Spitfire 1500 - Re-Living My Youth (RLMY)

[alan.gilbert_6384]

1 hour ago, Pete Lewis said:

many paint factors can scan th colour and even make it into spray cans   

have a look on locl suppliers of automotive paint  give them a call   and take the car for a scan 

club shop can do this but need a sample to post to the factors 

but i cant think of a painted part of a conveinient size to post  

i used a fuel flap on the 2000  which is easybut  on a spitty   Hmmm  what could you use ????

Pete

I used the headlamp cowl with the TSSC shop, they use Sayers in Northampton 01604 642642, just a thought ?  I found the club shop cheaper to go through as they get a big discount on 6 tins, with a touch up pot included.

[NonMember]

3 hours ago, Pettifordo said:

Dark British Racing Green

My Vitesse was restored back in 1990 or so and painted a very dark green. I'm fairly sure, from what the restorer has since told me, that it's Jaguar British Racing Green (1967) - but it's nothing like Jaguar British Racing Green (1970) nor Jaguar British Racing Green (1975) nor any of the many metallic Jaguar British Racing Green shades. My local paint shop agreed that the 1967 JBRG looked a good match but unfortunately the formula for it contains lead and thus can no longer be sold.

Best of luck finding a good match for yours.

[Josef]

I’m line with what others have said I would suggest ringing a few local body shops and asking if they can suggest a paint supplier. A good paint supplier should be able to match whatever you have. (Some paint suppliers clearly can’t which has lead to my Spitfire having so many coats of paint it’s nearly too wide to fit through the garage doors…)

[PeteH]

Ford, "Silver Fox" Circa; early 80`s, Has, wait for it, 27 different shades!! and sub shades, a popuar colour with Capri owners but used throughout the Ford range. I used to visit a lot of body shop`s (air compressor vessel, statutary examinations) back then, and many paint shops wouldn`t touch it.

Pete

[NonMember]

Ford "Silver Fox" was also a problem colour in that the paint adhesion wasn't good. That may explain why they kept re-formulating it.

[PeteH]

2 hours ago, NonMember said:

Ford "Silver Fox" was also a problem colour in that the paint adhesion wasn't good. That may explain why they kept re-formulating it.

That was a recurring Ford theme, I had two Escourt`s repainted. A Blue and a White both shed the top coat the white one in huge strips!!. Fiat had similar issues on 2006 to 2008/9 White Ducato`s as well.

Pete

[Pettifordo]

So as you might see from the bodywork thread, I have decided to tackle the bonnet section of the Spitfire.

I bought the strengthening section for underneath and a repair section for the front edge.

It isn’t very tall perhaps coming up an inch.

I think this will leave a gap to what is left of the bonnet !!!

Does anyone have experience of this kind of repair ? I’m currently thinking of using flat metal to bridge the gap so the bonnet is strong and metal and then creating the final shape with filler.

Anyone got any other bright ideas - other then buying another bonnet 🤔🤔 - the rest of it is quiet good under the various coats of paint 🤣🤣🤣

[Josef]

You'll be able to fabricate most of the missing parts for sure. If there's damage right on the nose that might be a little harder to shape, but should be doable. You'll need the repair section and some long strips of metal. I would get the repair section tacked in the right place, possibly with some temporary bits of metal to hold it to what remains of the bonnet, then I'd fill in the gaps between the repair section using a method very like the one in this video:

 

[Piglet]

Wow! How many colours has the poor girl been? Perhaps you could carbon date it, like the rings on a tree 😁

Alex

[Pettifordo]

17 hours ago, Piglet said:

many colours

I think only 2 - Vermilion Red (original) the some Metallic BRG - the other yellow colour is a think primer under the BRG - I assume to hide all the filler etc 😩😩😩

[Pettifordo]

So the paint is off the bonnet but I now have a much bigger repair to do.

Could a repair panel be made for this or am I best to weld in some metal and then form the shape of the panel with filler ?

My thinking is the latter is much easier and will mean the car has zero rust but not zero filler.

Views ? Any specialist company that could create a repair section ?

[Josef]

I still reckon you can use a similar technique to what’s described in the video I linked. Maybe the shape won’t be 100% perfect but you should be able to get close enough that you won’t need much in the way of filler. If you position and secure the repair panel in the right place to start with using something you’ll cut off later to bridge gaps in a few places.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Josef

[Pettifordo]

I’ve found a friendly welder who said I can use his tools to fab a new front section.

