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Topic: What to paint

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What to paint (1/24)
7/6/12 4:19pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

I�m looking at a colors for painting my car. It is an 82CE and while I have the original rims I prefer the ones I have on it. I like the fader design and will keep that design. I kept the car original inside except for the dash (put in a new radio). I figure when I'm dead and gone if the guy want to restore it he can repaint it and put the original rims on then. I restored the inside as a CE 3 color side panels and seats dash extra which are brown-greenish tan. I know GM does not call it that but that is what it is to me. That is where I get stumped. I just want a flashier car color. Doesn't have to be supper flashy but frankly I thing the CE colors are dull.

Looking at the picture and you can tell it was repainted without the faders on the sides and hood. While it is black they do not fade. I like the fade and I found a place that does a good job of painting the faders on the car. They have done 4 CE in San Diego (all original color) and done a reasonable job on them.

This is what I want to do and where I can use some ideas. I want to paint the car a color that goes with the CE inside Colors I like them. But I want to have sharper (better looking body color) I also want to keep the fader design so I need two colors one for the body and one for the faders. While I like red I do not believe it is the best color for the car (do not think most reds will go with the inside colors). Although some reds may work for the faders colors if the basic car color was correct for the interior.

I know someone out there has a good eye for colors or your wife's may. Mine has to dress me or I where unmatching cloths. She is no help as she want to keep the ordinal colors.

Some of you guy out there got some ideas for the two colors? I have linked some pictures of the CE inside and faders so you can see what I�m talking about.

I will use the fader color for the pinstrips which do not show in the pictures.

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Re: What to paint (2/24)
7/6/12 4:29pm

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Holland Patent, NY - USA

Vette(s):
#1 *1980 White, Red interior 14,000 mile #2 *1980 Red, Oyster interior 93,000 miles Resto project car, rebuilt to 383 stroker

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Well you have a CE and myself I'd keep it a CE

The twist I'd take is try and get a nice flake color gold, Dave Stoffel's silver anniv (two tone)was repainted and he had more flake put in the paint. It pops!

I'd kick up the flake and have em do a double take when they walk bye.....

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ebo just sayin.....

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Re: What to paint (3/24)
7/6/12 4:48pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

I thought of that and it is an option that I have open but even doing that is changing the original colors.

I know ebo it is a hard choice.

You know what really did it for me. I was talking with a couple of CE owner that take their cars to local shows and they both agreed they get no respect. When it come to outside colors. They have taken to chroming things in the engine compartment and painting the underside of the hood.

All of that changes the car from a CE as much as changing the outside. In fact having the faders painted on changes it. I'm not dumping $1300 to $1600 on a set of decals.

But I also want to keep the two tone paint. The last resort is the extra flake. I will also have them do a couple of extra clear coats so color sanding will not go through the paint. I may do that anyway but I have all the weatherstripping to redue. So this is the time to change paint colors if I'm going to do it.

Just in case anyone get the wrong impression this is a daily driver I just want it to be a sharp looking daily driver. I'm not dumping the $$$ it would take to get a show stopper paint job.

By the way I saw a show stopper C3 paint job at work Black with yellow fad to red flames and read pinstips. So much clear coat you could not fell the strips looked like the paint was a mile deep. The came out when I was looking at the car and told me to touch it. He said he had $8000 in the paint job. I would be afraid to drive it but it was wonderful to behold. By the way he never drove it to work after that. He just wanted to show his friend (other fighter pilots) It was when I worked on North Island a couple of years ago.

Re: What to paint (4/24)
7/6/12 4:57pm

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Holland Patent, NY - USA

Vette(s):
#1 *1980 White, Red interior 14,000 mile #2 *1980 Red, Oyster interior 93,000 miles Resto project car, rebuilt to 383 stroker

Joined: 6/3/2008
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Could split it center side down and do a rootbeer or a black cherry. Kia has this black cherry that looks brownish and may match the interior stripes some. The top champagne would compliment it.

