Dumdidumdidum Stripping the car and new color

Looking at the proposed color, " grigio scuro", which means "dark gray", it occurs to me that Norway (which I actually visited years ago) from time to time has what might be charitably termed overcast skies. Lovely country & very nice people, regardless of the weather. I even like pickled herring!

It seems to me that if one wants to come as close as possible to an invisible, totally unremarkable color for any car in such conditions, a color like dark gray- no metallic at all- would be the perfect choice. However if the intention to compliment Scaglietti's gorgeous body design is more the intent, without having the usual racing red or whatever, perhaps a medium metallic silver might be a very good, possibly better, choice, somewhat more than a taupe-like darkish gray color. Another very attractive, yet moderate (compared to red or yellow) color is light blue metallic; there are several versions of this color, some slightly bluer, some grayer than others. Your car, what do you think?

BTW I agree about stripping off the old paint completely; not too much more work (it's already a very expensive paint job!) but at the end of the day no mystery as to what's underneath, whether it's solid filler/primer or rust. Here, surprises are definitely NOT good!

The photos are of my most recent project; a car I bought from the Least Coast...it had to be totally disassembled on a rotisserie and stripped to the metal, inside & out; all of the lower body sheet metal from the doorsill down, front to rear (bonnet included) had to be completely replaced. The photos show the car during (final) painting, being towed uphill (my shop is under my house, downhill) and finally at the dealer's lot. The color is its original color, with new red leather upholstery, also the original color. Having a small fortune invested in the E-Type's restoration I sold it in favor of its far less expensive (to me) replacement, my rosso corsa 328 GTS. Both nice cars, but I really prefer open 2 seaters.

Cheers,
Rich
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Boy, what a FAST response! did you see the photos I posted, plus a few revisions to my comments? (PS: what about the other 10 months...?)

Cheers,
Rich

 

Great looking car!

Not to totally derail thread, but I'm in the midst of an E type restoration now (and for 2 years solid!) Just wanted to say I feel your pain and I covet those Dunlop rims!

I would love to put those on my OTS with a factory hardtop. To me, "THE" look. Did you purchase yours separately or were they on the car? Can PM if you prefer.

 

Exactly! Any jack-monkey that would put that garbage back on your car would be the same person that would be happy to pay money to strip a great color and replace it with $h!t-bringle brown (or gold) simply because it's original. Good thing the car is yours, brother! Enjoy it the way you want it. Let the next person worry about the way they want it.

Also, people always say non original paint makes a difference in resale...really? Then why do all the fn cars get painted red to sell them? B.S! I'd like to see an original U.S. car with all the garbage on it and painted baby poop brown go up against your sympathetically "eurofied" 308 with a high quality paint job in a far more desirable color. I bet the people who would look at your car thinking that's exactly what they would do, far outnumber the one ore two goofballs that look at a gold 308 and think...wow, exactly what I've been looking for for years!

 

Well, I guess I'm one of the Goof Balls of which you speak. I can tell you that I won't even Consider purchasing a Ferrari that has had a complete color change, in less I get it for $15-$20,000 below book. (Flame Suit on) I have a 1982 in the shop right now that I want to paint blue so bad it hurts, but it will go back to the original color black. My family owned a body shop for 30 years and I've painted so many cars it usually doesn't matter. But I personally would not do a color change on a Ferrari,my opinion (yes, I believe I have an A-- Hole also) .


I also run with the "Jack Monkey" crowd.

 

Well, some time ago I found one on eBay for a very good price, but to get the rest of the set I had to purchase them thru the English distributor. They're the 6" wide rims, not the wider 7" ones, which can cause turning clearance problems. As was most of the rest of the car, the original wires were totally wasted; unrebuildable. New splined hubs, bearings, the lot. Everything was completely disassembled on the car, to the last nut & bolt, front & rear suspension included of course, and either rebuilt or replaced when possible. For example, I rebuilt the steering wheel from a wood rim kit myself, slightly wider wood rim & overall better, not flimsy as was the original. Many, many parts were completely reconstructed to as-new condition, or as close as I could get it. In the many years it had been stored (in a swamp???) rats had gotten into every air passage and small space possible.... air cleaner, carburetors, heating ducts, behind/under the dashboard, everywhere. Back to stripped bare metal! It took some 7 1/2 years to complete, though. All new glass except for the side vents which didn't need it and the rear hatch glass which is unavailable, at least without heater wires. Oh well. Life goes on and I love the 328!

PS I have LOTS of spares left over, some NOS, some very re-usable should you be interested. Cheap! PM me if you like. Good luck with the resto!

Cheers,
Rich

 

Hello André,

I've sent you a PM (Personal Message). Good luck with your project and if you don't like the original colour, it's up to you what to do.

 

Does grigio scuro 700c for a 308 look like it's modern interpretation? I can't find a picture of it on a 308.

Will you return the airbox to black whiles it's in the paint shop?

 

It's like putting another Leonardo signature on Mona's forehead.

I do love your choice of colour. I am a purist but still consider to repaint mine from original red to blue.

 

There was an Oro Chiaro 308 GTB fully restored at "Retromobile"; I am one of those who actually like this color...

(courtesy of Arthobald's site, from his full report on Retromobile)

http://arthomobiles.fr/Retromobile%2015/Big/IMG_1153.JPG


Rgds

 

Understood (I have some very basic notions of nordic languages).
We don't have the equivalent of that one in French...

The restored car at Retromobile was a "nut and bolts" restoration; if my memory serves me well, the asked price was 180.000 euros (?).

Rgds

 

Andre, do you happen to know the original color code of your car. It seems like my 77 gtb but i could not find the code with any certainty.

 

Andre good morning to you sir! Please understand my previous comments were not leveled at you and your Ferrari. It was in response to Hannibal insinuating that some of us are jerk weeds Because we like what we like, no different than your position and I applaud you. What a boring world if we all thought alike! Kim

 

I was just curious what oro charro looked like, so I went surfing and found this.

http://www.***********.com/forums/pre-99-v8s-gt4/11467-new-australian-308-owner.html

Very nice upgrades to the car so far, thanks for keeping this thread up to date with your progress. It is always fun to track someones progress on one of these restorations.
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...That apparently translates to something like "Taste is like the butt, it is divided". Very pithy.

If for no other reason to question such a choice, gold & silver (the wheels!) are not good stablemates. Pick one or the other, but not together. Just sayin'!

Cheers,
Rich

 

I'm a jack-monkey about a lot of things. So meant less to poke fun at others' obsessions than to encourage the OP to do what pleases him with his car. I'm the one that took his gas cap apart to have it replated...so same club, just different tastes...