In matching paint, there ARE some side issues, other than if it's computer matched or "eye-matched".
First one was noted in my '66 Chrysler service manual, regarding metallic colors. The base color can be accurate, BUT the air pressure at the gun can make the metallic "bright" or "not-so-bright" due to how it lands and is oriented in the base paint. This will shift the perceived color lighter or darker.
Some colors will be more difficult to match than others. Once, we had a '70s Corvette on our used car lot. In normal daylight, the silver looked nice, but in the later afternoon, with it parked perpendicular to the setting sun, there was a spot in the middle of the lh door that really stood out. A "repair" had been done and the paint blended in with the existing acrylic lacquer, until that one sun angle happened. Might as well have had a neon sign hanging on that door!
Second can be the amount of metallic blended into the base color. More metallic, "brighter", etc.
Putting clear over a known base color can affect the final color. Which is why BCCC paint takes a bit of a knack to match as it's being sprayed for a spot repair. BCCC paints might end up being the correct color, but will be much shinier than the OEM single-stage acrylic enamel ever was.
I understand that using water-based paints, as with some house paints, the final color isn't accurate until it's fully dried. Experience and expertise with the particular brand of paint system being used is important.
In some of the first "clearcoat" paints that Ford used in the middle 1970s, usually Lincolns and T-birds (as they both came from the Wixom plant), from what an old body man told me, you sprayed two coats of the base color. Then, after appropriate flash time, you "cut" it 1/2 with clear, then two more coats, more flash time, then cut it 1/2 again with clear, two more coats. More flash time, then the final coats were in pure clear. THEN, the color match should be accurate, he said.
Always use the paint codes rather than the "trade name" in the chip chart or in the OEM sales literature. Same code can have different names in different divisions and model years.
I'm going to suspect that pictures Road Runner is BCCC Turbine Bronze?
The other thing about matching the older colors is that the pigments used have changed so that a conversion formula must be devised or supplied. Not all paint suppliers have those conversion formulas, which makes the computer-match more important AND from a section of the car that hasn't seen UV light very much.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
