Friday, May 10, 2013

Thank you Gran Turismo: Finding and restoring Serflex clamps

Todays posting starts off with a special thanks to Brett at Gran Turismo. Followers of the blog will remember that Brett already saved our skin once before:

http://dino246blog.blogspot.ca/2011/05/we-went-too-far-with-ignition.html

This time we were not in trouble but a very nice surprise came our way via a casual visit to Gran Turismo in Alliston Ontario. While admiring some of the fine cars and service equipment they have, we spotted these gems among some other parts. Knowing the project that we are involved with, and wanting to help, Brett was kind enough to gift us his whole supply which was almost enough clamps for our entire car.

For those of you who do not know Gran Turismo, it is a very nice shop just north of Toronto Ontario. Brett and his crew cater to the value minded Ferrari owner offering excellent service with a good family feel. Their shop is always a pleasure to visit and you can be sure of good stories and advice when stopping by. Visit them at: http://www.granturismoauto.com/

Getting back to the subject of clamps, This is something that the casual restorer overlooks but is vitally critical for any serious project. In the early 1970's Ferrari used French made Serflex clamps which have a very particular shape and adjustment screw (round with a slot head). While Serflex is still in business their clamps have changed shape leaving old stock as the only option to the restorer.

01464 in its life had almost every clamp replaced leaving just a few original ones behind. As such we needed to find and restore over 100 clamps to get the car back to as new perfect. The photos will show the restoration process and we are now happy to announce that every clamp we need is restored and accounted for.








4 comments:

  1. If you have extras of the smaller diameter clamps, I'm in the market for some.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Any extras and future finds are already well spoken for. These are not terribly hard to find it just takes patience and time.

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  2. I would love to know your technique for prepping parts for cad plating. I usually use glass beads to strip and then plate - the parts are fairly shiny after the glass beads, but the plating comes out dull.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The prep varies a lot depending on the finish we want. That said we normally do one of two things:

      1. Wire wheel when we want the parts bright
      2. Glass bead when we want the parts a little duller

      These clamps were clear zinc coated as per original not cadmium as some people do. The zinc is always brighter than cadmium so maybe your process is off.

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