Noticed something odd about the paint on my '86. Normal?

[PabloX]

My power has been out since Saturday so I was going through my garage with a really bright LED flashlight on my way to check on the generator. While going through, I shined the flashlight on "black" '86 911 coupe.

What I noticed is that the hood, cowl right in front of the windshield, roof and the whole back of the car, including both rear quarters, have a slight brown tint. However, the two front quarter panels and the doors are more of a pure black, maybe with a very slight blue tint.

Is this normal? I see absolutely no evidence that the front of the car has ever been damaged or repainted. Further, even if it had been damaged, the pattern seems inconsistent with how body shops usually repaint.

Any ideas? Would the factory have done it this way?

[911Freak]

As a former painter I can tell you that there are several base tones to every "black" color. Some blacks have a blue base or a brown base, some even have a red base, just depends on the formula. If you see more then 1 underlying tone on your black paint odds are it has been repainted, or depending on the angle you are looking at the paint different base tones show up (flop) however the latter is rare in a solid-non metallic paint. Another possibility is that oxidation in the base has changed the blue/red base toner to more of a brown tone, again pretty rare in modern paints...

YMMV

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by 911Freak

As a former painter I can tell you that there are several base tones to every "black" color. Some blacks have a blue base or a brown base, some even have a red base, just depends on the formula. If you see more then 1 underlying tone on your black paint odds are it has been repainted, or depending on the angle you are looking at the paint different base tones show up (flop) however the latter is rare in a solid-non metallic paint. Another possibility is that oxidation in the base has changed the blue/red base toner to more of a brown tone, again pretty rare in modern paints...

YMMV

Yes, I know what you're saying and realize it does indicate a respray. That said, it seems incongruous that both front quarter panels and both doors would match each other but not the rest of the car in a respray situation. Further, it seems incongruous that the whole rest of the car would match if it had been hit at some point. Usually that would involve fixing the area and trying to blend the paint.

Finally, the whole car has the typical orange peel of Porsche paint from the era and the general condition of the paint on the whole car is very consistent. Looking under the hood and behind panels shows no sign whatsoever of accident repair and I did a Carfax report as well as one other similar service and none showed accidents. If it has been resprayed, it must have happened very early in its life and was well done.

What I'm wondering is this. At the factory, the unitbody would be painted in one step and the fenders and doors in a separate step with assembly later. Could the factory have used two slightly different paints? I recently had some minor body work done on my wife's 2008 Toyota and the body guy said that paints can change from batch to batch at the factory even within a model year. If I'm smoking crack on this theory, please tell me.

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by PabloX

Finally, the whole car has the typical orange peel of Porsche paint from the era and the general condition of the paint on the whole car is very consistent.

Orange peel is not typical of the era. At least not in my experience with my '86 and other 911's I have seen. The paint is deep, glass smooth and glossy.

[dshepp806]

As to "blending, I can tell you of me present enagement with the insurance company regarding sevral airborne pieces "engaging" my car....

Chipped paint, all over the place, from the airborne metals,....a respray of both doors, both front quarter panels, front bumper and valance, upper cowling, roof.........stated that nothing else was damaged so it would be sprayed.......now we're talking the rear quarters, rear bumper, tail, and rear decklid.........on a Silver Metallic paint....you kidding? Looks like I'll have to spring for the outta' pocket paint pieces......

If this repair process would have taken "shape", I would imagine I'd see what you're seeing (if they got it close),..or, (and what I think):::WORSE!!!!!!!!! (i.e., NO MATCH AT ALL!)..

Not to sidetrack.....

BEST!

Doyle

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

Orange peel is not typical of the era. At least not in my experience with my '86 and other 911's I have seen. The paint is deep, glass smooth and glossy.

Mine's deep and glossy but I've talked to a number of Porsche experts, including the best independent shop in the area and they all told me that some subtle orange peel is completely normal on these cars.

*shrug*

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by dshepp806

As to "blending, I can tell you of me present enagement with the insurance company regarding sevral airborne pieces "engaging" my car....

Chipped paint, all over the place, from the airborne metals,....a respray of both doors, both front quarter panels, front bumper and valance, upper cowling, roof.........stated that nothing else was damaged so it would be sprayed.......now we're talking the rear quarters, rear bumper, tail, and rear decklid.........on a Silver Metallic paint....you kidding? Looks like I'll have to spring for the outta' pocket paint pieces......

If this repair process would have taken "shape", I would imagine I'd see what you're seeing (if they got it close),..or, (and what I think):::WORSE!!!!!!!!! (i.e., NO MATCH AT ALL!)..

Not to sidetrack.....

BEST!

Doyle

Not a sidetrack at all and you make me realize something I should have thought of before. I should open the trunk and shine the same light on the underside of the lid to see what that looks like.

[rw229]

My Black SC had a "brown" area on the rear quarter when viewed at night with a strong flashlight. Because it was fairly small and irregular shape, I assumed that the paint was possibly a little thin (over buffing?) in that area and therefore a bit translucent.

Originally Posted by PabloX

My power has been out since Saturday so I was going through my garage with a really bright LED flashlight on my way to check on the generator. While going through, I shined the flashlight on "black" '86 911 coupe.

What I noticed is that the hood, cowl right in front of the windshield, roof and the whole back of the car, including both rear quarters, have a slight brown tint. However, the two front quarter panels and the doors are more of a pure black, maybe with a very slight blue tint.

Is this normal? I see absolutely no evidence that the front of the car has ever been damaged or repainted. Further, even if it had been damaged, the pattern seems inconsistent with how body shops usually repaint.

Any ideas? Would the factory have done it this way?

[PabloX]

Looking at it again, I think the hood, roof and cowl must have been resprayed at some point. It was probably quite early in the cars life from what I can tell.

[Bob Kontak]

I am with RW229. It is a lot easier to power buff the hood, roof and rear quarters than the doors and front fenders. However, top of front fenders are easy - that may blow my thinking out of the water.

PabloX - I would take the light again and determine if the rear quarters have the brown tint right up to where they meet the door. That area between the wheel well and door is vertical. Harder to put muscle into it. If it is distinct then there may have been a repaint.

Regarding orange peel, they had it new. It is subtle as said above but by no means mirror like. I am not sure of the BC/CC colors but the ones that have single stage Glasurit had orange peel.

[masraum]

My understanding is that it's not unusual for cars to require some paint and possibly body work before they are even sold as a result of wear/tear during shipping/delivery.

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

I am with RW229. It is a lot easier to power buff the hood, roof and rear quarters than the doors and front fenders. However, top of front fenders are easy - that may blow my thinking out of the water.

PabloX - I would take the light again and determine if the rear quarters have the brown tint right up to where they meet the door. That area between the wheel well and door is vertical. Harder to put muscle into it. If it is distinct then there may have been a repaint.

Regarding orange peel, they had it new. It is subtle as said above but by no means mirror like. I am not sure of the BC/CC colors but the ones that have single stage Glasurit had orange peel.

I was previously incorrect. It's just the hood, cowl and roof (it's dark here!). I'm wondering if something didn't happen to the hood. My mechanic mentioned that it could have even been damaged on the boat or coming off the boat and it was fixed before it was sold.

Or, it could have had some sort of damage to the hood (like road debris) that the owner never reported to the insurance co.

Regardless, I'm still happy with the condition of the car but I'd like to know more about its history.

[mystro]

It's a 26 year old car. There is a very good chance the panels were resprayed just from normal wear. It doesn't really matter. I would rather have a resprayed 911 that looks good than a tired original paint job.