Vintage Customs

The Fiat Abarth 1300 Coupe

2009-06-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

We are just wrapping up the restoration of a Fiat Abarth 1300 Coupe for a customer in the southern California area. The vision for this restoration was to restore it as closely as the original as possible. What a great project this has been, and we are very proud of the end results. This car will soon be headed back to it's owner so we thought we would give you all a peek at the project in process.

{The arrival...}

As far as the condition of cars arriving at our shop for restoration, this one wasn't the worst we have seen.

{A few pictures of the Abarth undergoing restoration.}

The car is media blasted and protected with epoxy primer.

The all important engine being hoisted into place.

The paint being buffed and decals being applied. It's almost done!

More pictures when the car is ready to be be delivered and on it's way home!

Farewell little Isetta!

2009-05-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well all the hard work put into the 1957 Isetta project really paid off. The Isetta was delivered to it's owner this past week, and everyone is very pleased with the results to say the least. With a striking orange and white color scheme, this car really shows how a car can go from a rusty old shell to a beautifully restored vehicle.

Of course we are always a little sad to see the cars leave the shop as they become such a part of daily life during the course of their restoration. But we are doubly happy to see cars like the Isetta get delivered to their owners - another classic car saved!

Now this Isetta is off to it's final destination, with the interior and engine work to be tackled at a later date...

Alfaholics Track Day

2009-05-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Recently we had the pleasure of being invited by the crew at Alfaholics to attend their yearly track day event held at the Castle Combe Circuit. That meant a grand journey to Bristol, England which of course it didn't take much arm twisting to do! The day was sunny and cool and despite some early morning rain prior to everyone arriving they couldn't have wished for more perfect racing weather. Daron had the opportunity to go out on the track with several drivers during the day and what a great time he had.

{ Driver Briefing }

After a driver briefing first thing, everyone eagerly headed out to the track and tested the limits of their Alfas.

{ Meeting new friends }

The turnout for the event was impressive and we had the opportunity to meet lots of new people. Not hard to do when everyone there is an Alfa fan!

{ Track Time! }

Everyone was at the track for one reason - to get out on the track and drive... FAST!

For more pictures and a arecounting of the day, visit the Alfaholics track day page.

When is a 1974 GTV really a 1967 GTA is disguise?

2009-03-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Once in a while a project drops into our hands that just blows us away. Our customers always have a vision and sometimes they are kind enough to let us help them bring that vision to life. This project is one of those projects! The project: convert a 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV into a 1967 GTA body style. A total conversion of a steel body to an aluminum body - what a exciting opportunity. As far as we know, this hasn't been done in recent memory? If it has and you happen to have a story about this type of project, please share!

{ The 1974 GTV soon to be stripped }

So, now that we know the extent of the project, where do you go about finding all these alumnium body parts. Well, it just so happens our good friends at Alfaholics happen to have just these parts on hand and boy are we relieved to have them as a great source for these and many other parts.

{Stripped to the bone }

What a radical transformation at this point, and I'm sure most of you are cringing by now. Believe me, we all did, but knew what the car was going to be in the end and moved on. You might notice that there is someone standing on the top of this car! After reinforcing the skeleton of the GTV, the roof was actually rigid enough for someone to stand on it. A simple but effective test of strength! The reinforcement was necessary because the aluminum panels will be riveted on instead of welded, just like a real GTA would have been.

Preserving A Car Worth Preserving - The 1957 Isetta

2009-03-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

When this car was brought into our shop, the initial review of the car didn't seem to be all that bad... so we thought. Once we got into the thick of things, well then it was a whole other story. The damage to the body of the car was extensive. On top of that, we started this project with the understanding that after market body panel and sheet metal were available to bring this car back to life... again, so we thought! There was none to be found, and in hind sight, have you ever really seen these cars out on the road? Obviously the Isetta is a specialty vintage car and picking up parts wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

{The Isetta, as it arrived in the shop }

Thankfully, we have the know how in house to do the custom metal work and fabrication that was necessary to make the new parts from scratch. After careful research and intensive work, this car is being brought back to it's former glory. Who could've guessed a car this tiny would need so much!

{ After quite a lot of work... }

To keep up with the progress of this restoration project, you can check back here frequently or you many visit our site and view a pictorial history of the project in progress. If you would like to automatically know when we post here, just subscribe to us via RSS by clicking the subscribe link in the right hand column.

New website, new blog!

2009-03-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

This is a quick note to let everyone know that we are so excited to have a blog now, where Daron can post all sorts of updates on projects, shop goings-on as well as tutorials on things we think any Alfa or vintage car owner can do with a little know-how.

Check back regularly for new posts...

Being associated with very talented people.

2008-03-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Shop talk was started because we get lots of questions in regards to our process. We wanted to create a place where questions can be asked, hopefully answered and people can follow along on some of the cars we're currently building. We outsource the work that is beyond our skill set. For example we have a great crew that comes in at night to do the headliners, carpet and interior work.

The Alfa Romeo GTV headliner is very hard to do. The halo ring in the rear creates a challenge. Because the halo has to be screwed in, and the rest of the headliner pulled around it. This can be difficult to keep the rest of the headliner in proper shape.
As for the the engine and drive line work, we're lucky enough to have some of the greatest engine builders in our area.