[3goats]

Just finishing assembling my 69 ram air car and the paint on rubber nose seems to be slightly on the lighter side. Nose was painted off car.
We used ppg omni bc cc on the whole car with white sealer. The primer under nose was SPI epoxy but car was ppg.
I was told if I scuff the clear down an re-coat with one bc then re-clear the nose it will darken.
So the more coats of base will darken the color?
It is so close I don't want to screw it up. I think the painter didn't get enough coverage in the first place.
Is this an easy fix or should it be left to a professional?
Not as noticeable in sun light but under lights it does show. You can see in picture I hope. Thanks for input.

[paint guy]

Limelight green has fine metallic in it, you can get a color differential just by using a different batch or spray gun or spray technique. As a general rule, if you want a slightly darker metallic color, apply the paint "wetter" by holding the gun closer or using a slower reducing solvent. Consequently, holding the gun farther away, using a smaller tip, or a faster evaporating reducer may make the color look lighter. If you are using paint from two different mixes on the nose vs the rest of the car, it is not uncommon for colors to look differently under different lights, or even "flop" as you go from one light source to another. This would be especially true if you used paint from two different manufacturers as they could have used different pigmentation to achieve relatively the same color. Highly doubtful that your painter applied too little as the coverage appears to be even and should have been sprayed to full hide anyway. Your solution is to spray some test panels with the white sealer and the SPI epoxy, then color coat them using different spray techniques and reducers as mentioned above until you get panels that match the rest of the car. Then sand down the nose and repaint. This way you wont have excessive film build on the nose and will help avoid problems later on from too much paint on a flexible substrate (peeling). If you are a novice at this, you may end up spraying a dozen or more test panels until you get the right shade.

[Cammer-6]

OH wow that is like a sore thumb.....
will look nice when youre done tho.

[steve v]

I used ppg's Omni line on my Tropical Lime car & I found it to have very poor coverage. After looking at the formula mix on the inside of the label it had 50% clear in the bc.......I guess that's how they can meet their price point on it.

[3goats]

Thanks for the info Painter Guy. I didn't think it was that easy of a fix. I should leave this for an experienced painter who knows how to blend well. It looks worse in the pictures with the camera actually. As you move in different light it flops as you say and looks good.
The guy that painted it blames the spi because he has never used it before?
I might just live with it for now and decide what I will do with this car.Maybe the hideaways will take your eye off the paint.

After a two year frame off resto I might just drive it to sell it. I have too many other projects to do and painters around here take months. The engine needs to be broke in, some chrome ,rally 2's and it's done.
Thanks for the input.

[SPEEDZONE]

Originally Posted by steve v

I used ppg's Omni line on my Tropical Lime car & I found it to have very poor coverage. After looking at the formula mix on the inside of the label it had 50% clear in the bc.......I guess that's how they can meet their price point on it.

Yes sir, you are correct in that. PPG OMNI basecoat is a very poor quality color system, and does not have good coverage as you stated. The color matches are also very poor to OEM, and PPG does not recomend OMNI for a factory match, and certainly not for spot repair next to oem. I would never use OMNI under any circumstance.

[steve v]

Originally Posted by SPEEDZONE

Yes sir, you are correct in that. PPG OMNI basecoat is a very poor quality color system, and does not have good coverage as you stated. The color matches are also very poor to OEM, and PPG does not recomend OMNI for a factory match, and certainly not for spot repair next to oem. I would never use OMNI under any circumstance.

Yeah, live & learn!
The local paint supplier said neither PPG or Dupont had a formula for the Tropical Lime in their top line products but they did in Omni. I guess they figure if you're painting a 42 year old car you don't want top shelf paint for it!

[beemergary]

Used the omni line in arclylic enamel on my Peterbilt truck. After wet sanding and buffing, some parts its as if lighter and as if you can see thru it. Ask the guy at the paint store whats the deal besides the price. Just give it an extra coat. I did and will never use it again. Live and learn

[paint guy]

As the OP mentioned, the entire car was sealed in white, except the nose, which was SPI epoxy (a shade of grey). I would guess that if the car and the nose were painted in exactly the same manner (tips, pressure, spray technique, reduction, etc) but the nose wasn't sprayed to full hiding so you could "see" the SPI epoxy thru it, I would think that it would look darker than the rest of the car, not lighter in color.Likewise for the rest of the car over white sealer: not sprayed to full hide would make it look lighter in color than the nose. Thats why I think its either mismatched different batches of paint, or more likely, differences in application. A good chance it can be fixed by scuffing/sanding the bumper, spraying on a wetter coat of base from the same can of paint the rest of the car was sprayed with, and re-clearing. But I woud spray some test panels first.

[notime]

Nose was probably laid flat when painted therefore the paint layed on the panel differently. This car has omni on it. it was the only brand that came close to matching the original 67-68 verdoro green. It turned out flawless!

[3goats]

Originally Posted by paint guy

As the OP mentioned, the entire car was sealed in white, except the nose, which was SPI epoxy (a shade of grey). I would guess that if the car and the nose were painted in exactly the same manner (tips, pressure, spray technique, reduction, etc) but the nose wasn't sprayed to full hiding so you could "see" the SPI epoxy thru it, I would think that it would look darker than the rest of the car, not lighter in color.Likewise for the rest of the car over white sealer: not sprayed to full hide would make it look lighter in color than the nose. Thats why I think its either mismatched different batches of paint, or more likely, differences in application. A good chance it can be fixed by scuffing/sanding the bumper, spraying on a wetter coat of base from the same can of paint the rest of the car was sprayed with, and re-clearing. But I woud spray some test panels first.

I totally agree with the fact painter didn't go enough to hide. The nose was painted up right on a stand but not on the same day. We used the same mixed paint and I still have a quart left. I'm thinking the car turned out darker than the oem color and the nose is closer to oem.
Maybe we should not of used the omni but I've always used ppg in the past.

[PaulatFast]

Your painter is to blame here whether he admits it or not...

[1968firebird455]

I agree. My experience is OMNI (and other economy line paints) have less high solids and take more coats to properly cover. Like NOTIME said I have also used it with very good results but I usually bite the bullet and get the PPG base and use Spi or PPG clears.

[paint guy]

Originally Posted by PaulatFast

Your painter is to blame here whether he admits it or not...

I agree with this. Most painters will take the time to spray a test panel or two and make note of thier gun settings, pressure, etc. to get a closer match than whats illustrated here. The color discrepancy has much more to do with application technique than coverage, IMO.