“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
It is with a full heart that we announce the departure of Beau Van Nornam from Bella Classics, Inc. and California as he heads to Kansas to find new beginnings. The last seven years have been a true joy to mentor this young man in the art and artistry of automotive body surfacing and custom automotive painting. Beau is an extraordinary employee with an exceptional work ethic and is a quick learner. We became a great team over the years. He could (almost always) anticipate my expectations and always delivered his best. I am proud of how much he’s grown in restoration experience and surfacing and painting techniques. I know he’s learned a few things from this old man. I know I learned a couple things from him. He is grateful to the lessons he learned from me and I truly appreciate the effort he gave in everything he did. Mostly I’m proud to call him a friend.
Travel safe in life Beau and don’t be a stranger!
This 1966 Hertz Mustang came to us for a complete total restoration. I met the owner at a local car show where he was showing his Anglia. I commented that it had a pretty nice paint job on it. He told me his painter moved away at which point I introduced myself and told him about Bella Classics. Within a week we had his Mustang at the shop. Bob had already removed the complete drive train and interior and delivered it to the shop on a rolling cart. We first removed the doors, hood, front fenders, and trunk lid so we could mount it on a rotisserie to inspect the undercarriage and make measurements. We did not detect any damage or rust. It was one of the cleanest Mustangs I’ve ever worked on.
[To be continued with video…]
Pininfarina CEO, Silvio Pietro Angori with Steve Kouracos and Dino #05554
The highlight of our trip to the Quail Motorsports Gathering on Friday, August 18th was meeting Silvio Pietro Angori, CEO of Pininfarina and receiving his compliments on the Dino we displayed at the event. What an honor to have received such high praise from this distinguished executive!
This Dino 246 GT Euro #05554 is currently listed on Classic Driver. Check out the listing here!
On April 23, 2017 we received the Best in Show Award for our Dino 246 GT at the Dana Point Concours! What a great day and a wonderful honor! It was a very nice show with a lot of high-quality restorations and a wide range of classics and modified hotrods. The show is well organized and well attended and is set in one of the nicest beach cities in Orange County. The Best in Show Award will take its rightful place next to the two FCA Platinum Awards the car has received already.
Dino #05554 receives its second Platinum Award. This time at Concorso Italiano in Monterey on August 20, 2016 during the Monterey Car Week! Congratulations Steve Kouracos and Beau Van Nornam on receiving such an honor for all your hard work. It’s two for two now! Nice job guys!
Bella Classics, Inc. is pleased to offer this double-platinum-winner, concours-ready 1973 Dino 246 GT Euro E-series. Please follow this link here to our feature page to see more photos and read about this beautifully restored Dino.
The Dino 206 SP we have in the shop needs a new windshield. In this case, you can’t order a replacement windshield online or from a glass man. This particular piece of glass has to be made new. So, you may ask, how do you do that?
Well, it’s a process with many steps. First we removed the windshield from the body frame by sawing through the glue or urethane that holds the glass in. There’s a special stainless steel wire with a spiral outer thread much like a piano wire. You have to feed the wire between the glass and the molding and then saw back and forth all the way around the glass to release it from the frame. We removed the moldings from around the glass and then very delicately pulled the glass off the window frame.
We then covered the glass in a thin layer of wax to protect it from the filler we needed to cover it with in order to build a fixture for the glass. Once the windshield is covered in wax, a layer of bondo is spread over the entire surface of the glass. When it dries another layer of wax and another layer of bondo is applied.
Finally, we built a wooden windshield fixture to hold and protect the glass. The fixture acts as a mold for the windshield.
The prepped windshield and framed fixture was delivered to the glass maker last week. He’ll make a mold from our fixture, bend the glass to conform, cut and finalize the replica glass for the windshield. Below are some more photos of the process.
Steve enjoys creating. Whether it’s the fine surface on a Ferrari or his unique artwork on a metal “canvas”, he’s truly an artist. The above photo is an example of his art. Ferrari Blue Cerra and gold leaf on sheet metal.
Paint mixing counter at The Paint Store, Laguna Niguel, CA
We buy most of our automotive paint and painting materials from The Paint Store in Laguna Niguel, CA. What a great group of people to work with. Their knowledge of the materials and expertise in color matching is exceptional. But it’s their customer care that keeps us coming back. Thank you Dan, Daniel, Luis, and Candy!
Bella Classics by Steve Kouracos 