paint tips appreciated

[Funcar]

I am replacing the fuel tank and waiting to get a replacement. I want to repaint it same colour.The original colour is red and it is a 73 spider. There are chips and scraps were I removed the seal and from general previous usage in the rest of the trunk. Can someone tell me the exact name of the colour I need? What kind of prepwork is required? How best to apply...brush; roller; shake can? Where best to purchase.

[azruss]

Every spider i ever had had a black tank. Makes me wonder if a PO repainted the trunk and did the tanks as well. Your new tank will already have a flat black, very thin coat of paint. sand that with a 400g wet/dry. after that, and just before painting wash with a biodegradable degreaser, perferably a paint prep from an autobody supply house. follow instructions closely and dry with paper towels, not shop towels. wipe the lint off with a tack rag. put a light to medium coat of rattlecan primer. You can go with an etching primer you buy at the autobody supply house or something like rustoleum automotive primer in a rattle can. With the rustoleum, you can allow the primer coat 15-20 minutes to kick and follow with Rustoleum professional gloss black, also in a rattle can. If you want to do a color match, there are some supply houses that will do a match in a rattle can. Be warned that Fiat reds fade quickly, so a perfect color match may be hard to pull off. Anyhow, once the tank is in place, spray some undercoat on the bottom. You can get that in a rattle can from the auto parts store as well. If you are talking about doing the whole trunk, the same sanding instructions apply. you can get by with spot primering where you are down to metal and sand to blend before you paint color. If my trunk looked that nice, i would skip the paint and rub it out with some compound.

[Funcar]

Thanks Russ. I appreciate the tip on painting the new tank to ensure longevity and apearance. I would not have thought of that. The new tank has not arrived at the suppiler in Texas as of yet. So by the time thay get it and ship it to me in Canada I should have plenty of time to buff up the apearance of the trunk. I will hopefully follow your example of putting in new wood and then covering everything with carpet including the sides so now one will really see it anyway. I'm pretty sure your lower trunk is imacculate!

[AriK]

I was thinking of coating my trunk floor with por-15 but only if it comes in the same shade red as yours. I don't know if it exists and i'm not sure if it's paintable. Also i've read that it is preferable for por-15 to be applied directly on metal and not over paint. Maybe someone can input on this.
If not i may resort to applying tremclad fire red (branded rustoleum in the U.S.) thinned out with mineral spirits and applied by sponge roller. If i'm good the results will appear as if it was sprayed. I'd like to spare myself of spraying, the finish on my car is too nice to risk overspray settling on it.

[azruss]

I sanded and repainted the entire trunk as it was in bad shape and i was changing color. If mine looked like yours, i would have left it alone. You are just getting started on your car and are ready to dig into every detail. If you arent careful, you end up in an endurance contest like me. Prioritize your projects, working on the big important stuff in the beginning and then work on the lesser stuff as time, energy and enthusiasm permits. Sage advice from someone whose been there.

[Funcar]

Russ I think I caught some kind of bug when I was in Arizona. I'm pretty sure this bug is highly contagious and I may have caught it from you. I think they call it Fiat Restoration Fever and there is no known cure. Sounds like you are telling me the best treatment is a good dose of good old fashion being realistic and setting up a restoration plan. Thanks from a newbie

[wizard124]

I am in the middle of this, just had my car painted with a color change.
Give the trunk a good scrubbing with a de greaser, cleanser. You may be surprised by the result. I used POR 15 around the battery box and panels where battery acid had burned the paint and etched the metal. The body shop sanded the POR and sprayed over it.
If you can determine the original color code and obtain some spray cans of it, it would be pretty easy to mask off the inner panels, lights, wiring . Rough up the original paint in the main areas, then rattle away