Single stage paint options?

I'm interested in matching a good single stage paint to my factory F5 Limelight Metallic.

Can anyone recommend a good brand/type of automotive paint that has the resources behind it that it can be matctched without a big runaround? Perhaps a good Value as well.

Thanks!

Dupont Centari Acrylic Enamel, chances are you'll have to mail order the paint, as very few States, as well as paint suppliers will carry it, you want "old school" paint this is about as accurate as you can get, 2 ALTs are available for F5, keep in mind regardless of how accurate a paint formula is it can still be fubared by an inexperienced/careless mixer

Good luck. First off the availability of single stage anything is becoming more and more limited as the manufactures continue on the BC/CC bandwagon. Secondly, I have been told by the local PPG, Axalta, and Martin-Senour reps that the metallic used in the current formulations will not match the look of the older metallic. Thirdly, if you are trying to match color exactly I'm guessing you are going to have to do test sprayouts to check color which means finding a supplier who's willing to go through all that labor. I don't mean to be a wet blanket but I have been pursuing single stage acrylic urethane in a number of Mopar and AMC codes ranging from 1967 to 1974 and so far the results have been disappointing.

Do a google search on single stage metallics. I don't know what was different about the old paints but these days it sure seems like even the pros won't touch metallics in a single stage. Single stage urethane metallic gets splotchy if you wet sand it and really tough to not get tiger stripes.

I buy PPG for my stuff and the store I go to has all the 1970 colors in DCC single stage and Delstar enamel, BUT only a couple of the common high impact colors in base-clear. If you want say EB7 dark blue metallic, for example, they don't have the formula to do it in base-clear.

They can mix anything if you bring them a physical sample to copy.

For paint, have a look at autocolor library. They will mix in their house brand single stage and PPG. Single stage and base/clear. Color match was good for me on my Mopars (plum crazy PPG + late model dark red in house brand) and a non metallic Ford (non metallic single stage in house brand).

For single stage metallic... a comment. Most full time body men cannot spray the stuff today. It is very hard to get the metallic to lay down correctly. I know I cannot. Base/clear is much easier with metallic.

Good luck!

http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/

Matching a single stage metallic, especially with old paint is all but impossible for several reasons

1. Paint technology has changed drastically in the last 5+ years not to mention the previous 15 years. The older the paint the harder the match becomes.
2. Metallic's a very dependent on the paint itself, the painter, the gun used, the nozzle size, the pressure, the distance, the way it's Sprayed
meaning technique by the painter etc..

Now are we going to try to get a PERFECT match at a hard line or try to Blend into an adjoining panel ?? Factory peel and flaws or Glossy perfect? Want it to appear untouched ??

One might be better off playing the LOTTERY. My

By "house brand" do you mean the 'Restoration Shop' line of paint? Any time I've ever mentioned it on any forum all I've ever gotten is comments about how stupid anyone would be to use it. However, it is the only supplier I've found that can allegedly mix up any color in single stage urethane. You mentioned you used two colors, what did you think of them as far as quality or a comparison to one of the name brands? Any insight would be helpful.

I assume the OP is looking for an accurate "color match" to repaint the entire vehicle, if he's looking to blend a panel, or repaint just a fender/door/etc....then agreed, he's grasping for straws

AGREED !

Thanks for all the replies. My thought, knowing nothing about automotive paint, was that a decent single stage paint might be more cost effective, less labor intensive than base/clear. Secondarily, it might yield a more factory correct look.

But from what I'm gathering from you all here, neither is that simple it appears.

I'll just have to talk it over with my body guy, when I find one, see what he's comfortable with and go from there.

About 15-years ago I had the old school guy at the local PPG store call the color library and mix me up a pint of PPG Delstar Acrylic Enamel. They gave me the formula code list and said we'ed be good to go when I need to buy the rest. No problems. I wanted to shoot a test panel at the time and see how the color looked new and unfaded. Fast forward to now. The old guy is gone. The old store is gone. Now when I go to the new store with the new people and show them the formula code list I was given, they look at me like deer in the headlights. Tell me the best thing to do is bring in a sample so they can match it with their machine... I don't understand this paint stuff

I've used their products a couple times now. I had an OEM color mixed in their urethane single stage. It layed down nicely and has good gloss. No complaints, however I haven't finished putting the car back together yet so it hasn't seen the road yet and I don't want to crow about it before seeing how it does out in the elements. So far durability seems no better or worse than any other paint, I would use it again. I also used their 2k urethane surfacer. It also layed down nicely and sands very easy. I gave some to a body guy I know who used it on his personal vehicle. He really liked it and said he wished he could use it in his shop but it didn't meet VOC limits.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with this stuff so I don't want to go crowing about it too loudly. Their single stage urethane layed down pretty smooth. I thought it was ok until I went into the chevy dealer and saw how rough the OEM clear coat is on an $85,000 corvette and it made my ameteur jobs look like show quality!

Please keep in mind that cheap paint is usually cheap for a reason, it doesn't typically last and is made for collision repair, car lots and flippers.

You usually get what you pay for.

Yes... restoration shop. I used it in dark red/maroon metalic on a later model Durango hood and bumper ('06?)l and color match was good. It held up fine for the 2-3 years I kept it. I used the single stage acrylic non metallic on a Ford PU bed and tailgatge. It has held up fine for ~7 years. Color match is hard to say as the rest of the truck was re-painted ~20 years ago in "some" brand but close and looks nice.

I also used PPG from autocolor library.com on my Challenger. It was a full re-paint. That said, as far as I can tell, a true "Plum Crazy". Also, I would add, it looked much nicer the second time with base/clear. The original paint job in single stage acrylic urethane metallic was not so good. Operator error and back to the point, single stage metallic is very hard to spray correctly.

Seven years? By that time I'll probably be in the home. Sounds like it's good enough for what I want to do. If the next owner wants to sink $15K into a paint job that'll be his decision to make.