Did you tweak the color, Dude?

[HeavyFuel]

Just wondering what some thoughts are when it comes to putting the original color back on.

Do the current paint recipes from  paint shops get pretty close the the original colors?

Do you guys go along with whatever the paint shop mixes up, or do you tweak the color to try to match closer what the factory color looked like, if you can even tell anymore what that is?  Or do you change it to look a little "better" in your eyes?

How far can you tweak a color and still call it the "original" color?


I would think that there are a ton of shades fo the same "factory" color at the bigger 'all mopar' car shows.

[BananaDan]

I had my car repainted FY1 Top Banana Yellow.  I sent the FY1 Mopar code and the associated DuPont code to my body guy, but because I'm anal, I also paid him a visit before he mixed the paint.  He took me back to the computer they use for paint mixing and getting their formulas from their paint company (Glasurit) and I went through his computer with him.  We found the code, it was listed in his computer as just Y1, not FY1, and was called Banana, not Top Banana.  I showed him that was the one I wanted and he was off to the races.  I've never put my car next to a survivor, but from what I can tell it is either spot-on or very damn close.

Keep in mind that my camera's saturation settings the day I took the top picture were pumped up a bit for my landscape photography hobby so it looks a bit more amplified than it really is.  The second picture was set to neutral saturation but it was a VERY sunny day and she was sitting in the shade so it's a tad muted.

Dan

[Brock Samson]

 Don't know if this applies to specifically what your wondering,.. but,
My orig. color was T-3 the Med. Bronze,.. It's OK, but in no way my Favorite Color, When i got the R/T from a wrecking yard it was Black Lacquer that had been applied Way too thick, remember when folks would brag how their paint was 14 coats of black Emeron?..  
 So, it was cracked like a jigsaw puzzle and their was rust running down from the cracks all over the car. the rear quarters behind the wheels was gone in a few spots and there was only think paint left,.. anyhow, I always wanted a triple black Charger R/T as the one i sat in in the showroom was triple black 440 R/T with only red line tires and a red pie pan, no stripe - and it thought it was the most sinister thing in tarnation, whatever that means..
I finally did get the bondo and damage removed (two five Gal. buckets filled with bondo) and a new lacquer paint job in 1989, but by 1999 I found myself wanting a dark blue paint job, as was seldom seen B-7 I believe, try to find one B-7, or even photos of one... there are a few threads here with some pics, but it's awfully rare.. In the intervening years i had seen several all black '69 R/T chargers and was ready for a change, so, when a really rather unfortunate accident demolished my front clip, the local painter recommended by a friend said he'd paint the Charger any color I wanted, and so i decided to go with a dark blue. I didn't choose a factory shade of B-7 as there's metallic in it and I didn't want a metallic blue color, so I went with INK blue,..
And - at the very last minute at this painter's suggestion i decided to go with his recommendation to add a pint of red to the clear, it only appears in the sun, and then the paint popps purple, most everyone seems to think it's Plum Crazy, even supposedly knowledgeable Mopar fans. That makes me smile.   and how in the shade it looks dark blue, navy, and quite sharp, at night it looks black, and I get lots of enthusiastically positive comments on the color. Probably more then you want to know, but it's my experience. here's a couple pics to demonstrate the flip flop quality of the tint in the clear.

hope (all) this helps..  

[greenpigs]

  T5 for mine but not going to use it, a few colors I am thinking of & will most likely go with one offered in 69. I don't have the coin to use the $400 a gallon exact match paint but will pick something close. I do like the lime green that Kia uses but that could look funky...photoshop would help.    

[twodko]

Both of those cars are stunning guys! BananaDan this is the first pix I've seen of your car, IMO that's prolly the sharpest 70 I've laid eyes on. A few members here in my area get together for cruises and I'm looking forward to going on one and seeing your car, Brian, in person.

The code for our 69 Q5. I gave this code (Ditzler still makes it) to the paint shop who had the order filled by a reputable source. The paint they received was a freaking Nissan color! What we did then was shoot a digi pix of the original paint under the trunk lid. Plugged that color into the mix computer and we sprayed 4 test panels until the color was dead on. Were I anywhere other than Caliweirdia the shop could have sprayed the Ditzler but the touchy feely tree huggers here only allow water based auto finishes.

[68X426]

I would think that there are a ton of shades fo the same "factory" color at the bigger 'all mopar' car shows.

I'll second that. I couldn't help but note that there must have been 5 different shades of Hemi Orange at shows (and I don't mean Omaha, or Mango, or Vit C, I mean Hemi Orange). My Hemi Orange Road Runner, next to a Hemi Orange SuperBird last year, and they were nearly the same but still different.

The Plum Crazy colors seem to have about 8 different shades. Yet they are the same. 

So I would say paint it how you like and let your personal eye determine if it's close enough to original. 

[HeavyFuel]

I would think that there are a ton of shades fo the same "factory" color at the bigger 'all mopar' car shows.

I'll second that. I couldn't help but note that there must have been 5 different shades of Hemi Orange at shows (and I don't mean Omaha, or Mango, or Vit C, I mean Hemi Orange). My Hemi Orange Road Runner, next to a Hemi Orange SuperBird last year, and they were nearly the same but still different.

The Plum Crazy colors seem to have about 8 different shades. Yet they are the same. 

So I would say paint it how you like and let your personal eye determine if it's close enough to original. 

I'm kinda leaning that way.  I want to stay original, but at the same time why not adjust it just a little to make it look better in my eyes?  I don't want to get too far off as to get flamed by folks at the shows, but if there are 5 different shades of gold cars, why not?


