If you wanted to get some paint, say #240- green metallic, what would you tell the guy at the paint store or body shop? Every time I talk to one of those guys they just tell you, "We can colour-match any colour."

I don't want to get the colour matched; just order up a quart or so of #240 ( for example.)

thxZ

What would you use a can of original paint for if you could find it? It wouldn't match your car anyway after all these years. Color matching actually would be better for touch-ups etc.

There are areas that are protected from fading, like under the bonnet, or inside the car.

from my experience, they can't match the colour anyway. Even paint from the PO that's only a couple years old.

thxZ

And you're of the opinion that a can of the original color would match any better?

the original colour probably ought to be close, and would be a good place to start, IMO. Why not just paint the whole car again in the original color, instead of matching the faded colour?

The underside of the toolbox lid is a good 'original color' sample.

A 280Z doesn't have a toolbox lid.

Tower Paint info@towerpaint.com

My painter got samples from two different suppliers who supposedly used the same paint recipe when mixing...two different suppliers, two different colors! Neither matched up with the tool lid underside (which looked pristine) but one was real close, so we went with that. During the course of painting some redos had to be done, and colormatching was chosen over the recipe...even the colormatch had to be redone 3 times before it was the right color. Bottom line (I think) is that both methods are flawed. Do your best due diligence and pick accordingly. If you're painting from scratch, I'd go with the PPG recipe over colormatching faded paint. You could try colormatching an unexposed area, but may not be happy.

When I had my car painted a couple months back, the painter did get paint that was 'theoretically' a match for Nissan 905 red. He still ended up tinting it to match the un-faded interior areas - including and especially the underside of the tool compartment lids. The results were great, and the car's color now looks correct.

280Z's don't have tool compartments in the rear deck? I didn't realize that.

280Z's don't have tool compartments in the rear deck? I didn't realize that.

Neither did I. You learn something every day......

I'm still not any closer to the solution to the question:

How do you get a paint place to mix up paint according to the Datsun colour #?