Korvette Kat

I bought a 2004 Coupe, Arctic White with a glass top. I bought a red top and took it to get it painted. This guy is really top notch and does alot of vettes and muscle cars. I ask him about painting my front tag because it has a slight blue tint to it and didn't look right. The color was just off a little.

We went into the shop and he pulled up acrtic white and it gave him 7 different color codes for the same paint. He then pulled the paint chips out of a file and we walked out to my car. One of the paint chips matched my tag and another of the chips matched my car. This guy does his own paint there at the shop so he can control this mass confusion.

This does not make sense to me. How does anyone get a car painted the right color?

So if you go to the average paint and body shop, he goes to a supplier with your paint code and comes back with 1 formula out of who knows how many for that color and hopes for the best, I guess.

flynbya2

You are correct.There are several "variances",and many shops do not take the time to shoot their own paint chips.
A high end shop will start with the basic paint code,and adjust from there,shooting different formulas.Once the chip formula is recorded,it is matched to the subject paint for a sound match.Which could include a milkier or muddier version,a bluer version and so on.

It is not as easy as it could or should be...Now if your painting the entire car,you of course would have no worries.Patching and blending are their own animal

Fwiw, I have heard white is the hardest color to match...

SebringSixSpeed

When I had my targa top painted they computer matched my paint to the roof bow. Turned out to be a perfect match to a 98 Isuzu silver?!? Who can tell? I would just suggest always getting a computer match. Silver is one of the hardest colors to match and mine came out absolutely perfect.

LT1driver

black is also extremely hard to match.

drivestwin

Last time I went to get paint, they asked for both the paint code and the VIN....they must have some records of the paint variances from the factory or something....anyway the paint was a perfect match.

Mac11

Saw a custom El Camino a year ago that was painted to perfection and looked GREAT in the shop. One sunny Saturday we rolled it outside and it turned dark chocolate brown. PPG admitted having tint problems and paid for the repaint.

madmatt9471

That is why I went with BLACK there is no shade variences or pigment changes between any BLACK colors!

Plain and simple BLACK is BLACK!

I must admitt though that I wanted the CE blue color, that is an awesome color!

Thanks,Matt

peter pan

Thanks for the info, I guess I got luck with my after market hood we used the paint code and it came out great

Drewstein

When matching paint on a new hood for example, what do they do about the orange peel? Wouldn't it be obvious when such a big piece doesn't have orange peel in it?

leadfoot4

If the painter is really good, and uses the proper gun with the right air tip, he'll get the factory "orange peel".

SunDevil C5

The best place to match color is outside in the sun. Different types of lights will give a different hint of color. Incadescent compared to flourescent will almost be a totally different color. The sun is the only light that has the entire spectrum of color and only way to get a proper color match.

flynbya2

Sorry Matt,but that is not true at all.
I have black also,and there are just as many variances for black as many other colors

I know this from first hand experience

Tom/99

Me too!

jmc12

There are 3 differnt blacks for a 03 Z..

kww

Anyone know how many variations there are of 2000 Millennium yellow?

C5 KIDD

yellow is a whole new can of worms!!!

its not as much about matching the paint EXACT as it is to blend out the paint into the other panels. a good painted will get a good match just based on how he/she sprays and blends. blending is the only really RIGHT way to paint something on a vehicle.

GRUNIE

I have seen some blacks that had a brownish tint or muddy look to them Paint is just be a PIA to match. Even some brand new cars right out of the factory can have mis-matched colors. Especially the plastic/urathane bumbers. A lot of time the bumpers are painted at one facility and shipped for final assembly at another plant that painted the body. The only way around this is to use the same batch of paint to do the entire car. If you notice, the bumbers or other plastic parts even fade differently in the sun.

kww

My paint guy is pretty good with the blend-did wonders for me last year and the year before-right on the money but this year he's having a hell of a time getting the correct paint. Went through 5 different cans-had the district rep take with him a stock quarter panel and even had one of their top guys blend the paint on the spot and they're still working on it.

travelingypsye

Same thing here & my painter had to "custom" match it anyway. Once he did, he documented the formula for future needs like maggie hoods.......

max'svette

You guys ever hear of tri-coat?

White and Black are piece of cake.