Project: Boattail
 

I've owned it for 19 years, and it's been almost 13 years since the car has seen the road. 2 months ago, I started to change every suspension bushing, along with the brakes, shocks and springs.

The motor is out, being completely-resealed and swapping a twin Weber sidedraft setup for the SPICA injection. Now, she's in primer, soon to be blocked, and then painted.

Naturally, she'll be ready right before winter... but she'll be done. My last "project"; finished. Whoof.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1191850241.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1191850258.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1191850271.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1191850288.jpg

You can see the original body color in the engine bay -- a hideous baby/french blue. The p/o had it painted a Ford gray/gold/green (which there's still a little of on the nose, and you can see the hood and trunk against the far wall).

She was actually in pretty good shape when she went in -- a couple of small dings, and some blistering in the rockers, which was about it.

Not sure what color I'm going for, but (a) it won't be blue, got 3 blue cars already, (b) it won't be red, and (c) it will be a light color, not very metallic/pearlescent, if at all.

That, or I'll have the whole damned thing chromed.

JP

I don't see any "blue", the trunk is covered.

A light or bright color, don't want to see an SUV rear-end you.

It looks great and I don't find that light blue offensive at all. It would be a shame not to have it back to it's original color. If you really dislike it that much why not see what other colors were available on that model and pick one of those?

I'm seeing it in silver or seal gray.

kach -- look at the first and 2nd pictures. The inside of the passenger side of the engine bay -- that's the original blue.

Put it this way -- I wouldn't have bought the car if it was that blue, so I'm not painting it a color I dislike, just for originality. I'm removing the injection, have up-rated the brakes, headlights and other aspects of the car. It's my car, not the (evidently color-blind) original owner's. :D

JP

Oops, the engine bay, not trunk.:o

Looks like the color they put on the ME-109 (on my screen).

I'm thinking silver would be good... not very metallic/pearlescent, though.

What means this "seal grey"?

I'm auditioning gray/green colors... but light.

JP

A friend has a red one....beautiful car!

Silver would be nice but not as "traditional"....IMO.

Behold "Seal Gray"...

http://www.caymanclub.net/gallery/fi...th_Natural.jpg

There were some off-gray colors of special interest in the 356 Pelican section last year you might want to reseach - very nice stuff.

Momma Mia! Just in time for Columbus Day. :D

More seal grey...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1191854271.jpg

The photo's don't really do it justice, in bright sunlight it is a suprisingly light color and I think it shows off the shape of a car very well, but then I would.

Have buddy with one that is british racing green of all colors and looks sharp

I almost bought an ivory boat tail a number of years ago - the early spiders are great cars.

I wonder if that's my old car. '69 boattail, baby blue. 1750cc Spica injection. I removed the brake boosters because seals were unobtainable, forward lower corner of the oil pan suffered from a meeting w/ a rock and a dog got at the leather seats.

Sold w/ a 2liter p/c kit in the trunk in the Albany area.

Bill -
I bought it in 1988/89 from a surgeon in Syracuse. He was the 2nd owner and had overpainted the blue (except the engine area).

The guard has a slight prang (though I don't remember which side, and don't have pix right now) and the seats were covered... though they weren't tattered, they had some wear/damage. Wow. If it is your old car, I apologize for the color-blind thing!

Seal Grey is a very strong contender!

White is a possibility... not stark 'refrigerator' white, but a white with just a touch of blue/green warmth. <-- not describing it very well.

JP

I like the boattails. Looks like a good one.

JP, I've owned a coupla of '69s over the years, too - good for you to bring yours back to the road.
I'd suggest looking over Alfa colors from the '60s - though the choices were pretty slim. I understand not wanting red (oh-so-common) or a color that you're tired of seeing. I tend to stay away from metallics on vintage sports cars (except silver for Porsches, of course) - Dolomite Gray is a nice one. Based on your remarks, perhaps also look at Porsche colors of the same era - Leaf Green is a rare, bright green solid color that might be neat. Make that Duetto appear to be a Fall leaf floating along the road. Best of luck!

Beautiful!!!

Had a couple of spiders along the way, but never a Duetto. Those things are sweethearts. How about black?

what exactly do you have in your stable these days? 930 ever get done?

I vote Ivory. Very classic.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/829/fs22370ou8.jpg

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/3...003alfaey1.jpg

I'm iffy on black, for a coupla reasons -- first, after painting the 2002 a dark, lustrous color I learned my lesson. Too hard to keep clean, everything shows up, etc.

I'm between a ivory/white (a cool white, w/o the "warmth" or brown of ivory) and a silver/grey right now. I'm probably not going "dark" b/c it'll double the cost of the paint, and there are plenty of good, lighter options.

I went over to the AlfaBB and looked at dozens and dozens of colors from the 70's that they have avail. They're good for "ideas", but I just don't trust my monitor/color/temperature settings to give me the full picture. I've got the 6" thick paint color 3-ring binder that I'm going through to find inspiration.

James -
Everything you see in the signature, baby! The 930 gets paint (and A/C!) next year, but that's just cause I'm OCD about it. After a good detailing right now, she looks 90% The Mini is done (as in everything is done, I just need to adjust the ride height), the 2002 is done, and the Alfa will be done soon. Realistically, it may be winter before I get the bumpers back and do the top/upholstery. It has been an expensive summer on the car front, and though most of the spend is behind me, I've still got to drop a few grand left to get the Alfa finished.

More pix as the project progresses....

Thanks for all the input, guys!

JP