.
   
   We discovered it when I had my gas tanks pulled to be cleaned and repaired.
   
   That also explains a repair to my rear bumper, which is now being addressed. (Stainless steel replacements available)
   
   Luckily, the rear panel I purchased from Brett is the left rear side, the same side that needs fixing.
   
   That's a bit of serendipity! Lucky me! I had no idea I'd actually need it when I bought it.
   
   As No one has expressed any interest in the 3D mapping of the car for the future use of other owners, I think I'll use  the part to fix my car.
   
   Perhaps it's true that the slim numbers of Frua owners do not visit this forum on a regular basis. Still, it's a good place to document what is happening with these cars. Emmanuel's heroic resuscitation of his car is a good example - and believing that  these cars will one day be very valuable and useable, that's a good thing. Nothing hidden here!
   
   Racing history is clearly important. The ACOC magazine ACtion stresses the (1950's, - 60's) history of AC's success on the track.
   
   The Frua is a GT, not intended for the race track. But if you want a wild, sophisticated ride for touring, you're 6 feet tall or taller, and want to actually drive something most car guys have never seen - this is the car for you!
   
   Yes, they are heavier than a Cobra. But they're comfortable AND fast. With the availability of improved parts (both of the period, and later improved parts and materials), they can be faster, handle better, and shut down ANY car of it's vintage and many "hot" cars of today.
   
   SURPRISE! (take that Mustang, Corvette, Ferrari, Aston Martin, etc!)
   
   1000 miles in this car is a piece of cake. AND you can can have fun doing it. It doesn't have to be an exercise in endurance. Or the depth of your wallet. These can be the great cars they promised to be in "the day".

[Classicus]

I should think "Road & Track", 45 years on, could well be delighted to do a follow up AC 428 front page spread, article and road test, especially with a fastback and a fully restored high velocity convertible eventually available.
   
   In fact rather than seeing and doing a write-up of just the finished cars only, now could be the ideal time to give them a call to see if they're interested in seeing, photographing and making notes of both cars while they're still in the raw.
   
   After all they can only say no....
   
   http://acfrua428.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=115841&topicID=19797027&p=3
   
   http://www.roadandtrack.com/
   
   

[Emmanueld]

Ok, here is the new wing, almost done but not welded yet:
   
   
   
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

And the hood springs again:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

Here are today's photos:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   We still need to correct the top of the wing, where it meets the door. it was full of lead to correct a factory problem!
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

Ok, the rear right wing is finished as well as the area adjacent to the door on top:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   unfortunately, a bit of filler will still be required because the patch could not be hammered from the back due to poor access, but still a million times better than the factory:
   
   
   
   
   
   This side of the car is done!
   
   Emmanuel

[Emmanueld]

Now back to the other side where we replaced the door jam area:
   
   
   
   Now we have to cut the new wing lip which we did first as the shape is all wrong. The wheel opening shape was right but the shape of the lip was wrong, way too flat. We had copied the other side which was full of lead. we now are working from the right side of Jeffrey's car which is factory perfect!
   
   
   
   It happens [V]:
   
   
   
   
   A whole week of work down the tube!
   
   
   
   
   We may be able to save the new inner wing which required an enormous amount of work to do.
   
   This is the last of the metal work, after this is done, the car will go back to the painting shop.
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

Hi Guys, I have more photos of the rear left wing being worked on!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   And a photo of the rear of the car where a few hole were plugged!
   
   
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[lyonheart84]

I'm surprised you didn't wait another week Emmanuel as Jeff's new left hand rear wing should nearly be there by now ? Wouldn't it have been easier for your Rod shop to copy the wheel arch straight from the new panel and saved a lot of time and labour ? I'm sure the fastback and convertible wheel arches are identical ?

[Emmanueld]

Well, we copied Jeffrey's rear right wing for the right corner and now we are redoing the left wing to match. We can't keep on re-doing things forever. As far as I am concerned, like we say in French, "the carrots are cooked" that's  it, if the shape his wrong, so be it. To complicate matter further, both sides are not exactly the same. The left wheel opening is 1/2 inch smaller than the right, The same on Jeffrey's car. And the rear wheel protrudes more on the right side by again about a 1/2 inch. Same on Jeffrey's car and on CFX 37. I am now wondering if the chassis is centered on the body or slightly to the right. Come to remember my Kirkham was that way as well. It could be the factory did it that way on the MKIII to make room for the emergency brake handle and same on the Frua.  Next time Jeffrey's car is on the lift I will measure to see where the chassis is in relation to the body, we will see. Also, the MKIII was a racing car conceived mainly by Ford and Shelby, These would be mainly left hand drive, so moving the chassis a bit to the right would help with weight bias with a single driver??? Just pure speculation on my part!
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[lyonheart84]

Well Emmanuel it will be interesting to see how the measurements check out but it's more likely to be Frua's dodgy workmanship if the bodies were not symmetrical! It will be interesting to see how the new rear fender compares when it arrives !

[Emmanueld]

Ok, now back to our rear left wing:
   
   The inner wing was modified to accommodate the new lip, It was stitched from the inside so the welding marks will be invisible. A lot cheaper than making a whole new one. We decided to make the new wing panel bigger to get rid of some welding in the back behind the wheel opening, it will make for a nicer panel:
   
   
   
   
   Our new wing panel ready to be installed:
   
   
   
   The panel being fitted on the car, it's also easier to set the correct door gap this way, it makes for a nicer edge, just like the passenger side:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Ben is now in the process of welding the panel, first spot welding then he will stitch it, Richard sits in the boot with a special steel block that he applies on the other side to prevent the panel from warping:
   
   
   
   
   
   He still has to do the upper part where it meets the door like on the other side and then that's it, next week, the car will go back to McCluskey for painting and reassembly.
   
   Oh, a pile of rubbish:
   
   
   
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

When I came this afternoon, the panel was 95% finished, Ben is now changing the top of the wing where it meets the door.
   The wing line is completely wrong and the welding is really ugly, just like the other side was. There was a couple of pounds of lead there!
   
   Here is the left rear wing as it stands now, I have a car again:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   For comparison, now versus the way we first did it after we copied the other side which was full of lead. It was my mistake, I wanted to do it corner by corner thinking that maybe I could save expenses by leaving some of it alone, wrong thinking, we should have melted all the lead first to truly assess the situation then and copied Jeffrey's car from the go, that way I would not have had to redo the left rear corner:
   
   Now:
   
   
   
   The first time we did it, you can see how fat the rear wing looks? and there is almost no lip! (By the way, this is how it looks when the wing is full of lead, it makes the lip disappear and the whole wing appears inflated or swollen.):
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I hope you guys can see the difference! We also shrank the rear of the wing which bulged too much compared to the other side this helped us make the wheel gap pretty much even on both sides! The car looks great.
   
   We still need to change the the mounting studs on the seat frames which are way too thin and partially stripped and make new brackets to mount the side vents!
   
   The only lead left is on the cowl around the windshield on the side, it is factory and we decided to leave it alone. I now probably own the lightest Frua on the planet! [:D]
   
   Emmanuel [:)]

[Emmanueld]

Recap:
   
   Left front wing:
   
   
   Right front wing:
   
   
   Left rear:
   
   
   Right rear:
   
   
   Emmanuel

[lyonheart84]

Looking great Emmanuel, can't wait to see the paint finished !