D3 Torch Red...

Hey guys,

I ordered a GT500 spoiler that came painted, D3; which says California red. I went to put it on the car and it was defanitely darker than my Torch Red.

I have read that everyone says its the same color, but dries darker.

I now have a spoiler and a CDC Classic Chin Spoiler sitting at my house that will need to be painted...

Will they match? Anyone had any luck with their Torch Reds matching up with the D3 paint code???


Any info would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!
 
D3 is definitely Torch Red. Colorado Red is it's other name, I believe. I would contact the place you purchased it at and tell them it doesn't match. You have a 2009, so you're not faded. Most of the time, they'll replace it.

As with most colors, if the formula is not 100% right, it'll be just a bit off. I've even received stuff from Midwest Auto Gear that was off.
 
Thanks Dark, you were a guy I was hoping to hear from. I did send the spoiler back, and it came back to me saying the address didnt exist, so it cost me $10 both ways...I am getting my chin spoiler painted so I'll just get the spoiler painted as well.

And yes, Colorado Red is what it said, my mistake.

Its been really busting my guts knowing that I might not be able get **** painted to match...but hearing this from you seems very good.

Thanks a bunch!
 
Uh Oh ! I am having a pre-painted spoiler delivered tomorrow that is D3 "Colorodo Red". I asked them if they had the item in Torch Red D3 and I was assured that it was the same thing, but now I am worried again. I'll let you know if my Colorodo red is a good match or not tomorrow.
 
I think I would be concerned about a company whose address comes back as does not exist.
Definitely. Did you call them first about returning it? Who did you go through? A lot of people have had good luck with the eBay ones. There's a few bad paint stories out there (but they were all cleared up). I paid a little more and went through AtlantaMustang, because I was worried of paint issues.
 
I went through DG Custom Auto, I called them and they gave me the address again, but I said screw it...they did not offer to pay for the shipping or anything. I will have it painted localy.

I think I paid like $149 for the spoiler painted, which was not terrible I did not think, although it came back darker than my original paint.
 
if your having a problem getting a matching part pre painted, get it painted at a local reputable body shop.

we just painted my front bumper, passenger fender, and hood. if i sent it to just any old shop they would of sprayed it with what the chip was. and the color chip is way off from actual vista blue. so the painter where i work spent a assload of time tinting it to match my paint perfectly. and now i have a formula that is dead on to my color.

my car is a 2007, not kept in a garage or anything though, and after we took the stripes off, you'd be suprised how different the colors were. after buffing it to blend in, it doesn't look bad. but at first it looked like i still had stripes on haha.

and my paint is not hazy or scratched or anything, just from i guess being outside all the time. looking under halogen lights the paint is pretty swirl/scratch free.
 
When I had my car painted several months ago, I found out that there are 3 paint codes for each color:eek: For instance, Vista Blue has the general code, then a shade lighter and a shade darker. When I had the Alloy painted, it also had 3 shades. I wonder if that could have been what happened:shrug:
 
I got my new spoiler last week and that vendor called it D3 "Colorodo Red". I emailed them before I purchased and they assured me that that it was the same as Torch Red. I am very satisfied with the color match especially since my car is 4 years old.
 
I have not been told there are three codes for each color.
Where did you get this information? How would one ever know what color was correct?

it actually gets more in depth then that.

theres the popular one, where the chip matches most painted that color, then theres variations such as ones with more red tint in them, more green, more blue. etc. more flake, darker. lighter, etc.

when a body shop is painting your car, they should check the color chip to the car, with a intense light that will show the differences in the paints. check head on, side tone. and above. sometimes a chip will look great head on, but way off side tone. etc.

theres so many variations possible to get the best match. we struggled to find a vista blue that matched my car. the painter at my work messed with a few tints, and got it to match perfectly. it looks flawless. i can't wait to get a few things painted by him.

i can't think of the paint code, but i believe its the dark gray metallic that GM uses for envoys and similar. we grabbed the color deck, and there was like 12 different varitions for this color.


also on the program we use to tell us the mixture for the paint, it will give hints, for what varation matches what years best. it'll say [match 2002 focus] or something similar.



i just ordered a set of mirrors, so when we paint them i'll have to post a few pictures.
 
Ok I know its not red but when I got my white gt500 spoiler and put it next to the car it didnt match either. I was going to send it back but I went ahead and put it on instead and it looks like it came like that from the factory
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You also have to consider that plastic parts are rarely going to exactly match your metal body parts. If you notice, most cars bumpers are a bit of a different shade than the trunk and fenders. I've noticed this all the way up to BMWs. Plastic is porous, so it absorbs paint, whereas metal is not, so it does not, therefore, the same paint mixture on the two parts will look a bit different.
 
You also have to consider that plastic parts are rarely going to exactly match your metal body parts. If you notice, most cars bumpers are a bit of a different shade than the trunk and fenders. I've noticed this all the way up to BMWs. Plastic is porous, so it absorbs paint, whereas metal is not, so it does not, therefore, the same paint mixture on the two parts will look a bit different.

yep. exactly, even if the parts were painted same time, same cup of paint, etc. everything from hyundai to mercedes benz has this problem.
 
With the right light direction, the plastic to metal paint differences are easy to see on the Fox body when you look at the front fender and bumper cover! It looks as if the bumper is a few shades lighter! I haven't really noticed that on the S197s, but advances have been made in the past 17 years:nice:
Here is how well the Visa Blue from Atlanta Mustang matched Ford's right after I installed my GT500 wing!
View attachment 249508

View attachment 249509

DSC03856.webp


And here is how well SHR matched it on the flush mount louvers!
2904746179_47c3921263_b.webp
 
on my friends legend lime 05, you can really tell the diff between the bumper and the fender. or bumper and quarter panel. i think its certain colors that really stand out when there is a difference.

i don't know if because its part of my job or what but i can pick things out so quickly on cars, that people could own the car for years and not notice, and i could see it for 3 seconds and pick every little bit out haha.

which definitely sucks, because that makes you ultra picky for your own things.


one thing also to look at, orange peel. fords newer paint seems to lay down pretty damn smooth. if you get a part with a real heavy texture to it, its going to throw it off a little bit appearance-wise.

isn't vista blue such an awesome color kool? haha, after a nice fresh bath the metallics just pop right out at you.
 
Certain colors definitely show it better than others. Nearly every yellow S197 I've seen, you can see the difference. Some of the body kits I've seen on yellow look absolutely terrible because of the paint not matching.