Paint Question

[54 Kaiser]

I'm in a quandary regarding paint. I'm hoping some of you who have been K-F Fans a lot longer than I have, can help me out.

I'm working on my '54 Manhattan and I don't know what to do about paint. A friend who works for DuPont made copies of an archive sheet of paints they made from the '50's with the 1954 Kaiser page listed. On it, is the Comet Blue Metallic that mine is painted.

However, there is nowhere on the sheet where it gives the mixing information and even if there were, it would not be valid today with modern paints.

Paint code on the car is 224 (Monotone CB Metallic) and the trim is 5323 (Blue and grey.)

The car had a substandard paint job done on it once in the past and I can tell - where it has peeled - that the "new" paint isn't the same colour as the original.

Options are to find a part with the "original" colour on it and take it to a paint shop that can computer match it. But I'm not sure WHAT is original. There is paint all over the door weatherstrips. I'm not sure if the person repainted part of the interior or not.

Is the blue on the interior - such as the windshield or rear glass trim - the exact same colour as the original exterior was? Or was it a different paint? (It looks lighter a bit than the exterior.) If it's the same I could use a trim piece or the glove box door for a computer match.

Another option would be if someone knows either the mixing information for a current paint (I'd like to go two-step) or a very close match to it that's been used on another make/model of car over the past 25 years. (The paint shop's book goes back to about 1980.)

Any advise would be appreciated.

[joefrazer]

Is there a section of the car where there is known original paint? If so, Sherwin Williams has a device that will decode the color and provide a modern match. I used a spot on the firewall and the machine came back with a paint color that matched that used on older Fiats. The resulting mix was a perfect match to original. Now...all I have to do is learn to apply paint the right way (grin!).
By the way, their machine is portable and they will come out to your location...they did for me. Check with your local SW Automotive paints store to see if they have the machine.

[R-Sargent]

Having been a painter for 37 years i think i can give you a little advice, i'm not sure about the dash color being the same as the outside or not but what i would do is a comparison. Get an original color chip sheet, not a copy. They sell them all over ebay. Compare this paint chip with your dash and somewhere else on the car where it has'nt seen the light of day for several years, my favorite is behind the windshield or rear glass weatherstrip. If your not pulling the windows out then look under a side moulding or rear window sail moulding. If it looks like the glove box door is a match then you need to buff it a little with some light compound before they take the reading with the meter. With the meter's they use around here the surface needs to be fairly flat and about two inches in diameter to get an accurate reading. Keep in mind that they are searching existing formula's from the last 25 -30 years so it's possible you could end up with a color with some pearl in it or a correct looking blue but with too sparkly of a metallic in it, it's not an exact science. The old paints  on the Kaisers used a real fine metallic . I had to tint my own paint on the last Kaiser i painted using an old GM truck formula from 1980, truck colors up until about 87 ' had the correct metallic on most colors . Last pointer is to try and get  your paint formula mixed in two stage base coat clear.

[54 Kaiser]

Thanks for the advice!

Was already planning on going with the two stage as I'm sure it will hold up better than single.

[Gordie]

The second stage in two stage paint is the clear coat.  It looks good but do not store the car outside as the clearcoat will start to peel.  Notice in your local parking lot all of the cars where the clear coat is peeling.

[Roger]

Hello Guy's
    I could be wrong but I was told all the new vechicles manufactured these days have a two coat paint and the peeling you see is the results of a after market "No Wax" type coating done locally. The new cars and trucks stay shinnie without wax as a result of this new painting technique. I have also heard that the paint industry is working on a Latex base automotive paint to get rid of the chemicals in a move to "Green up".  This is very interesting.
    Roger

[54 Kaiser]

It may depend on the brand of car as well.

AFAIK, if you wait too long between applying the paint and applying the clear coat, you have to lightly sand the paint or the clear coat will peel after awhile. The clear coat relies on the paint not being "too" dry so that it "bonds" to the paint.


Course, I could be completely off base. (Not an unusual situation for me. Just ask the wife.)

[jsgmpeek]

When I did my restoration I used comet blue and got good results.  Ref http://picasaweb.google.com/Edwall.Reunion/Kaiser# for some photos.  Good luck.

[54 Kaiser]

When I did my restoration I used comet blue and got good results.  Ref http://picasaweb.google.com/Edwall.Reunion/Kaiser# for some photos.  Good luck.

Boy do the pictures raise a lot of questions.

• I see an alternator but a six volt battery. You got a 6V alternator?
• Halogen headlamps? (Where did you get the bulbs?)
• Rear package tray. On mine, it's carpeted the same colour as on the seat bottoms and the floor carpets. On your's it looks like the dash and front seat rear padding material. What was the original?
• Where did you get the spin on filter conversion? I know the purists like to stick with the canister but I'm not sure it's working as well as a spin-on would.
• Washer juice bag. Did ANY of the '54's come with washers from the factory? The car is advanced in so many ways yet no washers or backup lights from the factory.

[Weaz]

Isn't that a 6v lookalike battery?

[54 Kaiser]

Isn't that a 6v lookalike battery?

[Weaz]

[jsgmpeek]

The battery is an Optima 12volt in a 6 volt case. From antique battery www.antiqueautobattery.com/
The alternator is 12 volt neg ground three wire. I converted the car from 6 volt positive ground; new lights new wiring, resistors in instrument panel etc. I had http://www.turnswitch.com/ redo the radio to an AM/FM using the original face plate and installing it in the old case. I also installed a modern retractable antenna.
The headlamps were on e-bay as ones to fit a 55 Chevy however most can be found in electrical parts catalogs look for sealed beam halogen.
Package tray was bare metal from factory, I chose to just complete the dash and rear seat theme by doing the package shelf the same.
Dealer installed options included outside rear view mirrors, window washers, spot light, trailer hitch, and back-up lights. Several options for the windshield washer, the one I chose uses the 12 volt pump with the bag off of my parts car, other options were with a manual foot pump and a manual hand pump.
As for the outside mirrors I chose ones for an Austin Healy sports car.  If I would do it again I'd try to get larger mirrors closer to the driver. I chose these due to the through door spotlight a KF option which was on the car when I started the job.
Spin off oil filter was from a Ford truck catalog and matches the bracket for the FRAM canister. I also installed an electronic breaker switch in the distributor. Hope this answers some of your questions if not just ask again. John

[54 Kaiser]

  6 volt POSITIVE ground?

Houston? We have a problem!

Mine is negative ground. Radio is the factory delco and it works. Gauges work properly. The battery wouldn't charge if it was in backwards.

Now I'm TOTALLY confused and I've hijacked my own thread.

Are SOME Kaiser's negative ground???


I'm not unfamiliar with the concept. My 1949 Ford 8N Tractor is 6 volt positive ground. I know the starter will work with either ground because the field is reversed along with the armature. But the generator is pretty specific. So is the voltage regulator. And the gauges....

Help!

[jsgmpeek]

Kaisers were manufactured with positive ground, modern cars have negative ground,