FINAL PAINT COLORS

I have a bike helmet I bought in a thrift store a year ago. The only reason it appealed to me was the color, which is a light turquoise metallic. I had meant to take the helmet with me to pick colors the other day but forgot to bring it along. Today, I happened back by Painter's Supply with helmet in hand and was able to reference PPG colors again. This time around, I nailed it even closer.

PPG Light Turquoise Mic 4905 is the exact color I want for the exterior.

I also brought a sample of the pearl white interior material I want to use as reference against pearl white paints.

PPG White Mic 91948 is a great match to my interior color, it's a white with a little warmth to it. I will be basing my frame, firewall, rearend and all secondary parts that aren't shiny chrome or Aluminum on it.   

Lastly, I asked an employee for referrals of local painters and he had great things to say about three local guys:

Brian Cope at Cope Street Customs:

Wayde @ The Time Machine.

BJ @ Colorado Chrysler Jeep

HIDDEN DISC BRAKES

This info is pulled form obrientruckers.com:

Buick Finned Disc Brake Covers -Want the traditional look of drum brakes with finned Buick drums?  The ones that come the closest to looking like the real thing and giving the best braking performance are made by O'Brien Truckers! We mount the caliper on a proprietary bracket that mounts the caliper in the front - right inside the scoop so it gets plenty of cool air. Having the caliper in the front also eliminates the need for that ugly bulge in the the top of the backing plate so they look more like the original sheet metal backing plates and the brake lines come out at the proper 45 degree angle. We offer our set up with a partial drum (basically just the finned part) that bolts to the aluminum backing plate. Why you might ask? Well we do that for three reasons. First and most important, the air that comes in thru the scoop has no problem escaping so there are no overheating issues from having the working parts encapsulated and that's what disc brakes are all about, right? Second, since the partial drum does not rotate there is no chance of any balancing or vibration issues. And third, since there is no drum mounted on the hub, the wheels mount directly against the hub and are therefore "tucked in" approximately 3/8" closer to the center of the car for better looks. If you happen to be running wire wheels and must have a full fake drum, we also sell a fully balanced drum separately.
The complete set up, made to fit on 37-41 round spindles, comes with two aluminum backing plates, two aluminum scoops, two aluminum partial drums two special caliper brackets plus the Wilwood 10.75 vented rotors, Wilwood Dynolite Pro Series four piston calipers, hubs (drilled for 4 1/2" and 4 3/4" bolt patterns) and hardware - $1595 unpolished and $1795 polished. The full drum covers are $375 each unpolished - they're drilled for 4 1/2" and 4 3/4" bolt patterns (no slotted bolt patterns) and dynamically balanced so there will be no balancing issues with our drums. Please call us for any other questions or for pricing on partial combinations.

GAUGE MOCK-UP

I bought a set of 1970 International gauges at the Good Guys show in Loveland. I thought the faces were quite nice and readable and other than needing some cleaning they appear to be in good shape. Once home, I did a quick clean-up on them and wanted to see what they looked like in the roadster's Auburn-style gauge panel. So I took the gauges to work today and photocopied the faces. I carefully cut out the photocopies and arranged them onto the face of the Auburn cluster. Viola!

PAINT COLORS AND LEATHER

Made a run over to Painters Supply, my local automotive paint supplier in Englewood. I borrowed the House of Color and PPG books and sat outside in the blazing Colorado sun looking for my ideal colors.

I pulled the following reference from the HOS book:

Shimrin Universal Pearls (PC/PP Series)

FOR MY SILVERY TURQUOISE:

BC26 (White Base Coat) with DP30 (Dry Pearl Turquoise) which was a little on the green side.

Then I came across BC26 (White Base Coat) with Blue Green DP38 over it. This color had a little more blue in it and I preferred it for that reason.

Then I went in search of a nice pearl white, something warm and with a similar amount of metallic as compared to the silvery turquoise I had in mind.

That's when I came across the PPG color samples, which actually lead to not only
the ideal pearl white, but also revealed a decidedly non-custom color I like best of all of all for the silvery turquoise:

The Silvery Turquoise I liked best:

PPG Mazda Orient Green Mica PN: 5848 (I/L)

The Metallic White I liked best:

PPG Ford Ceramic White Pearlcoat, PN 5936 (C)

So there you have it. I may be months away from needing this info, but I now have it. At the very
least, I can shoot the steering wheel in the pearlcoat to make doubly sure I like the color.

Since I was also in the neighborhood, I stopped by Tandy Leather and picked up a sample of LAMB leather in a nice warm white. If I decide to use leather, as opposed to vinyl, I think their white lamb leather would work nicely.

ABALONIA IS THY NAME

I've just found an inspiration for the overall look of my roadster. Abalone. It's got the pimp-iness that I just never seem to be able to get away from when I build a custom. I think that using just a little of this stuff can go a long way. I was researching materials to use for my dash face and gauge faces when I came across this material on the net: http://www.hawaiilure.com/catalog/shells.html#ThinLam. As you'll see if you follow the link, there are all kinds to choose from. Anyhow, finding this link has made me realize that the colors I am gravitating towards -- a light silvery turquoise for the exterior paint and white pearl vinyl for the interior all exist within the ocean. So it would only seem fitting to name the car that hints at this inspitration. "Abalonia" will be the name for the roadster, at least for now. But the more important point is that I now have a screen that will help me make a lot of the little decisions that inform the build of any custom. Take the wheel below. Would it seem right in a car called ABALONIA. I rest my case.

The car color below look right on a car named ABALONIA? I believe it would.

The gauges and panel below. Would they look right in a car named ABALONIA. I think they would.

Here's a sample of what I'm looking at for my Auburn style gauge panel's face:

STEERING WHEEL DONE

After weeks of prepping and chasing cracks, my roadster's wheel is done. I've used three colors of primer along the way, and a selection of filler products, four grades of sandpaper. I've had the opportunity to evaluate JB Weld puttys, JB Weld marine and regular JB Weld. Am I a fan of JB Weld products and Rustoleum primers. Yes, I am.