Restoration of 1982 Ambassador

Harrie · 4th April 2009, 13:04

The whole thing started off when a close friend of my dad's wanted his car painted. He wanted a basic blue-black paint that you find on many ambassadors here. And the car came in, this is what it was like

On closer inspection we found that the car has been getting a overcoat every year for the past 10 years and the paint and putty thickness were almost a CM!

So decided to do a full fledged painting - strip, rework and paint job. Because the car is more than 20 years old was expecting some rust too.

The paint was sanded off completely. A little bit of tinkering here and there. A lot of panels were redone in corrosion resistant alloy steel sheets. These sheets have hardly any cohesion with putty or paint, so a coat of sealer ( not sure which one ) was done. Then the panels were beat into place whereever possible and putty work was restricted to the minimum.

But still there was some putty amount of putty work involved as this car had lots of this alloy sheet work and it was not possible to beat into the factory specs.

The dry sanding work is going on now. The plan is to give a really good paint job. The paint will be black base coat with blue & violet pearl tinted clear. This will give the car the blue black look what my dad's friend wanted. And also look eye candy

BTW this car has covered more than 4.5L kms to date and is currently running on its 3rd diesel engine. Its got a power steering conversion also recently. Some nice hand stitched leather will go in to give it some class. The car finally will be rested from its active duty and will be run inside town for school duty.

Will keep this thread updated as work progresses. Dry sanding should take another 3 weeks I guess. After which the primer and paint will go in.

siedo · 4th April 2009, 14:00

Amby is a car which can be restored n number of time and it will still give you the same feel

Harrie · 4th April 2009, 18:21

Stage 1 dry sanding on the right side is over. A guide coat has been applied. Whenever working on a old car, its always better to dry sand and apply a guid coat to gauge the surface prep levels. This reduces the amount of putty applied and also time taken.

Monday the guide coat will be sanded off and more putty work to fill up the small dents.

Attaching a pic to show the end result of 1 month of body prep. My camera skills are not great so this might not show the true state of the paintjob. BTW the car in the pic WAS a battered ikon which was silver in color.

SuperSelect · 5th April 2009, 21:47

Wow Harrie, this is a unique resto ! The paint is thicker than the sheetmetal

. Do a super job on her, and she'll come out looking like new. Do try and get as many original fittings back, as possible especially the door handles wheels, etc. An Ambassador's fittings are what give the car it's character. Cheers !

bigman · 7th April 2009, 01:48

Harrie,

Nice write up and pictures. Please keep the thread updated as it looks interesting plus we are planning to buy a used Ambassador and then undertake a similar job to yours next year.

Also can you post some pictures of the Scorpio (its in the background of one of your pictures) when it has the wheel fitted to the rear door. It will be interesting to see how it spruces up the bland rear of the Scorpio.

abhi1309 · 7th April 2009, 03:19

Wow that is a mean looking Amby for sure all because of the big rims.

Roy.S · 7th April 2009, 04:27

I think that these 'labour of love' type of restoration jobs are fantastic. Wish I had the patience to pull off one of these. Hope some engine mods are in the pipeline too.
Most of my childhood journeys were in ambassadors (always white). I learned how to drive on a Mark 2 (I think) amby. At one point of time we had 2 parked in our driveway and I used to sit on the boot lid with a cushion against the rear windscreen and read Hardy boys mysteries.
I will be following this thread closely. Please keep updating.

YamahaBoy · 7th April 2009, 04:33

Real Cool looking Amby with the wheels. Only True Enthusiasts go for an Amby Refurbishment with this kind of passion. So keep it up & keep it coming

Cheers!!!

muneemmk · 7th April 2009, 20:56

Are those wheels going to be retained after the body and paint job ? what size are those tyres ? What paint is going to be used ? what body fillers ? what kind of anti rust coatings ? am i asking too many questions ?

rajivanoj · 7th April 2009, 21:43

I have seen this car, is it from kovaipudur? I am seeing this from 1995 . Only change is colour, and once there was apple mac logo in rear, but now it has shell.

by the way, where is your garage? i mean paint shop. Do you deal only painting or even mechanicals?

anjan_c2007 · 8th April 2009, 23:09

Quite a challenging project if you want to make the car very original. Its not tough as mechanics and body repair work experts still know how and what is to be done with an Ambassador. Especially the wheel arches, the wheel drums and other original touches look the best in the original design. So would suggest you to stick to that design as such modifications do not look aesthetic and appealing.

Rudra Sen · 12th April 2009, 19:11

Harrie, what's your anticipation about the total cost?

muneemmk · 18th June 2009, 14:38

Bump

Yennagaa Saar,Anything happening there ? would like to see some updated pics of the car.

nevertouchme · 17th July 2009, 18:06

Harrie- any updates yet? Looking forward for more pics on the progress. BTW: Is the engine also being worked on?
Cheers,
Jai

sidvar · 10th March 2011, 17:38

How about these examples of a colour scheme for your Amby?

