I’m restoring? ( actually fixing is more like it) on an impossibly tight budget. So I’m using what I have rather than spending money.
What I have is 2 gallons of paint to respray the exterior of my Series 1 XJ12
The car is Regency Red the paint I have is supposed to be that but actually turns out to be a Brilliant red.
Now the question.
Can I add a quart or so of black?,blue?. Something? to get it closer to the REGENCY RED color?
Doesn’t have to be exact. Just close enough so the door jams , engine compartment. Etc look close. Can’t afford to strip the car and do a complete repaint.

 

Car paint in an Interesting compound. It reacts Completely different from, say, house paint or artist paint.
If you want to tone down the color, you CAN mix in something darker (that's what they'll do at the paint shop), but you don't want a full quart in 2 gallons. Maybe as small as 1/4 cup total, maybe not even that much. It won't take a lot to make a difference, and when you get close, STOP.

Bear in mind though, the color you SEE in the can might not be the color you get when you spray it on the car. And, as the car is RED already, that will also effect your finished result, far more than if the car was gray primer for example.

We used to start with Un-thinned base color, and then gradually while mixing, drizzle in whatever other color we mixed it with, like tiny quantities, tablespoon at a time or so (unless we wanted a big change), mix Thoroughly until we got the shade/tint we were looking for.
You need to sort of sneak up on in near the end as it Easy to go too far.
Better to have it a little too red (as REDS fade over time anyway) than to wander into Purple by adding too much blue!

We also used to have a test panel, not only to set up the gun, but to check our finished color. I highly recommend this. Other than that, it's trial and error.

I wish you success.
(';')

 

Lnr is spot on. Mixing paint is not an exact science, even with professional equipment, as a dozen differnt things, temperature, humidity, lighting in the shop, versus sunshine, these can all effect what it looks like in the can, to what it looks like on the car. As she said go slowly little bits at a time. Good Luck.

Jack

 

By the way, you MUST break through the oxidation layer on the surface by sanding or such, or your new paint Will Not stick, and sooner than later will begin to peel and flake off, starting around door handles and chrome edges (I can tell you how I learned that). Then it can look like a new Hyundai!

As your car is red already, if it hasn't been bashed, you might get away with a good vigorous deep cleaning/buff/polish/wax to brighten it up.
(';')

 

As long as the paint colours you want to mix is identical - same brand, same type, same generation, everything else is the same it will work. Some of the paints like DuPont for example, kept the name, but changed mixing ratios over generations of paint between base, thinner and catalyst. You couldn't mix a paint with a different mixing ratio for example.

You'll need to read the tech sheet for your paints and make sure they are the same.
For example, if the mixing ratio on one of your paints is 4:1:1 (parts base, thinner, hardener), then you would not be able to mix in a different paint that has ratios of 1:1:1

 

The Plot, errr, Paint Thickens. LOL

Jack

 

M, What brand and type of paint is your two gallons?
If your paint is for example DuPont, I would suggest take both gals to an autobody supply house that sells DuPont and ask them to tint it for you to match similar to your car. Most would do so at least for a small fee. That way you wouldn't have compatibility problems down the road or during spraying. There is, at the very least, a hell of a lot of time and resources involved to get a car ready to spray, the last thing you want to do is risk a big mess at that stage over saving a dollar.

Another thought, Regency red is a metallic color is your two gallons of Brilliant Red metallic or a solid red?

 

Holy crap a 460 ford in an XJS?

 

I have used different reducers with different brand paints. I've even used different brand activators with 2k colors and clears and it all went off.

I'm certain that there is some combination that wouldn't react well, but i think it's more rare than not. AND, even when I've used the same paint system, I've had my share of other problems that make painting as much art as science.

 

Well said, that’s exactly the process I’ve used in the past.
I try to find a big cardboard box to set the gun ( and refresh my painting technique) I also take off the gas cap door and compare the back side to the paint I spray.
Having said that, I’m not sure if BLACK is the right color to mix in order to get it closer to Regency Red.
Might I need a touch of BLUE?

