paint chips

[kfnut]

Looking at paint chip pages on EBAY and the word Iridescent shows up by the color name . Does this indicate metallic ? If not , What does it mean ? Been looking for carribean coral metallic to get a paint mix for a 52 . I see it in some earlier chips . Are they the same ?

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Some paint companies like ICL Automotive Finishes (was Rinshed-Mason when our cars were new) used the "Iridescent" term instead of Metallic, and others used "Luminescent" instead of Metallic.  The following are the things to remember when trying to match color and content for a re-paint:

1.  The paint chip samples change color on their own reflecting the effect of time and elements. 

2.  The original formulations given on the paint charts are no longer useable as the mixing and base colors are no longer made.

3.  Watch color numbers CAREFULLY between Lacquer and Enamel paint types.  Some K-F and Willys vehicles were painted in lacquer and others were painted enamel.  The 3 digit paint code number will not only identify the original car color but the paint type of that color.

4.  PPG Automotive Finishes and ICL Automotive Finishes (Ditzler and Rinshed-Mason respectively) can mix almost all the old colors via their Color Library departments.  Your local Jobber for these two companies needs the 3 digit paint code number off the firewall Body Information Tag and the K-F or Willys paint name.  Their computer spectrometer scans  their original master samples (stored in a controlled enviornmnet) to convert the color into a mixing formula using currently available mixing and base colors.  The jobbers get this info at no charge to them; it's part of factory suppord for dealers.  The current mix formulas are considered Proprietary Information and the jobbers are NOT allowed to give the information to the public. 

[jmxkf1]

Was iridescent paint also used on the engines sometimes in 1953?  There is a small spot on my engine I noticed that shows the original color which appears to be an iridescent aqua like color.  I had another '53 Kaiser  with the motor painted a more of a lighter blue so the iridescent color I see is darker.  Thanks

[kfnut]

Thank you for answering my question .

[Gordie]

I have a collection of hundreds of paint chip pages from many different paint companies and at least from five different paint company chips for Kaiser and Frazer cars.  All of the chips are exactly the same colors and have not faded after seventy years.  The paint chips that fade are the ones from pre-WWII when they were done in lacquer paints..  If you can not find a hidden area on your car that has the original paint such as the cowl area, use the old paint chip pages as they are very reliable as long as your paint mixer does a good job.

[kfnut]

Please look at your paint chips and see if I am wrong . The carribean coral without metallic looks to be a purple  . The metallic is more of a gold color . I have seen many cars with the carribean coral with the metallic ( which is a beautiful color to me ) but have never seen the one that looks purple . I have paint chips showing both but the years stated on the sheets do not match the 51/52 . Will they be the same ? Also , did the gunmetal grey come in metallic ?

[joefrazer]

All 1951 and up Kaiser and Frazer automobiles, with the exception of 1954-55 Manhattan and 1954 late Specials used Garden Green Metallic as the engine paint.

I didn't see a gunmetal gray in metallic on my chips, but there is a Mineral Gray Metallic listed.

[Gordie]

Mineral Gray is a 1951-52 color and it in a non metallic color.  Caribbean Coral is a metallic color only for 1951-52.  R-M chips lists a Caribbean Coral for 1947 and 1949, a metallic, DuPont's 1949 pages list Caribbean Coral metallic as does Nason's paint chips and Rogers chips for 1949 lists Caribbean Coral as a non metallic. The paint chip pages usually list the colors that were planned for a specific year but they usually came out with supplemental pages with additional colors or sheets listing cancellations of certain colors and often a replacement for the cancelled color. Their is even a sheet showing the correct wheel color and wheel pinstripe colors depending on the body color of the early Kaisers and Frazers.  All my paint chips show normal colors but if you show a purple color try rubbing the chip with a tiny bit of polish and see if that will restore the original color because if it was done in lacquer they will fade over time.

[MarkH]

The only useful paint chip chart I found for my Aero was Ditzler since they still exist as PPG, and the company I used had the PPG formulas.
One other thing to consider is that the original paints had smaller "grain" metallic particles that are not as "bright" as the modern metallics. I describe it as more "velvety". The company that mixed my paint not only had the correct metallic for the body, but both sizes in the original dash colors, as well as the dash formulas, which as far as I could tell was "lost" information to the club.

I have no idea if they have any KF information but it may be worth a check. They offered my colors in lacquer, enamel, acrylic enamel and base clear. Base clear both in PPG and their house brand which is like PPG but cheaper. I went with house brand base clear and am very happy with it, as was the painter. It's a personal choice whether to re-live the maintenance schedules with the older formulas.

https://www.autocolorlibrary.com/

[Gordie]

Dupont at least listed interior colors but they were not listed with the regular paint chip pages.  They are probably available in the recent paint archives now maintained by some of the existing paint companies.

[kfnut]

I spent a good part of the afternoon in the KFOCI handbook ( I should have started there ) and found that gunmetal grey didn't come out until April of 52 . No metallic for gunmetal are shown anywhere . The caribean coral non metallic looks purple and the repaint on the car is purple . The paint code calls for caribean coral metallic . Down on the steering column is an area of paint that looks like the caribean coral I recognize from other cars . I will go with those colors if I can find a vendor for the paint . I am in sort of a rural area and probable will have to 100 miles or more to find a vendor . Thanks all for your input .

[Gordie]

If you give your supplier the correct numbers and names I am sure that they would ship it to you or at least send it to their nearest to you distributor.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

The Handbook contains no mixing formulas and will not contain same for two reasons.  First, I respect the paint company policies on proprietary information on this information.  Second, K-F and Willys operations had the habit of changing paint under the same name (such as what happened with Blue Comet in the 1954 model year) and I will not lead the club into trouble by those who don't get the exact right color and sue because of that situation.