After other work commitments and a busy work diary taking priority over our 1965 Amphicar it was time to give the project a new lease of life. We are now on with the rebuild process, the start once again, of our full restoration of this iconic car. We have drafted in a good friend of […]
We have made the decision to revisit the underside of our Amphicar. the reason being is that we collectively felt that it could be better. We stripped back what had already been done, repaired and repainted. We are all now much happier with the results.
Brian’s been busy this week fitting new wiring looms into our 1965 Amphicar and our 1972 Jaguar E-Type.
The Amphicar dash is starting to be built up today with the freshly painted dash being filled with the refurbished dials.
Our 13″ wheels have now returned from our good friends at Wheelcare in Colchester having been welded, repaired, stripped and painted. They are now ready for the tyres to be fitted so the car can go back on it’s wheels. Wheelcare repair all makes and sizes. It doesn’t matter whether they are polished, painted or machined. […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We say this time and time again but if you are restoring (or even working) on your own projects it is so beneficial to take lots of photos. At the time, it may seem like a fruitless exercise but months down the line when it is time to rebuild what you have taken apart you […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With the engine now successfully refitted into position we can now look to rebuild the car with all of the brand new and refurbished components. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24664,24663,24662,24661,24660,24659,24658,24657,24656,24655,24654,24653,24652,24651,24650,24649,24648,24647,24646,24645,24644″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
With so many projects currently being worked on our very own 1965 Amphicar as taken somewhat of a back seat recently. With the new year just round the corner our aim is to somehow squeeze our Amphicar into the projects list and get her back on the Suffolk roads (or water), hopefully by next summer. […]
Our 1965 Amphicar is now ready to leave the paintshops and return for refit. The red colour has disappeared to be replaced by the original Beach Strand White finish – Ditzler Code 8703=DAR offset 90113. Supplied by PPG Industries who bought out Ditzler. The car will be returned to the original specification and will be restored […]
On a recent trip with the family to Florida, John was seen getting to grips with the running of the Disney Amphicars. Whilst he family went out to enjoy the open water John stayed back to chat with the technicians who work on these amazing cars every day of the week. Of course, he got […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Who wants first dibs at testing our Amphicar when the restoration is complete later this year? In a couple of weeks time our 1965 Amphicar will be returning to our workshops for the re-build. Now back in it’s original colour the red is no more. Surprisingly, a large quantity of the parts are still available […]
The thick layer of external filler has now been successfully removed and a new door skin has been rebuilt and fitted. We are not too far away now from having the body shell ready for paint.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Whilst preparing the body for paint we discovered that the car had a large quantity of filler in places (see previous article) This all needed to be removed so we could fully investigate the extent of the work required. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
As you can see from the images below, we have had to remove a large quantity of filler from our 1965 Amphicar. At some stage in it’s previous life someone had applied filler excessively which is not ideal and in order to carry out the repair and preparation work correctly we will look to remove […]
In preparation for the return of our Amphicar body shell from the paint shop, we have started to go through the parts to decide whether to renew, replace or refurbish existing components. We have put together a selection of parts that require a clean and paint. This will keep Pete busy on the project whilst […]
With only the rocker box cover a different colour, the Amphicar engine is actually one of the simplest engines to paint as it is all black. Before removing the engine from the car we had it all up and running as it should. Pete has since been busy stripping it off it’s loose components before […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are well on with the preparation of our 1965 Amphicar body ready for the full respray which we have planned for early next year. As the entire body was built from fibre-glass from new it was never perfect to start with but we aim to make it better than the day it was new […]
The major welding work is now complete on our 1965 Amphicar so we are off to the paint shop to have her stripped back and prepared ready for the full re-spray. We are reverting back to the original white exterior and losing any traces of the red. It is our intentions to repaint the blue […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Found in the archives of Beverly Hills Car Club sold inventory is our 1965 Amphicar in it’s original colour combination of white with red and white interior. The pictures were taken on 5th November 2015. At this stage we are unsure whether the car left the US in white or whether it was re-sprayed to red […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are taking lots and lots of images whilst stripping down our 1965 Amphicar. It is critical on all restoration projects to take as many pictures as you can as these may come in very useful when rebuilding the car. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16453,16454,16455,16456,16457,16458,16459,16460,16461,16462,16463,16464,16465,16466,16467,16468,16469″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With the engine now out of the car Dave can concentrate on removing the final remaining pieces ready for the body shop to take over.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16236,16237,16238,16239,16240,16241,16242,16243,16244,16245,16246,16247,16248,16249,16250,16251,16252,16253,16254,16256,16257,16259,16260″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After years in storage we are now underway with the restoration of our 1965 Amphicar. Today we are running up and testing our the engine and propeller system to ensure it functions as it should.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Bb2a6J4Wo”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdTWQZIl64″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dave is now well on with stripping back our 1965 Amphicar ready for paint. We have since discovered that the original colour was white and not red as we first thought so we will be reverting back to the original specification in the paint shop. We are taking lots of images as we progress with […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As we always say, it is very important to take lots of pictures when carrying out a restoration. Angles you don’t think are important and areas you think may be easy to refit can sometimes come back to bite you. If you find yourself scratching your head because you can’t quite remember what went where […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Day 1 of owning our 1965 Amphicar and already we are getting stuck in to stripping her ready for a full body preparation and re-spray. Lots of photos of this project I think. Photographs are a great referencing tool, an angle you might think is a bit boring or pointless might end up being a […]
It was a long day for Craig and Dave as they set off for what should’ve been a relatively easy trip to Brighton. We had our 1973 Jaguar E-Type to deliver and returning with our 1949 Bentley Mark VI Special and 1965 Amphicar. The journey there seemed relatively trouble free but the same couldn’t be […]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are currently in talks with the current owner of a very rare find, a 1965 Amphicar. Mr Sinclair has owned the car for many years and has carried out a lot of the restoration works himself: A complete reconditioned engine, a re-bore with new pistons, new cam shaft and cam followers, head skimmed and […]