Repainting the Vette this year.

[Will]

OK this time I'm serious. Problem is I still cannot decide on colour.
Many people have suggested red but I think it doesn’t really suit a black interior.
I have a strange urge to consider some of the more flashy fluoro-colours like Kawasaki green.
Unfortunately a "bad taste" alarm in me goes off when considering this colour. My concern is that it might look a bit too "Hot-Import" like, too attention seeking. I don’t know.

The link below (assuming it works) leads to a pic of a rather ugly wheel painted in Kawasaki green.
http://www.aussiecarforum.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=1498
Do you think it would be a bad idea to paint my Vette in a similar colour?

The other colour I'm considering is a kind of deep fiery blue similar to the one you see on a WRX but darker and with ether 1 or 2 white stripes down the centre from nose to back.
This was my primary choice but I feel that I might be ripping off the 1996 Grand Sport. I don’t want it to be a look-alike and have to constantly remind everyone that it isn’t a Grand Sport.

I have to be very careful with the colour I chose partly because other people will see it, but mostly because it’s a Vette and deserves a decent paint job.

 

[paintdaddy]

My opinion on the kawasaki Green is no,just my opinion.I like the blue idea,withor without the stripe,but if I where going to do the stripe,I would do one wide stripe.to diferentiat yours from a Grand Sport why dont you do the stripe but put some ghost flames with in the stripe?

 

[sans93lt1]

iam no expert when it comes to paint,but i do know that painting a car a total different color and doing it right take a lot of time and effort.
door jambs and under weather stripping and places like that need a lot of attention to do the job right and thus alot more money,if it were my car i would stay close as possible to the original color if not the same color and like paintdaddy said you can still spruce it up with some gost flames or even a little pearl in the mix, just my 2 cents

 

[87blackroxi]

Maybe it's just me, but black on black looks mean! Even throwing in a stripe on a black car looks good. I forget who it was on CAC but last year someone painted their car black with a gold stripe and it looked sharp.
On the other side, the kawasaki green is a bit scary. It definately would be a unique head-turner, but I don't know if it would be a good head turner. Might be too much for a vette.

 

[Jeb]

Kawasaki?

Isn't that a ricer? :L

 

[Will]

Theoretically, Kawasaki-green would look awful on a C4 but I saw someone do it on one of those CarDomian sites a couple of years ago, and it looked great. I have been looking though the site to see if I can find it but I think it’s gone now. It might have been a Twin-turbo Callaway he was painting. I think one of the reasons it looked good was because the black interior seems to somehow complement the exterior.
In any case, without seeing the pic again I think it would be wise to avoid the colour. It might be a bit too: "GOD! PLEASE LOOK AT ME!".
I don’t think a Vette really needs that attitude.

One of the blues I am looking at is a Ford colour called “Shockwave” and it looks very similar to this guy’s colour.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/198799

Then I saw this “Electron Blue” C4 and thought that maybe this might be a better choice.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/390472

to diferentiat yours from a Grand Sport why dont you do the stripe but put some ghost flames with in the stripe?

I'm not two keen on the idea of ghost flames because the rigid lines of a C4 don’t complement the curvy points of flames.
What if to differentiate from the Grand Sport I did a single broad white line from the hood bulge to the back rather then from the nose to the back? (similar style to the C5 Z06 Commemorative edition).

iam no expert when it comes to paint,but i do know that painting a car a total different color and doing it right take a lot of time and effort.

door jambs and under weather stripping and places like that need a lot of attention to do the job right and thus alot more money,if it were my car i would stay close as possible to the original color if not the same color and like paintdaddy said you can still spruce it up with some gost flames or even a little pearl in the mix, just my 2 cents

Ordinarily I would agree but in my case the car wasn’t the original colour when I bought it. My mechanic told me the colour (as seen in my avatar) is a Nissan colour that was cheaply sprayed over it. When I ordered the build records I learned it was originally white. (It was also one of only 25 to be exported to Japan in 1987!)
Due to the circumstances I may as well paint it a new colour as it will cost the same to paint it in original white again.

Maybe it's just me, but black on black looks mean! Even throwing in a stripe on a black car looks good. I forget who it was on CAC but last year someone painted their car black with a gold stripe and it looked sharp.

