hello folks
as my green froggy is at the body shop for restoration, there come the problem of the paint. what kind of paint and what is the colour range used in 1973. The paint in my car seems a monocomponent, they say acrylic or I don't know the english definition, but body shop man says that that kind of paint is banned, at least it's banned in Italy, some painter still use it, but it is a very expensive painting style as it must be Painted many times, I could 8use a pastel paint, but some one that makes the job says that to do this it must remove all the paint and start again from the black underpaint, otherwise it could happen that after some timwes it could appear some scratch like chicken feet, as the original paint is thermoplastic, and the new paint type are hard, and so, when the paint heats, it become hard, and in opposite, the underpaint is soft and move and scratch the paint. Some suggestion to make a good job?

 

Orso yes the paint is lacquer probably which takes multiple coats, then sanding and polish, the best way is to strip the paint and start from bare metal, but this is lots of work. I think you could possibly seal the paint and then respray ask your painter. Here you might be able to find lacquer but it is harder and harder. You are a brave man driving an oldsmobile in the home of ferrari, its a wonderful city though...

Others will chime in,

 

thanks Eddie, yes I'm brabe, in effect I don't like Ferrari as I am too tall to enter in it, and anyhow I don't like drive in an unconfortable car too narrow for me, too expensive for my wallet and with a V12 howling in my ears and I don't like the speed and I don't like I don't like drivers that confuse the highways for motordromes, so I prefer the quite, smooth and confortable old american cars. I have owned a Mercedes, a Volvo, but none of them gave the same driving pleasure of my Olds or my Lincoln

 

Bravo fratello but for the autostrada. Veloce is prima no. You must get quite theattraction driving an oldsmobile same as I would have gotten here if I brought my 82 alfa romeo gtv home

I will be following your project

 

So you own a Alfa Romeo.. gee, those chocolate made cars that get rusty just in lookin' at them, but they run fast. We appreciate american cars aned you in America appreciate european ones, this could be callen cultural trade yeah!!!

 

I try to post some pic of the done job

 

other pics

 

Orso ( bear right?) I no longer own the alfa it was too expensive to change to an unleaded car, as well as get the us gauges etc, add to the cost of shipping, but I had lots of fun with her, for a 2 liter car she would run at 160 kph all day..... or at least from brindisi to marina di pisa lol....

 

Did they weld metal into the repair? To spray that small portion of paint you could probably buy original lacquer and spray here in the usa tcpglobal.com or hiberniaautorestorers.com but not likely you could ship it by air? Lacquer is also restricted in many states here and generally allowed only for restorations and it is hard to find all the colours.

 

hi Eddie, yes Orso means Bear iol, there is still someone that pains with lacquer, but it is very expensive, and by the way I'm doing the job, I thought to chenge colour, maybe White or another clear colour, in pastel paint, letting its basic black, but this after they have completed to remove all the rusty spots, so i will have a better idea of the final cost of the restoration.

 

There should be some paints that can be painted over acrylic lacquer and not cause crazing ("chicken feet") or "orange peel," but EU rules are different than US rules, and they may not be available there.

Here are the 1973 colors:





That rust was repaired by welding in metal before it was covered by filler, right?

- Eric

 

The problem with lacquer is that it never really dries. That it why it "dies out" and eventually starts to "check", in varying degrees, depending on climate. They do make a water borne barrier coat, but it was primarily used to enable painting lacquer over enamels. You could try a product like Featherfill or Reface, but be prepared to block sand your fingertips off. I would recommend at least stripping the top surfaces, such as the hood, fender tops, and deck lid. If the lower portions are showing no signs of checking, you may be able to pull it off.

 

they are still working on the metal, but some part I have seen is filled whit bondo, hope they they have replaced the metal first, I have not the time to follow the work everydays, but the place have been suggestged by a friend of mine as a reliable shop, but when they have completged the metal work I will control with a magnet if there is the metal or only bondo

 

the painter says that with water paint it's possible cover the acrylic lacquer with no problem, I thought use a pastel paint (I don't know the english name of this kind of paint), but, anyhow, the paint must be removed till the bottom black, repaint the bottom, seal it and spray the paint. a terrific expensive job

 

Hi, here I am again, the restoration it's almost finish, the car is painted, and they must reassemble everything. Hope they reassemble all correctly
I haved repainted with the original color, not in laquer paint of course, but the painter has sent the trunk cov er to the Basf italy and they have made the same color tune, it seems they have made a good job. Tuesday I'll go to the body shop with the camera to get some pic. In trying to clean the grill signature (oldsmobile) I have broken it, I thought it was in metal but it is in zama and as I unscrewed it it has broken in three pieces, but I do not buy another, as there is not time, as they want to finish the job, but I will seal it and it will not see any difference

 

Loats of pics please!
I had a 73 Delta 88 in Zodiac Blue, still have an unopened gallon of the lacquer!

 

Thank you, but the car is painted already, in the sme original moss gold, not in laquer of course, but the car seems very beautyful

 

I have a question about a device found back of the front grid, the man says that it was unplugged, and there is not a plug in the place where it could be plugged, I try to post a pic so some of you knows the device and what it serve to

 

I try to post some pics of the work in progress

 

That is a genuine concealed "Fox XK" radar detector.

The part you have is the actual radar detector antenna and electronics.
The other part is a small (about 8x2x5cm) box that is attached under your dashboard, with a volume ****, a light, and a little speaker, which makes noise to indicate the presence of radar.



The clear plastic parts of the unit you have do not have a purpose - they are just to make it look cool.



- Eric

 

The paint looks great. If you don't have the rest of the radar detector, I'd just remove it.

 

The car looks like it's coming along .