1974 Pantera GTS Body restoration

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: We will be carrying out a total body restoration on this car

We have now removed the new wheel arch flares and set the old ones back in place on the car. I think this exercise has demonstrated two things, very clearly. In the first place, I think Guillermo did an excellent good job of matching the silver paint to the old paint on the old flares. We deliberately went a tiny bit darker, allowing for decades of sun fade. Secondly, I think it shows that the new wheel arch flares, while obviously not an exact replica of the fiberglass ones we removed from the car, are a decent copy. Contrary to what you said the other day, the bottom ends are in fact quite similar to the original flares. Please check out the photographs below for confirmation of all the above.

Not sure where we go from here...
 
 

Ends of arches (old & new) are very similar	This one is the one that differes the most, although still not too badly
Again, almost identical ends...	Again, ends almost the same

 
Both decals were slightly damaged so we need your friend in CO to send another pair. Also, the lettering is quite a bit smaller than the ones we took off way back when. Having said that, when centered I think it looks absolutely fine. You might ask if there is bigger lettering available?

We will have the bonnet and the deck lid painted in the next couple of days and will post more photos then.

The body has now been completely stripped and I'm pleased to report that it is in remarkably sound condition. The last photo in the sequence shows the new wheel arch flares, which appear to be of good quality.

The doors have now been stripped and sealed and we have started stripping the main bodyshell to bare metal.

Stripping the doors with aircraft stripper
Doors were both in good condition with almost no corrosion		Hanging in the booth about to be sealed
		The first of a few rust holes discovered as we removed the paint
Heavy duty plug welds from when the RH front wing was obviously replaced	Notice how the factory spot welded the wings in place on the other side	More small rust holes in the RH rocker panel
More rust pin holes in the RH rocker	Almost ready to seal the stripped body

We have now stripped the rear decklid and have it sealed in BASF etching primer. The rear spoiler was not mounted straight so we are welding up and re-drilling the mounting holes in order to get everything lined up properly.

	Holes for rear spoiler misaligned	Removing the old paint with aircraft stripper
		Stripped decklind was hung for  priming
Sealed with BASF etching primer
Old fiberglass flares will be replaced  with new steel versions

The first panel to be stripped was the bonnet. With the old paint and primer removed we found virtually perfect sheet metal beneath. Let's hope the rest of the body is in this condition!

Bonnet removed for stripping	Sheet metal is virtually perfect
Panel was acid washed then hung...	Sealed with BASF etching primer

Another cool project gets underway in the CJ Workshops. Watch this space!