Help Facel Vega, Facel 2
Discussion
RonnieH said:
Well done Justin, i'm sure Eric would be pleased to know that someone appreciates his car, and will look after it..... I would personally not restore it, just do what needs doing to kepe it going..... sometimes the beauty of these cars is lost in over restoration.....
Congrats!!
Unfortunately non repair is not an option with this car.It has been non repaired for far too many years.Both door pillars need replacement.This will require that large holes must be cut in the outer wing panels for access.At the same time it will be possible to rectify certain problems relating to the car having fallen off a four poster ramp some years ago whilst with Mark Walker.The many coats of paint can be removed at the same time.It has been painted four times to my knowledge.Fortunately the interior will go again,so the car will not lose all it's patina.I do agree about over restoration,however to keep original patina you must have original paint on the car.There is no original paint left so this does not apply with this car.Congrats!!
facelman said:
Stuff.
Thanks, again, John for your positive and encouraging post.RonnieH, Thanks for your comments! You are right of course, I will not restore the car immediately, I will get it going and have some fun with it this summer whilst doing whatever is necessary to keep it on the road and enjoy. I didn't really enjoy my last one very much as it was constantly in restoration. I really want to show the car and get it out there.
Justin.
facelman said:
I hope you remembered to add a smidgen of double curvature to the cills to match the doors.They look decidedly odd without it.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/m5cXFEIM.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/3VTKoyaT" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/3VTKoyaT.jpg)
Nice curve, seven nice swaged holes, lovely new floor!
Our Chassis appears to be something very similar to Land Rover Bronze Green in colour, does anyone know what colour it is supposed to be?
Peter
Spellbound said:
Somehow the other pic disappeared!! 
Regarding the chassis it has had a few nice repairs, and will soon be blasted and powder coated here, so would be fab to find the colour.
All exciting stuff!
Pater
That floor looks great, first class job!!Regarding the chassis it has had a few nice repairs, and will soon be blasted and powder coated here, so would be fab to find the colour.
All exciting stuff!
Pater
However i would advise against powder coating a chassis, others may have differing views, but mine is not to, as one crack and moisture will get in, and before you know it it'll be peeling off in sheets.....
Also, i thought this might be of interest to someone....???
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARS-PROFILE-PUBLICATION...
With regard to whether powder coating is an appropriate methos of coating a chassis, i would agree that if a colour is simply applied over clean steel then the finish can be rather like hammerite which is fine until something breaks the surface.
However, this chassis will be blasted in our own room to remove any trace of corrosion and thoroughly key the surface. Once this is completed, without having to risk the elements with a roar steel chassis by leaving the building, the chassis will then be appropriately powder coat primed and coloured in our booth and cured at around 200C in the oven. That finish won't be peeling off!
Will post pics, but i have to find that colour first!
However, this chassis will be blasted in our own room to remove any trace of corrosion and thoroughly key the surface. Once this is completed, without having to risk the elements with a roar steel chassis by leaving the building, the chassis will then be appropriately powder coat primed and coloured in our booth and cured at around 200C in the oven. That finish won't be peeling off!
Will post pics, but i have to find that colour first!
Spellbound said:
Nice curve, seven nice swaged holes, lovely new floor!
Our Chassis appears to be something very similar to Land Rover Bronze Green in colour, does anyone know what colour it is supposed to be?
Peter
Great to see your latest pics...your rebuild seems to be progressing well.
The body is currently off the chassis of my HK and as what look like the original chalk marks are still on the crossmember above the rear axle I think it is pretty much as it left the factory.
The original finish would appear to be black, although whether this was a type of underseal on unpainted metal or proper paint it is difficult to tell. Earlier in the thread John suggested very little paint found its way under the car!
Spellbound said:
Thank you, will hunt that one out!
Spot on,very little paint got under the car.The general finish seems to have been blaxon [ underseal ] over almost everything.However Facel were not consistant.Motor show cars in particular were very differently treated.HK II A101 my ex Lionel Bart car [ and Paris and London show car ] had a full polished stainless steel exhaust fitted [ I still have it ] But the stainless steel trims around the roof had no sealer under them at all.This was of course disastrous for the car which needed new carpets three weeks later,and then became badly rusty INSIDE all of the box sections.The reason for this foolishness? HWM were instructed by the facel factory NOT to sell the show car but were tempted by Lionel Bart then at the height of his fame.Facel had had trouble at earlier motor shows with the sealer under the roof trims leeching out under the lights of the show.This meant an hours cleaning every morning before the public arrived.To avoid this Daninos demanded that for 1961 the show cars should be assembled dry.Another anomally was the fitting of polished stainless steel cill trims on the motor show HK's and Excellences.So you fell in love,paid your money and got a cheap aluminium replica of what you saw at the show.It is important to remember that NOBODY paid any attention to anti rust treatment in those far off days,with so many "rust traps" and flat areas for wet dirt to congregate.How many cars have you seen with a ring of rust holes around the headlamp,where moisture has been trapped above the headlamp bowl.Almost every make and model suffered from that.The reality as I have unsucessfully tried to explain to many americans and others ,is that Facels were never "concours" when new.The common sense thing to do today is to put the very best anti rust treatment possible on a car which has cost you so much money.I am personally against powder coating.It does indeed chip off because it is too hard.A good black paint finish with black waxoyl on top is my prefered method,the black waxoyl tends to flow over damaged areas.The black paint can be touched up any time.The general paint finish of facels by the factory was much denigrated by HWM.They often ordered a car in primer.Daninos refused and the compromise was to call the primer Dover Grey.The cars were then repainted by Fulfords of Kingston.Read Fred Hobbs book. jasperamicale said:
I like the chassis powder coated in a matt gloss black, and the suspension, rear axle etc. in 2K (paint) in Semi gloss black.
This gives a nice contrast. We never had problems with coating chipping off.
I would stick some masking tape over the oil pump ! The odd fly dying in there will upset your pressure relief valve.This gives a nice contrast. We never had problems with coating chipping off.
Sort of Facel related but actualy I just wanted to share my excitement? I took delivery of this yesterday as my new summer toy. Now this is what I hope the Facelia would look like if Facel made one today? The brakes are very similar to my HK500's in that you have to stamp on them? It's a cross between driving a modern sports car but with a seriously classic element thrown in.
Thank you also to Peter at Spellbound. I popped into see them on Friday and have a look at the HK500 they are restoring. If anybody gets the chance, then go and have a look at their set up, it's very impressive as is there standard of restoration.
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Thank you also to Peter at Spellbound. I popped into see them on Friday and have a look at the HK500 they are restoring. If anybody gets the chance, then go and have a look at their set up, it's very impressive as is there standard of restoration.
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