Should I repaint my car to original?

A couple of quick points about body prep on a CS.

- do not sand off the "witness line" on the side scoops. This is a seam line near the front of the scoop, where the opening meets the body.

- MCA and other club rules desire a paint job that has some orange peel in it. of course, it's your call; just so you know.

- When obtaining the color for painting, be very "picky" about it being close to original. Some still use the Ditzler and Dupont color codes. Don't settle for "close enough".

Good Luck! Sounds exciting!!

Paul N.

Once my rebuild is completed I'll go back to original color - seafoam green. I've ordered my interior - again, back to original color of ivy gold. I figure that there were not too many cars with this color combo so in that regard it should be quite unique. I haven't seen too many in this site's gallery either, so I agree with Paul N.

Plus, my wife loves seafoam green - and she's the boss eh! LOL

I had to forfeit many brownie points to get her to agree to this purchase and rebuild so I gotta toe the line when it comes to this car's color!

Gary

I guess I can chime in here a bit. I took mine down to bare nothing (chemical stripped) and went back with the original color, Alcapulco Blue. I spent many an evening with the delema stripes or no stripes. In the end I chose to add the stripes and go with what made me happy. The purists will think it's a waste of money, paint and a possible good restoration. Some will think it looks cool and others won't care one way or the other.
On the cost issue, I have done all the work myself except the final bodywork and paint. My cost to date for panel replacement, supplies, body work and paint is $8,132. If you decide to do the full retoration, figure out what you think it's going to cost and double it. That should get you pretty close to your final. I anticipate that I will be very close to this $$ estimate when I'm finished.
I might add that I have upgraded a few things like suspension and steering so I could have kept costs a little bit lower for the project.
Unlike Rob, my wife will not let me keep parts on the couch, I do however have free riegn on the garage and one spare bedroom. If you do the complete restoration be aware that you will need plenty of storage space to hold all you parts in some manner that you can get to the parts you need when going back together.

Storage for freshly painted stuff that cannot get a nick! Doors, hood, fenders, trunk lids. And lots of baggies with a note in them for were that small part or bolt goes!! Kitchen pantry is good for organization those small parts.... Just kidding! Any bed is great for resting a painted part safely!

What goes around comes around. Lots of green and gold shades out there in the past couple years on new cars. Most lime gold cars we saw were oxidized so bad they were flat in color. A fresh application of this paint is very pretty! I used to be a black only interior guy. Anymore I would like to sea a color.

Seafoam green with ivy interior! That will be beautiful and hugely unique!!

Rob

robert campbell said:

Storage for freshly painted stuff that cannot get a nick! Doors, hood, fenders, trunk lids. And lots of baggies with a note in them for were that small part or bolt goes!! Kitchen pantry is good for organization those small parts.... Just kidding! Any bed is great for resting a painted part safely! Rob

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"Bag and Tag" is the theme for restoration enthusiasts. I used several boxes of zip lock bags and labeled boxes when I dismantled my car. Those boxes of new parts and freshly painted parts went everywhere in my house. I had parts under the bed, stacked in the corner of my bedroom, in my guest room closet and study. I had to erect new shelving in the garage too. My wife was pretty patient with it all, even though most of it didn't go with the home decor. :smile:

According to Marti data from a report I have, 34,587 were Lime Gold, 18,369 with the paint/trim codes, 4,118 were C/S's. I'd say the odds are pretty high that MANY C/S's were originally Lime Gold. (I've always believed Ford bought 50 million gallons of that color, based on the number of cars painted that color!) Mine was originally Lime Gold, color changed to Meadowlark Yellow & Black interior. I prefer it. It's a split decision among enthusiasts to remain original or color change. I opted for the change, but Paul made a VERY good point about retaining originality as these cars get older and more rare. Good Luck, whichever your decision.
Neil Hoppe

franklinair said:

According to Marti data from a report I have, 34,587 were Lime Gold, 18,369 with the paint/trim codes, 4,118 were C/S's. I'd say the odds are pretty high that MANY C/S's were originally Lime Gold. (I've always believed Ford bought 50 million gallons of that color, based on the number of cars painted that color!) ...
Neil Hoppe

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I noticed that number the other day comparing the Marti Report on my old 302 (originally Lime Gold now Acapulco Blue) to my 289 (originally and still Acapulco Blue).

19,886 was the Acapulco Blue number with only 3,628 with the Paint/Trim code.

I was surprised at how many more Lime Gold cars were built over Acapulco Blue.

I noticed that fact too, Rich. But I do like the color. I'd probably keep it blue.

anyone with Brittany Blue know how many were made? I have my Marti but it is just the basic one and doesnt give me that information I dont think.

The Marti Report will show you the total number of Mustangs painted that color not just California Specials.

Not sure if you are looking for all or just Cal Specials.

There must be someone with a Brittany Blue marti posted on the marti thread I'm sure.

Okay. I will chime in. As most of you know, we restored our car from a mess. We had to replace more panels than we kept - we had to. Once all panels went back on, we sprayed a sandable primer (called "All You Ever Need") which was supplied to us by our painter. We sprayed on 3 coats on the entire car, sanded down to metal. Finally, a finish primer was sprayed on before we went to color.

Most of the comments I get about my car when we take it to shows is how perfect the reflection is in the paint. In other words, everything you see in a reflection on the door looks 100% clear. The painters I have spoken to attribute that to the 3 coats of sandable primer. Is it alot of work? YES!! Would I do it again?? In a heartbeat.

In the end, I think our car looks very nice and since I am not a body and paint guy, I just know it is nice. However, I have had many paint guys look at our car and state they would love to have their name associated with our car. It is a great feeling.

Anyway - just rambling. If you decide to repaint the car, I do believe this information would be beneficial.

Paul

Perhaps you could show us a few close ups of your paint job?? I'm curious to see how that turned out. I know that seeing it in person would be the way to go, but anything to illustrate how it looks would be inspiring (showing reflections, depth, lighting, etc..).

thanks!

Paul N.