[alfa] Paint

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John Hertzman not surprisingly  makes a very learned case regarding the
matching of paint "simply" through the use of the various paint
suppliers corresponding code for Alfa's code, e.g. Dupont 44344 and
Ditzler 82112 for Alfa's AR119, Canary Yellow.

All of my painting has taken place in So. Cal., specifically L.A.
County. The first of several times the paint store I use, El Monte
Paint, allowed me to borrow their three pages of Dupont 1980 paint
swatches was because  the '60 Spider I was going to be painting had
nothing removable I felt comfortable matching to. Terribly unscientific,
but asked the store to mix me up a couple of gallons of Dupont 8770
(AR304/514, Carmen Red) but make it just a bit "brighter" - yeah I know,
John, something akin to asking a plastic surgeon to make me look better
and younger.

They had no formula which would (a) match Dupont's Chroma One high
solids single stage paint (manufactured years after their equivalent
8770 formula was, unnh, formulated and (b) even if they did, the formula
wouldn't meet L.A.'s AQMD (Air Quality Management District) standards.

Therefore, I have on El Monte Paint's computer the formula for the Biba
Restoration version of 8770 which match's considerably  better the
pristine 1" x 3" area of paint where I had removed the Giulietta's
windshield, pulled back some still pliable sealant, and Voila! virgin
paint - than the 1980 Dupont's paint swatch of the same color. Yes, a
fair amount of luck, along with a lot of time was involved.

Not exactly a case of stopping by El Monte Paint and asking for two
gallons of 8770 and walking away with "perfectly" matching paint.

Sorry, but the eye and the more knowledgeable it is the better, in my
opinion is the final judge.

Biba
Who wouldn't leave home or tighten a head nut without his torque wrench,

Irwindale, CA USA

AT (Additional Thoughts) When the "equivalent color" for Alfa's colors
for older cars were formulated by the various paint manufacturer's,
computer matching / formulation I would guess was in it's infancy...at
best. I would also surmise all paints used by the various and current
paint manufacturers have been reformulated numerous times over the years
to meet more and more stringent air quality standards, not to mention
when they upgrade the "types" of material they use, i.e. the high solids
of Dupont's Chroma One. Sorry, but Alfa's being semi orphans, doubt if
any of the manufacturers have bothered to update their formulas - unless
a computer mulls over all the reformulation and spits out a new
formulation.

As John mentions, there were several supplier's of paint to Alfa, not to
mention some Alfa's were manufactured (and I think it's safe to say
"painted") in-house, at Pininfarina, Bertone, and Zagato. What do you
think the odds of say Carmen Red or Canary Yellow from one "house" to
the next matched perfectly? What do you think the odds of the then
various paint suppliers paint matched even if the cars were painted in
the same location? I'd guess zip to nil.

Now what do you think the odds of matching "exactly" the specific color
for a specific Alfa, specific year, specific model, and specific
"manufacturer" (I'm considering Bertone, Zagato and Pininfarina also as
manufacturer's here along with Alfa of course) of one of the original
paints, which I can only assume originally had various density, tint,
reflective qualities varying amongst the original paint suppliers -
with any of the current various paint suppliers in 2004? You're
dreaming.
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