Interior restoration Mangusta 8MA-1294

I bought a stainless Mangusta badge from Larry Stock at PPC. These are cut with a water jet.

After one hour with the Dremel and metal polish I softened all the edges and it came up like chrome.

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I repositioned the shifter housing because it was not square with the console. I had to weld in new metal then drill and tap it. The correct position was half way over the original holes... Dammit

The shifter surround was also missing, so I made a replacement from steel.

I changed the shape of this part to make the chrome H gate more visible from the side when looking into the car from outside.

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This is all that remained of the ash tray. The chrome bezel had clearly been lost at some stage and someone had tried to make a replacement from bits of plastic picture frame!

I could have had the original sliding door handle re-chromed, but I decided it would be nicer to make one from aluminium and polish it.

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I tried to find an original ash tray bezel but couldn't at the time, so again I made one from aluminium and polished it.

Finished bezel.

I also polished the stainless door and made a tray to go inside.

The hole in the centre console that the ash tray pokes though was not straight. I added extra sheet metal from underneath and welded studs on.

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I made the door lock bezels on the lathe and then polished them. This really improves the look of the door cap.

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I rebuilt all the instruments. I started by fitting extra bulbs inside to make them bright enough to be legible at night. I added two extra to the speedo and tach, and also punched ventilation holes in the housings to prevent them fogging up on cold mornings.

Strategically-placed 3M aluminium tape. The clock faces on the standard car were horribly dim - this modification alone doubles their brightness. Both the speedo and tach needed to have new glasses fitted because at some stage in the past a cack-handed gorilla had scratched the originals while trying to rub down the bezel!

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I also punched holes in the face of the smaller dials to let more light through from the back. This made a big difference, and is not visible when the bezel is refitted.

Glass paint. I use incandescent bulbs because I don't like the cold light produced by LEDs.

The dim lighting of the original clocks. Very hard to read.

After modifications. They don't look quite this bright in the car. It's the camera!

Small dial before modification.

After modification.

It's relatively easy to remove the bezels from the speedo and tach, but much harder with the smaller dials as they are made from very thin aluminium and then crimped all the way around like a jam jar. It is possible to get them off without destroying them, but it is very time consuming process. Now I know why all instrument repair shops fix everything except Veglia! I found that Lucas bezels are exactly the same size, however, they are not quite the same profile. After close examination, I decided that they were near enough though. The Lucas bezels are readily available brand new for £5 each - but only in a chrome finish. While they also have the 3 little tabs to bend over - making them easier to fit, I still made a jig to hold the clock while I taped the tabs down. I have never worked on a small dial from a Pantera - I wonder if they are also crimped all the way around?

Beautiful work. It is a lot of fun to follow this kind of thread Johnny.

I wish you could work on my car......

Cheers, Mark

I made all the carpets from cardboard templates and then bound them in leather.

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I filled in between the ribs on the floor with Plastazote - the stuff they make camping mats from.

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This ally ring is original, but should be behind the carpet. I put it on top because it looks better.

I bought the rubber mat from Wilkinson - it's for a Pantera, so I had to cut it down to make it fit.

I cut and bound new carpets for the rear arches, petrol tank, luggage area and front trunk.

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