Countach, the ultimate supercar

If originality is the name of the game, why not just repaint it red ?

 

4. because I found it like this in 2000

1120001 had a different appearance when red, it was modded and painted green though it should stay green.
I think I might know somebody who knew the owner in Basel, perhaps I can find a contact.

 

Yes Raymond.. I've seen the pics when you found it ! Cool !

 

Joe...you're absolutely correct here. In the hands of a true paint correction specialist, it's really amazing at the level the paint can be brought back to. In cases like these it's imperative to take a lot of paint thickness measurements through the process to ensure that (a) there's enough to work with, and (b) you're getting the best correction while preserving as much of the paint as possible. Even bringing a car up to 80% correction rate can be simply stunning, not to mention that it then looks better than most modern cars out on the road.

I'm glad to see that you've got some proper treatment in the works for this beauty!

 

Interesting character indeed Mr. Silvera.

 

Taking this a step further I have polished 3 original (or mostly original) LP400's and they all have THICK paint from the factory, in the areas of 20-40 mils! (Modern cars usually have a total film of about 3-6 mils).

Luigi always seemed to get carried away with the spray gun. Uno coat... notta enougha.. Due coata... notta enough... Otto coata... Bellisimo

 

20 to 40 mils?

I'm suprised there were not wholesale coating failures if that much paint were applied.

The painter would have to apply about 20-30 coats of paint (using a conventional spray gun) to get to that level of paint thickness.

Are you using test equipment that automatically recognizes both ferrous and non ferrous substrates?

(I have tested paint thicknesses, using a ferrous tester on items made up of, what I discovered to be, dissimilar metals and found that a ferrous guage will give a "false" high reading when it tries to read the paint thickness on aluminum.)

Given that the Countach has aluminum and steel components, it is possible to get innaccurate results if your tester is not set up for Fe and non Fe.

Just a thought.

 

The results where very accurate and obtained on a high end Deflesko coating meter. I think there is 'a lot' of body filler underneath the paint, hence the huge numbers, but even then I would figure a minimum of 10 mils of actual color coat, hence the large number of lacquer check and failure on original paint LP400's. At least that is my hypothesis. Never the less, unless the car has been buffed by a maniac many times, there is a lot of film left.

The readings where very similar all over the car, mostly around 20-25 mils, but some areas such as right above the trunk where 35-40 mils.

 

More than one bosyshop buffed off all the paint on some of the Countach edges - many I have seen are worn down to the primer. Make sure that the bodyshops tape off all the edges before using the buffer. Do the edges by hand. The Countach is the only Lambo with all thoise ridges and edges.

 

+1, every original paint lp that I have seen has atleast a couple thinned spots and edges. Particularly the vents above the rear tires which are usually see through at 10 mils. To me it is part of the charm of original paint cars and the challenge

 

Joe, it was a wonder to me that whoever runs the HQ and Museum would let not only historic but museum and display cars sit there with broken pieces and trims hanging off. I mean, what does it take to get a key, open a door and tidy all these bits up and this is the easy stuff lol.

No excuses

 

There is a thick coat of build primer under the topcoat.

 

I'd KILL to give that car a good going-over. This past summer had me doing far too many SUV's. 10 hours w/ an LP400 would be a joy in comparison.

 

Is that pretty much factory issue on the earlier Lambroghini's paints? Where the panels mudded up and block sanded prior to the primer? Or was it just a really thick primer and a little sanding to correct any flaws?

As you can tell I have taken quite an interest in earlier Lamborghini's and would be curious to how they where finished at the factory. To have see through paint at ten mils would be one hell of a thick coating of primer!

 

Joe

I am confused. Is this the same color as your miura? And mine? Described by the factory as Rosso? We all know miura red is a little less orange that rosso corsa but one would hardly mistake a red miura or lp400 for an orange one.

The pictures you posted look orange. Is this a special color, or am I mistaken in what miura rosso looks like? The pics of 4170 look red (albiet miura red), certainly not orange.

Maybe I'm mistaken by the coloring of your photos and orange description?

 

From what I've seen filler was used where needed(very little) and then a thick coat of high build primer.