nsogiba

I am planning on doing a vinyl wrap for my black '00 FRC over the winter. The original paint is not up to my standards (rock chips and very fine sandblasting of front bumper and fenders around wheels). I am of the mindset that repainting body panels/permanent color changes devalue a car, so a total respray is out of the question.

I have been tossing around the idea of a "neutral" shade - something that doesn't have too much of a specific identity - yellow is too loud, red attracts police, etc etc. A shade of silver, gray, etc is my style. I want something that will have some attitude, but is not tacky, garish, and doesn't scream "look at me". My only real criteria is a high gloss finish. The matte/flat thing looks cheap and unfinished to me.

I bought some samples of Telesto Gray, Gloss Dark Gray, and a 3M Metallic Gray. I put the Telesto Grey sample strip on the car, spanning multiple body lines, and it just didn't have the depth I was looking for. Looked somewhat cheap and showed marks/scratches easily, because there was nothing to draw the eye away from those blemishes. So that killed that idea.

0821162101a by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

0821162101 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

0821162101b by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

0821162103 by Norbert Ogiba, on Flickr

Here's what I'm thinking: Anthracite Gray by 3M has the right shade of brightness to it while including enough metallic flake to give it depth. I love how it looks in that last picture.




I like how it has that depth when out of the light....



But has that brilliant glossy finish with light applied.



Looks really nice pulled off on this Miata.



And even better on this S4
3m Gloss Anthracite vinyl wrapped b5 s4 work meister s1r by hkarmy1134, on Flickr

10661995855_ea4df64df1_h by hkarmy1134, on Flickr

I guess the closest C5 factory color to this shade would be a Medium Spiral Gray, which was never available on the FRC body style...

Thoughts, ideas, input?

nsogiba

Here is a Medium Spiral Gray C5 for reference.

Vetteman Jack

I think you are right - the Anthracite Gray would look great on your car.

Acid666

Anthracite looks pretty wicked on almost any car. When Dipyourcar.com started to do Anthracite dips on rips and full cars I really started to dig the deeper greys. I've always been kind of a pewter guy, and I think that 3M Gloss Anthracite nails it.

baddboyz03

a good quality paint job will NEVER de-value a C5.

imjdoggie

In my opinion a flat grey would look bad@$$....

Tuco

Always thought that would be a great FRC/Z06 color but they never did it
And agree that Anthracite Gray might be the ticket.
I posted this Gray truck a little while ago and imo it's my favorite gray I have ever seen....I believe it was actually an MB color.

nsogiba

wow, that gray looks awesome on that truck.

nsogiba

just found this over on the 'Tech - Cyber Grey C5Z06

kathym

Hi Norbert! Kathleen here...leave it black!! Aircraft carriers are gray not corvettes! Lol...anyway car is looking good ...we enjoyed seeing your pics from museum. Glad to see you brought it to its birthplace. We are here at the Ron fellows spring mountain corvette owners course in Nevada - it's awesome. You should go - you would love the track. Enjoying your updates.

nsogiba

Bringing it back from the dead.

Ordered some samples. The goal is to bring back a fresh OEM style appearance - no wacky colors. Just a simple, glossy finish that could have been offered as a factory color.

Criteria:
-High quality name brand (Avery, 3M)
-must be a high gloss
-no weird "colors", must be a neutral shade (grays, silvers)
-no "orientation" such as carbon fiber, must be able to be installed in any direction
-preferably some metallic "flake" to give it some depth

In no particular order:

3M 1080 G201 GLOSS ANTHRACITE


3M 1080 G211 GLOSS CHARCOAL METALLIC


Avery SW900-814-M GLOSS QUICK SILVER METALLIC


Gunmetal Dark Grey High Gloss


3M 1080 Gloss Sterling Silver


Pictures of samples on the car to follow.

'Shifter

Another vote for anthracite! Yee-gads does that look sexy....

nsogiba

Yah - the metallics are really winning me over. Can't wait til the samples get in.

nsogiba

The samples came in - the silvers just didn't have the depth I was looking for. Slightly too bland. So, Anthracite Gloss Metallic has been ordered.

ArmchairArchitect

That anthracite metallic looks great...it really 'pops'. The other colors are way too dull/neutral.

ridiqls

Whatever happened with this? I'm looking at the same greys!