Just curious to where people buy paint for their older cars. I have my wagon that is in need of a paint job, plus I have a 59 Edsel that will need to be painted once all the body work is done. I found a website, autocolorlibrary.com that will mix paint using old paint chips and codes to (hopefully) match the original colors. Has anyone ever used them?
You shuold be able to have any local auto paint store mix up most old colors. Auto color Library is a good place to deal with but paint should be bought local,here's why. I bought 2 gallons of "Vitamin C Orange " for a 'cuda I was doing from ACL. When it arrived it was WAY too brown. Looked like a burnt orange instead of an orange. They checked and said thee formula was correct but if I shipped it back to them along with a sample at my expense they would tint it for me. Well I wound up having my local guy tint it for me. It took half a gallon of orange to bring it back and cost me another $350. Here's why Auto Color Library is a good company to deal with, I faxed them a copy of the receipt and they reimbursed my that whole amount. Now on every restoration I do I have my local guy mix me up a small sample of the color and do a spray out to check and make sure the color is correct. What I've been told is formulas were chenged when they went to lead free paints and some of them didn't come out the same. With good quality paint averaging around $500 a gallon better safe than sorry.
Thanks for the advice. I would rather deal locally but wasn't sure if I had to or should go to a company that specializes in old colors. And as you pointed out, at the cost per gallon, I want it right the first time. Did you use a paint chip sheet or a sample of paint off your car?
I agree with AZ - you might be able to buy paint a little cheaper on-line, but the local folks are going to give you advice - not if, but when - you run into problems. They can match literally any shade of paint from a chip or whatever. They can also help with specific dilution and hardener rates that can vary a little depending on your local temperatures and humidity. I have found that telling them what you plan to do ahead of time will save you a lot of work - they will tell you if you are missing a step or if you are over-killing it.....
Keep in mind, too, that some colours will NEVER come out quite right. Chromium yellow is one example. Toronto, Ontario police cruisers were painted that yellow until lead paint was banned. They switched to white cars because the yellow was muddy and simply could not be duplicated.
