The Panel Shop Blog

A “C Type” Jaguar was at the shop to correct a poorly fitting intake plenum.

The alignment of the intake plenum never really lined up with the body as the bo

Some front nose parts were made for an Alfa Romeo including the front grille parts and headlight pieces.

In order to make new plexi-glass headlight covers, molds need to be made from aluminum.

New frames were made as well to secure the lenses.

Here are the plexi headlight covers made from our aluminum blanks.

With everything mounted and test fitted, it’s time for paint and finishing.

Mark had an interesting project for a Porsche 356 C Coupe. The owner wanted to replace the original steel panels with aluminum.

The compound curves of the Porsche are copied to the sheets of aluminum with an English Wheel.

The original door frame was fixed and cleaned up. The original steel skin was pretty rotted, but the frame provided enough of a guide for the new aluminum skin.

When Mark is done with the aluminum skin, it will be crimped in place onto the door frame, but first a coat of epoxy paint on the frame will protect the two metals from electrolytic corrosion.

Here are a couple detail shots of how the twin grille openings will be made on this C coupe.

A Ferrari GTC/4 front bumper was originally made of black rubber covered foam. Over time, this cover would get wavy and deteriorate. Unfortunately, the replacement parts are no longer available, and the reproduction fiberglass copies do not fit too well.

The owner of this GTC/4 has decided to have The Panel Shop make a new bumper out of aluminum. Since it was going to take a lot of hours fitting a fiberglass bumper to this car, making this piece out of aluminum that fit the steel body perfectly was a logical decision. The first step was to make a mounting point for the custom bumper.

The four fabricated pieces will be welded together when everything fits, and attached to the mounting plate.

Some C/4 owners have chosen to paint their rubber bumpers body color, and with this one made of aluminum, should be easier to paint whatever the owner wants.

Mark was working on a special bodied Maserati that was missing its drip rail above the side windows.

He fabricated the drip rail with brass flat stock, carefully following the contour of the steel drip rail below. Bending the trim piece into the tight u-shape and then stretching and shrinking the piece to fit the rail was a little tricky, but Mark managed to make it follow the rail exactly. This piece can now be chrome plated.

A quick project Mark worked on was a shade for this Rolls Royce.

This piece was formed to fit over the windshield and covered with matching vinyl to match the rest of the roof.

Speaking of Rolls Royce panels, Mark and Steve at The Panel Shop are making fender pieces for Rolls Royces.

They use these Fiberglass bucks to guide them in making steel patch panels that fit perfectly.

If you’re interested in learning more about anything you see here, feel free to send us an email.

Welcome to the Panel Shop Blog. There’s always an interesting project
at the shop, and we’ll share some of them with you as we make progress
on each car.

Mark Barton…

…and Steve Hall

joined forces after working for Aston Martin and Rolls Royce learning
traditional panel forming in the early 70s. You can read more about
them in their Bios.

The latest project is a Stanley Steamer that requires a complete body.
An ash frame that was sealed in epoxy was shipped to the Panel Shop,
and Mark began work fabricating the aluminum panels that will be
attached to the frame.

At first glance this body seems simple, but on closer inspection, there
are a lot of compound curves that meet one another.

Mark carefully shapes each panel and makes notations on the flat sheets
of aluminum to show where the panel needs to be shrunk and where it
needs to be stretched. We’ll keep posting pictures of the progress as
the Stanley Steamer takes shape.