Project Pain(t) begins

quote:

when you hit 200 posts you have to paint the car i'm dying to see the new color

I'm doing my best. Weather delayed me 2 months. But at least there's progress now. I have a month off in April, that's when I plan to put it together, so I'm not hurrying the painter. So all I can do is stop posting progress pictures...

Sounds like you had a few "oh crap- gotta fix that" problems. I have a dozen or more.

Keep us informed.

Corey

The plan is that the painter calls me whenever he's in doubt about straightening, drove there Tuesday to discuss the right door alignment, a challenge since the rear fender is a replacement. He also pointed my attention to the fact that the top horizontal chrome window list is straight, but the roof it's supposed to seal to has a curve. Not an easy car to get right. When he thinks he's finished straightening, he'll paint it one color, and then I go through it and "sign" it off. Good thing, I get what I want, he gets no complaints.

He said he would give it a layer of epoxy paint, so "it won't rust in your lifetime". I'm not sure if that's what can be seen here or if it's sander or what ever, but seeing it in one color suggests progress.

Semi-gloss grey is not that bad... Hhmmm

Progress, nice to sit Saturday evening and get MMSs just ticking in

It's actually beautiful in semi gloss black. Now that I think about, a Pantera is beautiful in ANY COLOR!

Satin black is beautifull

Went to the painter today for final inspection etc. They've done a good job with the body, only found two areas to correct by holding bumpers and other stuff to the body. Had new DeTomaso and Pantera scripts, needed holes elongated very slightly, better now than when painted.

Color is chosen and mixed! The few I have communicated my choice to have not said anything like "great color!", so it may only be to my taste. Great!

I finally decided after having seen it in a parking lot at work. Plenty of nice colors in sunshine, but they all looked dull in cloudy conditions. Not this one. It has a "shine" to it, and amazing two tone ability. Like the two tone colors, but with both tones the same color. If that makes sense...?

Regardless, decision is made, I like it. It's called KMF Recife Bleu.

Example

Hi Mikael,

sounds great! I am looking forward to seeing it. But it's going to take some time to get used to you not being in a red Pantera.

Cheers, Tim.

Thanks Tim

From Red Hot to Cool Blue...

Great color

Wow - Stunning color. It will really stand out beside all the red Pantera's

Great color! Pearl?

My guess was Ford Focus hot magenta (which looks crappy in pics but great in sunshine). That might have been a tad girly??

Cheers,
Janne

My guess is that your beautiful blue looks very much like what Audi calls "denim blue pearl effect" as on my daily driver Audi TT. It is the only other color I think I would like on 4744, but it's Yellow Forever!

It's being painted as we speak/type...

Picture is fuzzy, maybe the painter is drunk, but the color is there and it shines

I love the color! I am painting my car a similar blue. I can't wait to see it assembled with that color- please post pictures.

great choice
remember a BMW i had long time ago in that approx blue color ...always found it the nicest car color i ever had ! think just that little bit darker...as my boat now

Very nice, good choice on the blue

A better picture of the color. The painter was not satisfied with the clear coat so wet sanded and gave it one more

Body in progress...

Very nice!

When I was shopping for my Pantera, I was planning to repaint whatever car I found in a similar shade of blue. But then I found my Giallo pre-L, which promptly became my favorite color. But your blue sure looks stunning. Can't wait to see it back together.

Though I've only seen this picture, and not the car in real life yet, I can say that I'm pleased with my color choice

Very nice color - now the fun part begins.

Nice!

Is it the colorcode I think it is?

VERY, VERY nice color for it. Good choice !
Can't wait to see it IRL.

It's going to be a good year for Pantera's in Denmark this year.

quote:

Is it the colorcode I think it is?

Don't think so, but close, you were part of my inspiration.

Back in the heated garage for few days of paint curing/hardening. "Some assembly required"

So now the pleasure of Pantera ownership is over. I dare hardly touch it, or even go by. Putting the doors on will be a nightmare. And will I ever get the courage to actually drive it? Fast?

Status on the paint job. The color is just as I wanted. The straightness of the body is better than I expected. I know that curing filler can change that slightly, but the starting position is as good as it gets, maybe one of the straightest 70s Italian cars IMHO. No orange peel, they did 2 layers of clear coat, then wet sanded the whole car (external surfaces) and 2 layers more. Ended up paying a little more than first agreed, paid with a smile. The painter swears that this is the last project like that he'll take in. I'm sure he loved to look at it every day, and was sad to see it go...

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:
So now the pleasure of Pantera ownership is over. I dare hardly touch it, or even go by. Putting the doors on will be a nightmare. And will I ever get the courage to actually drive it? Fast?

Put down your flower hat and relax. Make the first healthy burnout right outside the garage.
You can always re-paint it.

I hope you guys (and gals?) have enjoyed following this project. It's been fun writing about it. I've tried to show it all, all the steps, warts and all. Not just say "the body was perfectly straight" and "no rust".

The color choice has been hard to do. I've seriously considered at least 5 colors. But now that I chose blue met, I remember that half of the cars I've owned have been blue met, so maybe it's not so surprising.

Now the car has to rest a while, I may go sit in a chair with a beer watching it, but no assembly for now. When it's assembled and running, on a sunny day, I'll take some good pictures.

Thanks

Only picture of it in sunshine:

Thank you for taking the time to share the progress to this point. It has been fun reading.
Please post more when progress resumes.
Great color and depth.

Mikael,

GREAT CHOICE! I love how the color turned out and feel your pain through the process. Once it's all done your results will prove the effort was worth it. Keep up the great progress reports and thanks for sharing.

Mark

Close up, almost flake-paint, just like my first Camaro bought in 1980

Looks a bit better than the previous hand painted with a brush paint work.

Flake is good!!

Mikael....love the color....the larger flake makes the color pop! What kind of paint and clear coat was sprayed? You may be luckier that those of us here in communist California (HAHA) with all our paint laws. Our paint has changed so much over the last 20 years it's not funny. My daily driver already has clear coat problems after only 3-4 years after a minor accident repair. I'm trying to decide on colors also, but don't want these kinds of headaches on the Pcar so I'm also considering solid colors with no clear coat. Definitely not as exciting as your color.

The color is KMF recife Bleu, and we now use waterborne paint, not solvent based. And that is less durable. Let me know if you need more details, I'll ask my painter

Looks GREAT!!
Very close to the color of my car.

Ron