Triumph/TR3A Projects:2004 Paint Job / Body Restoration

For an early 47th birthday present, my car got a body restoration and paint job by A&G Auto Body in SF.

They took photos of the earlier half of the process which will go up in a couple days, here's the final photos.

They did a reasonable job for a decent cost, but they missed a few things, got the color wrong, and then completely failed multiple times to do any work on the car when I brought it back for more work, after many promises.

So, not a recommendation, in my book.

Stripped and starting the sanding Sanding.. Left side untouched Lots of old bondo
Mostly stripped,
before resurfacing
The front apron
is probably not original?
Because there's
far less bondo..
Rear in stages
Birds eye Front left fender resurfaced
(the spare tire cover is probably not original as well)
Back left,
some more resurfacing up front
Front apron resurfaced
Right resurfaced
showing new (better) bondo with blueish tint (metal glaze)
Front resurfaced Hood stripped
showing old bondo
Front left
in resurfacing stages
Back
in resurfacing stages
Again. The car stripped for priming Ready for painting
The body stripped and primed. Primed. The paint mix
from Spies-Hecker, at my body shop.
ACME color chip (1960)
DuPont color chip (1965) Ditzler color chip (1963) In the booth,.. after the base coat
(about 1.5 hours of painting)
Spraying the clear coat.
A bad shot through the glass, but you can see the difference that the clearcoat makes on the front fender.
After clearcoat.
The flourescents give it an orange haze.
About 2.5 layers which took about 22 minutes
of spray.
Looks like a piece of candy.
Next is the sand and buff.
After painting .. ..
The body being buffed after sanding. Doors and hood. After buffing,
before cleaning
Cherry.
Almost back together Checking out the car. Enjoying the new look Finished!
In front of A&G.
Profile with Kodi Bear Front of car And my passenger. Shiny
(gas cap and trunk need fixing)
Beauty Sweet. .. Bear
Bear Before After

Here's some paint info for those wanting to get their car painted.

First of all, paints today are very different from the factory. The paint I used was a two stage, it has a clear-coat on top of the base which makes it much shinier.

The original color is "Triumph 32 Signal Red" - and they started using it in 1954 for the TR2 (I'm not sure about the earlier TR2s), it looks like they used a different color code.

Moss says the Ditzler code (PPG mix) is 70966, and later (TR4) used I.C.I.2859 (which is a "hi-build" lacquer).

A few companies remake this color, such as BASF: "#21 Glassodur Urathane Acrylic paint, 21-TIB-304, Signal Red"

The paint I used was Spies-Hecker. They claim to have the original paint standard from the factory, and according to the info at my body shop, their mix is:

Tinting Guide:
MB543 Granada Red 382.0
MB536 Dark Red  404.5
MB525 Trans Black 440.5
MB501 White 449.5

Non-cum guide
MB543 Granada Red 382.0
MB536 Dark Red  22.5
MB525 Trans Black 36.5
MB501 White 9.0

Unfortunately there's question as to whether my paint guy actually used this correct formula. That would explain why the old red (still visible in the engine compartment) is pinker and lighter than the new paint. More info soon, hopefully.

More sources:

Album created by album generator from Marginal Hacks by David Madison on Wed Jun 3 05:39:41 2015