Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Does anyone know of any place in the USA that mixes paint the old way. By formula.

Seems everything is computer ..

Riki, probably almost no cases where you can mix the "old way" by formula as many if not most of the original pigments and other paint additives have been replaced by modern substitutes.

And unless you are painting the entire car I would be careful of using any paint made by formula -- even modern -- because the car could have faded or changed color in some respect over the years. New original color to formula paint next to the old might stick out like a neon sign.

IMO, if you are trying to touch up and it is possible to take something like a gas filler lid off the car do that and have it matched to what the paint looks like now. I did that with the 47 and the guy made a perfect match to the however many year old Earl Scheib or equivalent $29.95 paint job special that is on the car.

If you are looking for formula paint you might find the color at TCP Globaltcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/ but it will be modern material. Being that you are in Calif, even the choices you can buy are seriously restricted compared to what someone in another state could have made and shipped to them. Our Air Resources board and their apparent motto of "If it stinks, don't allow it in California" is very persuasive when it comes to shipping something to a Calif zip code.

Thanks

Dave ..hh.

Painting whole car.

Guess it Will have to be winged..with color chart.

None of the club's have current updated Color charts?

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Would be nice if California used that motto on their politicians, that would clear up a lot of smoke

Color charts didn't really match paint when new, and decades later certainly won't tell you the original color. If you can check out original cars or as said an unexposed area of paint you will get a much better idea of the colors

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Can't deny California has contributed a few clunkers but then the same can be said for Texas and a few other states so I guess it evens out.

I agree it applies to both sides of the aisle!

Find the Ditzler and/or Dupont paint chips in the Packard Literature section for 1956. Get the colors and formulas of the paint you want. Contact PPG industrial/automotive paints and ask them to translate the formula to modern materials. They will send the formula to your paint shop, not to you. PPG bought Ditzler, so they know how to translate the formula.

If you are painting it yourself, then the online store recommended by HH56 will be very close.

There are few places if any in Oregon where a paint shop can shoot lacquer. It's bad for the environment. PPG can mix EnvironBase for the color. This is a water-based color that bonds with industrial metal primer. Then clear urethane goes over that. I think the glossiness of the urethane can be knocked back a bit if you're a purist to a point below what someone here call Bo Derrick rising from the sea.

If you don't know Bo,listal.com/viewimage/6817848h

Again, if you can find a small flat piece of metal in the original color that has not been exposed since new, take it to an industrial paint supplier and they will scan with a spectrometer that gives them the formula to match original.

Joe's advice is good. Only thing I would add is that spectrophotometer match works well for straight shades,but should be visually checked for metallics as the particles scatter light and spectrophotometers work off of reading the wavelengths of reflected light.