> As I recall all Dupont Jobbers are required to have this nifty digital
> camera device that they put up against your paint to analyze its
> color. And then they hook it up to their computer and it tells them
> exactly how to mix that color to match your faded paint. (or get it
> close anyway) I was also under the impression that they could mix
> any color and put it in a spray can... but I wouldn't put money on
> that. Worth looking into anyway. I'm sure other paint suppliers have
> similar systems.
>
> Kendall Larsen
To build onto what Kendall wrote, he is correct, the color matching machines
get real close but not spot on. The original question was about Sapphire
Blue, a lovely color, but one of the most difficult to match. The problem
with original Sapphire Blue is that it oxidizes quite a bit with age and the
color always changes. Cars with older Sapphire Blue paint jobs typically
have a purple mist appearance on the top surface of the paint, this is the
oxidation, and the paint can be cut back if you're lucky to reveal the
original Sapphire.
However, this is more hopeful than practical, so if you want an exact match,
some eye-balling and painting of 12x12" sheets of primed sheet metal will
help. Take those huge 12x12" paint chips and hold them up against the area
to be painted, in the same light, and then decide which formulation matches
the best. Of course, this is the very expensive route to go and is probably
only worthwhile for showcars where retouching paint in a color that does not
exactly match, means relegating the car back into the category of "nice
daily driver".
Other tips. Find a shop that can blow in the area using a handheld air
brush gun, they will have much better control of the overspray and also the
surface finish. A large handheld HVLP gun is going to be a difficult beast
to use when only painting about 3 cubic feet of the engine bay, that happens
to be a corner area.
My old car was Sapphire... one of the best TR6 colors out there! Good luck
with the paint repairs.
Kai
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Kai M. Radicke
Wishbone Classics
www.wbclassics.com
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