Black Cherry or other color?

[russm57]

My son and I have been working on a '69 c10 off and on for about a year and half. It has a new gm crate engine and more new parts than I want to put in writing, or than I could possibly remember. We are probably within a month of taking it to a body shop and having some final body work done and a very nice paint job. Trouble is, I still can't decide on a color. I think I want what I would call black cherry. Very dark, but not so black that you have to look hard to see the red - very much like the color of a fresh black cherry you see in the produce department in summer. However, I still have not seen any vehicles painted that color. I looked at a "house of color" book at a local paint store and they have some great colors. However, they told me that it is very hard to match if you ever have to touch it up or repair. I don't think I want something that can't be readily touched or repaired. We don't plan to make it a daily driver, but it will get a fair amount of use. The only thing I've seen actually painted a color that looks close to what I'm looking for was a set of valve covers a friend of mine painted. He painted them black and then painted a coat of red - I think it was kind of a flourecent or pearlish red - over the black. Is something like this the only way to get the black cherry look? I'm concerned that this too would be difficult to touch up or match if damaged. Why am I not seeing any cars painted the color I'm looking for? There's got to be a reason, because in my mind's eye it is a beautiful, eye catching color. Should I give up on that color?
The other color (which I have seen on a 72 and liked a lot) we have considered is a bright blue metallic - I don't know what it is called but I don't think I'd have a hard time finding it. Please guys, give me some help with this?

Thanks

[ShamrockCustoms]

If you go with black cherry, there is a Cadillac paint code to use, think it was in the late 80's or early 90's. I used it on a past project and it looked good. Would be cheaper than custom paint. Good luck!


Oh, the blue you like may be a cobalt blue, very nice color too.

[russm57]

Hey, I appreciate it, I'll try looking for that caddy color. The blue that chevy currently calls cobalt is somewhat darker than the one I like best.

[russm57]

Oh, buy the way, I talked to my friend on the valve covers since I posted my original message. He said it was actually purple under red, and it was a metallic, anodized paint - I think duplicolor makes it for painting engines and their components. I'd like to see what it would look like with black under red, but it is a cool look as it is.

[70c10]

89' Dodge had Black Cherry.

[MARTINSR]

Below is a ton of good stuff for picking out color and buying your paint. I can not warn you enough about a color like Black cherry. It is DARK, VERY DARK , that means your truck had better be PERFECT or it will look like hell. Don't pick the color just because you "like it", that is my advice. Choose a color that will make your truck look it's best.

If you don't think you need to read the whole thing, just go down and read the bold printed paragraph, that may change your mind.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Basics of Basics" Color choice

Color choice is so much more than simply picking a color because you 'like" it. Not every color "works" on every car. Some will argue "to each his own" or "It's your car, paint it what ever you want". This is true, but you are painting it to look better, right? Why just get color on it for the sake of getting color on it. Why paint your favorite color on it when your favorite color is not going to make the car look it's best?

We have all heard that black will show waves or poor body work. White on the other hand hides them. This is just the start of color choice. We can agree that even though you may love black cars, painting a wavy old beast a cut and buffed black would be wrong. It goes beyond "taste", it is just plain wrong, if your desire is a nice looking car.

There are a few different issues when talking about color choice.

Cost:

IF you have a budget for you paint you best check on the cost before you commit to a color. In one brand of basecoat a price can go from approximately $185.00 to $420.00 a gallon. Any color with a lot of red or pearl is going to be more expensive for instance. These are not custom colors, just regular old colors off new cars. Whether you plan on BC/CC (base coat/ clear coat) or SS (single stage, where no clear is applied over it) will effect cost. Pick a color and go to your paint store to see all costs, color, clear, hardeners, reducers, any sealers you may want, etc. You don't want to be surprised when the car is sitting there ready for paint.

