Getting my car painted in the near future. I Really want to go with Midori, but my mind isn't completely set.
I was wondering, what do I tell the painter what color I want?
Will he know EXACTLY how to paint it if I give him the color code?
Midori looks like crap if it isn't done right. Do I need to give him specific details on how to paint Midori?
All help is appreciated.

 

midori green only came on one year of civic..that is the 1996 civic hatchback..all he has to do is look in the ppg paint book..it would help to give him the paint code..but if u trust the person that is painting it and know that the person has done alot of good work then go for it

 

There's one paint code for one color. A painter will mix the color as the computer tells him, based on weight per colorant and the end result is what it is. A lot of times there are different 'alternates', but the alternate colors only vary slightly... by slightly I mean so slightly that no one would have any clue that they were different until they saw another color chip laid directly on top of the other alternate.

It's true that the painter can affect the end result very slightly by varying the gun's air pressure:fluid ratio, but that slight variance could only be noticed when doing a color blend and not when doing an overall paint job.

The truth of the matter is that there's really no difference in how a painter paints different colors, other than when he's trying to blend out a color over top of a repair or on a new panel to match the existing finish of the vehicle. The proper shade sealer goes in the gun, the panels are sealed to even the color. The basecoat goes in the gun and the color goes on the car. It's pretty simple. There's really no color by color painting procedure. A painter puts on enough coats until the pure color is reached, and then that's it.

So basically - no. As long as you have a competent painter, he won't need any special instructions on how to paint Midori or any other color. The painter paints with the color that the computer tells him to mix and it is what it is.

 

Okay. So there's no special "flake" or certain amounts of clear coat? The color code holds all that information right?

 

Right. Clear coat is a standard procedure, regardless of what color you are using. You just mix it in a cup and dump it in the gun and throw on 2+ coats. There's no clear on the market that will drastically alter the color, no matter how yellow it appears in the cup. When you hear people talking about adding 'flake' and all kinds of other stuff, those are effect pearls that can be added to colors to create a certain look. With an OEM color there is absolutely no "hand tinting". With the invention of 'custom colors with codes', like PPG's Vibrance, House of Kolor, etc. there's not even a need to hand mix and tint most custom colors any more. You can pretty much just open a chip book and select any one of thousands of colors.

We used to use Sherwin-Williams system here at the shop. Our new PPG water system isn't online, but I still have access to our old Sherwin account (lol) so I can log on here at home and search for codes and everything like I used to do at work.

I would enter the paint code, then chose the the amount, chose the alternate that I wanted, then hit "mix on scale" and it would send the job to the scale in the mixing room where I would tare the scale at zero and then add each colorant until the set amount was reached, then hit 'next'. I'd go through all the colorants, the pearls, the additives, the hardeners and reducers and then I'd just put the can on the shaker and dump it into the paint gun and spray.



For Sherwin Williams Automotive Ultra 7000, this is what it takes to make a gallon of Midori Green. Your painter will use a very similar formula, just with different colorants for whatever system he uses:

(oh, and in case you're wondering about the price listed... that's before end-user tax and before the obvious mark up so the shop can make a buck or two. The price shown is the absolute cost for the paint shop, but will go up significantly by the time you would see a bill.)

 

Okay. That makes a lot more sense. I got quoted $1300 for my whole car. That's without any major body/bondo work, but does include the prep work. My car is dent free so I won't be needing any bondo. And I'm pretty sure it includes door jams, under hood, under trunk, etc.

 

$1300 sounds relatively cheap for a base/clear scuff and shoot, same color on the outside with no jambs or anything. If you were quoted $1300 for a full colro change including jambs and underhood, please be careful. That's a very low price for such a lot of work. You just might get a great paint job out of it, but for that price you could get someone's barely-better-than-backyard paint job deal of the month.

Specific questions to ask would be about:

~prep technique? (grit paper used to finish before paint, how they blow it off and wipe it down. also ask about tape and paper/plastic. will your interior be fully protected?)

~what kind of sealer do they use? (and what shade - should be real light grey for Midori or else the color will be altered)

~ what brand of paint will they use, and is it single stage or base/clear?

~what's the level of disassembly? (painted together the hack way or fully disassembled the correct way)

~what kind of accountability do they have for any parts they damage? This includes overspray.

~ What kind of warranty is included?

~ What will they do about imperfections in the paint? (runs, sags, dirt, excessive peel)

~ how will they return your car to you, detailed or full of dust and garbage?


Ask every question I've listed above, and make sure you get a solid answer before you agree to anything. Write them down on a piece of paper and take it to the person or shop doing the work. If they're offended by the amount of questions or that you wrote them down and are basically interviewing them, then take your car elsewhere.

If you get the answers post them up here and I'll try to help you out.

 

1300 is very cheap,,, especially if they are doing the jambs and all that... I would be weary of the quality your going to get. also the warranty on their work...

 

yeah 1300 is a good deal but you get what you pay for there is a reason that some paintjobs cost 5-10 or more thousands of dollars.
to add to what dc2.2 said, you can judge what type of person your dealing with by their reaction to asking all of the questions. The best people in any industry are usually happy that your asking the important questions because it shows you have done some research and they will be glad that you are bringing your business to them since it is no small amount of money.
if they don't care to answer your questions they probably won't care if the car tuns out good or bad either.