I can't believe that I posted this on face book and got dozens of replies from interested friends. I never post on facebook.

I purchased a set of cop car wheels at Carlisle with the intend of painting them to match the car. I bought paint at the local auto parts store the cap of which matched the car, and prepped and painted the wheels. Well, the wheels are much more "red" than the car. That is, there is more blue in the tone, and they are darker. The net effect is it makes the car look kind of muddy brown instead of red. So here I am, looking for a closer "red" color.

I went on line to look at Duplicolor's paints, but could not decipher their site. I never found a list that related to factory codes or names. Any ideas here?

I found something that looks better on a web site, but what can you tell from a computer monitor? So I am headed to the Ford dealership to see if I can buy a touch up bottle of Coca Cola red they used in the mid 2000's. The paint on the car is a '74 Chrysler color called Rally Red. But I think it did not come out looking like it was supposed to. I shrugged my shoulders and said "who cares" back then. Last resort is to paint them black. Dog dish hub caps are in hand, and rally wheel trim rings will be on order eventually.

The entire point to this exercise was to get a more authentic period look to the car, and to get the front and rear tracks more equal. The front wheels are 6" and the rears are 7" and the offsets are such that the front and back will be more the same. I will eventually put spacers of some kind behind the back wheels. The front wheels will sit 3/4" further in, which will be a big improvement.

I was shocked at how many of my friends chimed in on this. Some said "Who Cares?. Some said absolutely repaint. Some said "Do what you want". Even my mother had a comment. Who would have thought?

Sam

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I really like the look f the cop rims with the late rallye center caps and trim rings. You should be able to go to a paint store and have them mix you up a gallon of the original paint if you have the paint code. "Rallye Red" was a Plymouth color and its Ditzler/PPG paint code is 2136.

Pictures!

I have found that the new environmentally friendly paint won’t exactly match the old factory colors per body shop paint mixer staff. For whatever reason the old formulas don’t translate to the new chemistry.
What can be done is have the paint guy read the color you are trying to match using a computer, and have them mix up real automotive paint and fill a rattle can with it. I have used this method several times for both the LeBaron and Dart.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks for the color code. That is a big help. It would simplify things if I could figure out how to translate that into a Dupli color number. Then I could be sure of compatibility of present paint and anything I spray over it.

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Duplicolor doesn't quite work that well. Their website has a search of their limited colors and they don't have a match to 1976 FE5 Rallye Red/Bright Red in the lineup. The closest they come is Garnet Red in pre-2002 Mopars, and they have another Red 3BE5 but no color patch to compare it too. Computer monitors have corrections so they are not trustworthy when looking at scanned in or digitized color samples (one of the other good reasons to have an original mopar parts catalog you know what the color should be close to...).

The last time I had to have this done, I went to my local auto paint shop and had them match a sample (they can actually use the color gun on your car's fender to make it match 100%). They mixed it up and I bought a reloadable paint sprayer (has a glass paint holder and a separate aersol can), since I was doing less work than what i needed to fire the compressor up for...

FYI.

-D.Idiot

DI: Sam this another way of saying what I have been doing, instead of messing with reloading the glass jar with spray bomb attachment, rattle cans can be filled and pressurized with your paint color read from a fender etc. simplifying the process of use and storage.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

What Bill and DI said...

You can get your local paint shop to color match (pretty much exactly, these days), OR give them the paint code, and get rattle cans loaded up with your paint ($20-30/can??).

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

This gets more complicated. The auto paint stores in Maryland cannot sell lacquer paint. So sampling the car is out. I can get 1974 Plymouth Rallye Red from an on-line supplier in lacquer. But cannot guarantee a match. Even if it is simply better
but not perfect, I think it would be OK. The goal is to have whatever I put on the wheels not turn the car brown. That is the effect of the red paint on them now. Thanks much for all your input. It has helped clarify things. It has also kind of forced me to slow down and live with the choices for awhile.

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This is like buying a gun, what may work in one state is not true in all states, Oregon's DEQ will not allow custom fill rattle cans due to possible leakage of the propellant during charging. We can buy rattle cans made elsewhere (i.e duplicolor engine enamel) over the counter, and we can use paint guns or the divorced aersol system, but here we can't get a custom put in the spray can.



-D.Idiot

Why lacquer?
I took the paint code from my fender tag (DD1) down to my closet auto parts store (Lee Auto) and they mixed up a quart of Nason Ful-Cryl II and I sprayed it out of a gun using their house brand hardener. The only thing keeping it from a deadnutz match is the slightly faded original paint on the body. Got another quart 2 months later and did a spot repair under hood - another near perfect match.
No spray lacquer in cans here either (that I know of anyway).

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The under hood repair was shot with 4 different product brands (primer/sealer/paint/hardener) - turned out great - far from perfect, perfect from far.

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1966 Coronet Deluxe

This color is no longer factory.That is why it is complicated. Also, I have sprayed these wheels with lacquer already. Reactions could happen with another kind of paint now. I have seen this happen. I have decided black is the way to go. It will match the stripe and the mirrors, and ends the decision part if this project.

Thanks for all thoughts on this.

Sam

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Get a quart of exterior paint from home depot or lowes that's matched to the color you want.


Apply with brush or roller.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I always thought that cop rims would look cool with some of that push on chrome trim outlining each of the holes in the rims, or at least painting the edge of the hole silver.

The first one is already painted black. I like it. The rest will follow. Thanks again for the tips. I will keep my eyes open for the late model center caps. I never considered those as Cop Car wheels centers. I think they would look nice. Next step after painting is new trim rings.

Sam

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IMO trim rings ruin the cop car look. The 3 pronged stainless '68 Dodge poverty caps are the bomb! That is the combo on my van.

I've never seen a 6" cop wheel.

Some cop wheels have 3 holes to where you can bolt on center caps off the slotted C body "road" wheels.

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'72 Duster 198 stock cam, 3:23's

93 D350 Cummins THD Maxfuel 35mpg parts to hit 400hp+ Suncoast Cat2 A518, converter DDP Stage III injectors 62/64 HX35, 3 piece manifold, 4" Diamond Eye, Gear Venders OD. Stage I street/tow PDD head on order.