Have the rear panel painted or leave it black?

[e_racer1999]

I plan on using some of that graphite wheel paint and then spraying it with a satin clear coat. A lot cheaper and it will still look decent.

[Rockr69]

I originally posted black last year, but I got the chance to see a 240 in person with the charcoal grey and I would like to change my vote to original charcoal grey.

[geezer]

TRtom - I don't know if your monitor will show an accurate color, but mine seems to be right on. Take a look in my gallery at the FairladyZ grill pic. That is about as close as you will get to the correct color on a computer screen. I like Jason's idea of using graphite wheel paint coated over with satin clear. That would look good and also give you the correct texture or close to it.

Edited August 20, 2008 by geezer

[Oiluj]

I plan on using some of that graphite wheel paint and then spraying it with a satin clear coat. A lot cheaper and it will still look decent.

That's exactly what I'm planning to do. Would be done, but somewhere along the way I lost the center panel to my tailight finisher and had to buy one on eBay...

[Arne]

I plan on using some of that graphite wheel paint and then spraying it with a satin clear coat. A lot cheaper and it will still look decent.

That's exactly what I'm planning to do. Would be done, but somewhere along the way I lost the center panel to my tailight finisher and had to buy one on eBay...

I actually tried that, but found that the satin clear did a rather poor job of dulling the finish. Still looked glossy when it was done.

I ended up using the expensive paint from Classic Datsun as I noted earlier. Even with that, I had to apply the final coats very dry to keep the gloss down and retain some texture.

Edited August 20, 2008 by Arne

[Oiluj]

Curses, Foiled Again! (while twirling my mustachio).

Hmmm... Perhaps a light rub with fine bronze wool? That's worked for me before on varnish. I'll try a few things and let you know how it goes.

[geezer]

It's all in the technique. Of course that's not to say the particular brands of paints couldn't make a big difference also. When spraying both, the graphite wheel paint and the satin clear, hold the can about twice the distance away that you normally would. Spray in very light multiple coats. Take your time in between coats. This results in a very dry spray and will contribute greatly to achieving the desired texture. Experiment, till you get it right, then come back here with your full report.:laugh:

[Zenioric]

Paint - as Arne said - the front grille and the rear panels with the same colour:

factory dark grey ("70% black").

[TRtom]

Jason:

What do you mean the Graphite wheel paint? Is there a particular color you use, or place you buy at? I like the idea of using a satin clear coat as $28 ofr a spray paint can sounded high.

[BR-Z]

Professional paint (meaning catalyzed paint that is typically prepared with some ratio of paint: reducer: hardener can have a "flattening agent" added to it.

The amount of flattening agent determines the "percent gloss". A painter experience with hot rods is likely have access to the "percent gloss" values for certain cars (I'm thinking of similar panels on some muscle cars).

I forget the exact values (and it wouldn't matter because it was specific to the PPG paint I used) but I made up a close match for the factory gray and sprayed it with, I think, 60% gloss. It turned out GREAT! (this is where I'd post a pic if I had one handy).

With PPG, the trick was to spray it in ONE heavy coat, and the flatenning occurs as the paint flashes out. This is certainly counter to "rattle can wisedom" of fewer, lighter coats, but I can tell you that it is definitely the case. I know this because I tried it both ways, and the single coat worked much better. Also, when spraying my struts with PPG black, I tried to emulate the factory sheen, which to me seems not full gloss. I added flattening agent then, too, but the parts REQUIRED multiply coats for proper coverage - and they came out super glossy despite the flatening agent.

Too much information? -OK - but +1 more vote for "factory charcoal"

[Poindexter]

IMHO, I would absolutely stick with factory original specs- first. You can always change it darker later if you aren't happy. I hear Tower Paint is another source for Datsun colors, perhaps someone can comment on their quality if they've done business with them in the past? I have to buy 920 Gold touch-up paint once I get the existing paint color-scanned to deal with aging effects- as I imagine there might be some significant variance.

Wah! I want to have nice, newly painted panels too, but I'm unable to make any major changes that would bring attention to them as not being utterly original. I just have this unavoidable drive to leave my car untouched as much as possible, except for any potential safety issues.

The only solution? Buy another Z!

[hls30.com]

What, no mention of carbon fiber?:stupid:

black, to highlight the chrome.

Will