Painted the frame today. My first time ever spraying with a spray gun. Got some good advice/instruction from Dave so I just did the best I could. I think it turned out pretty good.
Not bad for a out of shape old man yes believe it or not Dave didn’t paint this. He is making me do it but he is helping me with great advice and flipping this heavy thing. Thanks Dave
Sending out paint cards to 4 GSX owners and the first person to get it sent this pic. Looks like that the left one is a close match to this paint from this older restoration from many years ago before all the current color problems. 3 more people are receiving them and then I am going to drive to look at one other that is a much older restoration that we think has the correct shade of color on it. Hopefully we will have a match or at least be a very close match to many of the cars that are out and being shown. I hope to have this dialed in very soon.
Yellow is extremely dependant on the under coat....even if you find a card that matches..you wont know what under coat they used....or how many coats
You put that brighter yellow over a darker grey epoxy or over a light grey epoxy or even the pink sealer gm used you will have 3 very different colors So youll need to do spray outs over grey and a red/pink undercoat...im not sure which GM used under the yellow Little weak black and red oxide would take that yellow on the right to a match
^^ agree looked like it needed a touch of red to get the color correct and may need a smidge of black to hold the darkness.
So you think I should try using the one on the right ? You do understand these are two different yellows not just painted the same with different base primers ? I think the one on the left is far closer to a match than the one on the right so I am very confused why you think I should try to get the one on the right painted on many different base colors to see if I can get it to match. That one on the right is PPG Omni and the one on the left is from what I understand a far better quality PPG paint line. This was about getting close. I am very aware that the base can change the top color. We looked at the original paint color and found originally the GSX yellow was done over a black base. That doesn't mean we will use a black base because the paints have all changed. I have become painfully aware that no matter what color/shade of yellow I paint this GSX someone at some point will absolutely bitch that the color is off and not correct. Dave and many others are working very hard to try the very best we can at getting a match with what we now have available to use. I am shocked at how many people think this is so easy and no big deal. Many think you just go order the color at the store and it will be right.... simple. This has turned out to be the biggest pain in the ass about this car. I am not even doing the car to concourse level and I feel stressed out over this crap. I can only imagine what people go through trying to do a concourse car.
Maybe a dumb question here & I know very little about paint compared to others, but I assume you're looking at base/clear from the major manufacturers. Have you thought about single stage (lacquer, acrylic enamel, ???)? I'd love to hear the pros/cons from those in the know as well. Was Saturn Yellow used on any other model/year GM cars?
Yes, chevrolet stole it and used it on thier plastic monte carlo in 71. They called it sunflower yellow. Saturn yellow was way more cooler of a name, just sayin
@Smartin had mentioned this place in another thread and said they're colors are pretty accurate. For '71 they list Sunflower yellow, can mix it in lacquer or acrylic enamel, & the price seems reasonable: https://www.autocolorlibrary.com/pages/1971-Chevrolet.html I'm planning to use one of their single stage products on my Stage 1 "fixxer upper" project but reason I asked above is I'm wondering why not go this route on any resto? Is a super expensive base/clear necessary for a car that's going to live a relatively pampered/garaged life? I realize the clear provides some add'l protection & ability to fix a scuff or chip but the cars were painted w/lacquer orig. & as can be attested to by many pampered orig. paint cars, it's held up quite well. Many of these concours cars are never driven. Thoughts?
If it were me I would use base/clear just for durability alone, I did my Mustang back in 2005 and not a single chip or scratch, the clear was a 3M product and it sure is hard. I ran it hard and with Drag Radials for years which as we know picks up a lot of rocks for the rear quarters, but that clear held up amazingly.
They say its the same and it seems close but its not the same from what we have been able to find. Regardless whats available today is not the same paint as what the color was back in the day. Hugger and other painters like him have the ability to custom mix paint at their own shop so they can fine tune what they need on the fly. I don't have that ability and even if I did you still need to have something to match it too. Only guys that have an original GSX with "Good" original paint can get a match to something. Even with original cars you are dealing with 53 year old paint that "could" have faded from the years in the sun and weather. All I am after is something that is close to other GSX's so if I roll up at the nationals I don't stand out. Right now I am at this point of frustration. Even if its off a bit only at the nationals would you really notice it. Not like GSX's are at every local car show. This makes me just wish I had not painted it at all and just put it together as a beater. I could have pulled it off the frame and just left the body alone. If I had it to do over thats what I would have done. I knew I didn't want a concourse car but never knew this paint situation would get me so riled up. I hope after this I can get back to enjoying the rest of the restoration. Dan, I am not ruling out anything but I would prefer base coat clear coat personally but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use single stage or other types of paint. The stripe paint is also not a problem thanks to Adam Martin. He seems to have found what I consider the best black for the car. Now if I can just get the Yellow dialed in to the other cars I will be fine. I honestly think if I am going to be off I may as well just go crazy with a neon yellow and blind everyone when it rolls in hahaha
One of my favorite lines in one of my favorite movies. You've got to wait till the end to get it. Hopefully this will make you chuckle and lighten up a little.
fyi,davy didnt like base clear,if you can get ahould of someone who worked 4 him in the latter years they ould tell you what davy used,or get ahould of gary foster in iowa,he knew and worked lose with davy
I have been working with Ryan to help him get the color for his GSX. GSX yellow does mot come close to anything on the road today. PPG color is 81838 Saturn yellow. Three yellows in the picture are as follows. The car was restored by Larry Miller using Dupont single stage. We have the mixing formula, unfortunately most of the toners are no longer available. The color on the right is PPG Omni line. There is a formula from PPG for this, which is what we used. The color on the left is a custom formula for Saturn yellow mixed with PPG Concept single stage. PPG has discontinued Concept, so finding enough of the toners may be a problem. This is the best option for right now. Custom tinting the concept formula is not an option right now, since we do not have a good color sample to match it to. Imagine trying to mach a color without a sample to match it to. This is why I have had Ryan mail out the spray out cards to other GSX owners. When we get a great match I plan to send it to PPG and hopefully have their color lab develop a modern formula that may be around for a few more years. I have tried color matching cameras, with nothing coming back even close. Is there anyone willing to help develop a good formula for GSX yellow? Dave
