The time have come for me to pick the paint for 240zt, I want to paint the car orange. I' am now searching orange z cars to find a good shade of orange to go with. Anyone out there that have an orange z car or know of someone that has one or just have some picture of orange z cars would you mind posting or sending some pictures, also if you would include the brand of paint and the paint code. P.S the car is already the stock 918 orange I looking for something different.

there is only one orange- 918 compitition orange. why change? in our monthly poll on paint color, orange was the overwhelming favourite.

.The factory 918 orange is very nice and I do like it, being that my 240zt is not stock anymore and I already have two stock 240z's I. would like to make this car bit different.

I have one red door, one orange door, a black hood, a blue fender and a grey (primer) hatch. Talk about being confused!

Macco told me that they charge extra to "change the color."

I'm not sure that I want to go to Macco though. I need to learn more about paint before I decide who gets to paint it.

I'm leaning towards red. The orange door DOES look nice though....

Macco told me that they charge extra to "change the color."

Im just generallizing here but,

Paint shops are usually in 1 of say 3 catagories, 1. "the production shop" (like Maaco, One a day paint, Earle Schib, etc) they like to paint a lot of cars, needing little work, thus charging a lower price. or 2. "the custom shop" (usually independently owned where they'll custom paint to spec, do restoration work etc) or 3. "Collision centers" ( they specialize more in the Heavy hit cars, major collisions, almost new cars, Big insurance work etc)

As far as Maaco goes, they can do nice work, if you dont mind paying more than the "advertised" low prices you see on TV or the newspaper. and most Maaco shops take in restoration work as well as the usual work they do, but

they will want you to be able to leave car for an extended time, not the usual 3-5 working days.

Maaco is a pay by feature business model, you can go there, with a clean used car, pay 250-500 bucks, and theyll paint your car for you. understand though that for a price like that, very little in regards to preperation prior to painting will be done, basically theyll do some basic cleaning, do minor sanding and primer, then shoot (paint) your car. This kind of work is fine if your painting a 10-20 yr old car you just want to drive a couple more years

type of situation.

Now, lets talk about "extra" features, from Maaco's point of view, for example, the paint job above, is a truly BASIC repaint, the car for that PRICE, will be painted the same color...no door jambs will be painted, no under hood, or engine compartment or under trunk/deck lid..all these things take more labor time, take more materials (paint etc) to do...and of course the price increases, and you can probably double the price to $1000 or so to have these things painted too. Remember those places on the average 10-20 year old car being painted the same color, most likely wont need painting because they dont get all that damage that the outside of the car gets.

Maaco charges extra for color changes because its more work to cover a car

with a different color, more preperation, more paint & primer etc, they usually charge 100-200 more for it. (especially) a car like yours with several different color body parts..

Now lets look at your car or (mine for that matter), its not 10-20 years old, its 35 years old..its pieced together, from several different Z cars, each body panel is aged in different ways, maybe the hood and roof paint is all cracked and delaminating (peeling) maybe the red & orange doors are all faded out..and you maybe used your basic 2 dollar a can home depot primer on the hatch...to the paint shop guy this is a mess, and we havent even got into any body work yet that you might need, any deep scratches, door dings, dents, RUST (which costs double the usual bodywork labor rate) the hours and hours of block sanding the body of the car to smooth out the metal on the car after all that bodywork is done..did i mention stripping of old paint?

after all thats done, how far do you want to go with painting the car?

are you just going to put a basic primer on it? a nice primer/sealer?

a high end paint? just basic paint? material wise, costs can be double as well,

a gallon of paint can be 50-70 bucks (shop cost) or 200 a gallon or more.

are you stripping down the car of everything (lights, trim, glass, rubber, interior, drivetrain?) if im painting a car inside and out, that is more paint...(materials) but less preperation..(masking, removing of various parts prior to paint)

Look the point im trying to make here is there is a lot more to painting a car than people realize, Especially with a beautiful classic like a Z car, Its a LOT of work to make a classic car look the way it did on the showroom floor,

but the final product is something quite special, which explains why the Z was and still is such a popular car.

I suppose before I close this reply, I could give you an idea of what it might cost if you brought your car to my Maaco shop...for a "decent" paintjob,

(lets assume, your car is completely straight...no dings, no dents, no rust, no bodywork of any kind. and you just drove it in no prior prep )

(and you want enamel paint like your Z had orginally, but a different color)

$249-399 for cheap or good enamel paint

$129-500 for sanding prep and or stripping depending on cond. of paint

$90 each for painting of each door jamb and or hood or inside deck lid

$200-400 for colorsand & buff

so somewhere between $900 and say $2000 to be safe..because we arent including taxes, haz mat fee, any materials..over and above the expected.

I'm not sure that I want to go to Macco though. I need to learn more about paint before I decide who gets to paint it.

I'm leaning towards red. The orange door DOES look nice though....

Hey Dat240Z, check out my gallery, I painted my Z orange, but it is a bit brighter than the 918 orange.

KenZ240z, What's the brand name of the paint and do you have any pictures that shows the whole car, if so can you send me some.

Thanks

I used PPG's Omni Acrylic Urethane paint. I'll get you some pics when I get a chance.

I have a 1-71 240Z, original monkey-puke orange. Great color and shine still for a (near) 35 year old car!

A little off-topic, maybe, but what finish wax/shine polish is the best to use on older paint?

Thanks

Hi Carl, (dat240z71),

Here are some pics of my car, taken outside in the sun.

I used PPG's Omni AU acrylic urethane paint, consisting of an orange basecoat covered with a clear coat. Here's the paint code and tinting guide that was on the can:

MBC 69982 B Orange

Tinting guide:

M130 975.9 Orange

M114 710.7 Yellow

M120 82.2 White

M118 45.6 Black

M150 1815.0 Basemake

Please let me know if you have any questions.

How 'bout this shade? It's got a pearl sheen to it. I saw it at the ZCCA convention in Syracuse. Here's a link to it in my gallery...

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=16884&cat=500&ppuser=2476

how about my color orange? check my gallery....le mans sunset baby.