OK. Here is a question for the body and paint gurus:

I have a 1968 Sports Coupe (T Top), with a paint code of 986 (Silverstone Silver).

I believe it to be the original paint, which is/was in bad shape.

When cutting (sanding) the original paint, I have come across a grey-ish layer under the paint coat in most of the car. Underneath that is a brownish color, which I believe to be the resinous part of the fiberglass body. However, there are some places where it goes straight from the brownish color directly to the paint coat, especially in the rear deck area.

Is this normal and typical?  Was the undercoats a different color on the lighter shade cars, or were they all the same.

Finally, there are some areas where there is a material that seems to be like body filler or a skim coat thereof...any ideas?

The car will be completely stripped down from paint (100x, 180x, 220x and maybe finer grit sanding prior to primer, then blocked off prior to final paint with the same 986 Silverstone color.

Given that he body is fiberglass, I would have expected any 'leveling' to be done via a gel coat, rather than softer stuff.

Many thanks for the knowledge and expected replies in advance!

Stu

My only experience was when I had to strip the driver's door because it had to be repainted because it was a darker orange.  I suspect the dealer had repainted it due to some damage after it left the factory.  I used a chemical stripper and while I didn't find any damage, there was two layers of color.  The stripper stops at the gray gel coat.

From what you described, it sounds like there's been some painting done after the factory paint.

1973 L-82 4 spd

Color of the final coat dictated the primer colors. Light colored cars got a final grey primer, darker colored cars got a red primer. Iirc, ALL cars got a base red primer to start with.

There are MANY places on these cars where body filler is used, since the body is essentially a jigsaw puzzle. All body joints used bonding strips to bond the parts together, then those joints ground down, and filler applied. Any spots that needed attention after primer were sent back thru the body line for repairs.

Joel Adams
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TY. This information is somewhat consistent with what I have found in my newly received NCRS judging manual where it states: "For 1968-69, two coats of primer, the first red and the second gray, are applied to all jobs".

It also notes that there were cars built in primer or special color, the word PAINT may read PRIME, SPL, or SPECIAL or some other indicator of special color would be on the Trim Tag.

Just closing up the loop on the question for archive purposes!