TheSamba.com :: View topic - Where to buy VW paint L90D and L53D. Or other original paint

Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:43 pm

Where can I find an online site to buy original VW colors. I would like Pastel White (L90D) and Niagra Blue (L53D).

Thanks!

Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:45 pm

your best bet is a local paint store, otherwise just search for 'online paint'. i can tell you this, depending on the amount of product you plan on buying, expect a hefty hazmat fee

Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:36 pm

I just bought a quart of pastel white for the vanagon a few months back...75.00 for it and related hardener in sherwin williams dimension.

It was a perfect match and worked down well.

Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:06 am

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

Search L90D on that site, or call them.

Unless you just want some touchup cans, it is really best to use a local paint store. They will have all the proper "stuff" you will need as well (reducers, hardeners, catalysts and such). Many FLAPS mix paint.

I LOVE Nason single stage fast cure for touch up and panel work. It is tack free in about 15 minutes, and you can buff that stuff in about 6 hours!

Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:05 am

Ask your local auto body shops where they buy their paint from. Here we have a big paint supplier to the auto trade and that's where I've gone for paint for my Beetle. They service the Northeast and Florida.

http://www.kemperle.net/index2.php

Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:23 pm

http://www.apstowerpaint.com/

Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:04 pm

aeromech wrote: http://www.apstowerpaint.com/

Their SprayMax 2K product looks very interesting. It looks like a 2 part epoxy paint in one can. I suppose the downside is once, you've activated the paint, you need to use it up pretty quickly.

Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:13 am

chazz79 wrote: I just bought a quart of pastel white for the vanagon a few months back...75.00 for it and related hardener in sherwin williams dimension.

It was a perfect match and worked down well.

How many quarts do you think for the top of a bay window?

Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:27 pm

2 qt did my entire upper area. This included removing the windows and headliner delete to convert to a camper so you may not need that much.

Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:43 pm

Thanks. So it looks like 2qts from a local paint shop. Can basically any paint shop get VW colors or only specialty shops?

Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:48 pm

Its all mixed by code. If a auto paint supply house can't mix by code, find a new one.

When getting paint, not all paint is the same. Some cover like ass, and need 30 coats to build color.

Also, find out what the ratio is. If you have a 4:1:1 mix, you will have approx. 1.5qts of sprayable material

Have fun

Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:05 pm

I want to pass this along,

I found that rustoleum biscuit appliance paint is real close to L90D

I can use it on the interior and it matches pretty well.

see pict of door the center of door panel is original (where dirt is), I repainted the edges in biscuit!

Very happy for interior work

Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:55 pm

larryducas wrote: I want to pass this along,

I found that rustoleum biscuit appliance paint is real close to L90D

I can use it on the interior and it matches pretty well.

see pict of door the center of door panel is original (where dirt is), I repainted the edges in biscuit!

Very happy for interior work

It says that stuff is an epoxy acrylic formula. I wonder how well that will hold up over time?

Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:59 pm

I'm not sure about by you, but here our local auto body supply (Albert Kemperle) can load and pressurize spray cans with whatever color you specify.
I walked in a couple weeks ago, and walked out with L63H sage green in a spray paint can for $27.00. Expensive? Yes. Worth it to have my color to spray my new battery tray? Bet your ass!

Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:27 pm

As far as rattle can, Wolfsburg West has a few colors available, L90D is one of them. Runs 13 dollars a can, good for interior.

Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:38 am

No one has or can match that color. Buy a can of it and then have it matched. Trust me.

Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:30 am

chrisd1891 wrote: It says that stuff is an epoxy acrylic formula. I wonder how well that will hold up over time?

a long time ago i painted a set of rims with appliance epoxy out of a spray can. good prep, several coats applied properly, etc. it held up very well.

Wed May 08, 2013 11:56 am

I bought Wolfsburg West's L90D and it's a brighter greyer white missing the warmer tone in my car's paint. I'm thinking to mix my own using this with a little Almond or Antique White from Rustoleum.

[/img]

Wed May 08, 2013 3:43 pm

s60088 wrote: I bought Wolfsburg West's L90D and it's a brighter greyer white missing the warmer tone in my car's paint. I'm thinking to mix my own using this with a little Almond or Antique White from Rustoleum.

[/img]

Yu will never match it yourself. Trust me...i work with color for a living. Whites are THE hardest colors EVER to match.
The tone or tint of white will vary with every single batch made by any manufacturer. It matters because of the size, lot and grind of whichever pigment they are using...usually titanium dioxide coupled with one of a zillion talcs (each one of which) fluoresces differently under every light source. Exceedingly minute amounts of other pigments of other colors are added to whites to make warm or cold whites. Then it comes down to chroma or chromaticity. Its a relative thing.

You can take an initial cool white with a bit of blue in it...and end up making it an intense white that actually views as warm by making one of the blue pigments a phosphorescent one. Lots of details.

Proffesional paint shops ALL use a spectrophotometer to uniformly match exact L*a*b* coordinates (or they may alternately use the Munsell system)....under the uniform non-changing light of a spectrophotometric colorimeter.....to match from your color chip to the paint, ink or coating you require. Its all fairly automated.

Also....not every exact color can be duplicated by any and every paint system. Each paint manufacturer uses their own pigment suppliers. Many pigments are naturally mined and milled elements.
The grind, particle size and particle shape...each of which affects how the pigments reflect light....and what segments of the spectrum they bounce back to your eye under any given light source ......will be different from manufacturere to manufacturer.

For the most part... the spectro units are accurate enough that for most uncomplicated formulas they can produce some recipe of ingredients that will approximate your color very closely even in differing pigment sets.

But....in some very delicate colors with a LOT of minutely proportioned pigment ingredients.....like many whites, tans or light tints ( a tint is any primary or secondary color that is used to color a base white as the main ingredient of the recipe into a lighter shade...whereas a "tone" is any primary or secondary where black or a darker color is used as the main ingredient to bring down the reflectivity).....if the original color was....say made in a PPG line.....a Dupont line may not have the exact correct pigments to match that delicate color 100%....close...but not 100%.

Just some thoughts. I would never match color on-line. You get into issues of monitor calibration and a whole slew of other colorimetric junk. Too much risk. Ray

Wed May 08, 2013 4:07 pm

I just replaced both battery trays and a little rust, and deleted the side markers and painted the engine compartment, so I had the a local hardware store match the color paint to rustoleum oil paint, added japan drier and penetrol, used a $10 help sprayer and it came out beyond my expectations, a perfect match, I'll post pictures latter. The guy at the hardware store spent most the day mixing and drying till it came out perfect, for a $10 can of paint. I'm a customer for life now as the Ace hardware in my town said they wouldn't spend the time to do it. Now I drive 10 miles to my new favorite hardware store. The paint on my bus is in pretty good shape but is a cheap enamel. If your paint is non metallic, and you want to do it yourself with an easier paint to work with, (mineral spirits). Its not as durable but very easy to work with and repair.