Touching up paint scratches on '95 SL500

[Gusfazekas]

I have a Smoked Silver '95 SL500 and I have tried to no avail to try and match the two-tone (upper and lower body cladding) color of the car. I have tried the dealer touch-up bottles and ordering quart cans from the local paint store, nothing seems to work. All of the areas I've touched up appear "darker" than the original paint including comparing it to the hardtop which has been stored most of its "life". Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how or where did you get your paint from? I see that Pete Gleither has the same vehicle, have you experienced the same problem? I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this. I have painted and restored two vehicles as a frame-up restore, but I have never had this much of a problem before. Steve

[Pete Geither]

Steve, There are many variations of the 702 Smoke Silver color, and in all honesty,,, and I own a body shop,,, it took a long time to come up with an acceptable color for touch ups. All three of our cars are Smoke Silver, and they are not all alike. Keep trying, and go to a body shop and ask if they will mix you touch ups of the different variations. If you lived around here I would be glad to do it for you,,,, for a very small charge of course.

[pollockd17]

I have found that the only sucessful way of matching the paint is to take some kind of sample of the paint you wish to match and go to a paint supplier that uses a matching computer that reads the sample and formulates
the proper mix for that color, I have had great sucess in matching car and cycle colors........

[lynns]

Originally Posted by Gusfazekas

I have a Smoked Silver '95 SL500 and I have tried to no avail to try and match the two-tone (upper and lower body cladding) color of the car.

Steve, please read No going back to factory touch-up paint.

[dwcars]

There is no magician on earth that can brush touch a match on a high metallic base coat/clear coat paint job. Even a professional with a high tech gun would have a difficult time as color can vary because of air pressure to the paint gun. High metallic base coat/clear coat OEM colors must have the color blended into the ajoining areas to look half way decent. Even then, from the right angle in the right light a sharp eye will be able to spot the repair.
If you don't have a solid color car, you had just better step up to bat and find the best painter around with a mixing system if you want the fix to look good!!!!