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Re: What to paint (5/24)
7/6/12 5:33pm

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Sykesville, MD - USA

Vette(s):
1979 Corvette Coupe Corvette Light Blue Midnight Blue interior Mirrored Glass T-tops

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Believe me, Gilbert, I know what you're going through. When I painted mine everyone was on me to keep the original color (79 Frost Blue) and I finally ended up doing it. However, I may have a solution for you without getting too far off. Get the color charts from House of Color, Dupont, etc., and go to their pearls and heavy metallics. Pick some colors that are close to what you have but more pop! Something like an interpretive restoration! NCRS purists would be rolling in their graves, but so what! You have a fairly rare car so if it was me I wouldn't stray too far (the interior will give you away, anyhow!). But it comes down to "It's your Vette, dpo what makes you happy!" Just my .02!

Barry

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Re: What to paint (6/24)
7/6/12 9:54pm

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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas

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Dadgummit....BlueBarry beat me to it.... Angry

Angry

It's still a dang good idea....I wuz gunna say go with the original color, but do it with some heavy pearl added to the color. It would make that thing pop in the sunlight. I think I saw a pic of a prototype car from the '70s that had a paint scheme similar to the CE, but it was a light-ish blue color, with fading dark/light blues on the hood/sides. Looked pretty neat at the time.

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Re: What to paint (7/24)
7/7/12 11:12am

CCasey
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New Albany, OH - USA

Vette(s):
1980 Coupe / Snowcrest White / L48, 350 / Comp Cam / Edelbrock Heads / Cyclone Intake / Holley Carb / Holley Fuel Pump / Patriot Headers / Dual Exhaust / Magnaflow Mufflers / 1964 Coupe / Riverside Red / L76, 327, 365hp

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I am the original owner of my '80. I ordered it with the Classic White paint because it was my nod of respect to the first Polo White Vette in '53. As most C3 owners know, the paint jobs from St. Louis were poor quality.

Two years ago I decided to repaint my car and wanted to do it in Polo White. But I didn't like some of the samples my body man came-up with so I decided to go with the next oldest Vette white color - 1958 Snowcrest White. It was done using BC/CC and it turned-out great! It especially looks good at dusk as it seems to turn into a real "creamy" tint. Most non-purists would not know the difference between the original Classic White and the Snowcrest White but I do - and I'm really glad I did it.

Bottom line: it's your car and you got to do what works for you. Good luck with your decision.

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Re: What to paint (8/24)
7/7/12 2:37pm

kwoody
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Tucson, AZ - USA

Vette(s):
1982 Black/Tan Leather Build Code C09E Bronze TTop CrossFire Fuel Injection L83 85 Fuel Pump Auto Axle 2.72 Firestone Firehawk Indy500

Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 415

Hi Gilbert,

You know I'm happy with black and a nice pin stripe. I have also been impressed with a purple metal flake on C3s. There are many shades of purple. You'll get the girls...

Bright yellow is really stunning too! It is hard not to look at in a crowd of other cars.

Keith

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Re: What to paint (9/24)
7/7/12 5:39pm

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Holland Patent, NY - USA

Vette(s):
#1 *1980 White, Red interior 14,000 mile #2 *1980 Red, Oyster interior 93,000 miles Resto project car, rebuilt to 383 stroker

Joined: 6/3/2008
Posts: 4421

CCasey said: I am the original owner of my '80. I ordered it with the Classic White paint because it was my nod of respect to the first Polo White Vette in '53. As most C3 owners know, the paint jobs from St. Louis were poor quality.

Two years ago I decided to repaint my car and wanted to do it in Polo White. But I didn't like some of the samples my body man came-up with so I decided to go with the next oldest Vette white color - 1958 Snowcrest White. It was done using BC/CC and it turned-out great! It especially looks good at dusk as it seems to turn into a real "creamy" tint. Most non-purists would not know the difference between the original Classic White and the Snowcrest White but I do - and I'm really glad I did it.

Bottom line: it's your car and you got to do what works for you. Good luck with your decision.

I've seen this beauty, and Mike Yager did a double take when he walked by this car at our MAMO gathering. Cool

Cool

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Re: What to paint (10/24)
7/7/12 6:50pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

Thanks for the input so far. Remember that I want to maintain the faders on the hood and the sides as well as keep the colors compatible with the original interior colors. I can see the white and that would leave almost any color for the faders on the side and hood.

