skyline26

im surprised the dealer doesnt sell paint in spray cans..just the little touch up bottles. Im trying to paint my new grill same colour as car but I am having difficulty matching the paint. I have an 08 HHR thats a techno grey metallic which is code# WA411P. Had it mixed at CarQuest first and noticed that its darker than the car, then went to Napa and it turned out the same as Carquest. I have let the paint dry for 2 days now and its like 2-3 shades darker, i like the colour, wish the whole car was that colour now, but I cant afford that haha but its not matching the car!?! Any suggestions?

sleeper

What color primer did ya use ?

Dracos

Somehow I doubt it was the primer color unless he used black. Maybe the car has gotten sunfaded just a bit over 4 years, or there was an issue with the application/drying process.

Did you use an etching primer on the chrome, or an adhesion promoter on the bare plastic?

skyline26

i have the bowtie separate from the grill and sprayed the bowtie with a self etcher grey primer and then the paint and compared it to the car. I will be using a promoter on the plastic when i paint it for real, right now im putting down a nice layer of primer to be uniform and no bumps

firemangeorge

X2 on the car being faded.

skyline26

ive parked by other "techno grey" hhr's and there is no visible difference. i understand its a 4yr old car, and yes its going to fade, but its reeeaally different. 3shades darker

gerrbear

use paint code from the car and canadiantire can match it in touchup or spray can

Snoopy

My experience has aways been to use the PAINT CODE ASSIGNED BY THE MANUFACTURER, go to the dealer or a paint shop/body supply house and purchase what's needed. Always had trouble with those generic paint codes used by the "touch up" bottles and sprays sold at Napa, Advance, O'Rielly's, etc.

And if you park two different models of GM (for example) vehicles next to each other that are supposed to be the same color, according to the generic paint supplier, you can notice the difference in shades.

skyline26

i used the mix code that GM dealer gave me which is WA411P..so i got that mixed and its too dark. The dealer said they dont sell spray cans only the little touch up pen so i have to go to aftermarket place to get it mixed. But like i said, its way off

Oldblue

I took my HHR to an Automotive paint supplier, they used a colour reader on my gas door and their computor spit out the code and mix, a can of spray 12 or 16 OZ was $24.95 perfect match