Precision Panel Craft

Bit of a mixed week this week. Very busy with lots going on, Mk1 Crayford Capri is stripped and prepped for its restoration to begin, Porsche 356 A has its front bumper fitted and gapped just awaiting the rear bumper. The Vw beetle had a hood frame issue which needed tweaks ahead of getting re trimmed and some Bugatti EB110 panels need reworking.

As the 1959 Porsche 356 A RHD restoration nears completion we had Keith and Luke from over to film an introduction video for their YouTube channel. We covered some of the many details we have recreated and also had a chat with . Check out the link in our bio.

The 356 a project is now on the final 2 week stint ahead of paint. An estimated 4000 hours has gone into the metalwork on this car to ensure it’s as accurate as possible. Hours studying photos of other cars and comparing them to find out how they were back in 1959. All of us at have played a part in one way or another but Matt has been on this from the start. It’s been the longest and most in depth restoration we’ve done but I do truly believe it is as an accurate rebuild as you could get. A massive thank you to everyone involved in helping with the details over the last two years and mostly to Phil for allowing us to spend the time to focus on the small hidden details. I think we will do a video of some sort to share when it’s complete before paint highlighting just some of the details we have reinstated.

The mk1 Ford Es**rt is now complete with the exception of check strap rubbers and a new thermostat housing which are in the post and the brakes to bleed after the Easter weekend. Factory stickers have been refitted and it’s now over to for detailing and ceramic coating. Massive thank you to everyone for your help throughout the last few months. Also a huge thank you to Steve Parker for coming over last minute yesterday to help with a few small bits. It’s come out so well and will be on display with on the 10th of May at the South of England show ground. Again a huge thank you to Aaron and Matt for the time and effort in ensuring we got the metal work details right. .busterltd

A very fiddly time consuming job on the Porsche 356 A this week. This is the difference between a good restoration and a Precision Panel Craft restoration.

Even when using a very high-quality panel, it doesn’t always mean everything will fit straight away. When fitting the headlight pods , Matt discovered they wouldn’t seat correctly and had a large gap between the front panel and the bowl. Also the factory panels were double-sided spot welded not single sided — something that’s almost impossible m to replicate without the original manufacturing setup.

To solve the issue, Matt fabricated bespoke rings that fitted extremely tightly to the headlight buckets. This allowed the new buckets and their rings to be spot welded together and then carefully grafted into the panel while maintaining the correct alignment and fit.

A lot of extra work, but the result is properly fitted headlight pods and a finish as close to factory as possible.
handcrafted precisionpanelcraft