Black does indeed look mean but what I have against it is that it tends to hide the distinctive features of a car's exterior ( FYI: that’s why car companies often paint there prototype test cars black in addition to padding ).

I wouldn’t want to paint my Vette black because people might mistake it for a Nissan or something, which I for one would find highly insulting.:L

Kawasaki?

Isn't that a ricer?

Nope. More of a Rice-Rocket.
It’s the only excuse people have for dressing up as a PowerRanger.

P.S
For some reason the quote paragraphs in my post are being split automatically.:confused

 

[johnny80]

Go with the Electron Blue. That is a great color!

 

[vett boy]

Remember vettes are living ,breathing things that have feelings.How would you feel going to work dressed in Kawasaki green?

 

[Will]

Remember vettes are living ,breathing things that have feelings.How would you feel going to work dressed in Kawasaki green?

It works for the Riddler doesn’t it? :L

But no. Come to think of it that kind of colour is really something that can only look right on a car equipped with chrome bumpers (Muscle cars of the 60s/70s), and even then the green might be a bit too much even for something as "out-there" as Plymouth Road-Runner.

I'm gonna stick with blue and decide what kind (if any) striping I'm going to put on it.

When repainting a car many opportunities raise themselves, and one such possability is custom artwork. Surprisingly it wouldn’t cost an awful lot more to have custom artwork done as well as the paint job, but I'm thinking I should avoid that option because it would personalise the car too much making it less saleable when I am one day forced to sell it.

 

[C-4 Now]

There are a couple of Callaways painted a green that maybe approaches the brightness of Kawasaki green. you can look in the Callaway forum gallery to see if you like it? :confused I'm like most everybody else here that will tell you doing a complete color change correctly is major work and it seldom helps end value if you decide to change cars. I've really wrestled with this with my Callaway and have decided for now to return it to the original medium blue metallic. What ever you decide it is your car and it must please you first!! Ike

 

[stearnman]

I'm gonna stick with blue and decide what kind (if any) striping I'm going to put on it.

When repainting a car many opportunities raise themselves, and one such possability is custom artwork. Surprisingly it wouldn’t cost an awful lot more to have custom artwork done as well as the paint job, but I'm thinking I should avoid that option because it would personalise the car too much making it less saleable when I am one day forced to sell it.

If your are going with blue, I have always been a fan of the deep dark rich blues...Admiral Blue is close, but I wouldn't mind going a little darker! Good Luck on what ever you decide!

 

[Will]

If your are going with blue, I have always been a fan of the deep dark rich blues...Admiral Blue is close, but I wouldn't mind going a little darker! Good Luck on what ever you decide!

Thanks.
I dropped the Vette off last week and it will probably be a few weeks before it’s done. I have chosen Electron Blue and I'm going to have 2 tastefully located stripes down the middle.

It’s been an agonising week having to borrow my folk’s cars to get too work. Both boring and VERY slow.
My old mans Landrover Discovery has a 2.5L 4cyl turbo-diesel engine. Being a huge SUV its a no brainer to contemplate how much of a huge step down in performance it is to a Vette. Very hard to nip into gaps in traffic.
My Mum's Suzuki Vitara is an embarrassment to drive due to the silly trinkets she puts all over the place. If I have to drive it, I often spend a lot of time hiding and stuffing away the purple teddy bears, fuzzy pink CD books and pointless unicorns and fairies on the rear view mirror. Ergh.
Man I cant wait to get my Vette back!


A Corvette is like a drug. You'll think one week away would be a piece of cake but... :cry

 

[tigmaned]

can't wait to see pictures!!!!
did you do the prep work or the painter doing all that too?>
so whats a good paint job down under cost??

 

[Will]

can't wait to see pictures!!!!

did you do the prep work or the painter doing all that too?>
so whats a good paint job down under cost??

$6,600AUD. $600 of that is in GST (Goods & services tax). I really HATE John Howard! ad

One of the challenges in the paint job is painting the black plastic trim that goes around the car. I bought new badges and emblems but I cannot fully replace the plastic trim strips that border the car. They don’t seem to make the front and back sections anymore so instead I’m having it tidied and painted because it wouldn’t look very good to have an old, scratched plastic trim with a brand-new paint job.

