I stopped by the Paddock in New Britain CT to check on the progress of one of two SII 330s I have getting bare metal repaints. This particular one was a Turin Motor Show car, and belonged to the same owner for decades in Virginia before the current owner bought it as a restoration project. We repaired some rust damage, corrected previous accident damage that was poorly done, and it’s now getting final block sanding to ready for paint.

The amount of filler we’re using is minimal as it shouldn’t be used to repair dents and crash damage, but instead it should be used to smooth out the final surface of body work to get the paint to lay down mirror smooth. Abuse and overuse of body filler may look fine once the paint is applied, but it often does not last long, as moisture and cracking can occur when there is an abundance of filler. Knowing and inspecting the work done on a car prior to any primer and paint is applied is about the only way to know what lies under the paint. Once the paint is applied, layers of body filler, bad repairs, can all be hidden by a coat of shiny paint. A paint meter can help show how thick this under layer is, but once it’s thicker than a certain point, it might as well be an inch thick!

Here’s a video I shot showing the process of block sanding a car to prepare for paint and some of the problems I’ve found on painting Vintage Ferraris!