Sunday, December 16, 2007



One of our latest projects is this 1960 Fiat Abarth with a hand made aluminum body by Zagato. I flew to France last spring for a long time client to perform a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) on this car and actually rode around in the streets of Paris with this car. Our client was able to negotiate a purchase after the inspection and the little car arrived at our shop in Frenchtown NJ a few months later by sea container.

The car had been refurbished in the not too distant past so it didn't need a so called "frame off" total restoration. The exterior re-paint was actually not bad, over-all, but several areas of the body showed signs of swelling under the paint. Removing paint and filler from the offending areas revealed pin holes in the aluminum, caused by galvanic corrosion between the aluminum skin and the steel skeleton. These pinholes had been filled with polyester body filler during the previous work. This is a no-no since polyester filler will absorb moisture if it is not completely sealed front and back. The filler was pulling in moisture from the back-side and swelling up.

To avoid damaging the minimal upholstery inside, the whole interior was removed.

(Post by Wil de Groot)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Hello Paul


We welcome Paul Weinberger, our new fabricating guru. Paul has an expert background in restoring vintage racecars: Bugatti, Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Monza, Miller, Pre-War MGs, Allards, Pebble Beach contenders and other vehicles with provenance. But can he blog...?

Paul is putting the finishing touches on the Aston Martin DB2. We're just waiting for all the refinished chrome pieces to be reinstalled and then the car will be on its way home.