1987 TRE Backdate

[Frazer Douglas]

Early September 2015 I bought a 1987 Marine Blue Carrera 3.2 with 214k miles on the clock from a fellow Pelican, after months of searching. The car had had three San Diego owners and been very well looked after, babied even, as is evident by the quality of the paint and original rubber seals.



I'd always intended to backdate the car to an early longhood so began right away by removing the whale tail and replacing the original grill with a new Aluminium one from TRE. I also stripped out the interior, leaving only the seats, and of course fitting the new Prototipo.



Bought some fuchs 16x7's and 8's as the previous owner had seen fit to replace the originals with aftermarket turbo twists.



and then set about sanding down and polishing all the brightwork on the car to make it shine!



This I did all by hand, painstakingly using progressively finer grit sandpaper until finally being able to polish the aluminium with the buffing wheel on the end of the electric drill. Most of this was all done without removing the trim from the car (by taping off the rubber seals and being extremely careful). I'm very happy with the results but it was very labour intensive. Also fitted new chrome door handles and deleted the central locking, which meant replacing the door latches.

Next was the actual panel backdate itself and who better to ask than TRE Motorsports in Van Nuys, California. Dave enjoys a second-to-none reputation and rightly so. So in she went for surgery...







As well as the front and rear bumpers TRE also removed the 80's style flag mirrors and filled in the holes. Dark grey primer was applied to all the new fibreglass panels and to the tops of the doors. They also modified the muffler to the sport style, twin centre pipes.



This was always going to be a backdate in stages and a full respray is not happening anytime soon. Therefore the car will stay as she is for the time being; mostly Marine Blue with dark grey bits here and there. But I quite like the look! The fuchs I'd bought were in great condition but a bit shiny for me so in an attempt to emulate the RSR look I took the skotch pads to them, leaving the outer rims to shine.

[Frazer Douglas]

I made some new door cards by buying the hardwood from Lowes, correct basketweave vinyl from TRE, door handles from the early VW Beetles and chrome strip from Pep Boys. I followed instructions I found on this board and all in all I'm extremely happy with the results. I decided to keep the power windows.




Had the headlamp rings chromed and here's how she looks now!



Out for a spin on Mulholland on Christmas morning...




The weight saved with the removal of the big impact bumpers and the replacement fibreglass parts means it's a lot quicker! Took the car to Johnson's Alignment to be lowered to Euro specs, corner balanced and aligned and they did a great job - the car handles superbly now.
Next is a full carpet set, door mirrors, then on to the interior backdating of the dash etc and then one day, a full repaint.
Thanks for reading and happy motoring.

[Edoyle]

Very nice work. So many cars are backdated to early ones without using the chrome or polished trim and they never look right. This one does. Now to remove the side skirts..

[TRE Cup]

Hey Frazer
the aluminum RS rocker panels are here for you to check out when you have time
like the door panel idea; nice detail

[Frazer Douglas]

Thanks Edoyle, yes very time consuming to do all the trim but worth it I think. And yes, rocker panels are next. Dave I'll give you a call tomorrow thanks. Also need those door mirrors.

[Reiver]

Looks good, the weld in units do the job don't they.

[mickey356]

LOVE the door cards!! Very nice.

[enzoducoing]

Fantastic backdate lordsinclair!
Love the door panelsCheers.
MD

[Frazer Douglas]

Thanks chaps very good of you to say. Just need some kind of grommets for the door pulls and we're there. Simple is best, especially when the original early door interiors are so pricey.

[impactbumper]

Looks good. Who needs rear view mirrors anyways

[RSBob]

Great work. Absolutely love the look and you found one of the finest colors ever created. Well done sir.

[CFenning]

Let's grab coffee sometime. I remember that car for sale a few months ago. Looks like you are local.

I have a similar project going right now.

[enzoducoing]

Originally Posted by lordsinclair

Thanks chaps very good of you to say. Just need some kind of grommets for the door pulls and we're there. Simple is best, especially when the original early door interiors are so pricey.

Hello Lordsinclair
What I used on the door cards as grommets where simple two-sided chrome round grommets like the ones used on seats. The kind you press together from both sides of the vinyl. They are 3/4 inch dia. I cut a hole through the card and the vinyl of the size of the grommet and pressed them together so they ended up attached to both and really sturdy.
Hope this helps
Cheers
MD

[kagangen]

amazing work. great to see someone doing this in baby steps. door cards fantastic

[obscene]

great work so far! very similar to my project

[Frazer Douglas]

MD those grommets are exactly what I'm looking for. Where did you get them?

[enzoducoing]

Originally Posted by lordsinclair

MD those grommets are exactly what I'm looking for. Where did you get them?

I can't remember where I got mine since I did the cards about 4 years ago but I have some left. PM me your address and I'll send them to you.
Cheers
MD

[Frazer Douglas]

PM'd you. Many thanks.

[dicklague]

nice. I like the door card fabric, but not the chrome.

[Frazer Douglas]

My inspiration for the door cards is entirely down to enzoducoing and his excellent thread here What do you think of my take on early door panels?
Thank you!