4th April 2009, 13:04	#1
Harrie BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: KA 03, KL 12, TN 38 Posts: 701 Thanked: 36 Times View My Garage	Restoration of 1982 Ambassador The whole thing started off when a close friend of my dad's wanted his car painted. He wanted a basic blue-black paint that you find on many ambassadors here. And the car came in, this is what it was like On closer inspection we found that the car has been getting a overcoat every year for the past 10 years and the paint and putty thickness were almost a CM! So decided to do a full fledged painting - strip, rework and paint job. Because the car is more than 20 years old was expecting some rust too. The paint was sanded off completely. A little bit of tinkering here and there. A lot of panels were redone in corrosion resistant alloy steel sheets. These sheets have hardly any cohesion with putty or paint, so a coat of sealer ( not sure which one ) was done. Then the panels were beat into place whereever possible and putty work was restricted to the minimum. But still there was some putty amount of putty work involved as this car had lots of this alloy sheet work and it was not possible to beat into the factory specs. The dry sanding work is going on now. The plan is to give a really good paint job. The paint will be black base coat with blue & violet pearl tinted clear. This will give the car the blue black look what my dad's friend wanted. And also look eye candy BTW this car has covered more than 4.5L kms to date and is currently running on its 3rd diesel engine. Its got a power steering conversion also recently. Some nice hand stitched leather will go in to give it some class. The car finally will be rested from its active duty and will be run inside town for school duty. Will keep this thread updated as work progresses. Dry sanding should take another 3 weeks I guess. After which the primer and paint will go in. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

4th April 2009, 14:00	#2
siedo BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pune Posts: 129 Thanked: 15 Times	Amby is a car which can be restored n number of time and it will still give you the same feel
	() Thanks

4th April 2009, 18:21	#3
Harrie BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: KA 03, KL 12, TN 38 Posts: 701 Thanked: 36 Times View My Garage	Stage 1 dry sanding on the right side is over. A guide coat has been applied. Whenever working on a old car, its always better to dry sand and apply a guid coat to gauge the surface prep levels. This reduces the amount of putty applied and also time taken. Monday the guide coat will be sanded off and more putty work to fill up the small dents. Attaching a pic to show the end result of 1 month of body prep. My camera skills are not great so this might not show the true state of the paintjob. BTW the car in the pic WAS a battered ikon which was silver in color. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

5th April 2009, 21:47	#4
SuperSelect Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mumbai. Posts: 1,806 Thanked: 247 Times View My Garage	Wow Harrie, this is a unique resto ! The paint is thicker than the sheetmetal . Do a super job on her, and she'll come out looking like new. Do try and get as many original fittings back, as possible especially the door handles wheels, etc. An Ambassador's fittings are what give the car it's character. Cheers !
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 01:48	#5
bigman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NA Posts: 1,224 Thanked: 93 Times	Harrie, Nice write up and pictures. Please keep the thread updated as it looks interesting plus we are planning to buy a used Ambassador and then undertake a similar job to yours next year. Also can you post some pictures of the Scorpio (its in the background of one of your pictures) when it has the wheel fitted to the rear door. It will be interesting to see how it spruces up the bland rear of the Scorpio.
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 03:19	#6
abhi1309 BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 446 Thanked: 68 Times View My Garage	Wow that is a mean looking Amby for sure all because of the big rims.
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 04:27	#7
Roy.S BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 707 Thanked: 946 Times	I think that these 'labour of love' type of restoration jobs are fantastic. Wish I had the patience to pull off one of these. Hope some engine mods are in the pipeline too. Most of my childhood journeys were in ambassadors (always white). I learned how to drive on a Mark 2 (I think) amby. At one point of time we had 2 parked in our driveway and I used to sit on the boot lid with a cushion against the rear windscreen and read Hardy boys mysteries. I will be following this thread closely. Please keep updating.
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 04:33	#8
YamahaBoy BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bangalore Permanent: Palghat, Kerala Posts: 68 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	Real Cool looking Amby with the wheels. Only True Enthusiasts go for an Amby Refurbishment with this kind of passion. So keep it up & keep it coming Cheers!!!
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 20:56	#9
muneemmk BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Cochin Posts: 832 Thanked: 99 Times View My Garage	Are those wheels going to be retained after the body and paint job ? what size are those tyres ? What paint is going to be used ? what body fillers ? what kind of anti rust coatings ? am i asking too many questions ?
	() Thanks

7th April 2009, 21:43	#10
rajivanoj BANNED Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 398 Thanked: 52 Times View My Garage	@ harrie I have seen this car, is it from kovaipudur? I am seeing this from 1995 . Only change is colour, and once there was apple mac logo in rear, but now it has shell. by the way, where is your garage? i mean paint shop. Do you deal only painting or even mechanicals? Last edited by rajivanoj : 7th April 2009 at 21:51.
	() Thanks

8th April 2009, 23:09	#11
anjan_c2007 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 8,335 Thanked: 20,656 Times View My Garage	Quite a challenging project if you want to make the car very original. Its not tough as mechanics and body repair work experts still know how and what is to be done with an Ambassador. Especially the wheel arches, the wheel drums and other original touches look the best in the original design. So would suggest you to stick to that design as such modifications do not look aesthetic and appealing.
	() Thanks

12th April 2009, 19:11	#12
Rudra Sen Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11,590 Thanked: 6,532 Times View My Garage	Harrie, what's your anticipation about the total cost?
	() Thanks

18th June 2009, 14:38	#13
muneemmk BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Cochin Posts: 832 Thanked: 99 Times View My Garage	Bump Yennagaa Saar,Anything happening there ? would like to see some updated pics of the car.
	() Thanks

17th July 2009, 18:06	#14
nevertouchme BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 302 Thanked: 62 Times	Harrie- any updates yet? Looking forward for more pics on the progress. BTW: Is the engine also being worked on? Cheers, Jai
	() Thanks

10th March 2011, 17:38	#15
sidvar Newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Madras Posts: 15 Thanked: 2 Times	Re: Restoration of 1982 Ambassador How about these examples of a colour scheme for your Amby?
	() Thanks