I have a 1968 OTS that was repainted to what appears to be Regency Red at some time in its life. I have compared it to other E-Types that claim to be regency red and it looks the same colour. I am in the process of having the car repainted want to paint it the same colour it is now.
So I now am asking the same question that many have undoubtedly asked before. What is the difference between Regency Red and Imperial Maroon and where can I get modern paint codes that I can rely on?
I see that the Dupont lacquer code for regency red is 8538LH? Can I use this as the number to convert to a modern paint?
I am painting my '68 OTS Regency red and the PPG paint code is PPG 71791. It has a little more “pop” in the sunshine than what I remember the OEM color to have, but I still like it. I can’t help with the comparison to Imperial Maroon. Here is a shot of the frame rails/firewall using the PPG 71791 Concept (DCC) single stage paint system,
I chose single stage because in my opinion two stage paints (although they can look spectacular) do not look authentic to the era of the vehicle. Something about clear coat that just doesn’t look quite right. As I said, in my opinion…
In the immortal words of “Dirty” Harry Callahan
i agree i too think the modern 2 stage paints give too much depth to the paint. too translucent looking.
but most painters want to use 2 stage(base coat clear coat).
ed
Absolutely! I’m only using the zip ties as temporary holders until I’m sure the harnesses are positioned correctly. I have the black strapping with holes and the white “pins” to secure them.
geo
how did you handle the large gap between the body and rear bumper center section? the factory gap is so big they used a thick rubber strip and it even fell through the gap.
ed
You have a very straight car, Geo. Certainly no bondo, which is the only way to go. You don’t get a better starting point than that. Very nice.
That white stuff is called glaze. A fine grained 2-pack polyester putty. It is used to bring the bodywork up to perfect level. Credit card thickness (0.05 thou about right but can go as thick as 0.10 thou. It sticks well to bare steel but more optimally it is applied as a later step. My prefered approach is bare steel, solvent wash, phosphate etch, two medium coats of epoxy primer, two double wet coats of high build 2-pack primer followed by dry block sanding. Low spots raised with glaze, wet blocking, two more double wet coats of high build, final wet blocking and glaze touchups as required. Water wash, solvent wash, mask, tack rag, three wet coats of single stage urethane, wet sand to remove orange peel, shop dust and errant mosquitos from 1000 through 2500, three stage buffing. Drop dead gorgeous finish. I, too, use PPG products. Particularly like Concept. Very forgiving paint. And tough. And it looks like an original finish. Not too wet.
I used that deep rubber strip - yeah, don’t like it much, I guess they were trying to make the best of a poor bumper fit. Trickier still is getting anything like a decent look where it makes the turn at the forward point of the bumper. I’ve seen several versions of how to deal with that.
Nick - I’ve painted a couple of cars years ago and know that quality results are beyond me. My hat’s off to you and anyone else who can get great results.
When I was deciding on a finish system I originally decided on a single stage urethane. Every body shop and paint supplier I talked to recommended I go basecoat/clearcoat instead. They all mentioned that red tends to fade quicker than other colors and the UV inhibitors in the clearcoat would protect the paint better than a single stage. I claim no special knowledge but that’s why I changed my mind and went with a basecoat/clearcoat system.
