L97U

[ztnoo]

I know this may be a body/paint question, but since it's on a Thing, I'm going to post here first.
I'm looking for stock color paint for Thing wheels. It's an aluminum gray color and the paint code is L97U.
It was also used on Beetle wheels for a while.
I visited my local auto parts store hunting for paint to apply to our newly glass bead blasted wheels.
The store is a BASF dealer, but they can find no mixing formula for the paint code.
They even called BASF for tech rep help, and believe it or not, BASF has no formula for this code.

Does anyone have a formula for L97U from any other automotive paint companies which perhaps could be cross referenced?
We thought we might try having them power coated, but the local company which does lots of RV industry coating is not full functioning because of a fire last winter.
All they can give us is black, and we'd like to stick with the stock color since we have a stock vehicle.

Can anyone be of some assistance regarding this problem?

ztnoo

[Towel Rail]

You've piqued my interest, as my Thing wheels have all been repainted black and will need a repaint anyway.

I did a quick search, and the impression I get is that Aluminum Grey was one of VW's (or whomever supplied them) base colors. Hence no formula that I could find. So one would have to go to the OEM for that data.

Wish I could help more! In my case, I'll probably just pick a light metallic gray color and call it a day.
_________________
1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car

049 > 070 > 053 > 009

[chinarider]

Wurth lacquer spray paint is the way to go.

I used this two-part product (one can of lacquer coat and one can of clear coat) on my Thing's rims, and achieved perfect results. A neighbor has a beautiful, fully stock Beetle, with OEM rims, and there's no distinguishable difference between his rims and mine (maybe mine look better, since the paint is new). The paint color, tone, and finish are dead on.

The product is specifically made for rims, and I would suggest a light cleanup with lacquer thinner, or specialized clay before spraying your initial coat. I was able to do all four wheels (outside only) with one can of paint and one can of clearcoat.

You can find Wurth easily online, but it's a little on the pricey side (like $15-$20 for the can of silver paint, and about as much for the can of clearcoat). Still, it's a hell of a lot less than buying new rims, or having a body shop powder coat them for you.

Good luck.

[ztnoo]

Chinarider,
Yesterday I inquired about the L97U paint code at a DuPont/PPG dealer.
They also have no record of that code or a formula to mix that color.
Looked at Glasruit web site, but didn't get any where with that search.
Unless I get damned lucky real quick, the suggestions listed below are likely the way I'll go.
I'm just totally baffled no one can find or fill the formula for the L97U code.

btw, from some suggestions over in Body/Paint here are the urls for Eastwood and Mid America selling the Argent Silver paint. It's said to be a 99.5% match.

http://www.800luvbugg.com/shop?frame=2.146.4679

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=96&itemT...=12&KICKER

Wurth Silver Lacquer and suggested a clear coat.

http://www.autogeek.net/w892181.html

http://www.autogeek.net/w893351930.html

Thanks for your help Chinarider.
ztnoo

[67pickup]

I contacted the VW Automuseum in Wolfsburg with a request about this, and I got this reply - maybe some more people looking for the right code.
Top score to the museum and Christine for helping out!

__________________

Die Tiefbettfelge wurde lackiert in

grau-aluminium
mit der Lacknummer L 97 U
RAL 9007 This is the code you should look for!

Die Kontaktadresse für alle Mischformeln von Volkswagen-Farben ist:

http://www.de.glasurit.com/COLOR/COLOR-Search/index.html

Hier kann die Mischformel mit der Lacknummer und Lackbezeichnung direkt bei Glasurit abgefragt werden.
(Here you can check the formula directly at Glasurit)

Wir hoffen, dass wir Ihnen weitergeholfen haben.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Christine Neefe
Stiftung AutoMuseum Volkswagen
__________________

[[email protected]]

Most people just use silver instead. Its very close