I cannot see the black with the basically tan to brown interior. I'm not sure blues or reds will work either.

But please continue to put in your suggestions. I would never have thought a white as the main color but that may have possibilities.

Re: What to paint (11/24)
7/7/12 8:06pm

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Red Lion, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 White 350 Corvette, TH400 Automatic 1972 Tangerine /Go Mango Convertible 383 Stroker, 2004r Automatic

Joined: 10/27/2006
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who is going to paint the car. i am just like you. my wife lays out my clothes because i cant match anything. my wife and daughter picked the final color for my 72. i had the painter and supplier mix the factory paint. we painted a piece of flat metal in the original color. it was as you said boring for me. then we had the supplier mix up different versions with pearl added. then we painted a piece of metal in 4 sections with each color variations. then i left the wife and daughter make the final decision. i believe the best thing is letting the supplier create. i was lucky and the supplier actually came to the house to see the car/interior. they see so many colors that they can use better imagination. good luck! Rodney

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Re: What to paint (12/24)
7/8/12 11:57am

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

That is a different idea. I'm having my car painted by the same guys that the guy that I get a lot of parts from uses. Steve not only parts out cars but restores and sells C3�s. He has a paint shop that does 8 or 10 cars a year for him. I have seen their work on two other 82CEs with the faders did a good driver plus paint job in the $2000 - $2500 range.

I also will pay him to do the major prep and repair some fiberglass damage I have. Then take it to them as one of his cars. I figured that they will be doing a better job if they know that it comes from him as they have a significant business interest in doing so. I will then let Steve color sand it for me. I�m not capable of doing all that work and while I could hire someone to do it they would not have the experience with C3�s that the three guys that work for him do.

That will not stop me from doing what you said. Pearl is different than metal flak and may make a lot of difference event with the same basic colors. I will have to go down to the auto paint store (where I got my DuPont paint mix for the interior) and see what you are talking about.

Re: What to paint (13/24)
7/12/12 1:18am

IWAVE2
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Bowling Green, KY - USA

Vette(s):
1975 Coupe, Black, 4-spd (IWAVE2) 1971 Coupe, Blue, 4-spd, Big Block (BLUBYU) 1982 Collector Edition (COOL CE)

Joined: 7/12/2003
Posts: 68

Being the proud owner of an '82 CE myself, my preference would be to keep the original colors. However, if you want to be different and stand out more, how about doing something like a photograpic negative of the original colors. You could paint the car deep Black (maybe even metallic Black) and do the faders on the hood and doors from light to dark (Silver/Beige to Black). You could also do all the CE style pinstriping in Silver/Beige. I think the CE interior would be a nice contrast with the Black exterior. Just throwing out a suggestion. Good luck with the color choice.

Jon

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1971 CORVETTE (BLU BYU)

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1982 COLLECTOR EDITION CORVETTE (COOL CE)

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Re: What to paint (14/24)
7/12/12 6:28am

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WEST SENECA, NY - USA

Vette(s):
1981 Blue Ice Met. w/pearl ghost flames TKO500 5speed. LS1 Swap 3.45 Dana 44.

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I was kinda thinking like Jon said about the photo negative idea.

Flip-flop the colors. I've seen a couple late C3's that flip flopped the original 2 tone paint. They looked pretty cool.

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Re: What to paint (15/24)
7/12/12 12:35pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

That is a really good idea. The black is not really a black but a dark black brown (if I had to describe it to someone). Making in pearl or more metal flake with light faders would be interesting idea. Need to give that some serious thought.

It would match the interior for sure. Light pin strips could look sharp.

Thanks again for ideas I would never have thought of.

