'Rattle-Can' brands

Black isn't always black Carl.  Read this:

http://www.thecoatingstore.com...ck-car-paint-colors/

Kind of like Forest Gump and his friend Bubba with the shrimp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09KL2HUXE6Q

Because you have:

Gloss Black

Satin Black

Semi-Satin Black

Matte Black

Flat Black

Onyx Black

Midnight Black

Charcoal Black

and 

Black

Be careful Carl.

Thanks Robert, I didn't mean to generalize

I should have been more specific.

Assuming that Kirk's VS 'blacks' are the same, my request was for 'experienced' advice from anybody who's tackled what I have in mind..."What brand of rattle-can black can best be 'blended with Kirk's black"

I agree - Black is not just "Black".  

Just like white, there is a very wide variation in tints and hues which, while they all look "black", when you put them next to each other your eye immediately picks up on the differences.

You best cheapest bet, as you asked, is for someone who has done some rattle-can touch-up on Kirk's black (assuming he's used the same black color recipe right along) and had good luck with it blending.

The next (not-so) cheapest bet would be for an automotive paint supply place that has a color scanner to whip up a batch of your black.  THAT would blend seamlessly, but it would be a quart (at least) and probably be a small-batch cost of $25-$30 bucks and would be a big deal to make it "spray-able".  Not exactly your cheapest option.

Or, you could simply try a few different-brand cans of the flea-market-guy's black against a small spot on your car to see how well they blend and choose the one that looks best and go back for as much as you need.

As an aside, I have found nothing easy to apply that blends with my 3-part Pearl paint - nothing.  I just have to put up with poor matches when I fix a chip.

One brand of rattle-can spray paint, Rustoleum for instance, in black, in any black finish as Robert posted, is a way different shade than say the "same" color in say Krylon. For a fact Krylon epoxy gloss black is a different shade than their regular gloss black, not much but different enough to notice--one would think the same company would have the same shade/color...duh!

You may be surprised that if you spray say Rustoleum Gloss Black on your "Black" car that the paint will be off, maybe a little, maybe a lot...Fair warning and be very careful, Carl or you may be faced with a real issue.

Done very carefully a pretty good paint job, no show winner for sure, can be obtained using rattle-cans. My 16yr old nephew rattle-can painted his really faded red Honda Civic with rattle-can Rustoleum Red about a year ago--he properly prepped the car first then started laying down the paint. After he let it cure for a month he buffed it out and then waxed it several times--doesn't look half bad really

There is fast drying lacquer (Krylon), oil based (Rustoleum), epoxy (Avail at Eastwood) and newer water based lacquer.  They don't mix well together!  You'll want a sandable high filling primer (to fill pin holes and sanding scratches) and a compatible color coat. As little as you will need - I'd look for Duplicolor products or products from Eastwood.  Eastwood is actually having a fire sale right now. Lacquer is easiest to work with especially as weather gets colder.

I remember when I was looking at Pearl Whites I went to the shop that painted her and asked what they could do for Pearl White paints.  The guy hauls out this HEAVY book, maybe 5"-6" thick, opens it to the Pearl White chips and shows me 47 different Pearl White hues.  Blew me away.

Then he tells me that the only thing harder to match than white is black (but I suspect almost any color has as many hues associated with it).

A one color finish can be hard enough to match (Porsche's stone grey, for eg.)- there are usually 2 or 3 different cominations to make a color, but different tints show differently under different types of light, so what looks exact in the shop may  look vastly different under natural or other artificial light. As a house painter I sometimes run into this with interior colors. And then, Gordon, putting something overtop of it can change it's look as well. Pearls come in all sorts of different colors and hues, and unless you can find the exact same material it may never look "perfect". Even the clear coat, if someone previously tinted it slightly with toner so it gives a certain "hue" under sunlight, would be really hard to duplicate unless you knew what (and how much) they tinted it with.

Carl--most if not all of Kirk's paint is from a color used by a car in the past.  My Ivory is a 1981 Chrysler color named Linen Cream code  AY695SY1 and it is acrylic enamel paint.  No clear coat---just base color coat.  I have amall 1 oz bottles, a touch up paint pen and a rattle can of the same paint as well.

 I buy exact color match touch up paint from Automotive Touchup, www.automotivetouchup.com.  (888/710-5192.

If you can determine what black Kirk's painter is using, you can order from this company.  I doubt you will ever be happy with Rustoleum!

FYI. Acrylic enamel is fantastic to touch up--unlike some of the more modern paints that require a clear coat and especially the metallics.  I have repaired really large chips that went in past the black primer on my car and it's not possible to locate the spot after the repair.

Along with the touch up paint I use the Lankla Paint Chip & Scratch repair process using their "blob eliminator" system.

Last, if you are unable to get the info you need from Kirk, the best body shops can now match any color using electronic devices.  I had my engine cover re painted like this and can't say that the color match is perfect but with the luggage rack on the car it's almost impossible to see a mis match.  The Automotive touchup paint product match is perfect.

Hope this helps!

Jack I feel your pain touchups are a nightmare to do right .  Ray

WHEW!!

Gentlemen, your knowledge, insight, advice, on what I'm contemplating is a real eye opener.

