My first idea was that this car was bronzo scuro but now Im following another trace. The color could be Nocciola iso Bronzo Scuro. If the color is Nocciola its easy to identify the chassis number because #6180 was the only Islero GT delivered in this color. Another reason to believe why this is #6180 is because that car was allocated to a dealer in January 1969 , some months after the car was completed !
Here are a few pictures of the Marazzi stand yesterday at Autoclassica. It was fantastic to have my car on their stand. But what's more, I have had a lot of discussions with Marazzi's employees and with MM. Marazzi themselves, father and son. It is incredible to be able to share their stories first hand and I really felt privileged to be there. A big thank you goes to Olivier, Mario, Marco and Alberto! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mario Marazzi 45 years after the famous picture! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Ed, I just saw that you were there with your Islero, that is really fantastic! Nice that Olivier could arrange that for you, now your car is world famous ;-) Ciao! Marcello
Cia Marcello, Indeed it was a fantastic experience! I owe Olivier a lot for having being able to be there. Here are a few other pictures of the show: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356770 I'll post some more soon! All the best, Ed.
Can anybody provide advice on the best method to refurbish the mag wheels on an Islero. I've had them painted twice and predictably the paint lifts after a year or so. Thanks
Why don't you start by describing completely what you've done to the wheels before. These wheels are naturally pretty rough castings. They are a magnesium alloy. They do require some special prepping. Pictures of the current condition would help too.
There was no Islero last week end in Italy, very sad... So, here is an update of #6009... close to be finished in a couple of weeks and then I will bring it back to Belgium for the next step at the paintshop... In parallel, all the drivetrain has been refurbished, brakes renewed, and so on. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've done magnesium alloy wheels a few times now but that doesn't make me an expert. I have a newer set on my track car and those received a zinc chromate primer. It's harder to find that today. The Miura/Espada/Islero/Jarama style wheel is a pretty rough casting so don't think you're going to make it look like a modern high quality cast wheel. Weh you strip the wheels it's important to not touch the wheel with your contaminated hands and to get them prepared ASAP because the corrosion process begins as soon as you're done stripping them. There are various conversion processes for "pickling" the wheels. Dop some reasearch on this and you'll see that they're all very toxic and few are available to the average joe for home use. Here are some pictures starting with a freshly blasted wheel, then some defects highlighted, a pickled and cosmetically repaired wheel, the zinc chromate primer and a finished wheel where you can still see defects. They're not supposed to look perfect though. I used this one and was very careful about any exposure. One kit will do 5 wheels if you're careful and smart about how you apply it. http://www.aerotouchups.com/mcp32ozk----mag-coat-powder--magnesium-touchup-k32.html It mixes with water and you spray it on the wheels, let it set and then rise with distilled water. It's a chromate conversion process. For my modern race wheels I simply used the zinc chromate primer as the casting quality was near perfect. But those Lamborghini wheels are a nightmare. I found that the unique design made stripping them and the subsequent painting of them difficult because there are a lot of dead air pockets. The guy who stripped mine had to bring them out in the sunlight and we marked the missed spots and he's go back in the booth for another shot. Usually this took four attempts and then I finished them up at home in my own blast cabinet. The Lamborghini wheels got the chromate conversion spray right after the blasting process and then the cosmetic repairs began. These are horrible castings and on mine at least there was plenty of evidence of bondo repair to make them look better. That's directly from Campagnolo too! We're not talking about structural issues, that's another matter and you need to look them over for that before you begin with any cosmetic repairs. They are inherently strong wheels. After the cosmetic repairs I used the spray again because some of it had been removed during the sanding process. Then you get to paint them! Zinc Chromate primer to start and you may need a nice sand-able primer if you're still trying to hide a bunch of defects. Top coat, automotive enamel. I used a single stage as that was recommended to me by someone who has restored a lot of these wheels. It's a Ford color, I think it's argent silver. I haven't heard of anyone who's had luck with trying to powder coat these wheels. There are fillers you can use for cosmetic repairs that will survive the powder coating process. But I don't think any one the ones I've used would be suitable enough for all of the cosmetic issues found on these wheels. Honestly, I think buying a set of new wheels from Eurospares might not cost any more as long as you can utilize your old center hubs. That's a whole other topic. Do I remove them before I paint the wheels? Where do I find those special bolts/washers & nuts! I ended up making a couple bolts and nuts out of off the shelf stock and that worked just fine. I did not remove my hubs. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hey Bob, great write up. I'm debating what do to with my wheels. Is the green color on the wheels the liquid you linked to, or is it some other primer? Is it the stuff you linked to, then zinc chromate primer?
The stuff I linked to is the pickling process. I forget which Dow process it actually is. A couple of years ago you could buy this in liquid form for very little money but it's more tightly regulated now. That kit is for touch-up repairs in the aviation industry. It's a lot of money for what you get but I was able to do my wheels twice with it. Before and after the cosmetic repairs. You get a spray bottle and a packet of powder to make 1 qt. Spray the wheels in a big tub and you won't lose it all. It's a hazmat disposable substance so no pouring down the drain. But you do rinse the wheels so ... The green is the zinc chromate primer. There are many variations of this. One of the easiest to get and it was pretty decent was from Tempo. They halted production recently. The other aerosol available form aircraft supply houses is made by Orr-lac? IMHO their spray can is really substandard and it spit paint after 60% of the can is gone. You can buy it quarts and use gun though. It's hazardous. If you have to have your original wheels Alberto then if they're OK underneath like mine were I guess painting them is the path. If I was paying someone to do a really thorough job I think a new set of wheels would be less expensive. Maybe I'm just slow ...
Thanks for all this very useful information. By way of comparison have you got any idea how much Eurospares charges for replacement wheels? Also - did you paint the spinners or get them chromed? Thanks again.
Painted spinner is supposed to be original, at least for early production Miura's. Can't say with certainty about later cars. Most people seem to chrome them, I guess so they look nice or because that's what they saw on another car.
It holds up better than paint if you're using a specialized wrench to install/remove them. My wrench is lined with heavy leather and it still marred them slightly. I'm not sure about lead hammers on chrome. I think most modern day Miura owners would wince and pucker at just the thought of that? Not to mention of what might happen with an errant swing of a lead hammer!
Anyone know about these guys/process (Tagnite Coating)? I'm thinking of sending them my wheels instead of doing the home brew conversion. They mostly do aviation work, but have done mag wheels. http://www.tagnite.com/tagnite_coating/
I don't but one thing to think about is how much repair work you're going to need to do even if it's only cosmetic. The subsequent filling and sanding will remove that protective layer. That's why I did it twice. Some of the fins on mine must have been damaged in the molding process and a couple were crudely repaired with a weld and then filled with bondo which I couldn't detect until I stripped them. It was in a location that typically wouldn't get hit by anything in use so I'm pretty sure this was original manufacturing clean-up. They are fairly crude castings in the detail areas at least. Maybe you should strip them first and have a look? Let us know what you fine out about the process though. I have some modern wheels I might like to use this on.
Here is a GT for sale in Spain : http://fr.autoscout24.be/Details.aspx?id=214295847 with air conditionning. Does someone knows its VIN ?
Maybe it's this car after a bit of massaging? http://www.conceptcarz.com/events/eventVehicle.aspx?carID=993&eventID=173&catID=1292&whichpage=1 I passed on it @ $35 or $40K at the time because I had just bought my Espada.
I belive you are right #6051 has many details in common with that speudo spanish car... coming from USA then ! Thanks for the link.
