cracked laquer paint= bare metal repaint?

If you dont strip it no bodyshop will stand behind the work, not that they would stand behind it for 10 years if you do. But, if you do a half job dont expect it to last. If you plan on keeping the car long term then do it right by doing it once, find the hidden repairs if there are any, deal with them and end up with a top notch finished product. Sounds like you have lacquer (sp?) paint which is in a constant state of drying hence the shrinkage and cracking. Strip it and paint it with 2 stage.

 

Time to strip it.... otherwise it is a waste of time and money... You can save some money if you strip it your self, I had a "stripper" party to "strip" my 911, have fun!

 

You have to strip it. You save quite a bit of money on the paint job if you pull the moldings and strip it yourself the put all the molding back yourself. The only other choice is to live with it.

 

I had my '77 308 GTB USA Model completely stripped to bare metal a few years back....the painter wrote up an excellent description as to what he encountered along the way....my original lacquer paint was cracked as well....I am very glad I had it stripped all the way down....it has held up beautifully....I tore the car down as much as possible, and had him strip it.....after paint completion, I put all the parts back on mostly by myself.....
Here is the link.....
http://www.homestead.com/redlinerennsport/Ferrari.html

 

What he said.

Modern paint is worth the effort. Plus, I suspect every older 308 has rust on it somewhere, and now's the time find it.

 

As everyone said previously, go for the full job. In the long run it will be cheaper and by far better looking.
Ciao
Eugenio

 

Here I am going against convention again. I too have some original paint showing cracking, though I tend to believe the proper term is crazing. Anyway, mine too is a driver, and I just cant see blowing $10K or more on paint right now. So I've gotten brave. I took the rear valance over the muffler off and had NAPA color match the paint off it and make me up a quart, and bought reducer and hardener. Ive sanded over areas with as low as 100 grit paper (like around the windshield frame), and worked up to 600-1200 grit. Ive used a modeling brush to fill in the cracks with raw paint, and then sanded it out before getting out the polisher. Stone chips, small pits, nicks and dings, ive filled a bunch of them and sanded them out. It might not equal a $15K job when I get done, but its starting to really shine in areas. If I can get it all to look decent I can hold off on a major paint job for a while.

 

If you are going to repaint, the crazed areas will have to be stripped. The crazing comes about as a result of the paint shrinking, thus separating in cracks like mud does when baked in the sun. As this paint will expand and contract at a different rate as compared with anything used to fill in these cracks, they will always resurface.

There are many ways to have the vehicle stripped. Chemical strippers do not work that well with lacquer as they tend to simply turn it to slime, rather than causing it to roll up for easy stripping. Sanding works well, but is very time consuming, and therefore expensive! You may want to consider some sort of blasting. There are many options here, and a good blaster can go over the pros and cons of each. Though I have not had this done myself, I understand that wet-soda, walnut shell, and plastic media are all very easy on the metal when done properly.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

 

I like it.

I tried two places to computer match my 66 corvette laquer and and both have been way off...maybe i'll try NAPA.

 

You can lead a horse to water.....and we all wonder why 308's are worth $30K.

 

Don't let it get to you Paul. You're 308 will be worth at least $35k when you're done with it.

 

Hard to say. I wouldn't think patchwork repaints, redyed leather and discount carpet kits have much do to with it...

 

Whew! thanks I feel better.

No, I dont think so its the lack of dealer service, lol.

 

It's nice to know when all of your hard work and sweat is all worth it. LOL!

 

I just had my red paint matched at an auto paint supply store and it's dead nuts on. I'm going to leave I'm with original paint as long as I can and touch it up for now. It's really not that bad from a few feet way, most people that have seen it said leave it original paint. When I notice these cars starting to climb in value then a Full paint job later.

 

I'd be willing to go $35,100.00

 

I agree with above posts; do it right the first time.

I decided to go for a bare metal paint job.
Have at look at the below thread. It's in Dutch, but the pics are English. So you'll get the point.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174006

 

Outstanding.

