RESPRAY a 164?

[toby2449]

hi all, just wondering, am strongly thinking of getting my red 164 re-sprayed, now instead of just going for the same red again, can i get her done a slightly darker red, basically what i'm trying to do is ensure she's not going to starting fading away again, as the red thats on her now was only re-sprayed a few years ago.

any ideas???

[niallmoran]

go for a metalic with a laquer and it should be fine

[Unkle Munkle]

Hi,

When I had my 164 Cloverleaf, I had it re-sprayed. Alfa used a solid red paint with a clear coat lacquer - presumably to make the paint more resistant to the elements etc. They seemed to do this with all its solid colours. However, as many red Alfa owners will testify, this clearly didn't work. As a result, the red paint fades under the lacquer and you can't polish it back up. The only way is a re-spray. I'm not sure whether they use this method now, but you will notice that some red 156s, 166s, Spiders and GTVs et al will be faded if they haven't been garaged or waxed with a UV protecting product regularly.

If you go for a re-spray, need a two-pak based paint in a solid colour, ie it is painted in a solid colour and not lacquered. The result is amazing and, if the paint should ever fade, it will buff up without too much effort. Doing another paint job in red with a lacquered coat is a waste of effort and will cost you more for the same result. It worked for me and the car still looked in showroom condition a three years later. Obviously it was waxed regularly, but worth the effort IMO. I got it done for a bargain at £850 at the time. The guy vastly underestimated but stuck with the price. He reckons it should of been approx £1,500. It's a lot of money, but worth it if the foundations of the car are in good order and you're going to keep it. These should be your guideline prices unless you have a pal who owes you a favour or you can do it yourself!

Sadly the car caught fire earlier this year and whilst getting a top-end settlement for the car, I dearly miss it! On the other hand (and now the owner of the pictured 166) I won't ever buy another red Alfa again as it is too much grief when the paint goes 'wrong' - a shame when it's the marque's trademark colour!

Good luck.

[badgers_nadgers]

Don't worry, it's the same for black. We're getting the Cloverleaf resprayed.

[mudhut]

I guess that means my black one has been repainted then - paint still comes up nicely. Can't see any obvious signs of respray though.

[Unkle Munkle]

Originally Posted by mudhut

I guess that means my black one has been repainted then - paint still comes up nicely. Can't see any obvious signs of respray though.

Not necessarily as it may of been really looked after. Red is the real culprit here I'm sad to say!

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by Unkle Munkle

Hi,

When I had my 164 Cloverleaf, I had it re-sprayed. Alfa used a solid red paint with a clear coat lacquer - presumably to make the paint more resistant to the elements etc. They seemed to do this with all its solid colours. However, as many red Alfa owners will testify, this clearly didn't work. As a result, the red paint fades under the lacquer and you can't polish it back up. The only way is a re-spray. I'm not sure whether they use this method now, but you will notice that some red 156s, 166s, Spiders and GTVs et al will be faded if they haven't been garaged or waxed with a UV protecting product regularly.

If you go for a re-spray, need a two-pak based paint in a solid colour, ie it is painted in a solid colour and not lacquered. The result is amazing and, if the paint should ever fade, it will buff up without too much effort. Doing another paint job in red with a lacquered coat is a waste of effort and will cost you more for the same result. It worked for me and the car still looked in showroom condition a three years later. Obviously it was waxed regularly, but worth the effort IMO. I got it done for a bargain at £850 at the time. The guy vastly underestimated but stuck with the price. He reckons it should of been approx £1,500. It's a lot of money, but worth it if the foundations of the car are in good order and you're going to keep it. These should be your guideline prices unless you have a pal who owes you a favour or you can do it yourself!

Sadly the car caught fire earlier this year and whilst getting a top-end settlement for the car, I dearly miss it! On the other hand (and now the owner of the pictured 166) I won't ever buy another red Alfa again as it is too much grief when the paint goes 'wrong' - a shame when it's the marque's trademark colour!

Good luck.

thanks a million for your comments (sorry to hear about ol' girl catching fire). I had initally intended to do up the 164 with a view to selling her, but i'm putting quite alot of effort into her so i'm changing my mind because its still one fantastic looking car, all she needs in some TLC (well that and some money spent on her)

I have a friend who's hubby does bodywork so i should get a good price off him!

