How to find original paint color for 240z

[DC871F]

So with old VW's, you can write Volkswagen and get a births certificate for your car. I havent seen where anything like this exists for Datsuns.

So how do you find the original color of the car without the little sticker up front if its been striped to bare metal? 

Maybe I have been spoiled by VW.

Edited December 22, 2020 by DC871F

[AZDatsun]

There are areas that almost always get missed when stripped to bare metal depending on how it was stripped


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[grannyknot]

20 minutes ago, DC871F said:

So how do you find the original color of the car without the little sticker up front if its been striped to bare metal? 

Post a couple of photos, the guys here will narrow it down.

[DC871F]

14 minutes ago, AZDatsun said:

There are areas that almost always get missed when stripped to bare metal depending on how it was stripped


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I agree. I'm planning to go look at a project that has been stripped pretty thoroughly, I was just hoping to see of there was something in records just in case.

Thanks.

Edited December 22, 2020 by DC871F

[DC871F]

2 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

Post a couple of photos, the guys here will narrow it down.

Not at the car yet. A project I'm trying to acquire from someone.

[Patcon]

Nope, Nissan can't tell you to the best of my knowledge. Best chance is to look for areas that were missed when stripped

[lonetreesteve]

What year is your 240Z?  If it turns out that there isn't even a small spec of paint to be found on the car, you can pick out your favorite paint color for the appropriate year of your 240Z.  Go to Zhome.com and look for  Exterior & Int. Color List 240-Z /280Z for the correct colors of your Z's model year and Exterior Color Gallery 240Z/280Z images to see what the paint colors look like. 

 

[DC871F]

3 minutes ago, lonetreesteve said:

What year is your 240Z?  If it turns out that there isn't even a small spec of paint to be found on the car, you can pick out your favorite paint color for the appropriate year of your 240Z.  Go to Zhome.com and look for  Exterior & Int. Color List 240-Z /280Z for the correct colors of your Z's model year and Exterior Color Gallery 240Z/280Z images to see what the paint colors look like. 

 

We all talk about originality for cars, and you hit the nail on the head. One of the big reasons for trying to find out if it were indeed possible to find the original specs for the car, was to see if I can just paint it the way I want and still call it original.

I'll know more when I go see the car. I would think there will be somewhere to see original paint. But it was 100% disassembled and each piece painted.

[Patcon]

If they did a thorough job you wont be able to find any original color.

Up high behind the dash on the firewall would be one of my first places to look

[Captain Obvious]

10 hours ago, DC871F said:

One of the big reasons for trying to find the original specs for the car, was to see if I can just paint it the way I want and still call it original.

Short answer. No.

Medium answer. No. How can your conscience even allow you to ask such a thing?

Long answer:

No. If you pick a factory looking color (just because you like it) for your respray and then find out later you got lucky and it WAS actually the original color, then you could say it's been "repainted in the original color". You can still never claim it's the original paint.

But if you never figure out what the original color was, you can never be sure if it was repainted in the original color, so you can never say it's the original color. Even if it's a factory looking color. You just cant. Ever.

Best you could do would be to pass the buck. Something like "I couldn't figure out what the original color was, so I had the car evaluated by an expert on such matters and he said he believed the car was "nnn" color. Here's his credentials and his report with the details."

[DC871F]

2 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Short answer. No.

 

 

 

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Medium answer. No. How can your conscience even allow you to ask such a thing?

 

 

 

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Long answer:

No. If you pick a factory looking color (just because you like it) for your respray and then find out later you got lucky and it WAS actually the original color, then you could say it's been "repainted in the original color". You can still never claim it's the original paint.

But if you never figure out what the original color was, you can never be sure if it was repainted in the original color, so you can never say it's the original color. Even if it's a factory looking color. You just cant. Ever.

Best you could do would be to pass the buck. Something like "I couldn't figure out what the original color was, so I had the car evaluated by an expert on such matters and he said he believed the car was "nnn" color. Here's his credentials and his report with the details."

Can I tell myself it original, in the mirror?  Lol.

[DC871F]

24 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Short answer. No.

Medium answer. No. How can your conscience even allow you to ask such a thing?

Long answer:

No. If you pick a factory looking color (just because you like it) for your respray and then find out later you got lucky and it WAS actually the original color, then you could say it's been "repainted in the original color". You can still never claim it's the original paint.

But if you never figure out what the original color was, you can never be sure if it was repainted in the original color, so you can never say it's the original color. Even if it's a factory looking color. You just cant. Ever.

Best you could do would be to pass the buck. Something like "I couldn't figure out what the original color was, so I had the car evaluated by an expert on such matters and he said he believed the car was "nnn" color. Here's his credentials and his report with the details."

I see what the issue is. I left out the word color in my post about "still calling it original". I would like to do it the original color so IT can be original as far as color.

Of course I wouldnt say it was the original paint, thats silly.

Edited December 24, 2020 by DC871F