[DeTomaso] Color Code - Paint

[Charles McCall]

Trip - 
I imagine that your car is the same color as mine - I have a Pearl White '85
GT5-S. 

The short answer to your question is "no". 

There is no paint code. 
There is no substitute. 

I needed to touch up my car, and the paint shop did the best they could
trying to match the original paint, but it didn't take a trained eye to tell
that the mix wasn't the same as the original, and it bothered me that I had
a two-tone car. 

I spoke to Santiago DeTomaso. I spoke to Claudia Lodi at DeTomaso (sometimes
more helpful than Santiago). I spoke to Carrozzeria Campana, the body shop
that painted the car originally. I spoke to Kirk Evans, who imported some
GT5-S cars to the US. I spoke to Roland Jaeckel in Germany, who has had a
long-standing relationship with the factory. 

The onle information I was able to gather was the Campana told me it was a
Sandox brand, but there was no "formula" as it was a recipe applied in
house. 

I spent a LOT of time with a helpful Sandox rep in Spain. What he told me is
that the paint was a three-coat deal, and that was one reason why there is
no "magic formula". First you paint a white base coat. Then you spray a
pink-purple-blue mix very lightly, which is what gives the pearl tone. Then
you clear-coat. There are many many variables. The what base coat is the
easy part, but you can significantly affect the final color as a function of
how heavy you go with the color coat.

I brought him a sample (my rear delta wing ?!) and he made 35 different
samples - a few with different base whites, and the majority with different
levels of thickness of the color coat. We selected the color that was the
closest and painted the entire car with that method. 

I could pass you the recipe but I don't think it'll help you, as the
variable that controls color is thickness, and that is difficult to
quantify. 

I think that your best bet is to find a really good paint shop and let them
go to work. It won't be quick, and my personal experience in the past with
trying to match the factory paint was less than satisfactory. 

Let me know if I can be of any help

Charles McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe"
http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323
-----Mensaje original-----
De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
nombre de Trip Owen
Enviado el: miércoles, 16 de marzo de 2011 14:21
Para: detomaso at realbig.com
Asunto: [DeTomaso] Color Code - Paint


Trying to match stock body White for 88 GT5S - can anyone tell me, what make
paint, or substitute, were these cars painted
with a clear coat?  Is there a paint code?  I only need to paint a door, and
small damage area,  not the whole car. 		 	   		  
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