308 Paint Type? | FerrariChat

308 Paint Type?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by 308tr6, Feb 19, 2004.

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  1. 308tr6

    308tr6 Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2003
    466
    SDakota
    Full Name:
    Rico
    Anybody know the paint type (lacquer, enamel, urethane, etc.) on a 1979 308 GTS? I am going to do total repaint and trying to figure out if I have to go all the way down to metal or not? Thanks
     
  2. Dave

    Dave F1 Rookie

    Apr 15, 2001
    2,722
    Little Rock
    Full Name:
    David Jones
    "Anybody know the paint type"

    It depends if the paint is original or not...
    After 25 years chances are that a touch-up has been done at some point,
    but unless you know what to look for?

    If your car has non-metalic paint
    then it was painted with Glidden Salchi Eurolac.
    For example, my 77 was painted originally with Glidden Salchi Eurolac
    Rosso Chiaro # 20-R-190 which was a single stage paint.
     
  3. donaldh2o

    donaldh2o Karting

    Nov 10, 2003
    143
    Irvine CA
    Full Name:
    Don
    I think most paint shops will know what paint is on your car. They have catalogs of car paints with cross references.

    I learned this when I repainted my '76 GT4. I saw a red Boxer and took a picture of it and went through a month of having the paint shop trying to match the color. They finally did. Only to find out later that Boxer Red is a standard color, readily available.

    BTW, Boxer Red looks terrific on 308s.
     
  4. Dave

    Dave F1 Rookie

    Apr 15, 2001
    2,722
    Little Rock
    Full Name:
    David Jones
    Boxer Red?
    I have never heard of Boxer Red as a standard Ferrari color.
    I had a 79 Boxer and it was painted the standard Ferrari Red for the 70's
    which was Rosso Chiaro #20-R-190 upper and Nero #20-B-50
    with 20-T-380 Matt lacquer lower.
    Most paint shops will certainly Not know what paint is on your car,
    unless you use a shop that re-paints older Ferraris all the time.
    Ferraris of that era were painted with acrylic Lacquer,
    and most modern paint systems are incompatible with the original paint.
     
  5. 308tr6

    308tr6 Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2003
    466
    SDakota
    Full Name:
    Rico
    Thanks for the info guys. I have been reading a fair amount on painting and have some experience (2 cars) on refinishing - everything up to actually spraying it. It is my understanding that you have to be EXTREMELY careful about what type of paint you spray (mostly urethanes now) over the previous surface. Since I will be doing all the prep work I am trying to decide if I need to go to bare metal. I do know my car (79 308 GTS) has been resprayed once (its obvious if you know what to look for, although they did a pretty decent job) and I think it was an acrylic. I was just curious what the original type was from the factory - but in reality I think I am going down to metal to eliminate the danger of reacting with my new paint.
     
  6. Dave

    Dave F1 Rookie

    Apr 15, 2001
    2,722
    Little Rock
    Full Name:
    David Jones
    Good idea,
    I have seen cars repainted that didn't go all the way down,
    where the paint started to lift a couple years later.
    There are a couple waterborn primer options that you could spray over the original lacquer.
    But when I talked to the company reps about them, they would not gaurentee the product.
     
  7. donaldh2o

    donaldh2o Karting

    Nov 10, 2003
    143
    Irvine CA
    Full Name:
    Don
    Probably a good idea to go to bare metal. That's what they did when they repainted my car.

    What's important is a thing they call "blocking," which is shaping the undercoating before the top coat is sprayed. A good blocking job can really enhance the look of the car.

    You can't see it very well in the picture above, but they did an excellent job on the blocking on my repaint. The corners are more distinct and the line traveling the length of the car on the upper fenders and doors is very distinct and bold, much improved over the factory paint job.
     
  8. Dom

    Dom F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 5, 2002
    8,475
    OK, hold on a minute. You've got a beautiful 308 GT4, and you live in Irvine!!!! I'm in tustin. I don't think I've seen you at any of the crystal cove events. We should get together and talk GT4's. I'd love to check out your car.

    Dom


     
  9. donaldh2o

    donaldh2o Karting

    Nov 10, 2003
    143
    Irvine CA
    Full Name:
    Don
    Dom,

    How interesting, 2 GT4s in the same neighborhood.

    We should get in touch. Going out of town this week though.
     
  10. Dom

    Dom F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 5, 2002
    8,475
    I'll be out this week as well, but will be availble via e-mail etc.

