Another "it's only original once" question, this time about paint: advice appreciated

[PrairieDriver]

I recently posted a request for advice about whether to replace the Weltmeister decal on my '71 Targa T. I appreciate the clear advice I received to keep it. The advice was so strong that it makes me wonder about a similar "it's only original once" topic.

The exterior of my car has been repainted everywhere except the driver's door. Somehow the paint on the entire door is original. Whoever painted the adjacent parts did an amazing job; I've never noticed any color shift or variation across panels. Areas on other parts of the car, especially the skyward facing surfaces on the trunk and engine lid, don't look so good. I've always thought that one of these days I will want to paint the car, budget permitting.

If I were to paint the car, I assumed that it would make sense to paint the entire car. I've never heard of a repaint that preserved one panel. That seems like a risky proposition from a color match perspective. Having said that, it would bum me out to paint over a very nice looking door with original paint (BTW, the door produces that fabulous ping when closing; love that). Now the strong opinion to the Weltmeister decal makes me think about this all over again.

Note that the car is metallic green.

Should I be thinking of a full repaint or find a way to preserve the beautiful door?

Thanks (again) for any thoughts!

PrairieDriver

[myflat6]

Unfortunately I think you will be ‘forced’ to do a full repaint as it will be nearly impossible to match. Love the idea of preservation but gonna be tough. I kept the original paint where I could behind the door panels (including factory hand numbering) and in areas in the frunk when I did a repaint but that was about it.

[70SATMan]

IN this case, I think it's a no brainer to paint the whole car and it's likely that your glass seals need to be replaced. Regularly used cars are always going to need attention to original parts that just wear out.. Rubber items above and below for instance.

Now if your car were 75%-90% original paint and it hadn't failed then I'd re-consider the position. Use the original paint areas to insure you get a good replacement paint formula down before destroying that reference in the prep for shooting the whole car.

[Arne]

IN this case, I think it's a no brainer to paint the whole car and it's likely that your glass seals need to be replaced. Regularly used cars are always going to need attention to original parts that just wear out.. Rubber items above and below for instance.

Now if your car were 75%-90% original paint and it hadn't failed then I'd re-consider the position. Use the original paint areas to insure you get a good replacement paint formula down before destroying that reference in the prep for shooting the whole car.

I agree with @70SATMan on both counts. If you only have one original paint panel left, you'll end up painting it all to make it look right. And absolutely have the painter match that original panel to your satisfaction prior to any work on it. I'd be very surprised if any of the formulas in the paint manufacturers' books for your green are all that close. Get the paint formula nailed down while you still have something good to use as a sample.

[RickWhite]

You've managed to elicit some of the best-informed views in the business, so I don't know how much more I can add, except to say I sort of have been in the same boat as you - lucky enough to fall into a very well-preserved 71 T targa without knowing what I was doing.

At this point, I've had about 50% of the body re-sprayed. But I am lucky in that light ivory is a much easier color to blend than metallic green. I also have an exceptionally talented shop doing the work (and as advised above, they spend an inordinate time with samples to make certain they get the tint to match). Even then, as each resprayed panel creeps its way around the car, I am realizing that it is near impossible to match 50-year old paint with new paint. At this point the driver side is original, but the passenger side and hood are resprayed. I am going to bite the bullet and have the rest completed this winter because the imperfections of old paint on a car that has been driven simply don't match new paint, no matter what you do, which speaks to Michael's point about rubber. Nothing last forever.

That said, you absolutely want to find the best paint person you can because you want to save all of the sills and door jambs etc. Much like your decal, you can't match the overspray from the factory and so many textures around the car. So finding someone who is going to do the job correctly far outweighs the incremental cost of their expertise. At least to me, the most "valuable" paint isn't on the exterior, but in the trunk and engine bay and on the floors. When repainted your car will look superficially like it rolled out of the factory, but unless you have someone with an attention to detail, all of the great slop that is hidden will just get sprayed over.

[PrairieDriver]

Thanks for the helpful perspectives. I now have a plan: expect to repaint the car in full at some point; get the formula for a color match on the original door before it degrades to enable the full repaint.

...and don't touch the Weltmeister decal!

HH