Anyone know where I can find brown touch-up paint for early Altec 515's ? They are NOT the grey-ish color like on some of the later 515's. How about to re-paint a 288 ?
Let me guess......... Bill @ Great Plains Audio ?
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Anyone know where I can find brown touch-up paint for early Altec 515's ? They are NOT the grey-ish color like on some of the later 515's. How about to re-paint a 288 ?
Let me guess......... Bill @ Great Plains Audio ?
No,
Anny car dealer . Or Canadian Tire , Car parts supply.Touch up paint tube 15 $. Not much in brown
cars except for UPS trucks.
Good night and good luck.
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I don't know of any source for pre-mixed Altec colors. Check around at your local paint suppliers for any with computerized color-matching systems (Ace Hardware does it here). They can directly scan small items like drivers, or samples from stuff too big to carry in, for very accurate color-matches. Usually, they won't want to take the time for anything less than a quart, but a quart of custom color enamel is only $10 or so, and it'll match.
For complete repaints, I use auto-type catalyzed urethane over the sanded and sealed original finish, or over zinc chromate primer on bare aluminum. Cures hard as nails and glossy as glass (if desired),......absolutely amazing stuff! Expect to pay nearly $50 for the smallest quantity of the various components needed, but you'll end up with nearly 3 qts of sprayable material, which goes a LONG way. Once opened, the catalyst goes bad if not used up in a month or two, so paint everything that needs painting while it's fresh (I've got a pair of Altec green lawn chairs!).
Note; the fumes and overspray of the new "plastic" paints are VERY bad for you (makes old lead paint look like candy)! Use of an HVLP system is recommended, and ventilation and respiration-protection are mandantory (if you want to live to enjoy your paint job).
I know I saved the mix data from my last batch of green, but it might take a few days to come across it. Don't know if the system used was Pantone or other, perhaps you can tell when I find and post the #s.
What I got was a good match for Altec's earlier dark green, as used on front covers (and the painted chassis) of 1568s, 69s, 70s, and most of the 1590 series. The bezels for these, and the fronts for later 'greenies' like 1607, 08, etc., is a lighter shade I haven't done yet. Blacks and whites are no-brainers.
IMO, it's not possible to do an undetectable paint repair on the old stuff, especially the textured items.
Not long ago, I did a pair of 128B front covers, and added a touch of gold pearl to the clearcoat, something the "vintage collectors" would consider taboo, which is fine with me, as I restore such items for use, instead of being doomed to collect dust on some rich idiot's shelf as a vanity-boost. Under normal room light, they're the right color, but turn up the light, and they turn a beautiful (to me) green/gold. I think the people that painted them originally would be proud. If anyone is offended by my remarks, talk to me after you've gone to the trouble to strip a pair of 1570Bs to the chassis, repainted the chassis and transformers, made repro Peerless labels, etc., etc., etc., and reassembled everything into a unit that meets performance specs down the line.
Does anyone know the Pantone numbers (or other color standard) for the various years of altec products?