HS students painting my 78 Brat - Color Codes?

[Grisezd]

Hello all.  My Brat is scheduled to go back to school next month as a body shop class project.  I've stripped back the thick, cheap Macco white and found a cool copper over the original gold.  However, neither repaint went into door jambs, underhood, etc.  So I'd like to try to match the original gold color on this one.

 

How do I find a paint code that the paint supplier can mix up? 

 

Next up, the shop instructor would rather have the kids work with base/clear than single stage as I think was original, mostly because that's the majority of the finishes they'd be expected to do in the working world.  Is there a way to do base/clear that won't end up looking like a candy shell on the original color?  I thought about asking them to use a flatted clear.  As a bonus the kids will paint in a bedliner.  My cost is only the materials and a $50 shop supply charge. 

 

As an aside, the welding instructor is interested in having students design and make tube bumpers for me while it's there, and the graphics instructor thinks his kids would love a chance to do some resto-mod vinyl.  I can't wait to see what they come up with.  And again, I only pay for materials!

 

I had this same school paint my '82 Renault LeCar (Renault 5 outside of the US) a decade ago.  They did a pretty decent job of it and reportedly really enjoyed working on an odd (here) car.  I understand that they're way more excited about this tiny truck. 

 

 

[stewartkb]

Sounds like an awesome deal! Most paint suppliers have books upon books of colors you can go through, as well as extensive online databases. If you have an example of what you want, they can match it pretty close if you take it to them.

 

As far as base/clear it's easier to fix mistakes than a single stage. Also in my opinion, more durable. How extensive of a job are they doing? It should look great if the time is put into it (primer, blocking and sanding in multiple stages before paint - prep is everything!). Would love to see it!

Edited November 16, 2016 by stewartkb

[dfoyl]

http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colocodedisplay.cgi?year=1978&make=Subaru

[Grisezd]

Wow, haven't checked in for a while! Thanks for the tips and link. I'll post it up when they finish, probably in February.

[Grisezd]

While I asked for some small rust and dent repair before paint, 2 of the students have really taken a liking to the Brat. They and the instructor don't trust some of the bondo they're finding and have decided to take the whole body down to bare metal and do it right. They've been pulling dents and replacing rusty steel and sending photos a few times a week. I think I got really lucky with this crew! So far I'm in for a roll of DA paper, $40.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Grisezd