Project Pain(t) begins

Finally! Today we moved my Pantera to the painter. After nervously looking for a dry bright day almost 2 months, they promised below freezing, no snow, not even any clouds, pure sunshine, in a 3-4 hour window. We only needed 45 minutes. So I called the painter early, he needed his breakfast, and then drove to my house with a powerboating friend. And guess what, when they arrived and my mobile's weather forecast showed only sun, it was snowing. Not a lot, but f...... annoying!

There was no turning back now, so I invented a drive bag for paint free cars. First plastic cover, then the normal cover to keep it all in place. Not ideal, but pretty ok.

We had to push it bare, and of course that meant that we were in a hurry. We had no time to rig a hand winch, so we "just" pushed it up onto the trailer. Not as easy as we thought, but halfway up and snowing, you find strength you didn't know you had

Fully dressed...

On route, me nervously following. Had to stop twice to tighten straps etc.

Weather became better as we approached my painter's shop, there was the sun, so unloading was no problem. It's now parked in his shop.

About the color, I've narrowed it to something blue by looking at all blue Panteras in the registry. Showed the painter my favorites, he'll make a sample spray for me...

Hi Mikael,
Congrats on finally getting it moved. Looking forward to seeing the color!
Cheers, Tim.

quote:

About the color, I've narrowed it to something blue by looking at all blue Pantera in the registry. Showed the painter my favorites, he'll make a sample spray for me...

FWIW, I love the Ferrari 355 blue on these cars. A fellow PCNC member painted his the lighter of these shades (bottom) and it looks great!

http://www.thewatchersnetwork....-ferrari-f355-17.jpg


http://www.thewatchersnetwork....ars/ferrari-355.html

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Originally posted by No Quarter:
About the color, I've narrowed it to something blue...

Mikael,

I'm pretty happy with 2005 Ford GT midnight blue.




Mark

I'm going for the lighter nuances at the moment...

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nuances...

That doesn't sound like you.

I eagerly await the unveiling. As long as it isn't something poofy like Robins' Egg Blue.

Of course, it is your car and only YOU need to be happy.

Mark

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As long as it isn't something poofy like Robins' Egg Blue

Not far from it...

The metal has been prepared, deep scratches removed if any. And the straightening has begun. I warned the painter that there was filler almost all over, very thin in most places, but still. Is it the same with all Panteras? "Hand-built"? Especially the front lid, looks very straight in metal, but when starting the work, you can see the result

If you wonder why you can spot a bit of red on my car in front of the left rear, it's because I want the painter to measure it, so we can replicate it, if I end up going with red.

Rear deck lid had a dent at the rear, and also a non-standard brace beneath, pictured earlier. Took some straightening and then some filler. Somebody must have sat there, if it was the owner placing a woman there, I hope it was worth it...
Maybe this car was the reason they started putting a profile in the middle of the rear deck lid?

Well, at least it's WIP!

Here's the difficult side "straightened" :-). My painter likes to cover everything in bondo and sand most of it off. I would have used a lot less, maybe that's why he's a pro, and I'm ... not.
Maybe I should keep that pale-banana color?

quote:

Maybe I should keep that pale-banana color?

Not a bad idea, after all, it is closer to the color God and Alejandro intended our cars to be - yellow!

Seriously, keep the progress pics coming!

Hey, the door fits! On the right where door skin and rear fender have been replaced and rocker panel was a bit bent, it was quite a bit of work to get it straight.

I think I've asked this before, but did I get any answers? Almost everywhere I removed the paint to the metal, I found a thin layer of filler. Most of it very thin, but I found almost no surfaces that were just painted straight on. Is that normal for Italian hand built? Or are all you guys' cars totally straight under the paint?

A lot of negative can be said about my previous paint, but it was 100% straight, so somebody did a good job straightening.

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:
I think I've asked this before, but did I get any answers? Almost everywhere I removed the paint to the metal, I found a thin layer of filler. Most of it very thin, but I found almost no surfaces that were just painted straight on. Is that normal for Italian hand built? Or are all you guys' cars totally straight under the paint?

A thin layer of filler or thick layer of surfacing primer is the only way to block the body completely, optically, smooth. It is a common show car technique.