I’ve rubbed it right back today.

and then primed it so I can enjoy the car for the summer and then do the bonnet over the winter.

I think the filler in the front could be accident repair and not rust. It was done very well and you couldn’t see it with the paint on, but with the paint off you can see some distortion of the metal that was filled.

I will cut it all out and make it good as new 👍

It would probably be cheaper and quicker to find a replacement bonnet - but where’s the fun in that !

[AlanT]

We’re you tempted to lacquer the bonnet as stripped and go full De Lorean? I contemplated doing my whole car this way after hours of paint removal.

[Pettifordo]

12 hours ago, AlanT said:

lacquer the bonnet

I did think about exactly that now you come to mention it.

But too late now.

Also with the state of the front of the bonnet, god knows what that would look like with clear coat 🙂

Edited June 26, 2023 by Pettifordo

[Pettifordo]

I treated myself to some door mirror that are the correct period for the car.

 

This photo is halfway through the job 👍

When I replaced NS one I found out that I can’t actually see it from the drivers seat 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I will have to check some images for where they should be mounted on the door so that once I tackle re-painting those I can get them in the right place and weld up the holes 🤪🤪🤪

[Pettifordo]

Found this bonnet nose via ebay - should see the end to my filler one 👍

[Conor L]

I too decided to run my Spitfire around last summer with the bonnet in grey primer, glad to see its becoming a trend haha 

[Pettifordo]

So I have stripped the repair nose back and it is pretty good - see photos

Not sure if I should patch this holes (put copper behind and fill up and then grind back etc)

Or do I cut it out and weld in the repair section that I have already purchased using the method @Josef recommended - I was thinking I could screw the 2 bits together and then cut off the old nose along the line a foot at a time and keep pulling the 2 pieces together to butt weld 🤔🤔🤔

 

what do others think ????

Edited July 7, 2023 by Pettifordo

[Josef]

From the look of the thing, I’d maybe use bits of your repair section to patch the bit cut from an original bonnet. But don’t weld the whole thing in unless you really have to. The more localised you can keep any repairs the better (less heat and so less chance of distortion). Myself I’d probably fit the chunk of nose you’ve bought to the car first, then do any further repairs to that in place, keeping them as small as possible.

[Pettifordo]

10 hours ago, Josef said:

don’t weld the whole thing in unless you really have to

I thought that welding the whole repair section in would provide better structural integrity and a nice smooth edge to the front of the bonnet - but I need to think about the distortion.

I’m going to see my welding expert next week to see what he thinks - he mentions “cold welding” it with TIG….so perhaps I can pay him to do it ?? Or is that cheating 🤣🤣

[Pettifordo]

Today was getting all the rust off the “new” nose for the bonnet.

I had to drill through from under the lip to get the spot welds so now have holes along the bottom, but I plan to use those to weld it to the new bottom plate I have.

The rest isn’t too rusty and I’m confident I can butt weld at the end and then fill the holes with copper behind the weld area 👍

It took me 2.5 hours to get it to the stage where I could test fit and it will just cover the filled bit - phew. If the metal is thin on the left hand side I might have to fab another patch.

Next weekend I will weld in the patches and fill the holes.

 

[Pettifordo]

Now patched both end and the small holes.

Will need some more finishing but happy with the result.

Next I have to strip the front off the car.

I think I will keep the bonnet on the car for the welding on with a brace across the 2 bonnet supports to make sure nothing moves as I cut out the front part of the bonnet and the support underneath.

I think I can get to all the spot welds holding it on 🤞🤞🤞

[Pettifordo]

Had a few free mins this PM so I decided to cut out the filler

I can imagine with a nice chrome grille it might look nice and cooling would be a breeze 🤣🤣🤣

Some nice plates welded in from the PO

Test fitting of the new nose looks good.

Now I think I have done as much as I can do without stripping the front of the car so I can access the strengthen plate underneath / it isn’t too bad but having got this far it seems a shame not to replace that - I think I can honestly say that once this is done the car will be “filler free” - except where I have used it to close joints and tidy bits up - so used to smooth things out and not as a structural component 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Piglet]

Well done indeed! I would have just chucked in a load of plod but this is coming along amazingly.

Alex