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fmichaels

fmichaels

Jedi Knight
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okay, a little history first. my original 67 sprite tub was too rusted to restore. i purchased another tub and if any one remembers, this was the tub that was mysteriously cut in half (right through the sills and floor). anyway, the new tub is at the shop getting new sills and a floor. the rest of the car only has some minor damage. my original tub was racing green and my intent was to always restore to the original color. but since having the new tub, i am thinking about painting the car gun metal. i know some of you may be cringing, but since the car is no longer my original tub and because it won't have all stock parts, am I defying the AH code of honor (you do have one right?!) or is it just a matter of taste?
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ps don't ask me why the car was cut in half ... i simply don't know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Paint what ever color "floats your boat" unless you forsee having to resell it in the near future (in which case you should paint it a period color Red)

Just my 2 cents. Mine is 2002 Aston Martin BRG.
 
i still have time to change my mind and i am not completely sold on gun metal. i am a fan of BRG as well and may still go that route. i do not intend on ever selling this car. thanks
 
Mine is black, but added a couple of drops diamond blue and lilac pearl into the clear coat. Since I plan on keeping it for eternity, I figure I should make it look like I wanted. I have seen a Sprite painted in the dark silver color and it looked beautiful.
 

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I painted my car '99 Kia Cobolt Blue metallic on the top, and '99 Kia Pewter Silver metallic on the bottom below the chrome strip. Wasn't going for concourse, so I figured I'm going to go with what I like. Just my 2 cents.
 
I went through the color decision process a few months ago...the only thing numerous people told me not to do was to paint a british car with metallic of any color. It actually did sway my decision, as there are very nice non-metallics out there, which I ended up doing.

That having been said, gun metal is one of my favorite colors...
 
Mine's '97 Vector Yellow (it's actually a GM color, and only the last digit of the PPG paint code differs from Ferrari Yellow) with Ford Oxford White sills. These are both not metallic colors, but no-one would ever notice. I think the original yellows were awful, and my car was chartreuse, or something similarly awful.
 
Here is a photo of a Sprite in Silver...can't remember where I saw it on the web, but I saved a copy of it for reference.
 

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Have you seen Blake Sonnier's yellow MGB? There may be a photo of it on Zack's post of cars at the New Orleans show.
 
My '65 was originaly BRG; it is being restored to near original w/exception of typical minor period mods thru the years. However: instead of the black interior which is so featureless, I'm seriously considering red w/black carpet. I'm more than a little concerned that purists will shun it, but I've seen pictures of B's, A's, T's and TR's w/that color combo that look good to my eye.
 
BRG paint with red interior?
 
the bottom line for me was that i wanted to restore the car to its original color. but the car has since become either new parts or purchased used parts. the car was in such disrepair that there was not much left to keep. the more i read this forum, the more i understand the benefits to upgrading from original stock. i will keep the car as close to stock as possible but i think the gun metal would just set it off nicely. i don't want to make a bad decision though so i appreciate the comments.
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i will tell you, when i started disassmbly (and knowing the history of maintenance i performed almost every weekend), i am surprised i am still alive. the car caught fire twice, i broke two axles, the car could never be driven in the rain otherwise i had to bail water from the floor. the tie-rods almost fell apart in my hands, and once i lost my brakes and had to crash into one of those mall parking cement stops. sometimes i wonder why i would ever want to keep this car ... but i did and i am very excited about he possibility of driving it again after it's rebuilt.
 
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I painted my car '99 Kia Cobolt Blue metallic on the top, and '99 Kia Pewter Silver metallic on the bottom below the chrome strip. Wasn't going for concourse, so I figured I'm going to go with what I like. Just my 2 cents.

[/ QUOTE ]

John, I would love to see a picture of your two-tone Midget, sounds striking! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
I say "go for it"!
 
Do what makes ya happy man! Screw the "purist" I like red and green. That late model Jag really dark green would look great with the red trim.
 
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the only thing numerous people told me not to do was to paint a british car with metallic of any color.

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I think it's all personal preference, but I don't know why people would say no metallic. My friends that have seen mine really like the looks. One thing about metallic, on such a small car, you need to go with finer metallic flake. Too big of flakes may look odd, but that's one reason I chose the KIA color scheme. Nice deep blue with a subtle metallic.
 
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John, I would love to see a picture of your two-tone Midget, sounds striking! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Carl, I'll try to get a picture posted by this weekend. It's kind of difficult to get a really good pic right now as the car is in the garage with no front suspension at the moment. Out in the sunlight, you get a much better pic.
 
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