Well, lets do this again!

**akitaman** · #1 (**permalink**) 07-18-2006, 05:03 PM

I'm now on to a new GTV project for a customer. And I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite but this car had to be blasted. There is a great deal of body filler on it, questionable body work and rust. I sat down and talked to the media blasters and explained the rich history of alfa metal to them. They decided that a mixture of media's will be used. Glass bead, granite dust and ash. They promised that panel warping will not happen because this is what they found to work on some special thin gauge airplanes they were working on. They also said when it's time to blast they will call so I can take picture of it.

What do you know, a non-red Alfa! Here it is being dropped off at the blasters.

Oh boy, shes rusty!

They customer how owns this did his homework and found proof that it is supposed to be French Blue and that's what it will be again. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress, and the fab work, and the sanding and the painting and the.........

kroehl · #2 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 04:37 AM

Oh goody.

Please do keep us posted. Your topics are very informative to me, since I can wield a spanner while knowing what I'm doing but bodywork is new territory to me and being an Alfa owner, that is obviously worth working on.

Can't wait to see what happens next.

spannerman · #3 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 04:49 AM

Wow
I knew they cracked there, but not that much.

PSk · #4 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spannerman

Wow
I knew they cracked there, but not that much.

**akitaman** · #5 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 05:43 PM

Pete's right. There are sign of stress, but that's because that whole side is rotted away and what is remaining is weakened.

**1750GT** · #6 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 06:04 PM

Akitaman I cannot wait to see your magic on this one! I've been hoping to see some nice photos of a freshly painted French Blue GTV (the one I'm restoring is also French Blue but has been sun blasted down to the factory red oxide primer) so that I can decide whether or not to keep it this colour. Please....keep us posted with pics....hmmm.....how far away is Auburn from Oakville?

**akitaman** · #7 (**permalink**) 07-19-2006, 06:11 PM

Auburn is about 150 miles from Vancouver.... and yeah, I'll do the best I can to keep you posted. It's the least I can do for our maple lov'n brothers of the north!

**akitaman** · #8 (**permalink**) 07-21-2006, 08:52 PM

while the car is out at the blasters, I did the research to get the color right. The Dupont color library (you need to be a contract customer to access) did not have an up to date code. I know, everybody has paint codes for Alfa's but what you may not know is, if a manufacture does not reproduce that color with current pigments then your old paint code means nothing. Also if any manufacture reproduces that color, then there updated code almost always has a competition match to it. Anyway, Glasurit has reproduced the color. I contacted the Dupont tech support and then, got a Dupont code. As a side note Dupont stated they didn't reproduce the color because of it's extremely low U.S. purchase numbers.

A.R. 342 dead on! If it looks odd it's because of the great camera-phone I used.

BTW, the panel is called a "let-down" panel. It's purpose is to understand a color and how it lays against the style lines of a car.

**1750GT** · #9 (**permalink**) 07-22-2006, 12:31 AM

Once again thanks for the insight into another aspect of the world of autobody paints that I know very (very) little about. That test panel sure seems to show that the Blue Francia is a much lighter shade than I expected. Cant wait to see more!.....

**akitaman** · #10 (**permalink**) 07-22-2006, 10:22 AM

Odd enough 1750GT, I think French blue is a more generalized color then we think. This is an EXTREMELY fast TR6 I once owned. I painted it French Blue. This blue is not that close in tone to the AR 342 as one would assume it should be.

**classicalfas** · #11 (**permalink**) 07-22-2006, 07:10 PM

My car was painted with Glasurit 342 but was named Lemans Blue. Here is a photo.

AndyW · #12 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 01:21 AM

My car is Lemans Blue, paint code AR348, which looks the same colour as the 105 on the trailer, French Blue is a much darker blue

**akitaman** · #13 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 08:02 AM

Nice car Andy! The car on the trailer is a far more pail then the picture shows. And the car was repainted with a non Alfa color. The original color was French blue. The customer has documentation from Alfa to confirm this. Also the original color was still inside the door frame. Again Andy, love your car!

Thanks, Daron

AndyW · #14 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 08:23 AM

It took two years to restore, 3 months on the body work, the rest of the time spent putting it back together

.
I'm a fan of your work.

GoldCloverLeaf · #15 (**permalink**) 07-25-2006, 09:00 PM

Just found this thread, cant wait to see the updates.

AndyW - thats a great shot of the outer sill, is that an Alfaholics panel?