Resale Value:

Yeah, I know, you'll never sell it. Well, I have to tell you, you most likely will someday. There are lots of cars painted pastel pick from the 1980's that are darn near un-sellable today. I know of one, a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly and his wife almost had to give away his '34 Ford. It would have probably gotten up to $10,000 more if it wasn't a out dated trendy color from the 80's. Really watch those trendy colors, they can kill you.

Does the color "work" on this particular body style:

Not all cars look good in all colors. Again, I am not talking "taste" here, I mean some colors just DON'T "work" on every car. There is a 4dr '59 Cad in my area that is painted a fire engine red, I am sorry, it doesn't work. In fact, it looks like hell. Is that just my opinion, well yes and no. It is also the publics opinion in large too. GM spends a LOT of time and money on marketing and research to come up with the colors it offers. That red would not be a color offered on that car for good reason. This is a very gray area (if you will pardon the pun), it does come down to "opinion". But it is like speaking your mind about politics, sure you have the right, but you better "know the room". Or you will suffer the consequences. The resale of the Cad is in the tank. The likelihood of a crowd gathering around it at a show is in the tank. He too the chance when he opened the can. Because of this rule it is not likely you will ever see a pale yellow Lamborghini Countach or a candy apple red Rolls Royce.

What do you want the color to do:

This is where we return to the black show waves stuff. Sure black shows waves, but did you know it hides body lines? That's right, it "softens" body lines. If you have a car with features you want to hide, black is the color. This is one of the reasons it is known for being "mysterious". It hides a lot, leaving it up to the imagination. It also makes the car look smaller. I am not kidding, park a black '68 Camaro next to a white one and you darn near have to take a measuring tape out to prove they are the same car.
On something like a '27 Ford model T the doors lay on top of the cowl and quarters. It kinda looks like a tire patch on the side of the car. In black they "melt" in and don't pop out as much.

White is just the opposite, it may hide waves in flat panels, but it shows off body lines. This includes how STRAIGHT the lines are. Panel fit is very critical with white. The gaps look like black pin stripes, if they are not perfect it will look like wavy inconsistent width stripes.

We all know what black and white do, any other color just falls in the middle. It is a sliding scale, the darker the color the more it's effects are like black and the lighter the color the more it's effects are like white, simple.

Tip 1. There are thousands and thousands of colors out there. To pick one from that huge pallet would be very hard. This is what I feel is the best way to start the color search, find a car the color you want and get the color code off it. It is that simple, the new car deal lots are full of cars in every color imaginable, find the color and there you will find the exact code of that color.

Tip 2. When you go to get your paint at the paint store ask if there are any "alternates" or "Variants" of the color you have chosen. These "alternates" can be VERY, VERY different from the "standard" color. The car you may have seen was one of these "alternate" colors. These alternate colors are different "batches" if you will.

Tip 3. DO NOT PICK THE COLOR OUT OF A CHIP BOOK! These chips are usually not even paint, they are ink. They are a "close" representation of the color, they are NOT the color. (for instance the alternates will not even be represented in the chip books) .

Tip 4. I highly recommend you buy a pint of the color you have chosen, take it home and spray it out. Use an old fender or something and really get a good feeling for the color before you layout your hard earned dough for a gallon or two. This is not only to see if the color is right, but to see if it covers well, and just how easy it will be to paint. The difference between colors and brands can be night and day in how user friendly they are. If you find that the color is nice but it takes 6 coats to cover, you may want to change the color choice or change the brand of paint. Some "value lines" can be very transparent, so you save no money because you may have to put on twice as much. A high pearl or metallic color may "model" easily, that may be a reason to scrap the color or brand.