Love your car/color! Wish we could get Euro 308s registered in California. That's the kind of car I'd pay good money for. Or, if you don't insist on good money, U.S. dollars...

 

Excellent work!

 

+1

 

I remeber that, Neil. It was done right.

 

Because of some of the comments made, I felt I should add something. First of all, Paul Newmans car is, without a doubt, a masterpiece. No one in thier right mind could ever say otherwise. And to those others of you who have done full bare metal resprays, the same Kudos are in order. But it isnt always necessarily a question of which way is best, its often times more a question of which way is more efficient at the moment.

If I had the time or money there is absolutely no question I would have the car all redone. But even if I did, its not always a matter of time or money, its usefulness. Paul Newmans car is at present a show car. No one is going to be driving it on road trips or mucking it up. Its most likely going to spend the next many years languishing more or less unused, until the lustre wears off. Then it will probably be sold to another enthusiast who will begin again to use it as Enzo intended.

There are also those among us to whom originality becomes formost over quality. Vintage cars with original faded and oxidized paint and cracked leather are often times just as desireable as the latest and greatest paint and buff. So please dont look down your noses at those who try to preserve these cars as they so desire. No more than anyone should carp about over restorations.

The focus of this thread, if I was reading it correctly, was if its "mandatory" to do a full body and paint restoration down to bare metal. I contend that it is not. But that its more subjective to the needs and abilities of the particular owner. Like a Doctor, I prescribe to the addage "first, do no harm". My main focus with these cars is to first get them preserved so that no further deterioration continues, and worry about correcting them later on. If you have the time to be without your car for an extended period of time, and the available funds, by all means have the car treated properly. But the sad truth is that in many cases it can take a good body shop many months to get one of these cars done. Newman has been at his project for years. I know of others that took a year or more. Often these cars go into body shops, get torn apart, then sit and collect dust on the back burner for months and months. For those with decent drivers that only need some touching up here and there, why go to all the trouble and expense?

 

Yes, full removal to metal, or at least a strip down to the OEM filler should produce the most reliable/longest lasting results.

But, when economics is involved, I concurr with Paul. In the past, with daily drivers, or when $$ was tight, I've stripped/sanded checked paint down, found either sound primer or a sound intermediate layer, sprayed with primer/sealer & color coats. Lasted for many years & looked great.

Key is to verify that the layer you're keeping is indeed sound. Sanding dust can easily fill fine cracks & make them invisible. I wet sanded with about 600 grit, rinsed & used compressed air to blow it dry. The compressed air often revealed that what appeared to be a sound layer was still checked & had to be removed. If the layer looks sound after being wet sanded & blow dried, then it's probably OK.

However, if your car finish is indeed Lacquer, there's a good chance that the primer was lacquer based as well. Implications are:

1) Odds are that the lacquer based primer will have dried & checked along with the lacquer color coats.

2) Lacquer primers are risky to spray with many modern paints like urethanes, and the primer/sealers sold for use under urethanes as the reducers used will soften/dissolve the lacquer in the primer, or cause other problems, resulting in paint failure.

The test for lacquer is to find a hidden spot, moisten a cloth with lacquer thinner & rub. If the finish starts dissolving, then it's lacquer.

In the case of a lacquer primer, you should consider using an acrylic enamel type paint like DuPont™ Centari® acrylic enamel. Enamel reducer won't react with lacquer based primers. Many body shops still use Centari® for spot or panel repairs on older cars, and are very familiar with it. Another low risk option is to use a lacquer like Dupont's Lucite® system if it's still legal in your state.

I have once used a primer/sealer on a sound lacquer primer, then color sprayed with a urethane & it came out OK, but have heard of other cases where it was a disaster & had to be sanded down to bare metal. Suspect that the difference was that the sealer was lacquer compatible & was fully cured before I scuff sanded & sprayed the final coat. Don't think I'd risk it again.