The Restoration

The flatbed tow-truck arrived in March 2000. The rusty chassis and body shell were loaded up and sent away to begin the long-dreamed-of restoration.

These pages will document progress on the restoration. As I take photos of the progress, I will add more pages and dates so you can follow along. You can follow the project from the start, or jump to a new page you haven't seen yet.

• Page 37 - Aug 2024: At long last, assembly has begun.
  
• Page 36 - Apr 2023: Pictures of the paint buffed out and some carburetor work.
  
• Page 35 - Jan 2023: At long (LONG) last, the car has been painted!
  
• Page 34 - June 2022: Progress has been made - it just wasn't photogenic. And I the Urraco has moved on, with mixed feelings.
  
• Page 33 - July 2021: An extrordinarly amount of time spent on the doors.
  
• Page 32 - May 2021: Gapping finishes up.
  
• Page 31 - Feb 2021: Back to the shop, after 11 years!
  
• Page 30 - Feb 2010: Koni shocks are rebuilt
  
• Page 29 - Nov 2009: After almost 10 years, the Miura comes home!
  
• Page 28 - Sep 2009: Metal work done, and a new coat of primer.
  
• Page 27 - May 2008: Fitting the trim, some parts get ready, and I work on the gaps.
  
• Page 26 - Apr 2008: Body work nears to a close as all the gaps are adjusted.
  
• Page 25 - Feb 2008: Cleaning up the headlight assemblies.
  
• Page 24 - Jan 2008: With the frame basically done, body work begins.
  
• Page 23 - Dec 2007: SV suspension is complete.
  
• Page 22 - Nov 2007: Espada to SV control arm conversion.
  
• Page 21 - Sep 2007: Bob's Countach and Nigel.
  
• Page 20 - June 2007: SV suspension experiment and new rods arrive.
  
• Page 19 - March 2007: The interior parts are dropped off.
  
• Page 18 - Dec 2006: Starting the body work.
  
• Page 17 - Oct 2005: More rod and piston work. (This takes a lot of time!)
  
• Page 16 - Feb 2005: Polishing connecting rods.
  
• Page 15 - Sep 2004: The new crankshaft arrives.
  
• Page 14 - May 2004: Splitting the sump.
  
• Page 13 - April 2004: Head work.
  
• Page 12 - August 2003: Starting on the engine.
  
• Page 11 - April 2003: The rear frame is almost finished.
  
• Page 10 - March 2003: The rear frame is reinforced.
  
• Page 9 - March 2003: Back from the twist & stretch shop.
  
• Page 8 - Feb 2003: Preparing for progress at long last.
  
• Page 7 - Oct 2000: Right-side-up at last.
  
• Page 6 - Oct 2000: The front frame is finished!.
  
• Page 5 - Oct 2000: Progress on the front frame.
  
• Page 4 - Sept 2000: Back from the media blast, cracks are found in the frame.
  
• Page 3 - July 2000: Close up of some rust (and more rust) and parts being renewed.
  
• Page 2 - June 2000: The floor is cut out and the car is flipped on its back.
  
• Page 1 - May 2000: The car goes to the shop.
  

March 07 - An Interesting Discovery

As I started to inventory my parts closely, I found many had the production number stamped on them. When Miuras were built by hand, parts were fitted to individual cars. The production number was stamped on the parts so they could be reunited with the car in the final assembly. Sometimes the numbers don't match. I asked Claudio Zampoli about this. He said that some parts, like the eyelashes, were made in batches, and then sent to be finished. When the eyelashes came back, sometimes they wouldn't be put on exactly the same car. When asked about the American zeal for "matching parts" cars, he said as long as the numbers were close, they were probably the original parts.

What I found as I looked at my production numbers was more interesting. Many of them are stamped not with my car's number, 254, but with 127. Here are a few examples:

Under the left door handle

Inside the door trim

End of the eyelashes

Inside the heater/defroster box

The Last P400

There are many other parts stamped 127. It was not unusual for cars to return to the factory to be rebuilt and emerge with new identification. What is really interesting to me is that the Coltrin book lists car 127 (chassis 3297, engine 1681, built 7 Feb 1968) as a blue car with mustard interior with the comment "Brambilla car!" I have researched this, and found that my car is both 127 and 254. See the Acquisition page for the history. It was the last P400 to leave the factory.