Colour Matching

Post by **Shmickle** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 8:24 pm

How easy is it to get a colour match on original Minor colours, form say Halfords. I just wondered if anybody had had any sucess using any products. I might be gettin a car !WOOWOO! and it has some primer patches, nothing too major, idealy I would like to cover them up without spending too much money, or things looking too bad.

Post by **Chris Morley** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 10:14 pm

Either Halfords or a paint retailer will be able to mix up a spray can based on the manufacturer's paint code. In theory these will always be identical, although in practice there might be slight variations.

The problem is that the original paintwork will have changed over the years because of weathering and sunlight (light blue for example ends up looking a bit washed out). The difference will be very obvious if you were to use masking tape - however there are ways to graduate the spray so a line doesn't appear. However the only way to achieve perfection is to re-spray the entire car.

Any topcoat you put on will look a lot better than the primer. As a rule of thumb, assume a 400ml can will cover the bootlid (for example) with a single coat. The main thing is to prevent overspray.

Cost? You can get red oxide primer for about £4 a can. 400ml cellulose cans cost £8.95 + VAT + postage from East Sussex Minors. I believe Halfords might undercut this price - a local paint retailer near me charges £8.95 all-in for a 400ml can.

Post by **Robins** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 7:05 pm

Paint matching is very successful in my experiance. I use a specialist car paint shop to get mine mixed, I understand Halfords are good but depends if their employies know how to use the equipement properly!
You will probably have to take a bit of your car off and leave it with them to scan for the match, maybe the bootlid?

The option of just having paint mixed using the paint code to the car is not worth it in my experiance as there is a variation in colour between the different paint manufacturers to start with (as I found on my van) and like Chris said weathering and sunlight will change the original paint colour aswell.

Of course for a decent finish a total respray is the way to go, and a bare metal respray is the ultimate. But not everyone is lucky enough to have a workshop big enough to respray their own cars in or have the kit available to do it.

Either way it would be better to respray a whole panel instead of just the patch with the primer on. But remember it is the preperation that makes all the difference. I have just done a bare metal respray on my traveller, and the time involved was just huge but when you see the finished car it was well worth every minute!

Let us know how you get.

Post by **Shmickle** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 6:40 pm

Well, I won't have much money available so I will probobly go to one of those 'back street' places, ie Not Halfords, to see if I can get it cheaper. I know it would look better if I had everything re-sprayed, but, again, I can't afford it. Thanks for the advice, I'm quite pleased that you can leave a piece of the car with them, however scarey that may seem! I could leave the bootlid, cause I think I will be recieving a spare one if I purchase this particular car. Thanks for the advice, I will get looking in my Yellow Pages to see if I can find a colour matching service - James

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 9:42 am

The easiest thing to leave with them would be the glovebox lid.

Post by **Cam** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:02 am

Yes, I thought that, but it might not have faded as much as the boot lid with it being inside the car, so the paint match would be wrong. I suppose you could take it off and compare it?