One year and five months after Toyota South Africa (TSAM) announced it is restoring an iconic 1967 2000GT to mint condition, the finished classic has been revealed.
The refurbished GT is one of 351 examples worldwide and one of only three that was ever destined for customers inside our borders, and it first reached local soil sometime between 1967 and 1968.
The 2000GT is part of TSAM’s private collection bearing chassis number MF10-10207.
Bumper-to-bumper restoration
When Toyota’s GR department announced that it would start producing replacement parts for the 2000GT as part of the GR Heritage Parts Project, TSAM took it upon itself to do a bumper-to-bumper restoration of the important classic.
Using local talent, the subsidiary split the GT’s body from its chassis, delivering both sections of the car to Dino’s Auto Body where it would start its refurbishment process.
“Despite Dino’s experience on classic vehicles, like many involved in this project, they had never seen, let alone worked on a Toyota 2000GT before,” said TSAM.
This example proved to be particularly challenging as it has seen many a better day, needing paint correction, dent repair, and panel realignment among a host of finer touch-ups.
The shop got to work removing surface materials and paint from the all-aluminium body to gauge the extent of the necessary repairs, quickly realizing that certain areas needed more attention than others.
“Lead needed to be heated and applied to the affected area, where it could be smoothed out after it had cooled and hardened,” said TSAM.
The specialist procedure was carried out in various places on the 2000GT to get the body ready for a fresh paint job, however, the team hit a roadblock soon thereafter when it had to decide what colour the rare Japanese sportscar must be.
According to the official records, when it left the factory in the late 1960s the GT was painted in Thunder Silver, but the example standing in front of them had clearly transitioned to Solar Red over the years and it was impossible to determine when this happened.
“That said, it was clearly a comprehensive respray back in the day as crimson paint can be found behind the dashboard, under the carpets, and under the headliner,” said TSAM.
“However, with just over 30,000km on the odometer, the reason for this remains unanswered.”
TSAM decided that its GT will remain red in order to stay true to its “uniquely South African story”.
Dino’s was able to recreate the original Solar Red hue with the help of US-based Maine Line Exotics, and reapplied the colour without blemish.
The mirror caps were also painted in gunmetal to be closely aligned with the original colour scheme.
The shell was starting to take shape, but lots of work and many late nights still lay ahead for the restoration team.
A challenging piece of the puzzle was to find a curved windscreen that would fit the unique shape of the GT.
Between lockdowns and global supply chain issues, international suppliers of these glass panels asked astronomical fees with no guarantee that the part would arrive in South Africa on time and intact.
TSAM, therefore, turned to another local talent who built a bespoke mould and proceeded to craft the perfect shape windscreen that would fit the retro Toyota. Five attempts and five failures later, windscreen number six found its way into TSAM’s 2000GT.
The cabin proved to be equally difficult to restore, the original wooden trim being faded and brittle, the chrome strips breaking at the slightest bend, and the wooden steering wheel’s smooth pattern being broken up by a “sizeable splinter”.
These components were meticulously removed and placed in plastic bags and were then individually restored to showroom condition.
The original 60’s radio was disassembled, too, and refurbished by a “veteran radio repairman,” said TSAM.
The chassis was next, this daunting task headed up by Generation Old School in Benoni which believes not only in the revival of the vehicle, but also in the revival of the parts it used.
The shop reaffirmed that the overall condition of the foundation was fair and only minimal repair work would have to be done, though there were other components that needed complete refurbishment and, in the worst-case scenario, replacement.
“Four such items were the magnesium alloy wheels – which needed special paint preparation and paint to restore them to their original colour,” said TSAM.
Here, the Generation Old School team carefully refurbished the original items and even created a special tool to assist with the removal and refitting of the wheels without damaging any of the parts.
After years of storage and exposure to the elements, the GT’s original 3M-10256 engine had also seen its fair share of wear and tear.
As such, the unit was completely stripped and rebuilt by Wessels Motors in Kempton Park.
It took cleaning up the original components that were still salvageable; replacing items such as the sprockets, gaskets, and bearings; and designing and building a custom bracket for the aftermarket air-conditioning compressor that is mounted to the side of the motor to get it back up and running.
“This process entailed matching up sizes and sourcing components from other engines, creating bespoke engineered bits, and some ‘old-school’ mechanics to restore the original engine,” said TSAM.
The valve cover was also given a new coat of black paint and contrasting red ignition cables were installed for an extra touch of flair.
After all was said and done, the body was married to the powertrain once again and the 2000GT roared back to life as if it had never left.
The restored example will now be showcased at the prestigious South African Concourse on 20 November for visitors to admire, with its calendar undoubtedly being filled with many more public appearances.
Restored 1967 Toyota 2000GT
Keyword: Toyota 2000GT South African restoration finally complete – Photos