DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

absolutely brilliant and food for thought with mine nearing the paintshop in the next week or so

it looks great that colour ...starting to think I should revisit metallic blue

have to confess I never realised how much prep there was before the actual paint went on

great job and looking fwd to the finished article

dan

squirdan wrote:have to confess I never realised how much prep there was before the actual paint went on

Sportwagen, arguably one of the leading 911 painters in the UK, work on over 200 hours of prep for a car from bare
metal to ready for the colour. If you work that out, that's 6 weeks work for one guy to ready a car for final painting.

Looking fantastic chaps....loving the colour!

Richard

Lovely stuff Rich, can't wait to see it going back together !!

Has John booked his Room and Board ?


Chris

Mike wrote:work on over 200 hours of prep for a car from bare metal to ready for the colour.

Or even more if someone has insisted on keeping 95% of the original metal!

Mike wrote:Sportwagen, arguably one of the leading 911 painters in the UK

No argument about it in my opinion, from what I've seen their work is amazing and Sportwagen set THE standard.

Ferry Man wrote:
OK, I'm evidently alone in this but if it was mine I'd want some paint on there.
If you've spent so much time and so much money getting back to a rust free car then please protect it.
You have very accurately matched the factory finish but at the factory they skimped. They neglected to properly paint parts of the car where they could save time, materials and money.
I'm sorry but I'd tell my guys to make as good a job of it as you can, I want it to last a lifetime and I'm not going to be taking out the carpet and showing my friends the finish.

But, then again - as a copy of the thin or non existent paint cover on the original - I concede it's a great job. Sadly not for me.

Ferry Man, actually you're not alone as most people prefer a visibly improved car and that comes with a fully painted boot, for example. In every restoration, we come to a point where we have to ask ourselves how close to the original we want to be in the end.

My personal experience is that on day 1, I wanted the car as original as possible to the delivery. Along the way I learned what 'original' actually means and what kind of an extra effort is necessary to replicate 70s workmanship. So step by step I adapted my plan of an 'original car' to 'my own car' as I started to deal with things in detail, partly because I did not like how (badly) they built my car back then and secondly because some things prove to be crap by today's standards. Or you can't find good genuine parts or resonable prices to replicate the original status. Or it take too much time and labour to do it. You name the reasons.

But that's all up for personal perference how high you rate originality and how far you take it. I guess my car won't receive such an involved paint job, but seeing it being done like that is pure eye candy and a great reference point for many others on their mission to F Model heaven.

Regards,
Jan

I saw this car on Monday and it is a stunning job. When serving my time in an accident repair shop many years ago we were taught to finish the repair to a standard that meant you couldn't tell it had been repaired, this meant replicating factory welding, seam sealing, paint etc. This seems to be what the aim is with this car.

Most restorations now are finished to a far higher standard than the original car ever was and that is also probably the case with this car but at least it has a nod towards the hand made, bean counter finish that was true of the day.

I for one think it's great.

Love the photos straight off the gun, was a great moment when doing mine...couldn't wait to start to put it all back together...stunning work chaps
Jp

Ferry Man wrote:
...I want it to last a lifetime and I'm not going to be taking out the carpet and showing my friends the finish.

Yeah but Rich will!

Well, thanks very much everyone for the comments, it's really appreciated by the people working on the car. And I'm also hearing that the finish has been a bit controversial Seems like it's a marmite paint job....

Anyway, I went to visit the car yesterday and to be honest I came over all emotional when I saw the car (big girl's blouse that I am)

It's completely exceeded my expectations and I think looks absolutely fantastic. Rich the painter has put his heart and soul into this car and it really shows. We're well north of 200 hours on this, but coming to the final stages.

Firstly some of the messy detail....this overspray & finish is exactly what I wanted. And remember, this is all going to be slathered in waxoyl, so the final finish underneath will be brown-ish - my main reference for this kind of detail is this this 700 mile 2.2s - there are some amazing photos here that we're using as reference..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/80724421@N ... 169538658/

Oh and this as a reference for the 'quality' that they put in under the bonnet....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVU3Ym8D ... ata_player

I'll show you some precision later....









I think that's enough of messy - time to see some precision....

SO - onto the precision part.....this is what it looks like when you blend black, with stonechip with green with shiny. With skill.





And on the torsion bar covers....





And remember this bonnet?





Looks a bit better now....



And even better when it's been laquered, wet flatted, polished and is in a bit of sunshine....

Oh yes!

So then. When you put most of it together (we still need to do the matt balck in the interior and hang the bumpers) you get this.

And this is what 'got' me.....





















#happy....

Wow looks fantastic.

Best paint resto I've seen! Hats off to everyone involved. Awesome.

Richard, I'm sending you a pm.

Regards
Mike