Testarossa Resurrection

[drive4th]

Hey folks!  it's been quite a while since i've had a chance to work on anything over here but i've been quietly lurking on the forums keeping tabs on all the sweet projects going on.. and i gotta say they got me fired up so i just had to do something.

I came across this on ebay, a Monogram Ferrari Testarossa kit that had been started then abandoned. Scored it for $6 bucks so i wasn't sure what to expect when it arrived, but i was in for a surprise. Let's say it wasn't in good condition..

This thing is a wreck. The chassis was cracked in two pieces, the engine and interior tub were already assembled and encased in glue, and most of the suspension pieces were damaged or broken and there were globs of glue in various places.  I think i bit off more than i can chew but you know what? i'm going to use this one as a good practice run and see my skills at repairing this and bringing it back to some form of life. I started by straightening and glueing the chassi back together to see if there was any hope at all.

 

The body though is in really great shape! See the pics below for how it sits now

 

[drive4th]

I made a couple of quick renderings of where i'd like to take it, but given the state of it and all the broken or glue drenched pieces i may have to get creative to get it there. What do you guys think.. am i crazy?? haha!

 

[RestoModGuy]

I like the rendering you have created. Nice blend of a two-tone scheme on the Testarossa. If you don't do it, I probably will on one of my kits.

[Rider]

Good luck with restoration.

[drive4th]

I'll try to post regular updates but at the moment im really debating on whether this is salvagable or if i just build a suspension from scratch. Im open to sll commens and advice. back soon and thanks for looking

[RestoModGuy]

I'll try to post regular updates but at the moment im really debating on whether this is salvagable or if i just build a suspension from scratch. Im open to sll commens and advice. back soon and thanks for looking

Thing to think about, these kits are a dime a-dozen cheap... I have two I've acquired in bulk buys last year for almost nothing. I think you have a nice concept based on your rendering, I'd just get a new kit and build it! Use the good parts off this yellow one for other builds....  

[drive4th]

So i can find other kits like this all over ebay but they're about $25 each.. i was lucky to score this one for just $6 but if you can find any of those for cheaper do let me know.  Here's a small update:

 

Over the weekend i was able to get a little table time in and cut out that nasty notched section where the chassis had broken. It's not the prettiest thing but it'll do and i can fill it in later and sand it back to shape.  Also, i did try messing with the suspension pieces and that's just not going to happen , it's pretty wasted.  The front suspension pieces will not go on due to the amount of glue that's in there. Any attempt to remove it will leave gaping holes instead so id rather not do that. The rear sub-frame is so bent and warped i tried bending it back to shape but 2 other pieces broke from it so it's basically scrap now. Im going to have to fab my own suspension for this. back with more soon

 

[Dogfish_7]

Nice work.

[Brizio]

Looking good!

[drive4th]

Update: started working on the suspension. Both front and rear have their own issues so we'll start with the rear. 

The frame was all bent to hell and broken at all the ends that should connect to the chassis. looks like it got stepped on or something. this part is also the engine subframe. so i decided to reinforce the frame and cut out all the bent pieces. this will allow me to mount the engine and support the suspension parts, but it will take some finessing. while this sets up i moved to the front.

This side is almost the opposite. the suspension is good but the chassis is covered in glue at all the mounting points so i cant fit anything. The tires rub inside the wheel wells so i cut them out partially. i also think its riding too high so im going to make a custom front suspension bracket and see what i can fit in there. back soon!

 

[drive4th]

ok it's been a few months but i'm still at it.  here's the update:

SO i fixed up the suspension enough to get it to set even at least and just a bit lower than stock. Unfortunately this didn't allow room for the engine to go in since it would poke up through the rear hatch and it wouldn't sit properly in place. So i decide to leave the engine out of this and maybe try a rebuild later on.

But i did get the body painted.  Here are pics after the first coat of black which ended up with orange peel everywhere. I wet sanded it all smooth and resprayed it. I think it turned out well, you can see the lower half is a bit darker black than the top half.  I let it set up a few days then taped it off to spray the red..

[drive4th]

After the first coat of red, i had more orange peel and weird spots on the roof [??] but i wet sanded and resprayed it and the 2nd coat came out much better:

 

[drive4th]

And now for the 2-tone body.  You can see the effects of using BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH masking tape, so the paint will need some touch up and correcting but it's not too bad.  Also, the back hatch had some issues so i re-sanded and repainted it, but i didnt take picks of it at this point.  I will clean up and polish off all the paint before i put it all together.  Now onto chassis and wheel fitment! stay tuned..