MGB & GT Forum

Finally going to paint my B next spring/summer and need to figure out paint color match and quantity

Im set on Brakken (dirty orange) Ive read several posts about paint nightmares wrong colors bad matches etc.
I have a painter friend with the computer gizmo so Im wondering if I might be better off having him check a
swatch of Brakken and mixing to that? Not sure where I would get the swatch?

1. How much should I buy for thick paint that will leave room for wet sanding?
2. Shelf life ?

Thanks guys

My GT was repainted in the original Bracken color about 15 years ago. There was plenty left over in the gallon can, probably close to a quart - and this was for a GT not a roadster.

Still have some of it now and use it for touch-up - so it has a long shelf life. I have been adding a few ounces of thinner to the can every so often and that has extended its life.

Do you remember how you matched the color to get it authentic?
My car had a full restoration in 1999 and this is #2 want to make sure its accurate to British Leyland original.

Thanks

Bracken is probably a hard color to match. Depending on how the sun hits it's about three colors.

Color shooting can help but it's not guaranteed. My last repairs on my harvest gold B took three color shots to get the match.

I wasn't there myself but my bodyshop guy took either the door or bonnet for the match. Come to think of it, can't imagine he carried the bonnet around. The car wasn't in the best shape anyway so either part was probably not a guaranteed authentic match. But it is true, bracken varies a lot based on the light - it can look very vivid or very pale.

Locally, the paint suppliers come by the body shops and color shoot the car.

On repairs the color shot is done in a few adjoining areas that are not being repainted. For a complete repaint, an area not exposed to sunlight, fuels or other elements are best.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-26 10:08 AM by ClayJ.

Problem is the car is currently Blue, no color to shoot.

Second problem is...good paint is expensive especially by the gallon.
Ive read several posts about the difficulty and multiple mixes..maybe its too much trouble.

The new Subarus have a Brakken like color

If you go to a good auto paint supply store they can make a can of Bracken paint for you without any matching. Just bring your Moss catalog with the paint code numbers.

I did that initially with a quart can before deciding to have the entire car repainted. I don't recall how much a gallon costs but it may not be much more than buying 3 quarts.

You have to check with your local paint supplier to see if they have a formula for the Bracken paint code.
Then figure out if it is going to be painted in single stage or base/clear?
Are you doing inside the trunk, hood and jambs?
Tinted primer?
An experienced painter could do the job on the exterior with less than a quart.
If a less experienced person is spraying and figuring out gun settings more like two quarts.
Add more for trunk and jambs.
A gallon is the same cost as three quarts.
I like the idea of taking the paint code from a new car.
Usually the code is on the door jamb sticker and you can just open the door and take a photo of the sticker.
Take this discussion to the Southern Polyurethanes forums. You can get good tech advise there.

Matching original colors is getting difficult theses days as most big paint companies have been discontinuing the old enamels and the formulas do not convert as the tints are different, and they no longer can look up and mix a lot of the old MG paint codes. Add to that Dupont (who I was using for years) sold their paint line a while back and the new company reprogramed the spectrometer to only find the closest existing code, and not adjust for a perfect match (sounds dumb, but that's what I have found trying to match paint), and then they sold out to yet another company. I have had nothing but problems coming up with the original colors for my customer cars (they absolutely could not get a match to dark British racing green on a 67 B).
I have been looking around. and PPG isn't offering a much better color match prospect, or avail mix formulas for the MG paint codes, so now I'm looking at Martin Senour as they are the only suppliers in my area (my local NAPA) that actually have a paint color chart for older cars, and show mix formulas for the sample MG paint codes I gave them to look up.