Useful Paint Formulas

Technical Information Bulletin Rev. B 2-28-06

Some Nice Paint Formulas for Restorers

( stolen from the desk of ) Lars Grimsrud

Colorado Corvette Crazies (CCC)

The Ultimate Corvette Tuning & Beer Drinking Fraternity

Lafayette, CO

For you weekend restoration fanatics, here are some paint info, paint numbers and formulas I’ve gathered over the years. This stuff comes in really handy when you’re doing detail work and when you want things to look correct, original, and fresh:

1. Order 3 things from Eastwood:

a. 1 can of “AlumaBlast.” This stuff is amazing. It looks EXACTLY like cast aluminum. Even when you’ve bead-blasted your intake manifold and alternator, and after you’ve Hotsie’ed your tranny, the aluminum never looks just like it did when it was new. A light coat of AlumaBlast will make the parts look exactly as they should – fresh, new aluminum. Good stuff.

b. 1 can of “Spray Gray.” Again – amazing stuff. It looks just like cast iron. Use it on your master cylinder, steering box, tie rod ends, and other parts you want to look just like fresh cast iron. You can’t do without this stuff.

c. High Temp Stainless Steel Coating. Brush or spray this onto your exhaust manifolds, and they’ll look brand new – show quality. The stuff won’t burn off, and will make your manifolds look brand new for years. I use it on all exhaust components for a lasting good look.

2. Ever wondered what to do with your crappy-looking power brake booster and other cad-plated parts that you don’t want to spend the $$ and time having re-plated? Here is a lacquer paint that you can shoot through your paint gun that will give you the greenish-hue you’ve been looking for. You can even use it on carb parts to simulate the carb plating. Thin it down 50% with thinner and spray it on in light coats.

Do not clearcoat: PPG Lacquer, “Sauterne Sage Poly” DDL #43433

3. How about those silver painted Chevy Rally Wheels? The factory used lacquer, but lacquer on wheels just doesn’t hold up. You can re-shoot them with some good, catalyzed Urethane for a very good quality, lasting finish. Here is the info onboth lacquer and catalyzed enamel for the wheels.

This is the correct, factory color:

PPG Duracryl Lacquer: “Non-Smudge Aluminum” aka “Argent Silver” DDL #8568 (thin 50% with thinner).

PPG Delstar (Mix 8:6:1 Delstar/DTR601 Reducer/DXR80 Catalyst): “Argent Silver” DAR #8568

Mixing Formula (1 qt non-cumulative):

Color Units (non-cumulative)

DMR 433 416

DMR 435 420

DXR 495 20

DMR 499 160

If you want to prime the wheels first, I recommend using PPG DP40LF Epoxy Primer mixed 2:1 with DP402LF Catalyst. This will give you a bullet-proof finish.

4. On to the engine. I see guys with nice ‘Vettes using paint out of a cheap spray can that they bought at the local parts store. People with nice ‘Vettes who use spray can paint on their engines should be charged with Vette-abuse, and sentenced to restore Honda Civics for life. If you want your engine to look perfect, to be the perfect, correct color, and to have a

durable, lasting finish and shine, you want to shoot it with Delstar catalyzed urethane enamel.

Here is the factory-correct color code and the whole mixing formula:

PPG Delstar Chevy Engine Orange, DAR #60524 H

Mixing Formula (1 qt, cumulative):

Color Units (cumulative)

DMR 400 4.0

DMR 405 160

DMR 464 660

DXR 495 680

DMR 499 1250

Mix the paint 8:6:1 Delstar/DTR601 Reducer/DXR80 Catalyst and shoot it with a paint gun. If you have a new engine back from the machine shop and it’s bare metal, prime the entire engine, block, heads, etc. with PPG DP40LF Epoxy Primer mixed 2:1 with DP402LF Catalyst. You won’t believe how good it will look. As always, contact me if you need any assistance or if you have any questions.

Here’s another one for you. This one took a bit of research and color matching development, so stash this with your restoration files:

The BACK side of the steel GM Rally Wheels (both Chevy and Pontiac) and the rim/bead area was not painted silver. Rather, the entire back of the wheel and the bead area was painted an odd light grey color. This color is perfectly matched with the following Delstar mixing formula.

This is the tip-top finishing touch for a set of perfectly restored Rally Wheels:

Lars’ GM Wheel Back Color, PPG Delstar (No color code)

Mixing Formula (1 qt) (cumulative units)

Color Units (cumulative)

DMR 475 6

DMR 490 106

DMR 400 272

DMR 487 442

DMR 415 447

DMR 476 457

DMR 491 477

DXR 495 497

DMR 499 1000

Mix the Delstar 8:6:1 Delstar/DTR601 Reducer/DXR80 Catalyst and shoot it with a paint gun.

Pontiac Rally II Wheel Refinishing Three different colors were used on the Pontiac Rally II wheels. The front (visible side) was painted silver and charcoal gray. The bead areas and the backside of the wheel were left in a glossy grayish primer.

The colors are as follows:

Argent Silver (aka Non Smudge Aluminum):

PPG Duracryl Lacquer part number DDL-8568

The catalyzed Delstar mixing formula is shown above in the Chevy Rally Wheel section, but use the lacquer if you’re going to do the wheels with the Charcoal Gray lacquer below:

Charcoal Gray:

PPG Duracryl Lacquer part number DDL-32947

Mixing formula:

Color Units (cumulative)

384 Yellow 20

311 White 44

321 Blue 74

358 Black 224

349 Poly 694

DX 265 Flat 984

Wheel-Back Color

No part number

PPG Delstar mixing formula:

See Lars’ GM Wheel Back Color above

Pontiac Engine Colors

Pontiac used 3 different engine colors from 1964 through 1974 – the most popular restoration years. The correct colors are not available from most sources, so here are the actual correct mixing formulas for the Pontiac engine colors in PPG Delstar catalyzed enamel. This produces a very high quality lasting finish on the engines. I have personally developed and verified these colors (except the ’66-’70, which is a standard PPG color formula).

won’t believe how good it will look.

1964 – 1965

Robins-Egg Blue

No PPG color code

Delstar Mixing Formula (1 qt) (non-cumulative units)

Color Units (non-cumulative)

DMR 411 76.2

410 93.0

491 40.0

400 521.0

486 8.8

413 20.0

451 14.5

DXR 495 20.0

DMR 499 Fill

1966 – 1970

Silver-Blue Metallic

PPG Delstar Color Code 2772X (Blue Haze Ploy)

Mixing Formula (1 qt) (cumulative units)

Color Units (cumulative)

DMR 491 12

410 58

431 308

DXR 495 328

DMR 499 1018

1971 – 1974

Light Blue

No PPG color code

Delstar Mixing Formula (1 qt) (cumulative units)

Color Units (cumulative)

DMR 441 72

486 148

411 182

490 275

410 385

400 605

DXR 495 625

DMR 499 1025

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