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Most of it very thin, but I found almost no surfaces that were just painted straight on.

Mine had just a thin coat of primer underneath the original gold metal paint so I assume the metal was staight from the factory. On top of the original paint I found several coats of filler, primer and paint from two resprays.

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

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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.

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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...

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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

Today I had time to go out in the garage and sit with a beer. That never happened though, I felt at urge to assemble something. With not much light or room I had to pick what to install, but here's the side marker installed.

Notice how when the paint is new, the rest of the car looks old and dirty. Which it is!

And my very special monochromelike-bling-80-90s-Euro style interior scheme was installed. When I decided to paint the vents/gills I was still thinking non-met yellow, but it looks good in Recife as well. Now I can see the color of my car while driving

Some more assembly today. The threads in the bolt holes where painted hadn't been masked, so I'm rethreading them, bolts won't go in. I think I got a thick layer for my money...

Plan is today to get it drive-able, let it rest for a week more, and then on Saturday move it from the small heated garage to the bigger unheated garage where I can work on it. Unfortunately the weather is great, that means fixing the boat which is outside...

quote:

The threads in the bolt holes where painted hadn't been masked, so I'm rethreading them, bolts won't go in. I think I got a thick layer for my money.

I just dropped my 66 Mustang off at the body shop a couple weeks ago and they had a difficult time removing the wiper arms because the last time the car was painted (1982) the shop didn't bother to mask the wiper shafts and painted them, then apparently pounded the arms onto the painted shafts.

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then apparently pounded the arms onto the painted shafts.

The pleasure of seeing craftsmen work...

What are those wide tracks in the snow?

Yes, despite still having snow in March, I've moved the Pantera (under its own power) from the small and dark but warm garage to the one with space and a lift. Time to call my strongest friend and get the doors and lids on...

What a nightmare. I thought I was well prepared but...

Front lid: Easy to carry. I had spotted that the threads were full of paint and re-threaded them, otherwise we would still be standing there. Some alignment, 15 min job.

Rear lid: Thought that was going to be easy, because I left the hinges on, only took the pins out (replaced with a bolt and nut), so alignment should not be an issue with this heavy piece. But I forgot that all hinges had received paint, so the middle part on the lid didn't go down between the outer parts so the hole aligned. I'll spare you the whole story, but using a thin screwdriver, then thicker, then the bolt with the threads made pointy. And hammering on the lid with a sledgehammer on top of a cloth and a piece of wood. Not to my liking, but didn't damage the paint. It took us 45 minutes to get it properly seated so the bolts could go through, all that time my friend balanced the heavy lid. He looked tired afterwards

Doors: Balanced them on a chair and used the lift to align the car, went easier than expected. When I closed one door I heard the sound of something breaking and something dark the size of a nail fell to the floor. Fortunately it was only some of the hardened black plastic around the wires.

So we got all four on, without major damage. I still need to spend a few hours aligning everything.

I had of course taped all the edges first. When I then started to remove the tape I found out it was crap tape. It didn't come off in one piece, and some glue stayed on Took me 2 hours to get 95% off, the remaining 5% can't be reached Cheap crap tape!

Enough for today...

Looking good Mikael!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I aligned the 4 add ons. Doors were easier than expected. Rear lid involved some welding because a thread on the lid starting turning. Front lid was a bit high on rear corners, so I stood up, feet in the cabin, body though windshield hole, wooden block under the middle part, and pushed down on the corners. Just a bit, did the trick. I wonder how the pros fix these kind of things...!

So Lexus freaks, bring on the small steel ball to check alignment! Well not quite, and I'm not too obsessed about things like that on a performance car. But it's better than before it was painted, and what's most important to me, the doors etc. are easy to close. I'm glad I spent the hours aligning when it was bare steel, and that I "insisted" the painter put the doors on when filling.

Hej Mikael,
its looking good! Sounds like it will be ready for the road rather soon - coinciding with an improvement in the weather I hope!

Cheers, Tim.

Things are going slowly and I deliberately don't force it, better do it right than fast. I have April off from work, so then we'll see.

In the mean time just wanted to share this birthday "card" I got from my son, he knows what I like! The text is Danish, and even if you understand Danish, it won't make sense, it's inside-family jokes that I won't share here

I think he maybe mixed the 2 digits of my age? No, unfortunately not...

