Further work on our 1964 Land Rover paint

We think we have now mastered the blending method we needed to use on the front panels of our 1964 Land Rover.

The key to the blending was in the thickness of the paint and also applying it with a roller.

We needed to apply a further layer of watered down oil based colour with a roller and then once set we buffed the areas to bring back the colour variation from underneath.

This gave a weathered look and works very well against the existing panels that we have not touched.

With such a variety of colours used on the body it was always going to be difficult to colour match perfectly. The bonnet to the wing is noticeable, the wing to the door blends beautifully.

Painting our 1964 Land Rover panels

We are not completely satisfied with the overall look and feel and this stage. It is very tricky to replicate the flaws in paintwork. It’s much easier to carry out a perfect paint job but when the car has years of battle scares that you are trying to preserve it takes time and effort to make it look and feel authentic.

The paint looks too fresh and there are too many brush strokes in it but it is a great base to work on. We are now looking to roll another thin layer on top to build up the layers and possibly then look to buff out the shine.

Different lights and different angles reveal different imperfections.

Imperfections on this project are actually seen as a positive but too fresh and too clean gives off the wrong impression.

Back to the drawing board on this one…

Repairing the once concealed areas

Once the areas that were once concealed by the diamond plate were repaired we then hand painted a layer of red oxide onto the body.

Please note, this is not the norm if you are looking at painting your own vehicle 🙂 This is very unique project. The car has bags of character that we do not want to lose. The whole vehicle looks to have been painted in red oxide at some stage in it’s life and has since had a layer of oil based red applied, by hand, over the top.

We are attempting to replicate this look as best we can on the areas we have now revealed. Not as easy as it sounds.

Land Rover: removing the diamond plate from the front and rear

In our workshops ready for the beginning of the week we have our 1964 Land Rover. This amazingly quirky car is somewhat of a challenge for Tommy as we look to remove the diamond plate (checker plate) from the top of the front wings and bottom of the rear wings.

The car has been hand painted using a variation of reds but it’s this random feature which makes this car very unique. Our objective is to remove the plate, hide the signs of where the plate once was but try to keep the amazing characteristics of the car.

1964 Land Rover Visiting

We had a special visit today from Mat and his 1964 Land Rover.

Matt would like to see the checker plating removed from the car and has asked us to sympathetically repair the bodywork so as not to interfere with the current overall look.

As you can see to the rear of the car the checker plating has already been removed so this will also need some attention too.

The future plans for the car is to replicate a fire response unit but with the details matching the ‘patina’ and overall look of the current state.

This is a fantastic little project and we are very excited to see the car in our workshops.