Hey HoosierSat, the Sherwin Williams stuff didn't turn out nearly as deep a color as I hoped. I actually took it back and tried to have them darken it up (and noting the changes) but it still didn't cut it. The paint seems great, and but I also found it really expensive. But who knows, it's long term performance might be better.

I do have a can of their SherClear product though, that I still might try out on some components, and maybe in the trunk. Stuff is from their marine/industrial line.

So... off to get some Sico, it was much cheaper, and for all intensive purposes this paint is all pretty much the same stuff. Alkyd Enamel paint with rust inhibitors.

I picked the darkest shade of purple from their chart and went for that. Of course it still didn't dry as deep as I hoped, but in the end, actually pretty much bang on to the photoshop I did of the look I'm going for. So I am pretty happy with it. Though, still in doubt I thought I might have found a darker shade on a CIL chart (took the ICI number to Sico, they mixed it..) but actually not as good as my first Sico choice. So I'm settled on, and happy with what you see here.

Half of this effort is to also get a paint color that I can have reproduced if need be, rather than mixing small batches myself every time -- or down the road if I need it.

Here's a pic of my front bumper so far - after getting enough coats on it I noticed the damn thing has some waves and twists from bangs and repairs -- not nearly the condition I thought I bought... so I might be taking it right back down again to fix them... but...you get the idea...

Car is a '71 Charger - going to be this colour with a white bee stripe (yeah, I know, it's a '71), black vinyl top, hideaways. I have two hoods and decklids, so I'm probably going to alternate between standard hood with a blower style scoop through it, and a bulge hood with a standard air cleaner underneath. One set will probably be blacked out, the other, probably the bulge combo, in purple.... idea will be to flip between an old school '70s look, and a slightly nascar-ish look with a wheel swap as well. TTOs for the old skool... indy slots for the other...

Anyhooo... all that is probably waaay more than you wanted to know, but that's why I am really looking for a good balance between the workability and a way to achieve really good results with this stuff.....