1966 404 Coupé Injection Restoration

5 minute(s) of a 255 minute read

Chris Yarrow, Rudi Koniczek and Mike Grams of Coachwerks were the judges for the Vancouver Island Motor Gathering on August 27, 2017.  After the awards were handed out (many show winners donating the $500 prize back to the two charities benefitting from the show's gate), I had a few minutes with Mike.

He told me that the 404C looks a lot better than she did in the last photo I posted.  The doors are back on and the colour coats are mirror smooth, a concours finish, he said.  Mike also said that as far as value goes, this will probably be one of the best in the world, especially if the rest of the work is done to the same standard (no pressure!).

Coachwerks is shut next week so the Tuesday after Labour Day, work will resume. Mike said he'd try to prioritize the car's clearcoating and final preparation so she can be ready ASAP.  We're working around his holidays and ours.  My wife and I are leaving for Japan on September 11th and won't be back for 15 days.  So, just maybe, she'll be home on September 8th or 9th.  If not, about two weeks after that.

9-6-2017

In March 2014 - on my birthday! - I toured Rudi & Co. with my good friend Bruce (now since passed, very sadly) and we got to see a lot of stuff, but no bodywork repair operation.  So I asked Rudi Koniczek: where does the bodywork get done?  He said it's Coachwerks.  So in late 2014 or early 2015 (I forget which!) I made preliminary contact with Mike Grams, who owns and runs the operation.  I told him about my car and he seemed interested.  I said it would be a year or two before I could commit to the work.  We didn't talk about price.  Then early in 2016 I asked to be put on the waiting list.  Mike proposed that they only do the shell restoration.  He estimated $50K.  I thought it'd be a year before I would be called in but in November 2016 I was asked to bring the 404 in within two weeks.  I had 12 evenings plus 4 weekend days to strip the car to a bare rolling shell!  And the rest is history, more or less.

So today I was asked to bring the rebuilt 404 suspension back down to Coachwerks, and I may have her home this weekend for the first time in 9 months.  I borrowed a colleague's Mazda pickup and the suspension is in there ready to go.  We leave for Japan on Monday so I hope it all goes according to plan!

9-7-2017

I got onto Peugeot-L on Joe Wagner's recommendation in 1999.  Before that I was in the Peugeot Owners' Club that Marvin Needler ran out of Indianapolis.  And I had the 404C starting in February 1989....

Rudi has sold his operation to the German Auto Import Network as of a few months ago, and the location has moved to a place called the "Classic Centre" near downtown.  Rudi will be there as a sort of inspirational figurehead but I believe his operation at his home has ended.  Which probably means some of his cars can come out of the chicken barn "vault" and go home with him!

Thursday I borrowed my friend Rob Conway's truck and brought the suspension down to Victoria.  The car was outside on its cart, looking mirror smooth everywhere.  The work is really impeccable.  Amazing, worth every dollar.

So I helped Pat Higgins, the metal worker who did the body reconstruction, mount the suspension under the 404C.  It was a bit of an operation and we used the car's original jack mounts to help us lift the body high enough to get the suspension underneath.  She looks good sitting on her wheels and XAS tires now.

Friday she gets a final polish and final touches and either Friday PM or Saturday she should be coming home on the flatbed.

I loaded the photos at a different site this time, so click on the image to see it in full size.