Thanks again though!

[badgers_nadgers]

Originally Posted by mudhut

I guess that means my black one has been repainted then - paint still comes up nicely. Can't see any obvious signs of respray though.

Might just have been better looked after! I think the lacquer's coming off ours. Either way, it's a bit of a shed at the moment and is going to cost us a small fortune. Should be worth it in the end though!

[lowejackson]

The difficulty with going for a slightly different colour would be the doors, engine bay etc will all highlight the change of colour.

Once the paint has outgassed from the respray, I would use a sealant to protect the paint.

On a slightly different note. Is there anything else wrong with the paint aside from the oxidisation as this can often (but not always) be fixed

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by lowejackson

The difficulty with going for a slightly different colour would be the doors, engine bay etc will all highlight the change of colour.

Once the paint has outgassed from the respray, I would use a sealant to protect the paint.

On a slightly different note. Is there anything else wrong with the paint aside from the oxidisation as this can often (but not always) be fixed

yeah i'm now thinking changing the colour could throw up all sorts of problems, and may not be worth the hassel. Its literally just to oxidisation to the paintwork that bothers me, the actual bodywork is in amazing condition considering she's a '91. Theres no flaking of paint, no stone chips (that i can think of!).

[Mr_Caine]

If the paint is just single stage and no lacquer it should be pretty easy to return the faded paint to a shine deep shine presuming it is generally sound and not lifting. I had this on a Megane a couple of years ago, the last owner, a mate of mine hadn't washed the car in about 5 years and the paint was faded and completely flat, zero shine. I used a colour restorer polish on a cheap ebay rotary polisher, followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish and then Autoglym Extra Gloss protection. The difference was like night and day, the neighbour that bought the car from me took it to a garage and they commented on how amazing the paintwork was. Yes it took me an entire day but took the paint back to as good if not better than the day it left the factory. You don't always need a respray. Stuff like Autoglym will help prevent future fading by reasonably regular re-application.

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by Mr_Caine

If the paint is just single stage and no lacquer it should be pretty easy to return the faded paint to a shine deep shine presuming it is generally sound and not lifting. I had this on a Megane a couple of years ago, the last owner, a mate of mine hadn't washed the car in about 5 years and the paint was faded and completely flat, zero shine. I used a colour restorer polish on a cheap ebay rotary polisher, followed by Autoglym Super Resin Polish and then Autoglym Extra Gloss protection. The difference was like night and day, the neighbour that bought the car from me took it to a garage and they commented on how amazing the paintwork was. Yes it took me an entire day but took the paint back to as good if not better than the day it left the factory. You don't always need a respray. Stuff like Autoglym will help prevent future fading by reasonably regular re-application.

ah now thats an idea, i might give that a go then, i would rather a little hard work over spending out maybe €1500 on a re-spray! She's still (in my eyes) a gorgeous looking car. I've got a few bits n pieces to do to the car before i can go near the paintwork, ie cleaning the engine, new front grille, badges, brakes, refurb alloy wheels etc... theres actually not a whole lot wrong with the ol' girl, just mainly cosmetic.

Once again though, i have to say you bunch on this site are great people, i'm also on another forum for my Mondeo, and they just pale in comparison to this site! Cheers everyone!

[Unkle Munkle]

Originally Posted by toby2449

ah now thats an idea, i might give that a go then, i would rather a little hard work over spending out maybe €1500 on a re-spray! She's still (in my eyes) a gorgeous looking car. I've got a few bits n pieces to do to the car before i can go near the paintwork, ie cleaning the engine, new front grille, badges, brakes, refurb alloy wheels etc... theres actually not a whole lot wrong with the ol' girl, just mainly cosmetic.

Once again though, i have to say you bunch on this site are great people, i'm also on another forum for my Mondeo, and they just pale in comparison to this site! Cheers everyone!

Sadly, this won't be possible on a 164. I also had a T Spark in red before the Cloverleaf that I had painted - you would of thought that I'd of learnt! The paintwork will be lacquered. Give it a go and you'll find no trace of red paint on your polishing cloth!

