Has any one had to repaint a complete panel on their Crossfire, being Graphite Metallic in color? I repaired a small dent in my quarter panel and used a base coat clear coat painting process. The body work and paint turned out great, however it didn't match. I know that this is a common issue with many metallic paints and that they can even very between brands of paint. I was hoping someone out there could shed some light on this issue.

 

A lot of mismatched paint jobs is the "painter' himself. You can have two guys use the same paint and get different results, depending upon the amount of reducer, the guns used, the distance, etc. Also, different shops may mix according to the formula and get different results. So far, I have found paint from Automotive Touchup has been very good as is their Clearcoat.

 

Those items can defiantly play a part in matching the paint. I initially was going to fog into the door, but decided to see how well it matched first. I figured if it didn't match it wouldn't be a big deal to go into the door, however this is just to far off. When I purchased the paint I had to choose between three different chips as this paint code is a variant formula. I ran across this same issue on my Taurus and had five options.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by a variant formula but the code is PS3 and/or 368.

 

Don't know which model year your Crossfire is, but Graphite Gray Metallic was only used on 2004 & 2005 models. Beginning in 2006 and thru the remainder of production, the Gray shade was Machine Gray Metallic.

The two colors are distinctively different! And I've had paint color websites tell me the colors were the same formulation. That's not an accurate statement. One of these websites is Dr. Colorchip. We had quite an argument over this issue. When I finally placed my order, the color I received was Graphite Gray Metallic. Called him back and told him if I used his paint and it didn't match, he was going to pay to have my whole car re-painted. Told me to send the color back and he didn't want to do business with me in the future on the Crossfire. What an ignorant mule!

 

A paint variant or also called a alternate formula isbasically the difference in shading from batch to batch. This also occurs between different paint suppliers. Most major automanufactures have multiple paint suppliers. When they order the paint the colormust be within a certain range of their specifications, I think it is about 5%.That being said, you can see how there could be a big variances of the same paintcode. That is the reason when having paint mixed you might be shown more thanone paint chip to chose from, and most likely they will be hard to differentiate between them. That also is the reasons when you purchase one of those little bottles of touch up paint it seldom will match. Ithink Henry Ford had the best idea when he said something to the effect thatyou could order any color you wanted, as long as it was black.

 

I had a Chyrsler body shop repaint my SRT6 driver's door and front bumper in 2009 and it matched perfectly. You might visit a dealership (yeah, I know, sacrilege).

 

Some rare early 06s were Graphite. I had one before my new Aero Blue 05.

 

Just a little addendum, I find using an airbrush for small scratches pretty effective. In use, you can see the effect and move closer or further away and you can easily add a small amount of reducer to alter (lighten) the color a bit.

 

I have a 2005 Graphite Metallic coupe. A few months back I removed my right rocker panel and repaired large scratch, and repainted. I used Chrysler touchup spray paint: code ZDR which is the Crossfire code, but it is also a Viper color, part # E04889703AA. It is a lacquer and when sprayed comes out of the can in a very fine mist. From my perspective it is a perfect match. One can did the entire rocker panel. I went over it with Duple-Color Perfect Match clear coat, an acrylic lacquer. All in all it looks like OEM original.

Earlier in the year I removed the windshield trim and the door handles. Sprayed them with my gun using a mixed one step paint. I need to go back and look in my paint locker to see the exact brand and number, but it was mixed using the Crossfire color code. That is completely different than OEM. Has much more metal flax look to it, but I like the extra shine so have keep it on the car. Most people wouldn't notice the difference, but it is definitely there. A single coat process vice a two step base/clear will always show a difference. I thought a single step paint will hold up better on the windshield trim.

 

Maybe, but I always thought the reason they went to the 2 step process was increased durability. Those high solids clears are like a thick plastic coating. I use as much as 7 coats of clear, especially on leading edges.

 

I sold automotive paint for many, many years. Every manufacturer's version of the "Standard" formula varies. The automotive manufacture may us paint from on company for a while, then paint from another company. The auto manufacturer pretty much just paints the metal parts of the car. Second tier manufacturers make, and paint, plastic pieces like bumper covers, door handles, mirrors, trim pieces, etc. which is why those parts often don't match the rest of the car.

Additionally, with metallics, the paint sometimes travels through pipes for miles from the storage facility to the paint facility. Along the way, the size of the flakes can be changed, every time the paint hits a 90° bend, meaning the paint on the car doesn't match the standard.

For those an other reasons, aside from the standard, pretty much every car paint has some number of variants seen most frequently on production vehicles. Silver and white colors usually have the greatest number of variants.

As such, the painters job is to do the final color match. He starts by choosing the standard or one of the variant formulas, whichever is closest. BUT, he then *still* has to adjust that if needed in order to match what is on the vehicle. In addition to matching when viewed straight on, there are side tones he has to look at as well. A dead on gray metallic might look perfect straight on, but one has a green side tone and the other more blue.

and lighting ... all of this has to be done in sunlight. It is the only thing that gives you the correct/true colors.

and application ... you can significantly change the match in how you apply it.

and forget 3 stage paints like pearl whites ... those are brutal to color match.

and yes, base/clear applications are significantly more durable than single stage paints, although, putting too many coats of clear can possibly make it less durable, oddly enough.

But, for a serious deep gloss black, I like to shoot a black single stage, then a couple of coats of clear over it! : D

 

Just goes to prove the K.I.S.S. theory.!