Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

The new blue paint does seem dark, but I wouldn't go by scans of the supplier paint chips, either. Some of the metallic shades scan way off their true color - perhaps due to the amount of metal flake.

However, I have a hard time believing that any original paint that far out of direct sunlight would fade that much. I also doubt if anyone who previously re-sprayed this car in a different color would go to the trouble of taking the fender off to paint the side cowl. Yet, lacquer does oxidize, which lightens the color.

Try some light rubbing compound on the old paint in that area of the side cowl, adjacent to where you sprayed the edge. The new paint might turn out to be a closer match than you think. However, you have to keep in mind that the pigments and irridescent materials used today are not exactly the same as 50+ years ago - might never give you a perfect match.

If the paint on the firewall, door openings, etc. is in relatively good shape, you might get by with using rubbing compound (easier than sanding), then thoroughly washing (and drying) the area, wiping it down with Prep-Sol (or equivalent), and top-coating it with the new paint.

P.S. - After you paint each rim, set them out in the sun to finish drying - seems to be the next best thing to a bake oven.

Thanks for the advice Brian. The door paint under the trim was closer to the rim paint after I gave it a little buffing.

Also the paint chip I was referrering to was an original Duco paint chip page I have, and not a scan. Also the paint may change a little bit after it cures. That picutre was about 10 mins after I sprayed it.

As far as a repaint, not sure what previous owners may have done. Parts of the engine were also painted the same color as what is currently on the body color. So at some point someone was spraying that color.

I question I have is that my car appears to have used a red-oxide primer under the blue. Was this the common primer that Packard used?

Packard did use a red primer. I remember it on the 52 and I also see it on the 56 Caribbean and 400. That also causes the final color coat to look different. The underlying primer will affect the final hue.

There's a spot on the firewall of one of my Pats where the original black lacquer peeled away, revealing red primer. Also, I once looked under a rust-free original Packard and saw red primer under the peeling asphalt undercoating. No wonder the floor boards rusted out on cars of the '50s (and not just Packards) up here in the snow belt - they didn't paint the underside!

Yet, after spending many years out in a field, my dad's old Exec seemed to have a dark primer showing through on the outer body panels where the paint was getting thin.

I learned to squirt paint on cars of the '70s and later; sanding (feathering) for spot repairs revealed varying shades of gray primer, but most body shops were still shooting red primer. Most glazing (spot) putty, which was nothing more than a really thick primer, was red, too. On replacement sheet metal, GM used baked-on dark gray (almost black) primer, but I have a couple of NOS Packard fenders that have a dark green primer. Confusing, no?

Randy is right about the primer (technically, an undercoat) affecting the hue of the topcoat. Lacquer has a transparent base; even when tinted, lacquer is somewhat translucent. It takes several coats of lacquer to hide the primer, but the undercoat still affects the color of the topcoat. However, because enamels start off with a more "solid" base, they are less susceptible to this effect.

Well I took the day off since my kids where out of school for the holiday. So I woke up early this morning and dropped off the rest of the rims at the blaster. I also took in the front splash pans and front apron (panel above the radiator where the hood latch is) for blasting also as they were completely covered with surface rust. I didnt feel like getting "red-lung" front sanding all of those. So 4 rims, 3 splash pans, and the front apron with cost me $75 to have them bead blasted. They will be ready tomorrow. I believe this blaster is the same company Barry White's Street Rod Repair Co (SRRC) uses for some of their bigger jobs.

Also when I was up seeing Dan Yocum and exchanging those rims last weekend, I picked up a new back seat buttom for my car. The frame on the one that same with my car was broken in the middle from rust. So he had a back seat bottom from a '54 Patrician that was still wrapped in dealer installer clear plastic seat covers. The plastic is discolors and cracked in several places. But the fabric and substrate is still in good phsical condition. So I will recover them with some NOS period correct aftermarket seat covers that I good off of ebay last year. I found it interesting that the Patrician seat spring coils were each wrapped in cloth (Pocket coils).

It also appears that the Patty seat button is a little thicker on the front edge. So I will have a nice comfy back seat!

Well today I left work early to pick up my parts for the Media Blaster (see picture), and also I needed to finish registering for an auto-body class I am taking at the local College. The have a pretty good automotive training program. I am just taking the one class. The class was about $100 to take, but the required book was $104....used. Go figure! So I took care of all of that today.

Also here is a picture of that rim I painted over the weekend. It is spot on to the original color chips I have. The metallic has come out more as it dried. So this is basically what color my Clipper will be when done. (Note this color may look different on everyones monitor as no two monitors produce the exact same color image)

Attach file:

---

  (27.83 KB)


  (34.32 KB)

Ok so here are all the rest of the rims painted with Metali-Chrome Bikini Blue that I had Tower Paint put in spray cans for me.

Also here is the front apron painted in gloss black.

Attach file:

---

  (73.26 KB)


  (36.36 KB)

Hey Kev, those rims look pretty sweet. Did they have much rust around the inner lip where the tire bead seats?
Here in the rustbelt we get a lot of rust there and they don't want to hold air.
I have learned to blast the rims, epoxy primer them, then shoot the bejesus out of them with K-36 surfacing primer. You keep shooting K-36 until they start to resemble a donut (well, not really) and sand back down until the pits are all full with K-36, then wetsand down to "glassy smooth" then paint. Then they hold air!

No, the bead surface was pretty good. Well, once all the rust was removed!

One thing I found interesting was out of the 5 rims I had 1 was red, 2 where white, 1 was body color, and the other was black. But all of them were originally painted black on the back side and black on the inside tire surface.

I did make sure that there were fully primed and painted inside and out.

One tip that Dan Yocum suggested was to get metal (brass/chrome etc) valve stems so if the full wheel covers start to migrate, they wont bent like rubber stems will and cause problems.

I will let the paint cure on these over this week, and then go get some new tires for them next weekend. I still need to buy 3 more tires. I have two brand new tires I bought to move the car. So those will get remounted, and I will try to find 3 more of the same brand/model. Basically just inexpensive thin white-wall tires (215/75r15) that I got at WallyWorld.

Those will do right now until the car is much further along.

Ok so out doing a some more work on the car while I had a little light left in the garage. I started to remove everything that was attached to the firewall so I can clean it up before I respray it.

I was moving along just fine when I realized that (and correct me if I) the heater box, and the hood henges are bolted from the inside of the car (under dash).

So I guess I have to battle what ever is still living under dash to remove those. They need to come out anyway to be cleaned up and serviced.

If I see any eight-legged friends, I am bug bombing the car!!!