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by Unkle Munkle

Sadly, this won't be possible on a 164. I also had a T Spark in red before the Cloverleaf that I had painted - you would of thought that I'd of learnt! The paintwork will be lacquered. Give it a go and you'll find no trace of red paint on your polishing cloth!

Crumbs!

[lowejackson]

I would not give up hope yet. If I can find a way to post 2 pics, hopefully it will show what can be done

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by lowejackson

I would not give up hope yet. If I can find a way to post 2 pics, hopefully it will show what can be done

wow that is something else!!

just priced all the stuff i'd need and its gonna cost about €70 incl postage to ireland, i think i'll give it a go, and hey sure if worst comes to worst its only €70 (hang on did i say that!)

[lowejackson]

Have you seen this site http://www.smartcarcare.ie/, I have no idea if their pricing is good but I would start with the Carlack Systematic Care and some clay. The Carlack is a nonabrasive chemical cleaner, always start with the least abrasive polish first. I would also look at www.detailingworld.co.uk and/or www.autopia.org and http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detai...nt-clinic.html half way down the page is a small section on oxidised paint

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by lowejackson

Have you seen this site http://www.smartcarcare.ie/, I have no idea if their pricing is good but I would start with the Carlack Systematic Care and some clay. The Carlack is a nonabrasive chemical cleaner, always start with the least abrasive polish first. I would also look at www.detailingworld.co.uk and/or www.autopia.org and http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detai...nt-clinic.html half way down the page is a small section on oxidised paint

wow thanks for that, have printed out the whole page from the "Autopia" site, excellent info, really really helpful! thanks again!

Sadly my "restoration" plans have been put on the back foot now as the garage is at the moment being used to build a play pen for our Rabbit & Guine Pig, but i hope to get cracking again next week!

[toby2449]

just an aside, heres a few pics of the old girl in the garage. this was at the start when i'd take things like number plates, old damaged grille etc off, and hadn't even started to clean the engine!

oh BTW i got a new "t-spark" badge for the boot, but how do i get rid of the crap that the old badge left?? You might be able to see it in the pic of the boot (L/H side)

[Dougie166]

T-Cut should sort that out in minutes.

Glad to see you are looking after the old girl. My brother just bought a 155 - 12 years old but a minter that has had a full respray in last couple of years (due to fading). It is well polished up using Auto glym - Car valeter owned it!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALFA-ROMEO-155...QQcmdZViewItem

[lowejackson]

The car looks great.

The badge residue can be removed with with a hair dryer or a tar remover (ie Autoglym). Meths or WD40 can also be used but are more messy

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by Dougie166

T-Cut should sort that out in minutes.

Glad to see you are looking after the old girl. My brother just bought a 155 - 12 years old but a minter that has had a full respray in last couple of years (due to fading). It is well polished up using Auto glym - Car valeter owned it!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALFA-ROMEO-155...QQcmdZViewItem

hey thanks for that, just looked at the 155, wow its in stunning condition, i've bought myself a whole load of Autoglym stuff now, so i'l be hard at it.

[toby2449]

Originally Posted by lowejackson

The car looks great.

The badge residue can be removed with with a hair dryer or a tar remover (ie Autoglym). Meths or WD40 can also be used but are more messy

hair dryer! wouldn't have thought of that, but hey i'll give it a go, though i think i have some tar remover somewhere, cheers!

have to confess, the pictures actually do the car a favour as it was raining when i put it in the garage, so the body is wet & looks better than it really does!

[AlfissimoInternational]

Originally Posted by toby2449

hi all, just wondering, am strongly thinking of getting my red 164 re-sprayed, now instead of just going for the same red again, can i get her done a slightly darker red, basically what i'm trying to do is ensure she's not going to starting fading away again, as the red thats on her now was only re-sprayed a few years ago.

any ideas???

I think it is a great idea. These cars need to stay on the road looking good.
Maybe try the later model color burgundy, it is beautiful on this car.
Link:
http://www.geocities.com/tajul_azam/sc164-7.JPG
jason

[niallmoran]

is that a proteo red one? looks amazing