What colour Now? Dillema..

[Alty Ian]

There was an earlier OSG (1965-67) and a later one used on XJ6's etc in the 80's and it is the later one that is too golden.

I got the perfect colour earlier colour from Colourtone in Stockport no problem, if I recall it was about ?30 a litre (its solvent based you know) and you need at least 7-8 litres to do everything inside and out and the full underside.

One noticeable thing about OSG is that it does look lighter in broad daylight than artificial light,.... as its a metallic base coat.

Also, and your coachbuilders will know this, make sure the basecoat isnt too thick as its the two coats of clear lacquer that give it its body and shine when flatted and buffed up.

[David Oslo]

Consider chemical stripping (e.g. brushed-on paint stripper). It'll take one layer of the paint at a time, nice and carefully. Then use an orbital / DA at the end just to take the last bits off.

Orbital sanding can also put a lot of heat into the metal if done in the hands of an unskilled person. Worn or clogged paper (or incorrect grit) will soon have the metal heated up.

[TonyChile]

Ian,

this is exactly the conversation that was going on at the coach builders around the earlier versus later OSG colour. They were saying that at one time (in the 80's??) they struggled to get the correct OSG colour. Will mention Colourtone to them when I am next round.

They had an E in a few months back that had been done in Opalescent Blue and it looked fantastic (to my untrained eye)..

They are also just finishing my neighbours Series 3 which is looking great in Pale Primrose yellow.

David,

Having been round to the coach works a few times now I see that they are using orbital sanding but there does seem to be quite a lot of hand sanding going on for the older cars in the shop.

They tend to take their time with classics they have and I expect the car to be there for the next 4-5 Months.