THE STAMPING
Click for full size image and more information
This is the same piece of panelling marked “R/H FRONT ARCH” seen being removed in the following picture at the restorer’s workshop. The disc cut outs are from a previous wristwatch project.
On the inside of this same piece it can be seen how crudely some of the body shell was originally fabricated, but the GTO was only intended to be a short-term use racing car.
In Birmingham, the oval backplates are carefully punched from the ex-GTO body shell.
As with many old provenance metals, scratches and marks tell of a life of use. Being a part of the car’s history some of these have been left, but others removed, essential if the engraved text is to be legible.
The text, of necessity, is small and applied by laser engraving. Tiny holes are drilled to facilitate the coloured stitches.
Pieces of the removed body shell show on both sides fascinating hammer marks from when the sheet aluminium was hand fettled into shape.