 

ART RATHER THAN SCIENCE, exactly. Since the whole body will be the same color I only need to get close to have it come out respectable.

 

METALLIC? On A 1970’s Jaguar? I’m sorry but I’ve never seen an original 1970’s metallic

I don’t know what modern 2 part paints or whatever is being used on modern Jaguars. But the 1970’s they were still using LACQUER in solid colors.
Some time in the 1980’s they started to use the GM. Thermal plastic paints which caused them all sorts of problems, since the melting point of the paint was very close to the melting point of Lead used for the bodywork.

 

I assure you the engine in the Series 1 Jaguar will be a JAGUAR ENGINE. OK I’m pulling the 4.2 and replacing it with a 5.3 V12 but even the factory was doing that by 1973. So it will slide right in.
I’m going to “hot Rod “ it a bit by cutting off the dogleg the factory used on the intake manifold which is reportedly good for an extra 40 hp .
I’m torn between using the HE engine I have and the earlier pre HE. I suspect if I use the HE I’ll need to use E85 in order to deal with potential preignition problems.
While the early V12 sedans were real gas hogs. It shouldn’t matter too much. It’s not going to be a daily driver and current price of E85 is over a dollar a gallon less than the required premium

 

The old Lacquer paints ( which this is) uses the lacquer thinner as its hardener. We used to have all sorts of different lacquer thinners to use based on temperature. Basically that was an attempt to generate high gloss without the need for all the color sanding and buffing.
I’m gong to have to guess as to what lacquer thinner to use. My thinking is to spray on a hot dry day.

 

Thank you for that reminder.
Nope, A buff won’t get it back. It’s too thin in some spots. It’s been over 50 years since it was painted. Yeh! Original!!
I plan on starting with 320 to remove oxidation. And use hand sanding around any edges.

 

Ah, I was assuming it was a 2K paint you had. Is it really lacquer as opposed to acrylic enamel?

Jaguar was at the cutting edge of paint technology back then, they made the switch from lacquer to synthetic enamel in 1952. I can't find it now, but there was a big article in their employee newspaper about the advanced ICI acrylics they were using - this was 1960's sometime.

Jaguar was using lots of metallics in the 1960's, many of the E Types were metallic paint. Jaguar called it opalescent. I'm currently working on a 1952 XK120 which is metallic bronze. It's the original colour, confirmed by the Heritage Certificate.

 

I stand corrected Mguar, I didn't remember that your car was a series 1. Although there were metallic colors on 60's xke's I don't remember seeing them on xj612 cars. I was thinking of later regency red colors. As for the 460 ford ref, I think I saw jacobra's sig line. I'll bet a ser1 XJ with a v12 makes a really nice driving jag.

 

I started working on Jaguars back in 1962.
My XK140MC was a Lacquer paint. The XK150 was lacquer.
My 1965 XKE was Lacquer. The 3.8 sedan was Lacquer, various XKE’s I restored or parted out. As well as a MK10
Yes, I’m sure it’s a Lacquer paint. I’ve restored ( including painting) too many cars to be confused.
I know I’ve seen Metallic Bronze ( never painted one though)
I can imagine a metallic Lacquer but I’ve also heard lacquer called enamel by the British. Which makes all of this make sense. We call it a hood and they call it a bonnet etc.

Sometime in the 1980’s Jaguar bought GM’s thermal plastic paint. ( read all about that mess in JOHN EAGAN’s SAVING JAGUAR).

 

The V12 weighs 30 pounds less than the 4.2 six cylinder engine. The transmission ( a GM TTURBO 400 is supposed to be 27 pounds lighter than the Borg Warner. Plus I’ll get rid of the ugly York A/C compressor and use modern light alternator instead of the Bus sized one.
I’ll increase the front sway bar while decreasing the weight. ( tubular instead of solid ) and cut one coil off teach front spring.
Hopefully I can pull close to 100 pounds off the front end.

 

Hey, where you gonna get that tubular sway bar?