The Alfa Thread

[BlackbirdM3]

Well, that is quite the transformation. Looking pretty darn sharp.



Its come a LONG way in the past month. Time to seriously think about paint.

Will

[flyboyx]

Navy blue!!!!!

Silver!!!!

???

[mrsleeve]

Navy blue!!!!!

Silver!!!!

???

both???

but yes seriously dark blue!!!!!!

[flyboyx]

No. Not both.

[BlackbirdM3]

I like the dark blue, but I don't know that I want to own a dark blue car. It just doesn't quite do it for me. I really want to do black but this is what my paint guy had to say about both the Winter Blue and black.

"there isn't really any good single stage paints anymore. they are all high solids and are hard to spray to get them to go on smooth and without orange peel and fish eyes. they are also slow drying compared to the two stage paints ,(more dirt and runs) and much harder to polish. And even if they recognize an older paint code in a single stage formula, the color they actually mix up is often way off becasue all of the toners have changed over the past 15 years (no lead, etc). we can probably match that Winter blue or come close enough to it in a two stage. I have books with tons on colors in them to choose from that are available..

Black is a mistake on an old beater car like this. Never can get the prep good enough to pull it off unless you use gallons of filler and a hundred hours of blocking / priming / wet sanding. And then it often won't hold up in the long run (shrinkage, stress cracks from heat cycles and body flex, etc) and you will see every flaw as a few years go by or less. They also get so hot inside on a warm day and are impossible to keep clean. Its different if you had a super clean body to start with, but even then, I am not a fan of black on 50 year old cars."

Calling it an old beater car is a bit of a stretch considering the only damage to the car was the nose. Everything else is nearly perfect and straight. (A couple shallow dips here and there, but not enough to call them a dent.)

I want a dark color that is rarely seen and will stand out. The Winter blue would do that. Black would also do that. Black would show off all the polished aluminum, stainless steel or chrome trim as well (there is a ton of it as well.) Silver wasn't a stock color, and I already have a car that is dark metallic grey anyway.

Will

[LateFan]

Wow, that's huge progress.

So how is dark blue much different from black on a "50 year old beater?" (Thanks buddy!) I assume it's not going to be a show car (?), but it'll be really straight if he does his job well. A dark glossy color is a dark glossy color. If it develops a couple of tiny wutzits in a few years...oh well, it still looks great. And you can drive it.

Mine ended up two-stage because the body shop said that's all they would do. Tested a half dozen variations of the shade. Paint code numbers weren't as good as doing it by eye and with their color scanner thing. We found some places on the bottom of the dash and in the door jambs that had never been in the sun. Came out good.

It's not like you're spraying lacquer on there and it'll craze and crack all over. It's not like you're going to leave it sitting out in the sun all the time.

Understandably, he doesn't want any call-backs and he doesn't want to re-spray it for free in 2 years.



EDIT - funny story...
After mine had been painted and stored in the garage, my kids were little and were trying to move an old wooden ladder. It fell and landed on the car - made a little ding / chip on the nose. They thought I was going to kill them, but I didn't say a word, just took a walk. I'd rather have them than a perfect paint job. It'll always be there and remind me of them when they were tots. They felt so bad.

[BlackbirdM3]

Wow, that's huge progress.

So how is dark blue much different from black on a "50 year old beater?" (Thanks buddy!) I assume it's not going to be a show car (?), but it'll be really straight if he does his job well. A dark glossy color is a dark glossy color. If it develops a couple of tiny wutzits in a few years...oh well, it still looks great. And you can drive it.

Mine ended up two-stage because the body shop said that's all they would do. Tested a half dozen variations of the shade. Paint code numbers weren't as good as doing it by eye and with their color scanner thing. We found some places on the bottom of the dash and in the door jambs that had never been in the sun. Came out good.

It's not like you're spraying lacquer on there and it'll craze and crack all over. It's not like you're going to leave it sitting out in the sun all the time.

Understandably, he doesn't want any call-backs and he doesn't want to re-spray it for free in 2 years.



EDIT - funny story...
After mine had been painted and stored in the garage, my kids were little and were trying to move an old wooden ladder. It fell and landed on the car - made a little ding / chip on the nose. They thought I was going to kill them, but I didn't say a word, just took a walk. I'd rather have them than a perfect paint job. It'll always be there and remind me of them when they were tots. They felt so bad.

Exactly, dark blue will show imperfections almost as much as black does. Especially if its a solid color. Is it going to be a show car? Well, it will be taken to shows, but I don't expect it to win any concours events. I do want to rebuild it as nicely and correctly as I can however. That said, I'm planning on running race seats in it and a roll bar (For safety's sake. 5 point race harnesses and tall seat backs for head protection.) I do want it to look as correct as I can get it.

That said, I do plan on driving the car. Possibly even using it as a daily driver for trips under say 4 hrs long. Will it get stone chips? Yeah, most likely. Is it going to get dirty? Again, yes. Will it get rained on? I think that will depend on how water tight it is, and how well the heater and fan will defog the windows. I think my Datsun has survived the past 5 years pretty well. there are a few paint defects now, but overall it still looks freshly painted. I wax it every time it comes out. A little dust on the car doesn't bother me that much. It shows that the car isn't a museum piece and does get used. I'd rather have a black car with some dust on it from use than own a car that sits in the garage and never gets driven because it might get some dust on it. (Oh the horror....)

Will

[BlackbirdM3]

Its well known that black shows all imperfections below the paint. Well, what do you guys think?




Perhaps I should go with the stealth look and paint it satin black? (Joking)

Will

[LateFan]

Not an expert, but iz looks nice to me.

In that earlier photo, I was going to ask -
Are these wobblies just in the photo, or a build-up of fillers before final sanding / shaping...or..?

[BlackbirdM3]

Not an expert, but iz looks nice to me.

In that earlier photo, I was going to ask -
Are these wobblies just in the photo, or a build-up of fillers before final sanding / shaping...or..?

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I honestly have no idea. I haven't seen the car in person. My guess is that they are all the above. There is no finish work done at this point, just work to get to to be ready to be finished. Its about 98% ready for the finish work, but no finish work has been done.

The body still needs more attention elsewhere, like the rust in the trunk floor and a few other small imperfections that are found around the car.

Will

[LateFan]

TZ

First batch from Autodelta


Engine was tipped way to the left





These two are a factory museum car..


Inboard rear brakes

[LateFan]

Tz2

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[LateFan]

Alfetta GT (don't know why hood is open)

[LateFan]

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[E30_Pare]

Sprint is coming along nicely. Just finished up blocking the GTV im working on. Man my arm is shot.