Paint Palaver

[Neil Clark]

I bought both an aerosol can of Conifer Green and a touch up pot on the same day from one of the usually excellent parts companies.  The aerosol as applied is a perfect match to the existing car colour and the touch up, which comes with a brush, is far darker, stands out a mile.  My car was last painted in about 2016/17 before being put in covered store for most of 2018 and all of 2019 so I don't see light fade being an issue in the mismatch.

The supplier has instantly credited the touch up pot so I'm not going to name and shame, having had a good go at them on the phone, but they insist that the base colour in both containers will be identical and it is the aerosol effect that gives it the final match.  Well, this seems like a "B-S" excuse to me.

1 - I used to run a printing company and it was axiomatic that whatever the ordered catalogue colour, for example the pantone the customer wanted, always had to be as it appeared finally on his own paper or plastic surface, not in our mixing systems.  Logically I would think that the final "on-car" conifer green colour is the one they should sell.

2 - The supplier says that to touch the car up I should simply spray a little into the aerosol cap and use that for touching up.  So why not put that on the website?  Why not flag mismatching as a risk on the website??

3 - The touch up as applied on the inside corner of the battery box now stands out a mile to me, vs the aerosol paint on the scuttle and footwell front and is much darker.  Now I need to sand back a tiny area which will ruin my morning because I'll grumble to myself all the time I'm doing it.

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Neil Clark said:

The supplier says that to touch the car up I should simply spray a little into the aerosol cap and use that for touching up

I've had exactly the same issue in the past, not just on one occasion and with various colours. I cannot explain the science behind the mis-match, but it exists on a regular basis

As an example, I had a Valencia Blue (Vitesse) touch-up pot from Holts which is a couple of years old - it is significantly darker than VB. Conversely I have 3x rattle cans of VB via the TSSC HQ; these cans must be well over 10x years old. On spraying my revamped valance recently the rattle  can was an identical seamless match to the rest of the body colour.

Hence the applied quote, I now mix a little rattle spray paint if touch-up is required.

In support of the Club Shop paints, I purchased a few years back a rattle can of Rootes Forest Green which is the Rootes equivalent for BRG - again the rattle can match was identical and the finished application seamless. Whoever supplies the club shop with their aerosol paints certainly has their finger on the pulse. 

In the long run using a rattle can as an ad-hoc touch-up paint seems the way to go if you want an identical match; who does not.

[poppyman]

It really depends how long the touch ups have been standing since filled.... The paint in a touch up is usually a bit thicker and will not mix as well after being shaken. Shake the the touch up for the same time as the rattle can, then put a screwdriver in the touch up...... You will find the base of the can will still be thicker and a different colour. If you have paint mixed for home you will see how it is mixed and how it is shaken. You can try popping a few ball bearings in the touch up to help it mix like the rattle can....

Tony.

[Neil Clark]

Thanks Tony, I'll try that.  Shaking for five minutes before use certainly didn't do it. 

[Graham C]

Whenever touching up stone chips I always spray into the cap and use a brush. Also I spray a bit of lacquer and mix into the paint for modern cars.

Graham

[Paul H]

I bought Touch up , Aerosol and a 5 litre tin of Valencia Blue code 66 cellulose from the club shop . The aerosol and bulk cellulose are the correct match  and the Touchup was way too dark . Out of interest using Bilthamber HIBILD Primer aerosol and Electrox which are working well and so far no cellulose reaction . I’m using the Electrox over rust areas  and flattening existing paint then HIBUILD.

Paul 

[poppyman]

32 minutes ago, Paul H said:

I bought Touch up , Aerosol and a 5 litre tin of Valencia Blue code 66 cellulose from the club shop . The aerosol and bulk cellulose are the correct match  and the Touchup was way too dark . Out of interest using Bilthamber HIBILD Primer aerosol and Electrox which are working well and so far no cellulose reaction . I’m using the Electrox over rust areas  and flattening existing paint then HIBUILD.

Paul 

Try putting some of the 5ltrs of paint into your own can Paul, it does work better. You can buy cans off fleabay i used a 250ml can and used my brush or cotton bud for stone chip.

Tony.

[PeteH]

Hi

Not Triumph, but I had Halfords mix a match for my 54plate Fiat Punto (Code 132 scilla), The end result was extremely good?. The other thing I always do, is stand the Aerosol in Hot water for several minuets and then shake.

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, PeteH said:

stand the Aerosol in Hot water for several minuets and then shake.

Pete

Do you shake it in time to the music?

I need two tins of Triumph White, will probably go to the Club Shop after my only experience at Halfords, where the young lad mixing a litre for me didn't have a clue and presented me with a small plastic bottle of what looked like flour and water paste.

[dougbgt6]

My brother was in the club shop and wanted a couple of Cans of Tahiti blue, but discovered there were only two and from different suppliers. 

He was offered to spray some in the lids and make sure they were identical, but even then you can’t really tell until it’s good  and dry.

Don’t know why they have so little stock and why they let that happen?

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

I had three tins of Code 19, bought quite a few years ago from the Club stand at some show or other - maybe even from the shop itself? - two that I used in the wheelarches aren't bad but the third is woeful... almost a brilliant washing machine white, closer to Sebring, and nowhere near the creamy colour of proper Triumph White. Thankfully this last tin is just the underside of the floorpan, to touch in rubbed-down surface rust. The photo has not done it justice but the bulkhead is the original Triumph White code 19 and the floor is three or four coats of the aerosol, a very arctic cold white.