Any Acrylic Lacquer Source?

[Chevyman for life]

Anyone know where I might be able to get some acrylic lacquer either in spray cans, quarts, or more? My previous source no longer can mix many colors due to being out of toners no longer available to them (and probably because there's not much demand).

The last one I got it from was MetroParts. I would appreciate any leads.

Gerry

 

[61 Silver]

Try the following link to PPG paints and type in your location. Many of the PPG distributors are dropping lacquers so you may have to call more that one in your location.

Ray

https://corporateportal.ppg.com/NA/Refinish/PPGRefinish/9-0-Locator/EN

 

[Tom Bryant]

Have you tried the Restoration Shop?

6695 Rasha St, San Diego, CA 92121; 858.909.2151, www.restorationshop.com

Tom

 

[Chevyman for life]

Thanks Ray and Tom,

Ray, I started calling some of the PPG dealers but didn't find any with enough toners (if any) to guarantee a match. I was going to continue calling in other parts of the U.S.

Tom, your lead to Restoration Shop looks good. They actually have their own brand of Acrylic Lacquer as well as PPG. They thought they could mix me the color I need. I'll order it and see if they can. They sell by quarts and gallons.

Thanks again,
Gerry

 

[Tom Bryant]

I hope it works out.

 

[Chevyman for life]

Tom,

Thanks for the lead on RestorationShop.com for acrylic lacquer. They promptly mixed the color and it arrived the other day. I got half in their own lacquer mix and an equal amount in PPG. Figure I can put the first few coats on with theirs (which is half the price) and the rest of the coats with the PPG which might be a slightly better match. At least the owner now has some spare lacquer for the '59 I painted if ever needed.

Gerry

 

[Tom Bryant]

Let us know how the match turns out. I need to get a snall amount of Frost Beige laquer fore the '81.

What color did you get for the '59?

Tom

 

[Chevyman for life]

Tom,

OK, you made me tell you. The car is Roman Red and I have about a gallon of unthinned left over. The coves and the top were white. The closest white I could get to Arctic White at the time I painted the coves was 55-57 Chevy passenger India Ivory. However, it was in spray cans and I only had enough for the coves. So I bought the "same color" for touch up and the top (which may not need repainting. Need to buff it out to tell).

Does what I bought match? It looks like the Restoration Shop lacquer and the PPG mixes are very close and also match a large color chip they sent along. I would trust the PPG formula to be pretty close to what it should be for India White. It is a little lighter than the India Ivory Nitrocelluous lacquer that I painted 18 years ago on my '56 Chevy and obtained from Bill Hirsch in N.J.

My guess is that it is not quite as white as what I painted the coves with but I'll see tomorrow when I go over to the owners house to work on the car. Hoping it's an exact match (for $150) as it was mainly for touchup! If not at least he'll have enough for sides and top except the body is all sanded and rubbed out and all the side trim is now on so I won't be repainting that ever unless he damages the car. While this is a very good restoration it's not for NCRS and has a 350 and front disc brakes so the color isn't critical as long as it looks nice and it does. (I'll update my "59 Vette Project" story when it's all put together.

More info than you wanted I'm sure.

Bottom line: There are no factory packaged mixes (like you could get in the 50's and 60's). Everything's mixed and so was what is on most Vettes around today if they were ever repainted. While they are machine mixed it is still really a manual job and each toner has to be correct. Your chance of a perfect match is low but I bet it's good enough if you can blend it out. Go for it.

Gerry

 

[Tom Bryant]

That's interesting that the PPG and the custom mix are close. I ran across a few pictures of a '60 Roman Red that I did around 1978 for a friend in DuPont. It matched the inside of the trunk real well at the time. I also have a gallon and a qt. of Roman Red in Martin Seynour left from a '59 we did earlier. The guy decided he didn't like the red after we got the door jams and all cut in so we switched to black. I never had an opportunity to compare it with original color to see how close it is.

Have you ever had a color scanned with the DuPont scanner to get a correct formula? I amd curious as to how accurate this system really is.

Tom

 

[Chevyman for life]

Tom,
Haven't had anything scanned for color matching that I know of. There used to be a paint dealer near here who had a scanning system but said he could do it better by experience. He mixed me some metallic lacquer for a classic Bentley I once had. He was spot on. All I did was take a fuel door panel in.

The PPG Roman Red I used for the '59 matched very closely with some DuPont Roman Red the owner had purchased 30 years ago. He had over a gallon of it so I used that for the first few coats and for all the door and hood/deck openings. It was just a slight shade off and not noticeable on the areas I painted.

Gerry