    Dom
     
  11. joeyy

    joeyy Karting

    Nov 11, 2003
    190
    long island
    Full Name:
    joe
    it won't matter much what the original paint was because you can't duplicate it with todays materials. if the car was painted with lacquer back then it was a paint that contained more metal than you will get from any of todays lacquers even if you can find them. the new V.O.C. compliance laws have had a huge effect on modern paint companies and their product lines. the best thing you can do is the best method when using todays paints which when used properly are far superior to paints of yesterday. if you are doing the work yourself the best thing to do is find a !QUALITY! autobody supply store and talk to one of their reps before starting and have a plan. they can give you sound advise on your project. (quality paints will probably be european Ex Glasurit or Spies Hecker) stay in the paint system from start to finish and you will have good results. also it is always better to take the car to bare metal since you don't know what was done before or if it was done correctly.Ex. someone els could have stripped the car to bare metal and never treated it, that is baaad.if you do a strip and paint you can make sure everything is done perfectly.
     
  12. 4Webers

    4Webers Formula Junior

    Nov 12, 2003
    276
    Texas
    Full Name:
    Darrell
    This link has been posted before, but it's a good one for someone looking for 308 repaint info.
     
  13. 308tr6

    308tr6 Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2003
    466
    SDakota
    Full Name:
    Rico

    Thanks, excellent post! I am new here and wasn't aware of it. It was a good reminder of what I recall of my first repaint project. Painting is the easy part, and represents maybe 2% of the time effort. Luckily, I have nothing better to do with my life.
     
  14. 308tr6

    308tr6 Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2003
    466
    SDakota
    Full Name:
    Rico
    Yes, excellent point. By the way I have no intention of returning to the original lacquer paint. As you know, paint technology as most things have improved fairly dramatically over the nearly 30 years since these cars were built. When doing a rebuild, why someone wouldn't take advantage of this (and lots of other upgrades) is a mystery to me. Original restoration is the biggest oxymoron in the automotive world. I love originals, but they ain't got new paint in my little world.
     
  15. formula1joe

    formula1joe Formula Junior

    Nov 3, 2003
    436
    Atlanta, GA
    Full Name:
    Joe Bennett
    As a note, I was told by the dealership when I was picking up some touch up paint for my '80 308 that the paint on my car and previous years was lead based so you could not have an exact duplicate.

    If you are going to strip the car yourself, just be careful.
     
  16. 4re gt4

    4re gt4 Formula 3

    Apr 23, 2002
    2,279
    Roseburg, OR
    Full Name:
    Hans E. Hansen
    However......

    Modern paints have a different look to them, which I don't think fits older cars. I can always tell a good lacquer finish, and I much prefer it. And, heaven forbid, no clearcoat!
     
  17. 308tr6

    308tr6 Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2003
    466
    SDakota
    Full Name:
    Rico

    Well, I guess everyone has there opinion and I respect yours, but I personally like the newer paints and yes it will be the basecoat - clearcoat system. I looked at a couple orignal paint 308's this weekend, and frankly they leave a bit to be desired (IMHO). Orange peel was pretty obvious, and the base preparation wasn't to the standard you can readily achieve with a decent effort of block sanding the primer/surfacer. I know a lot of people think original Ferrari is like "the standard", but any quality paint shop will blow away the quality of the original paint and base preparation - presuming of course crisp lines, glassy paint, consistent color, and depth is what you like in a paint job.
     
  18. joeyy

    joeyy Karting

    Nov 11, 2003
    190
    long island
    Full Name:
    joe

    this is a point made by a lot of people who haven't been told the truth about the paint job they are looking at. in fact you can achieve the same look regardless of the paint system. a lot of car purists have been painting in urethanes and telling everyone including judges at shows that it is lacquer. I know of a corvette collector that sprays a small patch of lacquer paint in an "out of the way spot" for the judges to check and it works every time. the flat lacquer look is achieved in the polishing steps. the reason why urethanes look different is because they shine very nicely right out of the spray booth so people will simply lightly sand with fine sandpaper and polish back the shine. Lacquer on the other hand look terrible out of the booth and every square inch of it must be block sanded with coarser grits of sandpaper and stepped up with finer grits of sandpaper before polishing. if the same steps are used the same look is achieved. this is a basic and simplistic description of the work to be done for either system but the point is still the same if you take the time to do it right it will come out right.
     

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