Paint shade/hue darkener?

[Timo]

What follows may sound like an off the wall question so please forgive my ignorance. Has anyone ever heard of chemical substance that is relatively easy to apply and that can acctually restore the not only the luster but the shade to faided paint(in this case red paint that is "dead") to make the hue a closer match other adjacent areas of the car that didn't get as much exposure to the elements?

Perhaps some kind of a dye for the paint? Short of a complete re-finishing is there such a thing available? Thanks in advance!

[clayman]

I've been painting for over twenty years and have never seen one of these so called restoring creams actually work. Good luck from Clayman

[Timo]

...this is what I thought. On a different note and while I have your attention; In your automotive painting do you use a single stage or two stage paint "system"? The reason I ask this question is it appears that most of the two stage paints seem to come out with a glossier, deeper finish as compared to the OEM look for most older Italian cars.

May be this is just my imagination, but on a lot of these "over the top" resto jobs the paint acutally looks too good, which is OK with me but for some it is not the real original look they might be after. BTW: I am not refering to what is called patina.

Also the couple of local automotive restorers and painters I use go with nothing but two stage paints. On some occasions they have painted with single stage at the customer's wish. Recently there was a local fellow that insisted his original '62 XKE Jag be painted with a single stage paint as he claimed this type of paint replicated the period look better and matched the color he was after. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Among other factors can the degree of depth & gloss of the final finish be controlled by the amount of clear coat that is used in a two stage system?

Thanks in advance.

[clayman]

Hey Timo, You are correct in your assessment of two-stage verses single-stage and the more clear coats applied the deeper the look,but the thicker the clear the greater the chance of chipping.I tend to use a two-stage system on a custom,show or at the cutomers request.When I am going for a original look I personally like to use a single-stage system,PPG's Deltron works quite nicely for me but I would find a quality shop and trust them to recommend the brand, painters usually have a system that there comfortable with, I would not want someone learning a new brand on my car as some paints are thick some thin and you want a painter who is tuned in to that brand. Well thats my $.02 on paint selection hope this helps Clayman

[Timo]

...the shop I've been using is very flexable and will use a single stage if the customer request. However they use a German brand(whose name escapes me at this time) paint that mfg's both a single and double stage paint system. The owner is a firm believer in two stage paints as far as durability against the elements is concerned.

As far as over restorations are concerned at the Concorso Italiano in '02 there was an absolutely beatiful Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder in the correct shad of rosso. In some folk's eye's the paint was way over done on this car as these roadsters were never originally finished that well from the Pinin Farina factory of that period. Techinally the OEM guys are probably correct about the finish of the car; way "over restored".

However I was just elated to see such a fine example of one these rare Lancias at the show and it such beautiful condition. Please find attached a pic of the engine bay and surrounding area this may give you an idea of the quality of the restoration. I'm told a few odd/ends like the white spark coil and a few fasteners(not visible in the pic) are not "correct" buy hey the car is a real gem in my opinion. Hope you enjoy.

[clayman]

Timo, this summer I intend on repainting my 73 gtv I haven't been able to decide on what color to paint,and of course everyone I've talked to has a different opinon as to the question of originallity or not. So I have finally decided that I'm going to paint my car any color I want, I didn't buy this car to create a museum piece and I'm not doing this car for resale value, while I hope people will accept my alfa as a job well done I'm not overly concerned about that.Oh by the way, I will be doing a two-stage paint job on my car.Hope to see some pics it sounds like you got a good shop picked out. Bye

[Bill77]

clayman -- I'm with you on that one. It's nice to keep a car original, but after you spend your hard earned $$ and your time, the car should end up how you want it. If it were going to make a huge difference in resale value, that would be another story. But the fact that the car has an excellent paint job in a tasteful color should help the car's value just fine.

I would suggest that you use the Alfa colors from the era that your car was built, however. I would stay away from trendy colors from recent times. Just my opinion, of course....

[Roadtrip]

It's hard to beat the classic Alfa colors. Exceptions would be the brown. Yuk. What a color to paint a sports car.