Re: What to paint (16/24)
7/12/12 5:40pm

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Holland Patent, NY - USA

Vette(s):
#1 *1980 White, Red interior 14,000 mile #2 *1980 Red, Oyster interior 93,000 miles Resto project car, rebuilt to 383 stroker

Joined: 6/3/2008
Posts: 4421

Larry I like that idea also, it would for sure get some looks

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Re: What to paint (17/24)
7/12/12 7:35pm

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Red Lion, PA - USA

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1974 White 350 Corvette, TH400 Automatic 1972 Tangerine /Go Mango Convertible 383 Stroker, 2004r Automatic

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larry, you need to get it painted quickly. i dont think i can wait to long to see it! Rodney

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Re: What to paint (18/24)
7/12/12 11:02pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

I got to finish off some things under the hood first. I have to fix the Air conditioning & Cruise control. Then I have the heating system nothing works in that area.

After that I will strip the old weatherstripping off and take it in for some minor auto body work.

Then in for paint I have a few other things to do but nothing that would in danger the paint job. It is the under hood stuff I want to get done before I paint it.

but I'm still collecting ideas but the reversal (negative) paint seems the most interesting at this time. More suggestions please. As I would never have thought of it by myself.

Gilbert

Re: What to paint (19/24)
7/13/12 9:10am

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Holland Patent, NY - USA

Vette(s):
#1 *1980 White, Red interior 14,000 mile #2 *1980 Red, Oyster interior 93,000 miles Resto project car, rebuilt to 383 stroker

Joined: 6/3/2008
Posts: 4421

tb2k82ce said: I got to finish off some things under the hood first. I have to fix the Air conditioning & Cruise control. Then I have the heating system nothing works in that area.

After that I will strip the old weatherstripping off and take it in for some minor auto body work.

Then in for paint I have a few other things to do but nothing that would in danger the paint job. It is the under hood stuff I want to get done before I paint it.

but I'm still collecting ideas but the reversal (negative) paint seems the most interesting at this time. More suggestions please. As I would never have thought of it by myself.

Gilbert

Well just an "Observation" but looks like the wife had the paint scheme figured out a long time ago.......

Cause the shirt she dressed you in for your profile will match that new paint job Purrrfect!! LOL

LOL

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Re: What to paint (20/24)
7/13/12 12:42pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

Ok Ebo.

By the way my wife agrees with you in keeping it original. Including purchasing the hub caps and putting on the original rims and have decals put on instead of having them painted on.

By the way yes she did pick-out that shirt in the picture. The picture was taken from a family portraiture we had done.

Gil

|UPDATED|7/13/2012 9:42:37 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Re: What to paint (21/24)
7/13/12 4:39pm

kwoody
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Tucson, AZ - USA

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1982 Black/Tan Leather Build Code C09E Bronze TTop CrossFire Fuel Injection L83 85 Fuel Pump Auto Axle 2.72 Firestone Firehawk Indy500

Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 415

Listen to your wife.

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Re: What to paint (22/24)
7/13/12 11:41pm

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Sykesville, MD - USA

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1979 Corvette Coupe Corvette Light Blue Midnight Blue interior Mirrored Glass T-tops

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Yeah, especially if she doesn't mind spending the extra coin! That's a keeper!

Barry

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Re: What to paint (23/24)
7/14/12 8:18am

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HOWELL, NJ - USA

Vette(s):
1979, Targa Blue (72 Color), Pace Car rear spoiler, L88 hood, Dark blue factory interior, 525HP 406, HD 700R4, 370 gears,Steeroids, composite rear spring, TT IIs wrapped in T/A Radials.

Joined: 5/18/2004
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First, paint the base color the CE color with a clear coat. That paint will really pop!! Then I would have the faders pained on ending them like ghost flames. The Hood fader would have to be reversed as you'd want the flame tips near the windshield.

This keeps the CE trend but kicks it up a notch!! Evil Smile

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Re: What to paint (24/24)
7/14/12 5:19pm

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Lemon Grove, CA - USA

Vette(s):
1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.

Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041

Barry

Thanks she is a keeper 35 years worth.

And no, she does not care what I spend on it. I'm more concerned about that that she is.

She is more concerned that I do not wear soxs with my shorts. She says it embarrassed her and makes her look like she married an old man. Yes, I'm smart enough not to wear them with my shorts.

Thanks for the posts on the colors lots of good ideas so far.

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