 

[nickyg]

If your looking for a cross between green and blue, you might want to consider the GM paint they used on mid -90's f-bodies. It's called Mystic Teal. In the sunlight it looks green and in the shade it turns a dark blue. It's one of the classiest colors they've used. We painted ny sons 91 Camaro RS with that and he gets compliments all the time on what a unique color it is. Here's a couple of pics of it. The 2nd one is a great example of how the color changes with light. Good luck.
View attachment 9968

View attachment 9969

 

[oldace84]

Stock color.
YES.

 

[4DSZR1]

How about the copper color they painted Corvettes in the 90's.... very cool color!

 

[vee93]

OK this time I'm serious. Problem is I still cannot decide on colour.
Many people have suggested red but I think it doesn’t really suit a black interior.
I have a strange urge to consider some of the more flashy fluoro-colours like Kawasaki green.
Unfortunately a "bad taste" alarm in me goes off when considering this colour. My concern is that it might look a bit too "Hot-Import" like, too attention seeking. I don’t know.

The link below (assuming it works) leads to a pic of a rather ugly wheel painted in Kawasaki green.
http://www.aussiecarforum.com/album_pic.php?pic_id=1498
Do you think it would be a bad idea to paint my Vette in a similar colour?

The other colour I'm considering is a kind of deep fiery blue similar to the one you see on a WRX but darker and with ether 1 or 2 white stripes down the centre from nose to back.
This was my primary choice but I feel that I might be ripping off the 1996 Grand Sport. I don’t want it to be a look-alike and have to constantly remind everyone that it isn’t a Grand Sport.

I have to be very careful with the colour I chose partly because other people will see it, but mostly because it’s a Vette and deserves a decent paint job.

Kawasaki green, huh?!!!! Awww, come on now. Even Gumby ain't that dang green!!! It's your car man, but I can hear it now--the Green-Eyed Monster, the Jolly Green Giant's hotwheel. Or, hey man, you steal the Riddler's car?! Yo dude! Where's Gumby?! Does it glow in the dark too? Are you Mr. Envy?
The name Kawasaki alone should be a red flag alone.... It's not like you're gonna be driving a Goat--and that car was some kinda green!!! :nono

 

[davec0_17]

manufacturer

I think more important than color, who is the manufacture of the paint? I am a PPG fan myself. It's the first question I ask the body shop, what paint do you use.

 

[Will]

If your looking for a cross between green and blue, you might want to consider the GM paint they used on mid -90's f-bodies. It's called Mystic Teal. In the sunlight it looks green and in the shade it turns a dark blue. It's one of the classiest colors they've used. We painted ny sons 91 Camaro RS with that and he gets compliments all the time on what a unique color it is. Here's a couple of pics of it. The 2nd one is a great example of how the color changes with light. Good luck.

That’s a nice colour but it’s a bit too late to change now as the paint has already been delivered to the workshop.

Still to be honest I stand by my choice of electron blue because it will better match those areas that won’t be sprayed due to cost. Areas like the engine bay and underside of hood will be left in their original colour as it costs approximately double to do an full, all-out paint job because of the need to do things like pull out the engine to spray the inside of the engine bay and so forth.

Kawasaki green, huh?!!!! Awww, come on now. Even Gumby ain't that dang green!!! It's your car man, but I can hear it now--the Green-Eyed Monster, the Jolly Green Giant's hotwheel. Or, hey man, you steal the Riddler's car?! Yo dude! Where's Gumby?! Does it glow in the dark too? Are you Mr. Envy?
The name Kawasaki alone should be a red flag alone.... It's not like you're gonna be driving a Goat--and that car was some kinda green!!!

Don’t worry. I completely went off the idea of bright green. I put it done to one of those moments of insanity akin to thinking capsicum in a fruit salad makes sense.
Painting a Corvette bright GREEN is equivalent to serving caviar topped off with a fried egg & spam.

Incidentally the blue I'm getting is surprising similar looking to the Quasar Blue on the Vette in your avatar.

I think more important than color, who is the manufacture of the paint? I am a PPG fan myself. It's the first question I ask the body shop, what paint do you use.

Electron blue is a GM colour but the paint is being bought though a company called Protech. I will check out the name on the tin next time I'm down the workshop.