Instead of possibly resulting in a screwed-up mistake, I'm now thinking my best option is to go with a dark, dark, primer instead of attempting to disguise the finished work... An obvious work-in-progress is far more acceptable than living with, and 'showcasing', an embarrassing error.

Meanwhile I'll experiment by testing available blacks sprayed over primed Post Office shipping cartons!  Maybe, just maybe, I can eventually pull this off?

Call a local car dealer ask them who they use to touch up their cars, this guy usually has an air brush and a colour match computer system then meet him when he comes to do their cars and see his work, then have him quote you and explain what he would do, some of those guys are pretty good. Ray 

Laslty, a quality paint supplier can make up a paint can with a REALLY good nozzle for spraying larger areas, including the clear in a seperate can. 

The part Jack says about modern body shops and the equipment used to match colors is correct.  It is amazing.  I had to get a deep gouge out of my front bumper, and went to a small shop that does excellent work.  I was sure i would be able to see where the area was resprayed.  While the gouge was only about two inches long, the area they worked was maybe a couple of square feet.  I stopped by mid-way through the process, and saw this enormous "blemish" (primer) on the fender, and thought "Oh my . . ."  When all done, I swear to you there is no way to tell where this work was done.  Bright sunlight, use a microscope, you cannot tell. And this poaint has metal fleck in it. So really it's two things: the technology that allows exact -- and I mean exact -- color rendition, then the skill and experience of the bodyman doing the work.  In my case it was flawless.  And yes, expensive. The idea that you can get a satisfactory match out of a rattle can does not sound plausible to me. But if you're not too picky, and looking to keep cost down, maybe you can get what you want.

Several guys I know have painted their classic cars in their own garage using rented spray equipment and building a temp spray booth adding several hi-intensity portable work lights in their home garages. Most have turned out great looking.

One friend, Ken painted his full fendered '30A 5-window coupe Candy Apple Red in his garage this past winter...looks like a pro-paint job...of course he did have some help form a couple of friends of his who used to do paint/bodywork for a number of years...

I painted my Cobra with the help of friend who had 10yrs of paint/body experience. Where we lived in WA there was a company that rented pro-style paint booths and the spray equipment. We had the booth and equipment for 3 days at a cost of $450 where we did the final prep and primer then layed down the final color--Ferrari Red, 4 coats--then added the white racing stripes and 3 coats of clear. For the first vehicle I ever painted I thought it turned out great. The biggest expense was the Ferrari paint--single stage ready to spray was $347 a gallon, almost $700 for finish paint alone--still have about less than a quart left over. Will say one thing about the Ferrari paint it sure layed down nice.

It can be done with good to excellent results at home and is a whole lot less than having a pro do it. Most of the good pro shops around here there is at least a 3-6mo wait to get your car finished--the shop owned by a fellow club member and friend of mine that I took my '56 F-100 to took 5 months to get the truck back to me...it is a beautiful paint job/bodywork and was well worth the wait but at over $6k was pricey even with the project being discounted for a friend and fellow club member.

The secret to a great paint job is the prep work, and the hours can add up fast! When you're paying shop rates, the more work you can do, the better; you can save yourself a bundle doing the bulk of the work yourself. Don't hand it to the painter and say it's all ready for paint though; let him check it out (and sand some more) after you've done the final sand, as he will know what to look for.

I painted a friend's dune buggy in July (first night primer, a week later finish coat) and spent 1 1/2 or 2 hours sanding the primer out after Nelson said it was ready, then we blew it off, tacked it down, wet the floor (it was done in the middle of his shop) and proceeded to put 3 coats of 2 component (paint, catalyst, and then reducer) polyurethane on it. I had 8 or 9 hours in it and (pretty much) all I did was paint! Nelson's lucky I work for beer and pizza...

Automotive paint is expensive. The material for the buggy- a quart of color, the catalyst and a quart of reducer was 120 or $150. As Gary said, the materials alone to do a whole car can run $1,000. If I ever paint a buggy again (a possibility with the crowd we run with bombing around in the mountains), beforehand I'll let the air out of the tires to make it easier to spray inside the tub (I'm only 5'6" and it was tough reaching inside). Al

Buggy painted by MAACO $750 and not a flaw in the paint work!

I've also had 2 speedsters that warranted just a quick fix up, done there for about the same price, I do all the prep work and give the actual Painter some busks before he starts and that works out well.

Ahhhh.....Home Garage Paint Jobs!  Always paid in Busks!!

Here's my 1946 Ford Business Coupe Hot Rod right after I finished painting it - on the morning of the day I got married!!!  Kathy found this (it's an early Polaroid shot) in a box of old photos she's sorted through, so there may be others.  this was taken (IIRC) On January 5th, 1974, about 10am after I had been painting for over 4 hours.  Later found one run that got sanded out.  THAT was back when I had far less money and far steadier hands.  I HAD to get it done that morning or it would have sat in porous primer all winter and rusted.

This is all my wife saw of me for the first year we were married:

One last shot, about a year later on a 100 mile round trip to my folks house.  Eventually, I found some vintage hubcaps for it and color-matched the wheels....

And where is it now??

My car is more of a licorice black...

T