Rear Louver Paint

[77CobraII]

I'm trying to find a good match for painting my rear louver on my II. They are the factory flat to semi-gloss black. Does anyone know of the closest match that I can find for them? I want them to look original. I tried semi-gloss but it is too shiny. I'm afraid that flat will be too much. Should I find some lacquer and use my spray gun? Cobraman, any advice?

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

You have two ways to go...

You can use regular automotive single-stage paint with a flattening agent, or, use rattle can.

I have had good success with using Krylon semi-flat black as a base, and then applying Armor brand semi-flat as a top coat. Sounds cheesy, but it really does work well. The Krylon is just a little too flat, but covers very well, whereas the Armor doesn't cover well, but has that "just right" look. Just make sure they're VERY clean before spraying, and leave as much of the original paint on it as you can, unless it's peeling.

You could try powdercoating, I guess, but might be kinda spendy depending on rates in your area. We did a '78 Chebby truck for a guy, he had all the inner fenders/core support coated, came out very nicely. He said it wasn't as expensive as he had been lead to believe.

 

[77CobraII]

Where did you find the paint at? I can probably find the Krylon, but I haven't heard of Armor. I think I'll try this route it I can find the paint.

 

[Hissing Cobra]

I too, used the Krylon "Semi-Flat Black" paint on my louvers (not on a II, but a Fox). After the fifth coat, they looked fabulous. I needed to build up the surface, as I stripped mine down to the bare aluminum, primed, and then painted. I did not use the Armor brand, but it sounds like it works well too.

It's important to sand in between coats (I used 400 grit) so that you can remove dust/dirt particles. They're a lot easier to sand when there's nothing (coats of paint) covering them.

I was able to get the Krylon brand of paint at my local Wal-Mart.

 

[THE COBRAMAN]

Re: Armor paint

I used to buy it from one of my local paint/equipment suppliers, but he stopped carrying it.

It was just a cheapo brand paint that we used for guide coats, touching up brackets, etc. Probably any "store brand" would be close. You might be OK with just the Krylon, I just liked a little bit more shine than it had. Seems like I remember seeing that they make (made?) glossy, semi-gloss, semi-flat, and flat. The semi-gloss might be a step up from the semi-flat, if it's still made.

I also pondered spraying a satin clear over the black, but never tried it.

 

[77CobraII]

I used the semi-flat krylon. Came out OK. I need to sand a few areas and touch up. The semi-gloss was way too much. I just don't like the overlap lines that the spray paint leaves in places. Anyway around that?

 

[Hissing Cobra]

When I used the semi-flat, I needed multiple coats to build it up. The first three to four coats all dried flat. On each successive coat after those, the shine would improve dramatically. To avoid lap marks, I would spray each louver completely from left to right before moving down to the next louver.

I previously mentioned that I sprayed on five coats. Now that I think about it, it may have been as many as eight.