Tip 5. After you have your color picked for goodness sakes don't be a cheapie when buying your paint. Figure out how much you'll need for the whole job. We are talking every thing you plan on painting, outside, inside, dash, jambs, trunk, everything. When you have an idea how much, add at the very least 20% more. If one gallon is enough, buy another quart. Buy all the paint you will need before you start painting anything. Get a few extra gallon cans and use them to intermix ALL the paint. You then have all the paint you need, no mismatched parts, no running out, you are set to go. If you have a that quart left over when you are done, so what? Running out of paint is NOT pretty, it is a disaster in many cases. Now, why intermix? This is a VERY painful lesson you don't want to learn the hard way. This is it in a nutshell, if you were to go to the paint store and have three gallons of the same formula mixed you would end up with three different colors! I will bet you a dollar, here is why. Some toners are very strong, just a drip will change the color. A couple of different people could mix them, some people mix better than others. There are other variables such as one toner used gets emptied and the next toner used has more solvent in it because it is new and has less strength. Now, these colors may not be "that" different. If you were to paint three different cars with those gallons you may not even see it. But if you were to paint your hood, fenders, and quarters with the three different gallons you sure would! I repeat, this is a VERY painful lesson you don't want to have to learn the hard way, BUY ALL YOUR PAINT UP FRONT.

Tip 6. If you follow tip #5 you can skip this one. It is something that comes up once and a while. When you have chosen BC/CC, SS, Lacquer, enamel, what ever, paint the WHOLE car the same. Don't paint the jambs SS and the outside BC/CC or something like that. Yes, it "can" work, but seldom does. The formula for the SS and BC of the same color is NOT (usually) the same. The SS paint is not just the BC that you don't put clear over. For that matter just clearing a color will change it.

I could bore you with example after example of how I learned this information. Follow these simple tips and you will have fun doing your car, instead of experiencing the pain on your own. These are lessons that are very painful, believe me.

Let me also say that I love color. It has been a big part of my life for over 25 years. I can appreciate just about any color as long as it is done nice. That does not mean that any color belongs on any car. It also doesn't mean that because I would like a car a particular color that I would paint it that color. It has to "work" or it was a waste of time and money. There are many cars that you have seen grace the front cover of a magazine that would be a big ZERO if it were painted another color. And likewise there are many cars that just don't get the attention they deserve because they were painted the "wrong" color.

This may be the only car you ever restore, or at the very least one of only a few. The time you take to pick the color is time very well spent, that I guarantee you.

[russm57]

Okay, point well taken, and I appreciate your advice. So how about some opinions on what would look good. Is it difficult to find black cherry because, in spite of us loving it, nobody else does? Would it be a bad color on a '69 C10, even if the body work is good enough to make it work? What about the bright metalic blue we like? Let me have some opinions.

Thanks

[jamis]

I like black cherry and also midnight or colbolt blue, but I hate detailing a car......so any dark colors like that are a no-no for me. I have a black s-10 for a daily driver and I hate the color because its always dirty. I park it next to my 95 1500 that hasnt been washed in months because I rarly use it and the white truck looks so much cleaner. I'm in the same boat as you with my 71....I cant decide on a color.....I think for me something in the red family will be better. I'm not all the excited about red (because there are soooo many red trucks) but I think it will be the best in the long run.

Take a look at the trucks in the "pictures" section to get some ideas.

[MARTINSR]

True "Black cherry" which is a black basecoat with candy apple red over it was sort of a "fad" color for a while. I think that is why you won't see many with it now. About 20 years ago you couldn't turn around without seeing a car or truck painted "BLack cherry" or "Brandywine".

The color is still your choice, just take your time. Look at trucker magazines to get ideas. Unfortunetly,you may end up with a semi "common" color like that red because, well, it looks the best on these trucks

Red is a "hot rod" look, whether on a woman in the form of a beautiful dress or night gown, or on a car. It says "I AM READY FOR ACTION". If that is the look you want your truck to have, then that is the color.

Now, if the rest of the truck doesn't "FIT" that "Theme" than it may be a mistake. A restored truck with dog dish hub caps may not look so good bright red, the color will be "off" from the fheme. But if you have some 20" rims (just as an example, there is no need for them to look "hot") it is lowered a little, etc., red fits right in.

