Mulling Paint Choices

psychorugby · Dec 21, 2011

My Mustang suffers from the same fate as all other nearly 20 year old red Fords... it is 15 different shades of pink and is in need of some minor body work. I thought this was a great opportunity to learn some body work and how to paint a car. That was until I found out how much factory Rio/Vermillion Red paint costs. I went to a couple of paint supply places and was told it is a three-stage paint and would run just shy of $1,000 for the paint and clear... custom paint (PPG Vibrance is what I looked at while there) would run about $1,200.

I then went to visit a paint shop to get their advice and was told they would paint it for $3-5,000, which is not bad once I figured out how much the paint itself costs. I also asked his opinion on how to make the car subtle (to suit my wife), yet different (to suit me)... He suggested sanding the clear (what's left) off the car and down to the base coat. Then he would spray two different colors of pearl over the basecoat. That would make the car a bright red from 20 feet away, and shift colors somewhat when looking up close.

What do you think? Any suggestions on how to make the car subtle and different all at the same time?

VibrantRedGT · Dec 21, 2011

<------I'm fond of this paint color because it's dark red during the day and dark orange during night. However it's not cheap. You will notice that just about all the vibrant paints for the 94-95 are very pricey. Lucky you're not going Opal Frost (limited color). Other than black or white you're going to pay a pretty penny for sure. In the 94-95 Tech section click on the GT / Cobra / GTS thread and scroll down to paint colors for 94-95. It will show you the number of cars painted that color. The least amount will be more expensive.

psychorugby · Dec 21, 2011

VibrantRedGT said:
<------I'm fond of this paint color because it's dark red during the day and dark orange during night. However it's not cheap. You will notice that just about all the vibrant paints for the 94-95 are very pricey. Lucky you're not going Opal Frost (limited color). Other than black or white you're going to pay a pretty penny for sure. In the 94-95 Tech section click on the GT / Cobra / GTS thread and scroll down to paint colors for 94-95. It will show you the number of cars painted that color. The least amount will be more expensive.

I love Rio Red (although I thought it was a two stage paint and the Laser Red was three stage). I'm still deciding if I want to go stock, stock with a little flair, or just be different. My original idea was to pain the car Rio Red again with either the center section of the hood shot over in pearl (might not work with 2000 Cobra R hood I want to go with because of the 351), or pearl ghost stripes.

ProKiller · Dec 21, 2011

i used a non-factory ford black and then put blue pearl through out it. different but you wouldn't notice the different black unless i told you. i say keep it close but you can probably do it cheaper.

psychorugby · Dec 21, 2011

This is a gas tank that he did that is black with two or three pearls over it... and our inspiration (potentially) for my car:

I think a Rio Red base with two different pearls shot over would have an even more subtle effect.

2vNotch · Dec 21, 2011

Pretty neat lookin! Painted mine cranberry last year and had pearl added...Looks like a flat color until ur right up on it, then u see the metal flake in it...Looks good but i hate any shade of red on my cars...Ive always wanted to do one reef blue/green, however, peach with sheetmetal colored scallops tearing off the front and down the sides is what i have in store for it in the near future!

95opal · Dec 21, 2011

Ok Im a bit confused on this. You say the stock color paint is expensive and now your looking into a base with multiple pearls in it? The addition of pearl is only going to escalate the price of the paint. Not only that but if you ever have a mishap with the car, an entire repaint will be needed as they will never be able to match it. Dont get me wrong I love pearl painted cars and have done two diferent stangs in pearl, my current opalfrost and an 89vert that I did in Cadillac Diamond white pearl metallic. The name brand of paint is also going to factor in cost wise. When it comes to paint I always say, you get what you pay for. My advise, dont paint it until you can afford to do what you want to do. Its always cheaper to do it once the right way then to do it twice. Good luck with your decision.

psychorugby · Dec 21, 2011

Maybe I wasn't terribly clear. I was going to try to save myself money by painting it the stock color... when I found out how much it was, I decided that a custom color was a distinct possibility. I forget the brand of paint I priced (Global something comes to mind), I was just shocked that Ford non-metallic red paint was so expensive. It's going to be a weekend/show car and under a cover, so I'm not too worried about it getting in a mishap. I guess my question really was should I go stock, or should I go custom (not hog wild) with the paint? I want different, my wife wants subtle (she deals with my addiction and helps so she gets a say); it's a tough combination.

VibrantRedGT · Dec 22, 2011

Put the stock color on it and have it done professionally. If you ever need to sell it people will appreciate the car more when it's the original color. I can tell you I wouldn't buy a 94-95 with a custom paint job (not the original color). Maybe you'll never sell it but you never know. Your VIN has a color code, I'd stick to the code. Ford made beautiful colors for 94-95 anyway. It's distinctive from other year Mustangs.

psychorugby · Dec 22, 2011

VibrantRedGT said:
Put the stock color on it and have it done professionally. If you ever need to sell it people will appreciate the car more when it's the original color. I can tell you I wouldn't buy a 94-95 with a custom paint job (not the original color). Maybe you'll never sell it but you never know. Your VIN has a color code, I'd stick to the code. Ford made beautiful colors for 94-95 anyway. It's distinctive from other year Mustangs.

That's the part I keep struggling with... I want to be different, but the car is somewhat unique being a 5.0HO convertible with a manual trans... then I see less than 14% of all Mustangs were painted Rio Red...

VibrantRedGT · Dec 22, 2011

That's exactly what I mean. These cars are 17 years old and the 94-95s are in an elite club especially in the paint department. They haven't made Vibrant Red since 1995 and there weren't a lot according to the number of vehicles painted. Plus how many of these are even left on the road? Everyday these colors become even more rare. Stick the Rio Red, you already have a custom paint job, might as well keep it since that's with the VIN says anyway.

psychorugby · Dec 22, 2011

The kid in me comes back with "you're already wanting to stick a 351 in it with exhaust... how stock is it" haha. I gotta find a way down to SoFla to check your rides out!

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