paint

Hi,

I have a 1974 Norton Interstate that was originally painted red (candy). Does anyone have a ppg cross reference for this color or any other information that would help me match the orig. color? Thanks

Your best shot is to take a panel from a bike that is either original or the color you want to match to your PPG paint jobber with a Prophet spectrophotometer. PPG will not have any information on the original colors. A side panel is the best option here. Keep in mind that 34 years of sun exposure will have faded the red, so a perfect match will be in your mind only. Normally I would suggest using the inside, but with the candies and metallics I have noticed that the inside does not have the same base.

Translucent colors (candies) tend to fade more rapidly and since the color depends largely on the basecoate (gold, silver, even white) it will take more than just a color match to reproduce the original finish.

I'd talk to your painter and maybe select a color you like and have him try it over silver and gold basecoats to choose what most closely appeals to your mind's eye. The painter has as much to do with the color as the paint mixer with these paints.

I've worked as a paint chemist for PPG for 30 years so make what you want of my suggestion.

That's an interesting job Ron. I may be one of your fans since I'm a big PPG fan.
I have my Boston Green M Roadster and my bike that does shows in PPG.
BMW's original paint damages quite easily and the PPG holds up very well.
I agree that the person doing the matching is a very important link in the chain.
I recently saw a restored Commando that was a bit of a disapointment to me since the paint was way off from the way I remember from the factory.