54olds

I recently purchased a '54 Olds 88 2 door post. The body is primed and sanded, but the roof paint is still original and I'd like to keep it. It has some chips here and there that just need to be touched up.

The paint code says #31 and the trim code is #62. Where can I find touch-up paint for this old of a car?

Thanks!

-Kevin

American Lead

Good question, betiuful car you have, i think the best bet is to find a paint pro and get him to use his high teck, expensive-dancing singing tool and mix the paint as the origional could be faded, just my opnion, do you have any other pics of your car?

54olds

Thanks. The door jams and the inner wheel wells still have some of the original paint on them - I could either take it to a paint shop and have them color match it or just have them mix it according to the paint code.

Decisions, decisions. Here'a a different angle of the car. The body's in really good shape for a 53 y.o. car. I can't wait until it's painted.

American Lead

Beautiful... I wish my 55 looked like that...good luck finding your paint

Keieljun

Kevin,

You painted your car green. Is that the "Willow Green Poly" intended by the "31" paint code? Did it come two-tone? Because two-tone paint schemes were two numbers, of course, such as 31-61 (for example), which would have meant Willow Green bottom with Maize Cream top.

In case you didn't already find this out, Ditzler's paint code for your "31" would be DAL-41566-DQE. (Ditzler means PPG.) This is a 1954 paint code; maybe the paint guys can still do something with this old number.

How's the engine running now? Still smokin'? Coolant, perhaps?

Keith

Bluevista

Howdy, TCP global has a color chip library, just enter the year and model and you can see the original chip sheets with the codes. They show the backs of the sheets which have good info too, neat reference source. They can mix up the paint from any of the chips but the smallest quantity is a quart which would probably do the whole roof.
Car paint online has lots of original colors and an easy search to find your color by code or make/year. They can make a 2oz touch-up size but they don't have every color for every model/year.

Allan


http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/

http://www.carpaintonline.com/index.php

54olds

Actually, I went with another color since I didn't care much for the Willow Green. My biggest mistake was letting the auto paint supply store talk me into using acrylic laquer. Goes on nice and pretty and dries quick, but you can't wet sand it if you get any orange peel (which I did.) I was thinking about shooting it with DuPont's acrylic laquer clearcoat this spring to see if I can get a little smoother appearance

I currently have the valve covers and intake manifold off. I'm looking at replacing the valve stem seals and perhaps the valve guide seals as well.

malatu

I'm in a similar situation regarding the repair of chips in paint. What's better: Ordering the original paint color or have a professional mix up a custom color.

54olds

Paint can fade over time, so, depending on color, I don't know if I'd trust original colors to touch-up with.

Your local auto paint supplier can do wonders matching paint, so I'd go that route if I were you.

-Kevin

malatu

Thanks. That is what I will do.

Keieljun

Kevin, have you had those bumper guards off? Do you have any idea what they're like on the inside? (You might not even WANT to know.) The problem with these babies is that they have no drain, so dust/mud/water/crud/leaves/rhinoceroses, etc, just accumulate in them.

It appears that I'm going to have to largely remanufacture mine, and when I do, they're going to end up with holes on the bottom (hard to see) so I can clean them out.

Not trying to rain on your parade (your parade is looking good, BTW). Just trying to get info from other '54 Olds guys.

Keith