Question for the community. The scripts on the rear, how should I fasten them? I've heard the following ideas, not sure which to use, don't want to break them, don't want them to ever fall off:
1. Orig clips (who has them?)
2. Make 3mm threads on the three pins, 3mm nuts
3. Put some body sealer in the three holes, gently push it in, will it stay
4. Double-sided tape for emblems, spend time cutting the not needed away
5. Any better ideas? Can't weld them in (just joking)

Someone recommended to me to apply a very small dab of clear silicone at each tab.

I believe threading them to be a better solution as you can snug them nicely against the body.

However, I saw the best solution in Reno at the Fun Rally. This individual had painted the script onto the rear panel and cleared over it. It looked original and avoided all the cleaning issues. I was so fond of it, I am painting the script on my current restoration.

Mikael,

I cut a thread on mine. I cant remember what size but be very gentle it's only ally. The GTS badge is made from brass and is threaded originally. It's difficult to remove them so I use a soft brush with lots of soap when cleaning around them.

Johnny

If you can ignore the dirt and tape: Rear end is starting to look assembled. I've seen a few Panteras that have the same'ish nuance blue as I have, but they're with black trim most of them. IMHO the chrome trim complements that blue perfectly

Was about to put front grill on, when I found this I've never seen before: Two sets of wires that had been cut and just left laying around. There are the following wires:

One set:
Thick yellow
Thick pink
Thick blue
Yellow
Red
Grey
Brown

Second set:
Grey
Brown
Black

They all seem to come from the main wiring in the right fender in front of the wheel. They were cut and taped off before it left the US to get to me. Judging by the state of the tape, decades ago.

Does anybody know why this was done, to live up to some US regulations? Amazing the car can drive with 10 cut wires. And everything works up front: Lights, blinkers, horn, fans.

Think I've found out, found a good wiring diagram. All colors seem to relate to fans and relays, and my fans have been moved to the rear of the radiator. So somebody probably just cut the wires and left them there. Currently I have one fan controlled by a thermostat and one controlled by a switch from inside, isn't that the way it was set up originally?

Never mind, now that I know what it is for and everything works, just rip it out!

looks great!

quote:

Currently I have one fan controlled by a thermostat and one controlled by a switch from inside, isn't that the way it was set up originally?

Yes, for the '71 cars only. The '72 and later cars used two thermo switches for the fans (one thermo switch per fan). That's why there is one switch on the center console ('72 and later cars) that isn't electrically connected to anything.

John

Time to install the glass, windshield and rear quarter window. Should be quite easy:
• No welding in the window frame
• Same windshield
• Best available new rubber
• Trim pieces sat almost perfectly before

Got some advice from Johnny Woods, before installing, lay the trim pieces on windshield, see fit. Didn’t fit very well in corners. Spent a few hours bending them with my hands, rubber hammer, wooden block etc. Got a great fit I thought.

Yesterday the window guy got here. Super guy, meticulous and interested in doing a good job. BTW, if you remember my experience with another local window firm and my Longchamp, I ended up having to repaint the hood, roof and rear decklid at their expense, because they put their tools on my newly painted car. This guy, who’s company translates to “The Window Man” is a lot better.

We put the rubber on the windshield, tried to install trim. Didn’t fit that well in corners. Took it out, bent some more, one corner up, one corner down, and now it fit perfectly all around the windshield. Time to install.

Still, after all that effort, when the windshield was installed, the lower corners didn’t go in the rubber as they should. Hhmm. Then we pushed, later hammered gently, all the time scared the windshield would say: “Enough”, and crack. It got better but not good.

Frustrated, I said, I almost want to put a clamp on it and push it down. He said, let’s try it. So we ended up putting super window glue down there, and a clamp on all night, both sides. And then we had to continue today.

Today we continued, glue curing over the night. It did indeed help, not perfect, but frankly I can’t remember how it looked before I took it all apart.

He did some sealer all the way around on top of what’s in the groove, and we discovered a small stone chip, he fixed that for me as well. And then it was time for the rear side windows, 10 minutes each, no problem.

