GTV-6 Paint Colors

["William E. Bean" <wbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ahh if it were so easy as to only have to look up the respective color
reference. The factory paint reference for my 1984 red GTV-6 is AR-530.
However, The PPG paint manufacturer's reference for this color provides
three alternatives. They are: 1) standard color, 2) darker than prime and,
3) more violet than prime. They provide the mixing instruction for each
alternative. The PPG guide states that these alternatives are good for any
1982 - 1990 Alfa Romeo. I did not check other references and so do not know
if they are the same as PPG. this seems logical because cars are painted at
diferent times under different circumstances with paint from different
manufacturers.

For US cars, especially Chrysler, you can find up to 11 alternates for a
given color - in this case metallic green. 

Therefore, if you are repairing damage, your only hope is to find a painter
who has really good color matching skill. He will have to determine which
alternate to use and how best to alter it to match your existing and
undoubtedly faded paint. If you are repainting the entire car, then you
need the same skill to compare the alternates to existing reference areas,
such as a door jamb or the underside of the rear hatch. For my GTV-6, the
painter used Alternate #2, darker than standard and added: + .5 gram/quart
of #931 tint (a bit of violet) + one drop white. The match to the
reference, the underside of the rear hatch and the door jambs, was perfect.
If you are repainting all of your car, then you may want to consider
getting a quart of each color and experimenting with it. This may seem
expensive, but it is better than ultimately being upset with a job gone
wrong. And, you can use what's left of the chosen color.

As a note of interest, we never did find a color reference for the gray
area below the rubber side trim and the window trim. We found that 1986
Saab DBC 34056 Gray poly + 13 grams of course aluminum was near perfect.

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