Pearl Paint question

[chris52]

Are most pearl paints a three stage paint? Only reason for asking is I’m going to have my car painted soon. The original colour is a three stage pearl Paint it’s a TVR in Rosso Pearl. I want to use the car and not worry about an expensive paint job that’s impossible to match scratches and stone chips. I have seen a few colours that I like but they are all listed as pearl.
Any help would be great
Cheers Chris

[Squiggs]

The short answer is no.
There are many colours containing pearl tints that are not 3 stage.
3 stage colours are in the minority (although they seem to be becoming more popular)

[chris52]

Cheers that’s very helpful.
Chris

[V8covin]

There's micas,pearls,xirallics, some are just a basecoat,some are a basecoat with a pearl coat on top,some even use an ink......it can get complicated .
Pearl is really an umbrella term these days

[paintman]

Mazda seem fond of the 3ct colours - plus not putting paint codes on their cars necessitating a call to the dealer parts dept with the VIN or reg to get the code.

FWIW I've just had a look at TVR Rosso in Nexa Aquabase +. Code comes up as R2815/2, 201A.
The basecoat contains two reds & two grades of metallic.
Followed by a tinted transparent coat which contains a mix of several reds & one pearl.
Topped off by clear lacquer

I'd avoid it.

ETA. Out of interest I've had a look through the reds shown for TVR on the above system & there are a fair number of mica/pearlescents & metallics that don't come up as 3 coat systems - just normal basecoat & lacquer - so I'd suggest having a look through TVR chips, seeing what appeals & then checking if the formula shows 3ct or not.
I don't have chips for TVR so can't help with close suggestions.

I'd also suggest you then check how much paint will be required for the full respray & get that quantity plus some more mixed extra which will give you some spare.
Reds are notorious as 'low hiders' & frequently need a lot of the colour coat to adequately cover the primer.
Keep a note of which paint you use, where it came from & the formulation which was used - ideally showing the tints & their quantities, that will give you repeatability in case of future repairs.

Edited by paintman on Saturday 16th December 13:01

[chris52]

Many thanks for all the info I have seen a couple of colours that I like One is Jaguar Italian racing red only seen pictures at the moment and all look different but looks promising.
Landrover Firenze Red also looks good not sure if either of these are a three stage Paint.
There is also Tvr cherry red pearl which also looks nice.
I did like the Renault flame red and the Alfa 8c red but I believe both of these are three stage paints.

[paintman]

Jaguar Italian Racing Red (code as CAH, 2144 and 1AF) and Land Rover Firenze Red (codes 868, CAH and 1AF) are the same colour. Just different names for each car. This was common practice in the days of Rover, Land Rover, Range Rover, Jaguar/Daimler.
Bit of an odd one in that I have formulations for it as both a standard base coat AND a 3 coat. For that reason alone I would avoid it.

TVR Cherry Red Pearl ( code P161) shows as a standard basecoat so should be fine.(Plus it's a TVR colour anyway)

I think the Alfa 8C red you mention is Rosso Competizione code 202/B and that comes up as a 3 coat.

Renault Flame Red/Rouge De Feu code B76 shows as a standard basecoat.

This is all Nexa Aquabase+ & although the vehicle codes will be consistent across the various paint manufacturers you would need to check with your paint supplier when you finally decide on the colour to be sure it's either normal basecoat or 3 coat in the paint they use.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 17th December 01:43

[chris52]

thank you :-)