Yellow at Long Last!
July 2011
July 24th: Today I painted the Urraco! Finally. I had been doing lots of work on it since September, but photos didn't show anything new. A picture of primer sanded to 100 grain looks a whole lot like the same primer sanded to 320, but the amount of work is significant. I wanted to get the Urraco surface perfectly flat to see how good a paint job I could do.
After much research, I was able to find the proper yellow paint code used by the factory in 1975: PPG Giallo 2.469.019. I wasn't sure what it would look like, but I knew it was the right color. What do you think?
Here's what it looks like today.
I'll add more photos later. This is very exciting progress! I was only able to paint the body this weekend. I'll have to shoot the doors, hood, and trunk lid next weekend. Then comes... more sanding! But color sanding is the fun part.
August 7th: The last parts were painted today. Last weekend I did the doors.
And yesterday I painted the trunk lid and front hood.
There are a few minor flaws in the paint, but those should sand out. The worst I'm expecting is that I will have to reshoot some of the clear coat if I cut through it. There are only two spots I'm anticipating that. Overall, I'm very happy with the color and the finish. Look at the reflection in the trunk lid!
When I start color sanding next weekend, the body will have had three weeks to cure. There are three coats of yellow topped by three or four coats of clear. Actually, I may not color sand next weekend because I'm planning to go to Monterey for The Weekend, which actually starts on the 19th. I was really hoping to have the Urraco ready to go, but it's just not possible. The Concourso Italiano is my favorite event of The Weekend. Maybe next year I'll have the Miura running!
But after Monterey, I'll start color sanding the Urraco.
In the mean time, the engine will be dropped out and gone over. Because it's been sitting so long, the belts and seals will be replaced, the carbs will be dismantled and cleaned out, the fuel system will be flushed, etc., and it will be resuscitated very carefully.