I've got a complete GTV front end sheet metal nose. Looking at it, it doesn't seem too hard to change it into a stepnose.
Some carefull cutting, a quick bend and a tig of a filler strip & it becomes a stepnose. Maybe a day or 2 of work.
As the stepnoses go up in price this is the next way to get one for some!. It was going to be the short cut way to get a stepnose for the guy that was looking at buying my 72 GTj, luckily he did not buy it in the end.
"Seems wrong to me. Many generations of GTV look great. Why not build the best of what it is?"
An abomination you say. Yes, maybe. I'm not familiar with Italian or Canadian car culture but I'm a Californian &
sins against factory original cars is in our DNA. We have a long history of mutilations.
An abomination you say. Yes, maybe. I'm not familiar with Italian or Canadian car culture but I'm a Californian & sins against factory original cars is in our DNA. We have a long history of mutilations.
My father-in-law is a big hot rod guy. 32 Vicky, 35 Ford and many others he's built or owned. I dig the culture.
I'm just not clear where this is going. Is it a Singer "best of each GTV in one" thing? Or putting something forward as something it's not? Guess intention is my question/concern.
Aren't stepnose/smoothnose hoods different as well? The front parking lights, bumpers, tail lights, seats and dashes are certainly different. I'm not convinced it would be so simple.
... there's quite a few differences as noted already.
Don't forget the rear low vs high rear wheel arch differences and tail lamps, dash, interior and other associated jewelry. As an aside, my '73 GT Junior has low arches as that's all that was available for a rear end shut repair in those days - maybe i should graft on a nose
Anything sheet metal that's unobtanium (NOS or repro) can easily be remade by a skilled metal worker. That said, go for it - I'd use as much CF where possible. Document it here - Everybody loves to see money spent just for the hell of it
Why would you want to turn a late series GTV into a stepnose?
Has it been in a head-on collision or has the front end rusted out and fallen off or do you just not like the unificato look and have your heart set on seeing a stepnose front in your garage?
I ask because if your motivation is to improve the monetary value of your 1972 by giving it a "stepnose" job, then you will be frustrated... Not just because the price advantage isn't that significant to start with, but mainly because the differences between the cars are so vast (chrome facia, rear arches, interior, engine, gearbox, differential, etc) and parts so expensive, that you're betteroff buying a completed and well sorted riginal stepnose for possibly less money than it would cost to chop chop and mutilate a perfectly desireable 1972...
....the differences between the cars are so vast (chrome facia, rear arches, interior, engine, gearbox, differential, etc) and parts so expensive, that you're betteroff buying a completed and well sorted riginal stepnose for possibly less money than it would cost to chop chop and mutilate a perfectly desireable 1972...
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