All in all 4 hours of work. If any Danes want a window installer that cares about the car he works on instead of just slamming the windshield in and drive to the next customer, I recommend him. He comes to where the car is. www.rudemanden.dk

Only a few days work left now…

Sorry I missed most of this thread. Looks great ! I have never painted blue that did not come out great. Just a great color.

Hej Mikael,
thanks for the tip,
Cheers, Tim.

Spent most of the last 24 hours getting the right window to go up and down freely. Lots of bending and twisting and taking apart, normal adjustments wouldn't suffice. Reminded me of when a friend years ago had fitted another door to his car because the old one was rusty. He hadn't managed to get it to fit very well, so in attempt to be funny, I asked him what brand of car he got that door from...
Point is that the curvature (never thought I would use that word) of the window and the chrome frame are/were not the same, so I had to fiddle with a lot of things. I seem to remember a Taurus solution, or even a Pantera modified solution, is that right? Is that a higher torque solution, or just an easy solution for when the window motor breaks?

I constantly think there's 1 day's work, then I can drive, but after a day's work, there's still one day's work. No worry, it snowed yesterday. But I would like to DRIVE soon!

Here's a thread on the Taurus window motor conversion: http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/...=921100755#921100755

I just spent ALL DAY yesterday fiddling with the rear passenger window on my 69 Cutlass convertible. The window has been difficult to crank lately, and then my daughter and her friends took the car out Friday night and forced the hand crank when it became difficult to turn (rather than lifting the glass to assist) and the glass dropped into the body. What I hoped to be a 2 hour project turned into ALL day, but I did disassemble the other side as well and greased the regulator, rollers and slides, as adjust the limit stops, so I shouldn't ever have to do this again.

Mikael, Prior to disassembling my car for paint I noticed at car shows many panteras with ill fitting windshield mouldings. This is probably a function of once it comes off it never goes on the same again issue. Needless to say we had the same problem we fought and fought the moulding to no avail. Finally we decided to drill a small 1/16" hole in the windshield lip with the windshield and rubber installed without the moulding. We then drilled a small hole in the moulding and threaded some small stainless wire and pulled it thru. We then tied the wire off arould a small screw. This is essentially a strap for the moulding holding it down. We initially thought of using glue but we were concerned about future dis-assembly problems. I imagine this is one of the reasons some people use the glue in windshields. I dont think they look proper on our cars. At least now my mouldings fit well.

Yes, it takes some fiddling to get it just 90% right. Is that because of "hand-built?" When I did a frame off resto on my 68 Camaro I remember that things fit as they should when installing them. On the Pantera, quite a big part of what I installed had to come off again and be adjusted in some way to fit properly/symmetrically etc. Bumpers, everything in the doors, interior roof moldings etc.

Fully assembled. I have a few parts I want to exchange, but that will come later.

And washed for the first time.

If the weekend weather permits, I'll take it out and do some decent pictures with my real camera

The front, best I can do in that little garage...

looks great i'll bet the pictures you take outside will be fabulous.

Amazing color. Looking forward to see it in the sunlight.
What kinda mufflers do you have mounted ?

Rain today and tomorrow = no more salt. Sunshine and 15+ degrees sunday = blue, green and red pantera cruising ??

Heine, they're not avail anymore AFAIK exactly like that, but very similar. I got them on ebay for $100 for two, they were called:
DB001k OBX Dual Muffler

Kristian, driving Sunday is a possibility. Need to polish the boat if weather is too good though, with Erik. Let's see

Mikael,

Okey. Looks very much like the ones from PI - I bought some stainless mufflers for mine too, but haven't mounted them yet.

Kristian: That would be awesome, with a cruise. But I have an appointment with a photographer and a model, that wanna shoot some pics of my Pantera. Crap..... Would have been much more fun driving with You Guys !!!!

Heine - how about a double-pantera-photo-shoot. I'll take the model in my car - you can have the photografer

Haha, Kristian - Good reply !

But.... The photographer have asked me if I could manage to get a couple of Italian sportscars together for a shoot this summer. So I might need a Pantera or two more. Also have a Maserati Mexico, Lambo Urraco, Countach in mind that I know of. It could be a fantastic shoot. He will make the shoot in Roskilde, at the "Musicon" - So if You're game, You're in !!

Let me know......

quote:

Let me know......

Absolutely - should be fun.