RESTORING BODY OF VALUABLE HISTORIC VEHICLES: AN INNOVATIVE APPROCH BY THE USE OF THERMAL SPRAY TECHNIQUES

The restoration of an historic vehicle with an important value is a very complex operation; indeed, the vehicle value is strictly connected with its “degree of authenticity”. This “degree” isn’t only related to some details (e.g. the interiors, friezes, etc.) but also to the metal sheets that define the car body. Additionally, many of these vehicles have been produced in very limited series, sometimes even handmade, and the spare parts for the body are unavailable on the market.

Bear in mind that, at that time (1940-1990 for Ferrari), no cataphoresis or other anticorrosive treatment was applied to the bodywork metals.

Due to corrosion phenomena, has been observed that the thickness of the metal sheets has been reduced from the original 0,03” to only 0,015”, and, sometimes, even less.

In this case, traditional restoration methods could lead to further deterioration of the metal body.

In this presentation will be shown an innovative method to restore the metal sheets to its original thickness by means of Thermal Spray techniques.

This method permits to restore the original body, preserving the “degree of authenticity” .

The method has been patented by Ferrari SpA.