But if the paint shop has the ability to get it spot on, I suppose I should do that to a numbers car.

Hmmm..

[Brock Samson]

i had read once that Plymouth hi-impacts were a shade or so darker then the Dodge versions of the same colors...
but anyhow, in my case i decided to go with my own Favorite shade, rather then go 100% original since the car is pretty much a Frankenstein monster everywhere else anyhow. I don't regret buying a basket case and doing it my way one bit.
 

[Ghoste]

If you purposely "tweak" the color, I think it automatically qualifies as being NOT original.  That being said, I agree with HeavyFuel that you will see several different shades of the same original color at any of the Mopar shows.  Further to that, I'll bet if you could travel back in time and hit 20 different dealerships of brand new 66 (or any other year) Chargers, you would see several different shades of the same color back then too.
If you want original, ask the paint shop for original.  If you don't, just pick a color you like and be happy either way.

[HeavyFuel]

If you purposely "tweak" the color, I think it automatically qualifies as being NOT original.  That being said, I agree with HeavyFuel that you will see several different shades of the same original color at any of the Mopar shows.  Further to that, I'll bet if you could travel back in time and hit 20 different dealerships of brand new 66 (or any other year) Chargers, you would see several different shades of the same color back then too.
If you want original, ask the paint shop for original.  If you don't, just pick a color you like and be happy either way.

[Charger-Bodie]

When I painted my JJ1 68 Charger I created my own formula for PPG dbu. Nothing else available was close.

[HeavyFuel]

When I painted my JJ1 68 Charger I created my own formula for PPG dbu. Nothing else available was close.

I would love to get a look at that recipe!

[aussiemuscle]

i think if it was a 'cool' color i'd keep it factory and only change it if it was poo-brown or something hideous like that.

[Kern Dog]

My 70 was F8 green. Nice color actually, but I wanted red. I went with Flame Red, a factory color still used by Ma Mopar today.

[greenpigs]

My Jeep is flame red.

[six-tee-nine]

I'm probably going for black on my 69 but if I should decide to paint it blue or red or whatever other color I would take a color in wich these cars originally came in.
trying to make it match as close as possible to what the factory put on back in the days is another challenge.

Oftopic :

@ BananaDan your car looks totally awesome

[Charger-Bodie]

When I painted my JJ1 68 Charger I created my own formula for PPG dbu. Nothing else available was close.

I would love to get a look at that recipe!

Here it is. The only problem with this is that some of these tints are discontinued ,so you will need to find someone who has a older set-up that hasnt thrown them out..... Let me know how yoou turn out?

[BananaDan]

Oftopic :

@ BananaDan your car looks totally awesome

Both of those cars are stunning guys! BananaDan this is the first pix I've seen of your car, IMO that's prolly the sharpest 70 I've laid eyes on. A few members here in my area get together for cruises and I'm looking forward to going on one and seeing your car, Brian, in person.

Thanks for the kind words guys, it's much appreciated.     Of course as you all can likely relate, an owner never feels that way always seeing the areas for improvement.  If you could only see my interior right now though.  It's gutted, but coming along.

http://1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=179.30

Oh, and sorry Heavy Fuel, no more thread hijacking after this.  I promise!   

Dan

[HeavyFuel]

When I painted my JJ1 68 Charger I created my own formula for PPG dbu. Nothing else available was close.

I would love to get a look at that recipe!

Here it is. The only problem with this is that some of these tints are discontinued ,so you will need to find someone who has a older set-up that hasnt thrown them out..... Let me know how yoou turn out?

I'm gonna look into it....see what happens.

Thanks!

[71charger_fan]

My car came from the factory "poo brown." Just 'cause somebody in '71 ordered an ugly color, didn't mean I had to keep it. In '96, it was repainted Plum Crazy. When it needed some rust repair, I took it to a more modern paint store which had the scanner to read out the paint code. They found the body shop that had originally manually mixed the paint on the car had almost exactly matched the formula for Plum Crazy, but had added just a touch of extra red. Even if you try for the factory color, you still might miss it by a fraction of a shade. The factory, I'm sure, didn't always mix the paint in the exact same proportions. Next time I repaint, I might change the color again.

[BananaDan]

I agree.  If you're not going for a concourse restoration, go with a color you are happy with. I was happy with FY1 and was looking for a high-impact color car and luckily found one so I stuck with it.  But if I found one with a color I didn't like, I would have went with a different color that I liked rather than the factory one.

It's your car and your call in the end.  I'm a fan of the factory palette and would have went with one of them, not a random color but that's just personal preference.

BTW, Brock, I love your paint!  The blue, but looks Plum Crazy in sunlight is sick.   

Dan

[resq302]

A lot of what the final color coat on the paint on the car determines what color primer was used.  If you use a black primer, the paint will look darker versus using a white or gray primer which would make the color brighter.  Also, the amount of paint put onto the car determines how bright or dark a color could be.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

My '70 is supposed to be R6 red (although the original color was B5), but I think it might a touch lighter than factory.  No big deal; it's still a great color.  I'd post a picture, but I don't have any good ones taken outside, mainly due to the massive dump of snow we had this year.

And Banana Dan, I second the positive comments - that's one sharp looking car.

[Charger_Dart]

Mine just came out of the paint booth a few weeks ago and its a JJ1 car. Its not painted factory gold because I wanted a tweaked color. IMHO it came out just as I expected and am very happy with it.

[HeavyFuel]

Charger-Dart,
Looks nice!

That color looks pretty close to factory JJ1, what did you adjust on the color?  Kinda hard to tell under the floourescent lights as well.