Where can I find my paint code?

[davepl]

My 1970 GMC is listed in the glovebox as:

592 WHT & DK BLUE & WHT

So most of the body is DK BLUE, which I -think- is Ditzler 2169. But if I look up "1970 GM Dark Blue" in the cross references, what are the odds I'm getting the right Dark Blue? In the paint chips there are three blues for 1970, the closest name being "Dark Blue Poly".

Also, from looking at the inside of the glovebox (the actual paint, where it is best preserved), it seems to have a bit of a metallic to it. Is that accounted for in the color code, like Ditzler 2169? Or does someone then need to figure out how much metallic to add to this particular base color?

I'm sure a competant body shop can get it right, I'm really just curious about how its done.


Thanks!
Dave

[jocko]

'Poly' in GM parlance = metallic. I would imagine that since your inner glovebox paint is metallic, I'd be willing to bet your correct paint is Dark Blue Poly.

Keep in mind that on SPIDs the "poly" was not always (if ever) listed. I've seen several 72 Cheyenne's where the color on the SPID was Dark Olive - but the only actual paint in that color "Dark Olive" was a "poly" and it was metallic. Also keep in mind that the names of paints on original sales brochures are the "names" only - they don't always correspond to what you'll see on the SPID for wording of the color name. For anothe rexample - 72 Cheyenne again, MANY folks have a great looking "Ochre" truck - however, only wheatland and grapefruit yellow were the yellows that year, according to the sales brochure. Wheatland Yellow showed up on the SPID as Ochre. I THINK!

Anyone else got any input on this one? I've scratched my head on many a paint code deciphering.

[special-K]

The correct code is all any competent paint shop should need. The code number on the SPID will vary with the option.In other words,if your truck is solid color the code is one number and if it's two tone it'll be another number. '70 GMC Dark Blue Poly is 508 (PPG 2169) and Medium Blue Ploy is 501 (PPG 2163). Those are the solid color codes. It appears Ditzler and PPG codes match

[bruceman1968]

Dave, Your paint code is 592, like tim says, that's all a paint shop will need.
592 is a two-tone code that breaks down to code 508 and code 521. Code 508 is your blue color. Code 521 is your white color. Don't pay to much attention to the names. It's the code That matters matey. Arrrrh, always stick to the code. (in my best pirate voice)

When you go to the paint store just tell them the paint code 592 and tell them it's a two tone code. They will know to look it up and cross it into the two different paint codes.

The metallic is accounted for in the code. I used to work at a paint and bodyshop supply house back in the early eighties. We sold Ditzler automotive paint. Ditzler is a division of PPG.
If you came in back in the day with the 592 code and told me it was a 1970 GMC two-tone code, I would cross the 592 into 508 and 521. Then cross 508 into ditzler part number 2169 and 521 into ditzler part number 2185. With those part numbers I could look up the formula to mix the paint. The formula is set in stone listing exactally which toners to use and the correct amount of each in order to match the factory color.. The white is a common color so we would of had it in a factory pack. The blue would prob. have to be mixed up. The formula would have all the toners used to make the color listed, and the amount of each. All polychromatic/metallic paint had silver in the mix. Silver was the metallic. We had about 15 different silver toners in the mixing area, each with a different part number. The color of the silvers was all the same, BUT the size of the metallic flakes and the quantity of the flake was different between different silver toners. The forumla for 508/2169 would tell which silver to use and that silver would have the correct size flake and the correct amount of flake to match the factory color. So no need to worry about the metallic, it's dictated by the code. code dictates part number, part number dictates formula, formula dictates flake size and amount.

[davepl]

Thanks Bruce! How did you decode/split 592 into 508 and 521 two-tone. That's the step I was missing.

[bruceman1968]

From this page. It says chevy but chevy and gmc were often listed together in the aftermarket paint books. Footnotes would seperate them most times. The 592 breaks down to 2169 and 2185. Then take those two numbers back to the chip page and you can see 2169 is 508 and 2185 is 521.

[bruceman1968]

The chip page doesn't have a footnote for 508/2169 being a GMC color. But on the GMC page of text it does list 2169 as a GMC color. So I think the chevy/gmc page is just missing a footnote. That happened all the time.

edit; The acid test is to go get a pint of 508 mixed up and then take it to the truck and dab some on the original paint to check the match. Even with all those books, we had to do that alot.

EDIT2; Just checked sherwin williams and they list 508 as a GMC paint color.