Classic Alfa Forums

First pass through the paint booth.

looking good.

I hope you all like green.......

This picture shows the car inverted for seam sealing. The green paint is epoxy primer, the grey is high build primer/filler. As before the pics are rotated but open correctly when clicked. I'll leave you to work out what you are looking at.
The next three pictures show seam sealer being applied to each seam. No slapping on with a brush, each seam is precisely sealed and then wiped smooth. When these pics were taken about 18 man hours had been spent doing this & they weren't finished.

If you scroll back several pages you will find some serious repairs to the floor. As you can see in this picture, there is no evidence of repairs. The spot welded seam is a factory joint.. So what next? Finish off seam sealing, then epoxy stone chip in selected areas - the bodyshop dislikes hosing it all over the bottom of the car. Then its three further coats of paint followed by transfer to a dolly then onto a two post lift for the next stage.

I luuuuuurve green!

It’s my favourite colour, great choice and it will no doubt look awesome when finished.

Great to see the car now in primer. A lovely job done by the metal fabricators, and now the attention to detail continues with the pre paint preparation. People often do not realise what is involved in getting to this next stage and the next one.
Great work.

Yes, the effort required is massive.

It's so pleasing to see some primer applied - it amplifies the quality and attention to detail of the fabrication work. The guys are now getting stuck into an E type bodyshell, they rust too. I must admit that the ever increasing spend on this project was starting to get to me, but when I walked into the paint booth and saw the primed shell I had an epiphany & everything Chris had been telling me since April about his no compromise approach fell into place. I'm going to end up with an absolutely stunning Sprint.

That's the eulogy done with, here's some more pictures of an upside down green car masked up for anti stone chip application.

Stunning work

Have they advised anything into any hollow sections fro corrosion protection?

Hi Dave,

Translucent cavity wax will be applied in all box sections by high pressure spray. This will be a two stage process, firstly with the car upside down then repeated the right way up thus ensuring even upward facing panel joints are treated. This will be done in the spray booth at a temp of around 24c.

Also, remember that all box sections already have eCoating from the Envirostrip process except where repairs have taken place. But even these had epoxy primer or weld through primer applied.

How many more pictures of a green Sprint can you take?

Now you see it (stone chip) Now you don't
Here is the final result on the underside

Pics 1&3 need to rotate (0 deg CW. In this picture the interior has been primed and seam sealed. The car is at 45 degrees for a reason........
You'll recall the scuttle panel was in a pretty poor state and needed extensive repair
The body shop have decided that the appearance of the repairs is not to their standard, so the primer and seam sealer has been removed and the car rotated to improve access.

Surely it'll be better than when new, they didn't take this much care when building them!
Great stuff.

Looking Great !!

I'm expecting the view rate to fall away as you all get sick to death of seeing a Matese green Sprint

Painting is now complete on the underside, engine bay and cabin. The scuttle panel has been reworked & I think you'll agree it looks pretty good. Next step is to transfer the shell to a transport dolly and put it aside while the tailgate, doors and bonnet are prepped for priming. Top coat will be applied with them off the car to ensure a consistent finish over the whole of each panel, not just the outside skin.

Question to the floor. Chris (the bodyshop owner) is of the opinion that the B post covers would look better in green instead of black (i.e like the very early cars with chrome trim). Opinions please!

Personally speaking I like the contrast with black panels to break up the colour, cars always seem to look better once the other bits and pieces go back on.

Looking great though, be a shame to fit carpets!

Dilemma ! I'd go with green, - I do think that the early Sprints looked good in one colour. The black was a creeping thing, first the B post trims, then the window frames on the doors and the rear quarter window frames were done black too. What is easier to change if you don't like it, green ones to black, or black ones to green ?
Cheers, John.

Well, every day is a school day, I didnt know the b post panel was body colour on early cars !

For contrast, not the best side by sides

I’d go green b post trim and chrome window trim if you have it !

As I'm incapable of making my mind up, one side will be painted green, the other black so I can see the end result & choose accordingly.

In other news FedEx have LOST MY FUEL TANK!!! They collected it from Envirostrip on the 9th, it was tracked to one of their depots & there the trail goes cold. Apart from a peeling internal coating it was in good nick so I'm more than a little pi**ed off. How can they lose something as big as a car fuel tank.

Sorry for rant but.......really???

I am with John on the colour.
Paint it all green, if you really don't like it and want some contrast, you can paint the black over the green. If you start with the black applied, it is more involved to rectify, trust me I know.
Sorry to hear the Muppets have lost your fuel tank, hope by some mirical it turns up.
Paintwork looks superb so far. Very nice and clean and don't worry, we won't get tired of looking at fresh paintwork.

Just noticed, your car has the blacked-out trims and not polished stainless so that does tend to lean towards a full black out.

When the 33 was first painted we went with white door frames an B post it made the car look quite boxy.
I then decided to do the glass edging and B post satin black and it transformed the look making it longer and sleeker. Personally I would blackout everything around the B post to make it look like the Windows join up.
If you are unsure go with green as it would be fairly easy to have reinstalled black afterwards.
Stunning work though.

Rsfruitbat

If your tank doesn't turn up..............!!

A few years ago, new Alfa 33 fuel tanks were available from Germany.......which will fit Suds/Sprints
Can't see them now, but you may be able to dig one out?

The company was called ATP Autoteile. They’re based in Germany. I think they had a very limited supply at the time. That’s said it may be worth contacting them to see if they can still get them.

Thanks to both of you on the advice about a new tank. I tried ATP a couple of months ago, but no joy which is why I decided to refurb my tank. It isnt a total catastrophe as John has got a used one. There's also another used one in Portugal. But until Fedex admit defear I can't do anything, I dont really want two tanks!

Alfaoldgit wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:19 pm As I'm incapable of making my mind up, one side will be painted green, the other black so I can see the end result & choose accordingly.

In other news FedEx have LOST MY FUEL TANK!!! They collected it from Envirostrip on the 9th, it was tracked to one of their depots & there the trail goes cold. Apart from a peeling internal coating it was in good nick so I'm more than a little pi**ed off. How can they lose something as big as a car fuel tank.

Sorry for rant but.......really???

.....or wrap one of the painted posts black then you can just remove it if you decide otherwise.

That's a good idea......but I better not suggest it at the body shop. I will be firmly directed to the nearest exit

The fuel tank that FedEx have lost is unrecoverable.

The main factor being it is impossible to speak to anyone at their Atherstone depot which is where it was last scanned. All customer service (that is a misnomer by a considerable margin) calls go to some third world location where you end up talking to someone with a prepared script who dosen't even know where Atherstone is.

I arranged this fuel tank refurb service through RustUK who have been very helpful. They are as infuriated as me & indications are that they will pay for a replacement tank.