[russm57]

After seeing the effect from my friend painting his valve covers I was afraid that the true look I have in mind is a two stage color process. That being the case I probably don't want to go that route because it's going to make it very costly to repair and touch up isn't it?
Our 69 is kind of a hot-rod look, so in that sense it would look good in a red tone. But I'm just not into the idea of painting it a color that's hard to make repairs to. I was told the "House of color" colors are like that also. Probably the darkest red I've seen on a factory paint job is on a new Corvette. My son told me it is a special color for the 50th anniversary edition??? I do tend to be one to shy away from doing the same thing everybody else is doing. For that reason I'm not sure a true red is what I want, but I'm not ruling it out. I think the blue I like may be a "midnight" blue. About 15 years ago I had a 75 Ford that I had repainted its original blue color, and I think that is the color we like, although a 15 year old memory is a little fuzzy. I do know it is a little lighter shade than the current Chevy color "cobalt", and it is pretty heavily metallic.
Anyway, thanks for all your input, and I would appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions and ideas I can get. I'll continue to check the board. Thanks again

[smitty62]

Check out this color--I think it adds a lot of class to our trucks without screaming ---"HEY, LOOK AT ME" JMO

[jamis]

You right about fad colors and paint schemes, remember the 90s with the pastels and the spashes or the seran rap efects.

Sometimes you look at something like project copper head and you say to your self thats what I want. I know that was my intention was. But after thinking about it for months, I decide I wont be happy with that color in the long run and need to look for somthing that will look good and be happy now and 5 years from now.

[72C10chevy4x4]

I have a 96 suburban which is painted black cherry metallic - from the factory. I rarely see this color on other suburbans and love it. seems that early 90 corvettes also had the same or similar color.

[dubie]

I have found the perfect color for my flatbed project. But you guys are gonna have to wait and see. It should be all painted in about 6 weeks from now

[Bowtie67]

The mid, late 90 Honda, I beleive the Accord had a Black Pearl that looked real sharp, Ended up putting that on my 96 HD RoadKing, JMO

[>X<]

Would it be a bad color on a '69 C10, even if the body work is good enough to make it work?

when it comes to black there is no such thing as "good enough" its "perfect" or crap. they have a dodge that i see all the time with a shaved tailgate in black and its the ugliest thing ever because the body work is not perfect

[69ride]

i'm going for yellow since i'm doing the body work myself and it is a very forgiving colour. i have a friend who works at a body shop and you can guess what his favourite colours are...Solids. wonder why?!:p

[dinnut]

like this?

[>X<]

thats a nice truck, that color looks better than i thought it would

[russm57]

That looks good. Can you give me some other shots - maybe some profiles - or let me know if you have any other pics on the web somewhere? How did you acheive the color? Is it a single stage paint? Or a red over black? I'm beginning to lean away from black cherry, mainly because it has become my perception that the look I have in mind is a two stage process, or some other special process that would be very expensive to repair, and impossible to touch up. That's okay for a show car, but if you're going to use it much at all, I don't think it's smart. We're currently considering the midnight blue I mentioned, or possibly even the original green (I think it's called GM turquoise). My wife is voting for sunset orange - or something along that line. I think it is a fairly recent Ford color, but I've also seen one similar on new Chevys. It's somewhere in the range of a burnt orange, or kind of a goldish orange. My thought on this color is that it is kind of trendy (as I was advised against above). What does anyone else think?

[rigo]

I could be wrong, but that last picture that dinnut posted seems to be brandywine candy...over a gold or silver base...i'm leaning more to the gold just from the look of it...

rigo

[dinnut]

if i remember correctly it is brandywine candy or whatever

[dinnut]

3

[russm57]

Thanks for the pics. It's amazing how different color looks in pictures and different light conditions. That profile does look a lot like what I had in mind, but the front shots look a lot different. Very nice.