[Former4banger]

alright so i am finally getting my lx painted. my father is a car painter by profession. He is going to paint the car for me all i have to do is pick the color and he is going to take care of the rest. my car now is currently a faded red color and i am going to give it a new coat, just don't know exactly which shade of red i want to go with. any suggestions and/ or pics with possibly a color code would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Joe

[RKBA]

What about a 3 stage paintjob? I love pearl. Haven't seen a good red w/ pearl paintjob up close, but if done right I bet it could look really nice. I think a properly done pearl really gives a paintjob that high-end look.

[rc5liter]

if you go to your local auto paint supplier (like PPG) they will have samples of every shade of red you can imagine. custom and reds from production vehicles. its a good way to get alot of options.

[93hatch]

white white white white

[orangestang42]

I have a really cool color on my car..its an orange but its more like a fire orange with some red mixed in with it...I have gotten some compliments on the color, I really like it...when I got the car it had a cheaper paint job on it but it still looks good...it just doesn't have as much depth as a 2 or 3 thousand dollar paint job would...but if I get it re-painted in the future im going to get it done the same color as it is now..

[Former4banger]

orangestang, do you have a picture of your car? my father is a car painter and has done numerous paint jobs for show cars. pictures would be great.

[bigjohnstud4200]

i would stick with the same color you have unless you plan on doing a full color change and removing the engine, doing all door jams, all trunk stuff, etc. It looks terrible to have a nice paint job, then you open the door or the hood and it's a different color. At best, I would do a Red with a Pearl. JMO

[Former4banger]

thats why i want to stick with a red hue, doesn't have to be the exact red, we are going to be painting door jams, inside of the hatch, etc. we will paint the engine bay next summer when we put the new motor in. mix match car, door jams and engine bay look like s***!!
ANY PICS OF SUGGESTIONS???

[orangestang42]

here is a pic of my car, the far away pic doesnt really do a lot of justice but its a nice color

[RKBA]

The true effect of a pearl paintjob won't show up well in photos. It's something you have to see in person with the sun hitting it.

If you're interested in a factory color, you might want to hit some car dealerships. That's what I did with my last paintjob, we went to an automall and drove around. Saw some cool colors but finally settled on a color I had never seen in person, Nissan Bayside Blue, which they used on the R34 Skylines. Before I finalized my decision, my paint guy showed me a sample in the sun and I was sold.

[orangestang42]

OMG man, was just gonna say the same thing, i saw this bright blue on a brand new nissan z, and i also saw it on a new mustang. Im in love with that color, besides my red that blue is pretty sexy..

[RKBA]

If you want to get a factory color that is really hot, look at the higher end cars. Most low-mid range cars don't have the greatest paintjobs. Some cars are still coming from the factory with single stage paintjobs even. A really nice three stage paintjob from the factory is more common on expensive cars. For example, another blue I liked was "Laser Blue" that they use on the Lotus Elise.

Forget about trying to be compatible with what you have now and focus on what you really want. Even with the motor still inside you and/or your uncle should be able to cover it pretty good so that nobody would notice unless then were leaning over your hood looking inside. Your uncle could get you a few cans of the paint in an aerosol can, and you could tape stuff up and paint the inside of the engine bay yourself. It would be easy to make it "passable" until you hit it again later on with the motor removed. The engine bay, doorjams, etc don't have to be perfect, they just need to be covered if the previous color was very different. In other words, worry about the small stuff later. The outside of the vehicle is where everything needs to be as close to perfect as possible, especially the hood and doors. Little dings and such really stand out on a fresh paintjob.

Trust me, get the color you want. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks about it. I spent over $3k on my last paintjob, and during the process of picking out a color I relied too heavily on the opinion of others, what color was more likely to get me pulled over, blah blah blah.

Even if you're not spending as much as I did since your uncle is doing the work, you most likely will have that color for a LONG time, probably until you sell it. Make sure it's something that makes YOU happy or else you will surely regret it. Every time you walk to your car, admiring it's fresh, beautiful paintjob glistening in the sunlight, in the back of your head you will still think about how much better it would have looked if you got the color you really wanted.

Stop thinking about what is convenient or what anyone else will approve of. Think long and hard about what YOU want and go with it.

[stangfever]

If your going to stick with red thin fire engine red looks sweet. My good friend paints cars and we painted a friends 87 gt that color and it looked awesome but i don't have any pics of it. My old 90 gt was orange with copper pearl and some orange pearl, i loved it. Im planning on painting my 89lx drag car the same color.
heres a pic.

[orangestang42]

yeah thats kind of what mine looks like...urs might have just a tad bit more red in it though ^

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by stangfever If your going to stick with red thin fire engine red looks sweet. My good friend paints cars and we painted a friends 87 gt that color and it looked awesome but i don't have any pics of it. My old 90 gt was orange with copper pearl and some orange pearl, i loved it. Im planning on painting my 89lx drag car the same color. heres a pic.

Is that a dent in the cowl or just a shadow?

[Former4banger]

Thanks for those pics guys.
Orangestang42, your right the picture doesn't do the car color justice, however it does look great.

Stangfever, great color! I too will be painting the mirrors to match the body. makes the car look 10x better!I was kinda wondering about that spot on the hood but thanks for clarifying.

RKBA, you are right about doing what you want rather than whats convenient and opinions by others. It is always good to just get some suggestions if you are on the fence about something but after it is all said and done if your not happy with your decision then why do it at all. I'm sticking with red cause that is what i like. it is also convenient because it is already that color.
So my plan was to paint the car red, getting the windows tinted next week, probably going 25%, and get some 18" Black bullits with a chrome lip. thinking deep dish? I have also been toying with the idea of going with a gunmetal grey that i seen on a skyline gt-r with some FR500 wheels.

[mxnate116]

dark shadow grey, i may paint my car this color. and my friend painted his 280z grey and it looks amazing. its also a factory ford color

[Former4banger]

That Color looks amazing. Just like the color i was thinking other then red. Dark Shadow grey huh, wasn't that color most commomly used for the 1999-2004 mustangs along with mineral grey? any ways that looks great. thanks for the picture man.

[mxnate116]

yeah it was used alot on the newer stangs

[flyin ryan]

Never liked blue really before but now I love my dark shadow metallic blue fox.. it's dark blue but from different angles looks like a deep black.



also love the 93 cobra viberent red color