Greetings!

My hood and front bumper on my 'o3 are looking pretty crappy. I have one spot on the hood that is bubbling (from heat???) and numerous chips from rocks and what not.

I figure I am going to paint the hood and the front bumper. So I from what I understand the color is Tarmac Black aka Labrador Black Pearl x42.

Ok questions:

I have never bought paint before. What brand do people recommend? I have heard good things about PPG but otherwise I know nothing. Am I correct to assume that all brands can be mixed to match the paint color/pearl? Is there an authorized OEM brand?

Also what is the best type of paint system to get. Lacquer with a polyurathane top clear coat? Dunno but there seem to be a lot of options.


Thanks in advance for your info. Oh and if your going to warn me about painting it myself, I have lots of practice material laying around that I can f*** up on such as my beat up POS truck.

 

hmm, 85 views..no replies

 

House of Kolor also has a good name. I've seem some of their paint and it's pretty damn good. Lots of custom stuff is done in that.

I don't think there's an OEM brand, but any good paint company can color match if you provide the paint code.

Sorry but i can't help with the painting system. But i do know about ^^

 

I have also heard to inquire about the "flex additive" that is necesssary to avoid your paint form peeling. Just something i remembered. It should only run you a few bucks and I think it's worth it.

I saw a car that didn't have it in and the paint was flaky.

Good luck

 

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I have heard of House of Kolor. I have always thought of them as a shop for custom colors, unique flakes etc. Never really thought about looking at their stuff for an OEM matching paint job. But I will check out their web site.

I don't know about this flex additive. But its little unknowns like this that could screw up a paint job.

Seems like if this thread gets some good info, maybe we should have a FAQ or sticky with what you need to do to match a Labrador/Tarmac paint job.

 

You're very brave trying to paint the car yourself. Any way, the body shops I've worked with all recommend Sikkens paints.

 

Just Use PPG DBC. Black is one of the easiest colors to match, and PPG DBC has always been pretty good for color matching. I would definately use a flex additive on the bumper cover, but it won't be necessary on the hood. Do a base coat clear coat, or it will look different from the rest of the car.

Good luck, just realize that painting is not something that you can do perfectly over night. If you have some things to practice on get as much practice as you can, and I would highly recomend using an HVLP gun especially if you've never sprayed before.

 

I have to say is watch out for runs in the clear if you have never painted before. I would also recomend blending into your fenders if you want a true color match.

 

I have done some painting before and yes I will be using a HVLP gun. You can get a pretty decent one inexpensively at Harbor Freight.

Maybe I should post some pictures on what it looks like before and after?

So I have recommendations now for :

PPG DBC
Sikkens
House of Kolor



any other thoughts? How about any good links for body paint and repairs in general?

 

ppg -is easy to use
sikkens-never like spraying the euro paint but hear good stuff about sikkens costy 2
house of kolor -is costy(would get house of kolor if i was spraying another color..)

i would us ppg
i hope u got a booth to use when painting...

 

no no booth. But I have a big *** garage.

 

Standox paint! If it's good enought for Porsche it's good enough for me...