Countach bare metal respray | FerrariChat

Countach bare metal respray

Discussion in 'LamborghiniChat.com' started by sp1der, Mar 8, 2012.

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  1. sp1der

    sp1der F1 Rookie

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    #1 sp1der, Mar 8, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After reading several threads mainly in f-chat and also seeing a number of cars worked on by Alsa Automotive, I booked a slot with Alsa Automotive to have my car re-sprayed, however I was slightly shocked that the waiting list was close to 12 months! When I booked the slot it was for an f-car respray, however having aquired a Countach in May last year I decided to keep the appointment but change the car to be worked on as the Countach needed some TLC.

    Finally at the end of February my car was delivered to Al and Sarah for them to start work....

    Upon detailed inspection by Al his recommendation was that the car was taken back to bare metal as the paintwork from a previous respray had deteriorated badly + there are no doubt a few issues lurking beneath the paint. The main areas of concern being the top of the RH front wing, RH door, RH lower 3/4 panel. I had also decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to get rid of the wing and also the roof top ariel.
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  2. sp1der

    sp1der F1 Rookie

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    #2 sp1der, Mar 8, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  3. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    nice thread!

    is it a 5000S?
     
  4. pmichaelg

    pmichaelg Formula Junior

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    I like the red on red.

    Looking forward to seeing the progress.
     
  5. Mang

    Mang F1 Veteran
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    Oh yeah!......we all like seein' a CT get nekid! Great thread, thanks for sharing.
     
  6. jollygood

    jollygood Formula 3

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    Great topic!
    Are you removing the black sealant between fenders and flares?
    And what about the headlight buckets?
     
  7. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Indeed.

    Rosso/rosso is the original livery.
     
  8. jollygood

    jollygood Formula 3

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    Is windshield coming out as well?
    What about the other windows?
    May I ask how much a full quality repaint is these days?
     
  9. Peter K.

    Peter K. F1 Rookie
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    Moisture near the badge?

    Windsheild, imo, not 100% nescessary to remove. Unless an owner is doing a 100 point, nut and bolt restoration.
     
  10. Awesome, keep the pictures rolling.
     
  11. gurslo

    gurslo Formula 3

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    With the attention this will get for Al and Sarah, maybe they'll take care of you.:) (joking) It sounds like a c/t is just another fine auto they get to make gorgeous again.

    Thanks for this thread!
    This thread has the potential to become a piece of history itself, keep the details updated frequently if you can. I luv this already!!!!
     
  12. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    In the December 1999 issue of Classic & Sportscar there is a nice article featuring this car comparing it with the Ferrari Testarossa.
     
  13. sp1der

    sp1der F1 Rookie

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    Thanks everyone for the encouragement and questions, for those of you not familiar with Alsa, please see link below.

    www.alsaautomotive.co.uk

    With regards to questions asked so far;

    Pricing - best to PM, or you can get a feel for the costs from the website, however in this instance I have a fixed price quote (which generally covers the major work on each type of car i.e. deals with the known problem areas on each tipo). Major jobs beyond this will be additional but labour rates are very reasonable for what is in my opinion a very skilled trade.

    Teardown - the screen will be coming out, as will all other glass, plus all other removeable items so this will include caulking, headlamp pods and also the extensions. You can see the overall process in the 'what we do' bit on the website. It seems that Al will set all gaps on closures and lamps then score the position before teardown, this way on re-assembly there is no guess work and more importantly little risk of damage to the fresh paint. The car is stripped manually (no chemicals used) and then any new metal let in (hopefully not too much), before primer, blocking etc.

    I believe a lot of the problems with the paint etc are related to poor storage before I bought the car. From previous posts the work is likely to take approx 12 weeks, so will be an interesting journey. Hopefully there will be a couple of posts each week with plenty of pictures of what is going on, watch this space.....

    The only thing I may change are the mirrors as the Vitaloni Sebring's really suit the Countach, but there are a few weeks before that decision needs to be made.
     
  14. EMILIO

    EMILIO F1 Veteran

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    sebrings look much better, i agree
     
  15. Peter K.

    Peter K. F1 Rookie
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    20k-25k for a great one. 30k-40k+ for a pebble beach type. Again, all depends on how much bodywork and/or prep.
     
  16. ken qv

    ken qv Formula 3

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    Fantastic to watch... always interesting to see these cars get torn down. For mirrors, please let me vote for the original ones Unless your car is of a year that offered the Flag style. If you can put Flag mirrors on then i would use those.
     
  17. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Simon:

    Just my humble suggestion: please don't change the mirrors. They are exactly what came with the car and correct spec for an LP500S. Sebrings are a 1970s application and would look odd on a 1980s car.

    If you change anything, I would delete that non-original roof aerial.

    Respectfully,
     
  18. jollygood

    jollygood Formula 3

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    See that both designations LP5000S and LP500S are being used here to describe this car!
     
  19. sp1der

    sp1der F1 Rookie

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    #19 sp1der, Mar 9, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Just a small update today, as Joe has suggested the ariel hole is being filled in (as it is an after-market fit and looks odd at the front of the screen).

    The glass man has been in and removed the rear 3/4 windows, however we have now decided to leave the screen in. The main reason being the screen is very very tight to the dash and there is a risk of damaging the dash on removal. The car is not being prepared as a concours car (although having see cars prepared by Alsa before the paint will be show quality), rather to sort out the problems and get the car back to a good overall condition.

    New seals are also being made up using the old ones as patterns, as is a new indicator lens. Al will be aligning all the closures this week-end and then removing these ready to start taking the paint off next week.

    I would be interested to know if there is a known fix to stop the rear 3/4 panels flexing and hence cracking the paint? On a lot of cars I have seen this seems to be a common problem, I assume as the depth of metal in this area is quite shallow?
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  20. ken qv

    ken qv Formula 3

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    Yes, i know a few cars that have 'L' shaped pieces of aluminum welded in from underneath, around the corners of the radiators to enforce the metal there. They have no paint cracks I think this is why. Plus my one friend is bad about leaning on the radiator scoops, still no cracks though. I guess they are about 3inches by 3inches.
     
  21. raymondQV

    raymondQV F1 Rookie

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    My car has this done when we had to repaint the left rear fender. the second crack is simply where the two pieces of the rear fender were welded.

    http://www.countach.ch/fenderfix.html
     
  22. phrogs

    phrogs F1 Veteran
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    #22 phrogs, Mar 10, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2012
    Hey all question for you

    Did all Countach's leave the factory in single stage paint?
     
  23. ken qv

    ken qv Formula 3

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    Not sure i understand YOUR results... did it help avoid future cracks in the same place or did your cracks eventually still come back...? I have to believe it must at least help. How big and how thick were the brackets you used?
     
  24. joe sackey

    joe sackey Five Time F1 World Champ
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    I don't think the 5 litre cars did. You have to remember that production spanned a mighty long time, from 1974 to 1990 all of 16 years...
     
  25. phrogs

    phrogs F1 Veteran
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    Oh yeah Joe I know, but I figure they had to have switched at some point but I haven't been able to find anything saying when or if they did for sure.

    For example I know Corvettes swaped to base coat clear coat in 82.


    Sp1der whats your painter using on your car?

    And do they know what the break off is for the paint types?
     

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