Taking a car down to bare metal is always recommended, but lets face it,
expensive. In this case, the repair area must be taken down and then a
new primer applied. As for the balance of the car, it can be sanded and
have "low hide" primer to give the car and even finish when the new
paint is applied. The danger area is where the repair and the original
meet. A good body/restoration shop can handle this. Modern paints act
differently so it is important to stay with one system for the complete
job. Note that you must primer the complete car, paint on paint will
chip/crack.
I would also like to address the colour. A good paint shop will be able
to match the original colour, which ever one you want. Unless you want
a non-original colour don't settle for it. Original ICI paints codes
are available but as mentioned earlier modern paint is different so the
old formulas are not accurate. I have seen paint matching to the Healey
paint code book and have been very impressed. Colours are fine, the
difficulty comes in the metallic paints as the current metallic flakes
are not fine enough. This of course is not an issue for Frogeye
owners. Please note that Sprites were not base/clear coated.
We are currently watching a "speedwell blue" car going through the
process. If you need assistance, send me a note offline and I will find
out exactly what paint is being used on this car. I have done the
colour check and it is a near as my eyes can tell.
Cheers,
Martyn
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