Paint Matching
Did you know there are thousands of whites? Let alone thousands of colours! In order to get the right paint for you, we’re going to need some information from you first, whether you require some touch-up paint for a small scratch, paint for a large repair or paint for a full respray or restoration.
We offer a few paint matching services:
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- Matching via paint codes or in some cases paint names
- Eyematching
- Spectrometer matching
- Variation matching
Please check out below for more detail about these services or click on the links.Don’t forget to check out our ‘what to bring‘ page to get more details on what to bring along with you for the best match.
Paint Code
This is your cars colour code and is usually some digits and numbers. It could be found in a few places: under the bonnet of the car, the door pillar (driver or passengers side), in the boot or perhaps in the service book (such as newer Volkswagens). Not all Manufacturers have a compliance plate which shows the paint colour, eg: Kia and Jeep – they often require you to ring their service department. They will ask you for the vehicle Vin number and they will give you the paint code.
Some examples of different compliance plates that contain your paint code:
Some other helpful information that we would like are:
PAINT NAME
(paint code is more important than this one)
MANUFACTURER
BUILD DATE
PLEASE BE AWARE:
Many variations of colour occur in production, so we may have to check your car colour against our variant colour swatches. If you can’t drive the car down, try and bring a sample along with the paint code or photo(s) of the compliance plate(s)). The petrol flap is usually a good sample, if it is painted and easy to remove.
Eye-Matching
Mixing a colour is relatively quick and easy if you have the correct paint code, however if you don’t have a paint code we have to resort to matching the colour by eye. This is a time consuming process, however it is important to get it right because if the formula is slightly off, the new paint will stand out when it is applied over the existing colour. Staff at Autopower Car Paint Centre are reputed to be among the best in the business for accurate eye matching.
Some conditions do apply:
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- This is a free service
- There is a minimum quantity
- You may need be required to leave a sample with us (usually 24 hours)
- If unsure of conditions please call us
NOTE: The better the sample, the better the match. So be sure to bring in a ‘good clean sample’ ie; something like the size of a petrol flap.
Some colours like Maroons and Dark Blues take time to match because as these colours dry and mature they tends to darken. You maybe surprised to know just how much the colour and shade deepens as it dries. We have to spray out a sample, let it dry, check it, adjust it if need be, spray out another sample, let it dry, check it, adjust it again etc.etc until the colour is correct. This procedure also has to be followed when matching solid, metallic and pearl colours. When matching Automotive paints, we are not just matching one angle (the face) but rather 3 angles: The Face, the flip and the flop ( 15°, 45° and 110º), in some cases we have to also match the Gloss Level.
Spectro Matching
Spectrophotometric Analysis of the colour can greatly assist in identifying the ‘colour variant’ on the Vehicle. This system of colour matching can get the colour quite close to what is called a “blendable match”. As long as the sample is flat, a reasonable side and the paint surface is in good condition, then a close match can be achieved. Please see our ‘what to bring’ page for more information.
Some Important things to note:
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- Bring in your car in on a sunny day
- In some cases a small fee is incurred
- For a closer colour match you may need to leave us a ‘sample‘
- If you have any questions call us
It is extremely difficult to thoroughly evaluate a colour, even under well controlled conditions and close observation. The Spectrometer helps us in working faster to identify colours, compare the entire word wide data base to give us the best “base colour” to work with. To get the most accurate colour, it is also suggested that this service is to be combined with our ‘eye-matching‘ service.
Vintage Cars
We see a lot of vintage cars and restorations come through our shop. Nowadays, a lot of the paint formulas are being deleted because of ever-changing laws, these include removing lead from paint (mainly used in reds, yellows and oranges) as well as making paint products meet VOC (volatile organic compounds) compliance. However, we can still help you out! We have many of the colour-chips to make up the paint and help you restore your vintage car.
Some of the more popular (but not limited to)vintage formulations requests include:
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- Ford Australia (includes 60’s 70s)
- GMH (includes 60’s 70s)
- Leyland
- Land Rover
- Jaguar
- Austin Healey
If however we don’t have your colour formulation or you don’t know what the paint code or paint details, we can ‘eye-match’ your car and make up the colour just for you. Be sure to check out our ‘what to bring’ page.
Custom Spray Cans
Using the Upol Custom Can system, we are able to put your colour into a ready-to-use spray-can while you wait. The Upol custom-made spray-can system is of professional quality and as it runs at a much higher pressure than normal spray cans, you are sure to get the best result possible.
Custom Spray Cans for:
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- Acrylic Lacquers
- 2K Basecoats
- Waterborne
We also have available Custom Spray Cans for:
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- Enamels
- 2K Direct Gloss Topcoats
- 2k Clearcoats
- 2K Primers
Our Advice
Primers ain’t Primers & Paints ain’t Paints.
Before you even start the job, be sure you talk to us first. We see many people thinking they are doing the right thing and the job turns from a simple job into a nightmare all because the wrong product was used to start with.
A common error is when people use a hardware line of enamel paint or a water based house paint.
These paints are soft and usually “fry up” ( crinkle) when the Automotive paint is put on top of these paints or primers.
This year we are celebrating our 40th year in business, and so all our staff are highly trained and have many years of experience to back their technical advice, so don’t be afraid to ask – we want to help.
So remember don’t just assume that any primer will do or that you can use any paint – check with us first and save yourself a lot of unnecessary expense and hassles. For more frequently asked questions press FAQ button