DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Nice going Richard (and Barry, of course),

Thanks for all the detailed photos. I will be trying to emulate 'The Master' in the coming weeks on IKEA as it has a number of similar issues, especially the 'jack attack' in the torsion bar area, so some idea of the sequence, process and standard to be achieved are very useful.

It's my conclusion there really is no 'rust-free' shell on a car of this era, no matter where it's been.

Keep the updates coming..

Grasshopper

Barry is irritatingly good!
Barry:
If you are reading this, what do you use as the final linish over the welds etc, just a rotary wire brush?
The scratches seem very random rather than uni-directioanal, all a bit orbital sander in finish.

Smashing shell for sure!

Thanks for posting all the fine details.

In awe - of Barry mostly. I want to buy a rustbucket just so it can be fixed by Barry! Does he leave a signature anywhere?

How many hours in that though.... must be 100s

I think his signature is either door gaps that need to be measured with a digital calliper or all those self tappers!

I think more seriously, these latest shell re-builds esp by Barry, have raised the game so very much more than when I DIY'd mine in '88.

I am mustering myself to do mine locally again, but will have to try very much harder this time, and I'm no Barry, but still feel I have to try to get close (ish).

Bet I'm not alone.

Tosh wrote:In awe - of Barry mostly. I want to buy a rustbucket just so it can be fixed by Barry! Does he leave a signature anywhere?

How many hours in that though.... must be 100s

I've already got something in mind on this front......will let you know....

As for hours, it will need a final tot up, but it will be north of 200. Each one a gem it seems....

MT wrote:Nice going Richard (and Barry, of course),

Thanks for all the detailed photos. I will be trying to emulate 'The Master' in the coming weeks on IKEA as it has a number of similar issues, especially the 'jack attack' in the torsion bar area, so some idea of the sequence, process and standard to be achieved are very useful.

It's my conclusion there really is no 'rust-free' shell on a car of this era, no matter where it's been.

Keep the updates coming..

Grasshopper

Thanks, I did wonder if it was getting a little detailed, but you know, I'm really enjoying the sheer skill involved in turning a rusty piece of cack into something that is just, well, right.

Agree on the lack of rust-free. There must be some that have lived in the Arizona desert or something and have no issues, but generally, I'd imagine most have something somewhere.

Looking very beautiful Rich and can't wait to see it - fingers crossed for decent weather at the end of the week.

North of 200 hours eh? - Cambridge is 'North' of London but so is Edinburgh!

Cheers,

Hi Richard
Looking fantastic. I never tire of looking at Barry's work. A great moment when you come to the end of this stage. The shell back to its former glory. Just the paint and ten I need to get my overnight bag packed.
Speak soon.

Darren65 wrote:Looking very beautiful Rich and can't wait to see it - fingers crossed for decent weather at the end of the week.

North of 200 hours eh? - Cambridge is 'North' of London but so is Edinburgh!

Cheers,

Ha ha Well if you think of Edinburgh as being c.300 hrs, I'd say we'll be somewhere near Newcastle......

johnM wrote:Hi Richard
Looking fantastic. I never tire of looking at Barry's work. A great moment when you come to the end of this stage. The shell back to its former glory. Just the paint and then I need to get my overnight bag packed.
Speak soon.

Oh yes - looking forward to that - it'll be great to have you back down here - at least this time we'll have lovely new parts to put back on and won't be covered in so much sh1te this time! Exciting.

You keeping well?

R

Richard

Very nice work. I saw the shell first hand when I popped in to see Barry recently. It is a work of art and Barry is such an enthusiast for his work and a pleasure to chat with as always.

Not even cars in the Arizona desert do so well when left outside unprotected for 20 years including this 67S soft window found recently.



Regards
Mike

Bless - it breaks your heart doesn't it.....a softie too...

Thanks for the encouragement Mike - means a lot

R

Big road-trip yesterday - I reckon about 500 miles in some of the filthiest weather I've driven in for a long time...but more of that later.

Left home about 8 am - destination Carter. Left way too early because I was excited about seeing the car. Had enough time to go to Hastings to look at the sea and watch the waves, love it when a storm has passed through...





But then on to the main event! And this is how it looks....





Build date on the inside of the stainless Targa hoop - hadn't noticed this before....



And A quick look around the car







Final fettling from the maestro





Then off the jig - for the first time in months....





Onto the dolly and hey presto - finished shell....

But it's the detail that really catches the eye - Looking at what Barry's achieved, it almost (about 300 hours of almost !) looks as though very little has been done to the car. It's just crisper and sharper, but very, very definitely my car.

The gaps....well, usual Carter standard - but on a Targa even more difficult because of the flex in the shell...







The headlights, horn grille and indicator units all looking 'just right' (no sarcy comments about scoops James )





My favourte gap picture is this one. Precision...



Inside, we're looking great -









So - remember this?



Well - now it looks like this - the man is a genius....

It's difficult to describe how good this work is - this car has been fiddly and I think Barry is pleased to see the back of it, but he did say that he thinks he's produced some his best work to date on this car - the detail, the precision and the conservation of the metal has been the signature of this project. Overall we think that by weight, we have saved 95% of the original metal. Which I'm really pleased about because the original brief was to save as much as possible.

So then it was time to get it over to Darren's. There was something of a DDK shifting session yesterday - Darren's car from Swindon to Alan's - Another DDKers car post blasting from Alan's to Barry's and my car from Barry's to Darren!

The weather had been cold and grey, but at least dry - we managed to get the cling-film all over the car, the cover on and the heavens opened.

Having a car in bare metal with huge rain wasn't my ideal plan. But hey-ho, if you're going to move a car in October, you've got to expect the odd shower.....best make sure the cling-film is well wrapped on then....



But it wasn't just a shower. It pi553d down for the next 7 hours - all the way to Swindon and all the way back to Cambridge for me!

This might give you a sense of how wet....





So following behind the trailer all the way (took a good 3 and a half hours because of the Friday traffic) there were times when it was so wet and there was so much spray that I lost sight of the car on the back of the trailer... Eek

Eventually we got to Swindon and the question was how wet the car would be. And you know what. It wasn't! A cheapie halfrauds cover and lots and lots of cling-film and the car was dry! a little bit of condensation on the bottom. That was it! It's a brilliant way to transport a car, I can highly recommend it!



You can see how much water came off the cling-film - but underneath, dry as a bone..





So now it's time for some thank-yous - Firstly to Darren for being such a trooper and taking my car back to Swindon, really helpful and very much appreciated, particularly because it was such filthy weather and it's not fun having the responsibility of someone else's brand new shell on the back! Very much looking forward to working with him on the next stage.

But of course the final thanks for this post has to go to Barry - his work is exceptional, he's a pleasure to deal with and he has brought my car to exactly the place that I wanted it to be.

Thanks Barry.

So one final image for you from this stage - the transition from metal to paint begins