Monday, Aug. 22, 2022
A major classic car paint provider advised me a couple months ago they did not have the paint formula for the 609 Midnight Blue Poly on my Belevedere. They had the formula for the 605 Powder Blue but not the Midnight Blue. I’ve been searching for another provider online without much success.
Another online seller offers a variety of car manufacturer’s colors, just not going back to 1956. I ended up looking at their hi-resolution photos of their colors,, and found a dark blue that looked like fairly close match for the original Midnight Blue. The color turned out to be a 1982 AC8 Dark Blue Poly. I ordered a touch-up bottle of the paint and have a test spot on the white box it was shipped in. Maybe tomorrow I can compare the blue to the original color I have.
To be honest, it doesn’t have to exactly match the original, just be close enough. I’m going to repaint the exterior, jambs, trunk, etc., anyway, so an exact match isn’t necessary.
I was looking at the registration for the Plymouth, and as I had heard from one of Gary’s old friends, the Plymouth originally was black and white two tone — a sharp combination for sure. And in fact, what’s interesting to me is that the two colors — Midnight Blue and Powder Blue were indeed paired as a two-tone offering, the factor implemented them the reverse of how Gary had the Plymouth painted. The factory two tone made the upper half the body — fenders, doors, quarters and trunk — all Powder Blue, while the dark blue was reserved for the roof and the lower sections of the body. Check out the photo posted here of the original two-tone scheme. Maybe I’m prejudiced, but I think reversing the colors looks much, much better.
I’m going to find a spot under trunk lid and test the Dark Blue Poly to see how it compares to what’s already on the car. The manufacturer of the touch-up paint offers other shades of blue,, darker and lighter, so I may guess again and try my luck.
The Whiskey City Cruisers event is this coming Saturday, so I’m going to be sure to make it to this one. Hell, it’s August!
I need to get on the ball and get my shop wired up. I plan to start tackling the body work this fall. This will mean partly disassembling the car — the bumpers, the chrome on the sides, etc. I’m going to have to strip some paint I believe. The paint is crazed and cracked along the inner side of the rear fins and the deck lid. I’m not sure what surprises the lower body parts will have in the way of rust, but I’m expecting a fair bit of it. There’s rust bubbles in several areas, including both doors, a fender and a quarter panel in front of the rear wheel. I’m going to paint the car myself and clear it all at once. Its going to be an interesting project, lol.
I had planned to paint my farm truck first, just for experience, but that may or may not happen. I would prefer to have it go first to be honest.
Well, right now I’m having back pain issues, so I’m not in the mood to do much crawling around under the Plymouth. Hopefully I’ll heal before long.