The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Matching paint

I bought a truck that has been repainted in a nice (but mystery) red color,and I want to have some touchup paint mixed. I heard about a spectrometer device that some shops have that can analyze your existing paint and suggest an exact match. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this? Thanks!!

Harry

check around your paint suppliers, some can scan a colored piece you bring in to create a custom mix, works well

Bill

Thanks. Are there such a thing as portable units they can take outside to the truck?

That's dumb of me. I can take off the glove box door, which is the same paint. Duh.

I have a friend that works in the bodyshop of a dealership, and asked him about the spectrometer. He said, "The meter works really well except for some metalalics. But to always be on the safe side, after paint is mixed, paint a test piece of metal (seperate from vehicle) then compare to the vehicle!" He also stated that they use it quite often at work. Hope this helps!

Good Luck,

Thanks to all of you!