I know this has been covered many times.  However, I thought I would post to help others.  I repainted my tail light rear panels this weekend - 1978 280z.  I am very happy with the outcome.  I know this may not suffice for the purists.  I did an awful sanding job and I will have to go back and re-do it at some point.  

Here is what I used

SEM 39033 Charcoal Trim
SEM 13023 Low Luster Clear Color
Krylon K01010A07 Premium Metallic Spray

I redid mine three times before I was satisfied.

Let me know when you are ready to do it again.

which one of the test samples did you finally choose?

Before I painted mine earlier this year, I read all the threads on this forum by others who had painted their tail light finishers to determine opinions on a close color match.  After sanding and a coat of Rust-Oleum Flat Gray primer, I used Dupli-Color Perfect Match Dark Shadow Gray BFMO360 which is listed as a Ford color and topped it with Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover Matte Clear.  I'm very pleased with the results.

The matte clear makes the look original to me. It smoothes out the metallic shadows and light spots you get from using rattle can grays.

@CanTechZ hit the perfect look in my opinion. 

13 hours ago, siteunseen said:

The matte clear makes the look original to me. It smoothes out the metallic shadows and light spots you get from using rattle can grays.

@CanTechZ hit the perfect look in my opinion. 

Thanks Site, I'm still very happy with the results. When I picked the color back in 2016, I must have looked a little strange in my local Canadian Tire store holding a hub cap up to various cans of paint. Lol

 

This is a test I did on the inside of a tail light finisher that had OE paint in good shape partly painted with DC dark shadow grey and matte clear.

Here is one of my unrestored hub caps against the end result,

On 9/13/2022 at 9:47 AM, gotham22 said:

which one of the test samples did you finally choose?

Bottom line? Duplicolor 261413 Metallic Carbon Mist.  Top coat with Krylon Colormax 53530 Flat Clear.

More detail? My first attempt was BFM0360 Ford Dark Shadow Gray. The basic color was good, but it really lit up when light hit it. In other words, it looked pretty good in certain lights, but in other more direct light, it didn't look so great. Looked way too light.

My second attempt was Duplicolor 244228 Metallic Charcoal, and pretty much the same problem as the Ford Dark Shadow Gray. It looked good in the shade, but when light hit it from the right (or wrong?) angle, it was way off from stock.

My third and final attempt was Duplicolor 261413 Metallic Carbon Mist. I found this paint looks good in both sun and shade and does not "light up" like most of the other metallic options (like the Dark Shadow Gray). I would recommend this color over all of the other previously discussed varieties.

Of course, it really doesn't mean much unless I could compare it to a stock colored panel, but I don't have one here. Anyway, it looks like this. This is in the shade with no flash:

In the shade with flash. Note how the reflectors in the taillights and the license plate lit up with the flash, but the panel did not:

And in the sun. Half direct sun, and half shade-ish:

 

Edited September 15, 20222 yr by Captain Obvious

Here's a couple pics of the can.

Duplicolor 261413 Metallic Carbon Mist:

I tried two varieties of matte top-coat and didn't find much difference. I tried Rust-Oleum Matte Clear (#285093) and Krylon Colormax Flat Clear (#53530).

Of those two varieties, I found the Krylon to be a tiny bit more flat than the Rust-Oleum, so I went with the Krylon.

Yesterday I pulled my tail light finisher parts and my grill and hubcaps out from storage to take some color comparison pictures inside with flash on and off and outside in filtered sun. I wanted to try in full sun but I lost my opportunity when the high clouds came in. Here are the results. The grill is original, not repainted.

Inside with flash off...

 

Inside with flash on...

 

A couple outside, filtered sun (no flash)...

 

Lastly here are couple of cut and paste comparison with snippets from @kats that I "borrowed".

 

Edited September 16, 20222 yr by CanTechZ

@CanTechZ Unfortunately lighting can play such a huge role in how things like this look, especially in pictures. It's really hard to do comparisons with one variety and another.

If you can get your hands on a can of that Rust-Oleum 261413 Metallic Carbon Mist, give it a try on a test piece and see what you think. I had my taillight panels completely done, clear matte coat and all, with the Ford Dark Shadow and I was never completely satisfied. That Ford color is really good, but I think the 261413 is better.

Give it a shot if you can find it. I bought some very thin aluminum sheet and I use that as my test coupons. I used to do it with cardboard, but the textured surface of the cardboard did not give accurate results.

Edited September 19, 20222 yr by Captain Obvious

22 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

@CanTechZ Unfortunately lighting can play such a huge role in how things like this look, especially in pictures. It's really hard to do comparisons with one variety and another.

If you can get your hands on a can of that Duplicolor 261413 Metallic Carbon Mist, give it a try on a test piece and see what you think. I had my taillight panels completely done, clear matte coat and all, with the Ford Dark Shadow and I was never completely satisfied. That Ford color is really good, but I think the 261413 is better.

Give it a shot if you can find it. I bought some very thin aluminum sheet and I use that as my test coupons. I used to do it with cardboard, but the textured surface of the cardboard did not give accurate results.

Thanks CO, I agree on your comment about lighting, it does make any comparison somewhat subjective. I will try to find some Metallic Carbon Mist, I think you meant to say it's a Rust-Oleum Product. Adding confusion, I found that in Canada it has a different part number, 264656, not 261413. They carry 264656 up here at Home Depot, but the stores near me are currently out of stock. Here's the links to Carbon Mist in the US and Canada.

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/universal/universal-mist-metallic-spray-paint?ls=261413&lc=Metallic Carbon Mist

https://www.rustoleum.ca/product-catalog/consumer-brands/universal/metallic?ls=264656&lc=Carbon Mist

When I can get my hands on some and have a chance, I will do a test spray on the spare tail light finisher panel I first tested DC Dark Shadow Gray on and report back. Who knows maybe I will like it better and respray mine when I complete my resto.

Cheers, Mike

 

 

Edited September 19, 20222 yr by CanTechZ

1 hour ago, CanTechZ said:

I think you meant to say it's a Rust-Oleum Product.

Absolutely I did. I'll fix that now before I confuse anyone else.