Martin Senour Paint

[cwestra]

Does anyone have any comments on the quality of Martin Senour paint? It is much pricier than Valspar product. Do they do a good job of color matching older car paint codes? Thanks.

[MARTINSR]

I am partial being I once worked for them (hints my handle) but I no longer do and speak with honesty. Martin Senour IS Sherwin Williams relabeled for distribution thru NAPA auto parts stores.

The top of the line Tec/BASE products are every bit as good as most others like PPG and Dupont. Color is one thing I used to win over a lot of shops with. I now work in a very large shop and we have the S-W twin sister line of Ultra/BASE and have looked at just about every other line over the years and find no reason to change.

The down side, the NAPA parts store usually isn't a good supporter being it is just one of the lines they sell along with auto parts which is what usually gets their main attention.

There are some very good paint carrying NAPA stores out there, along with most that don't carry it at all.

All in all, it's a good product and will do anything you ask it to.

On the "Older" paint codes, I found that PPG and DuPont have done a better job at this by far. However, even those are "sort of close" and not real matches, though they try and will at least have something for you to start with.

Brian

[alaskajeff]

In addition to a few parts stores, we have a dedicated NAPA paint & body supply outlet here in Fairbanks (go figure), that carries the Martin Senour line, as well as some PPG products. The counter guys are real friendly, but they are not as knowledgeable as they appear-sometimes their advice is off. If you decide to go with MS, get on their website. I have used the MS Crossfire line (cheap) on a few projects. It looks fine, but my projects haven't been around long enough to test its durability. Crossfire does NOT have the color-matching capabilities of the high-end Tec line Brian referred to. Probably not as durable either (Tec line meets new car warranty). As Len says, you get what you pay for. But it's a lot cheaper, and seems to work fine for my projects. Good luck, Jeff

[cwestra]

Thanks.

The car I'm restoring is a 1970 AAR Cuda. The color is Deep Burnt Orange. I originally went with Valspar but when I tested the paint on a spare panel the color was way off. Now I am looking at MS and have a test sample shot by the paint store using the Mopar code (K5) for deep burnt orange. This color appears to be just slightly off. I wonder how important it is to be right on with the color on my resto project, or if being close enough is okay.

[88GT]

I have used the SW ultra 7000 line years ago. That was some good stuff. especially the base coat. I painted a nissan sentra with 1 full strength quart (2 quarts sprayable) of red. The clear smelled horrible though. Thats when I switched to the Dupont line.

[lbell101]

cwestra,

I sent you a PM.

Larry

[cwestra]

Sorry, Larry, but what is a PM?

[lbell101]

It's a private message. If you look at the top right corner of this forum, you'll see them. There's no email notification from this board so I always miss them. So I let you know I have sent you one.

Larry

[Ranchero_65]

It's a private message. If you look at the top right corner of this forum, you'll see them. There's no email notification from this board so I always miss them. So I let you know I have sent you one.

Larry

Hey Larry , There is to email notification . Click on user cp at top then options you'll see it there to turn it off or on ....

[lbell101]

Well, that makes it easier!
Thanks earl.

Larry

[cwestra]

Did my response get over to you okay, Larry?

[lbell101]

Yep, got it and sent a reply.
Thanks!

Larry

[cwestra]

Please check PM, Larry. Thanks.

[lbell101]

Got it and replied.

Larry