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Healey Blue Paint Source

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K

Kaybee

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I know this has been covered before, but is it still true that Glasurit is the only source with a paint code for Healey Blue (Ice Blue)? And is it also still true that the Glasurit code is the same as the Austin code, i.e.. BU2?

Thanks for any info. My BJ8 restoration is fast approaching the paint phase and I am still waffling about a color choice.

Ken in NC
 
Many other sources than Glasurit. That is some very good paint but not the only option. We had no problem with our painter getting a mix with his paint line (PPG I think), he doesn't use Glasurit. I have also used an online source to get some mixed up in healey blue and put in spray cans with no problems.
 
Paint codes aren't secret and in any case the paints themselves are totally different from those used 60 years so you will never get exactly the same as the original even if anybody knew what that actually was. The best thing to do is to find a light blue metallic that you like, and is close to what most people imagine Healey Blue to be like. Then just go with that. Mine is Fiat Polar Azzuro.
 
When I had my BJ8 resprayed a few years back, the body shop matched the original colour to a modern British Leyland Rover colour. It was a very good match and I couldn't see any difference.
 
Mine Was Matched to a Ferrari Color.

IF the car was originally blue . Unexposed surfaces like inside the boot lid can be used to computer match the original paint color.
Large Auto paint distributors usually have this capability.

Actually, original cars in this color were shipped in groups because mixed groups would not color match.
 
The Austin code BU-2 is the code given in all the resource books. But when I had my paint supplier mix it up it seemed way too dark for me. Even though I believe much of the original cars with Healey blue were darker than many of us remember, this mix was really just too dark. So as Derek has said, I picked out some cars that I thought looked alot like the Healey Blue that I remembered. As it turned out I settled on the light blue metallic of the 1979 Thunderbird. Attached are the pics of both of these cars that I painted. I'm very happy with the blue.
 

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Picking a color from a more modern production car is a good idea. It allows you to pick up touch up paint from most auto parts stores.

I picked the ice blue for my car many years ago by just eyeballing paint chips. I think the color I picked was called "Medium Blue Poly", a GM color from the 80's. It doesn't look bad but is bluer than most of the ice blues I see at Healey gatherings. Those other ice blues are noticeably grayer than mine. FYI, at one of the international Healey meets Roger Wheatley saw my car and told me that my blue was very close to what his own original ice blue Healey looked like. He commented that he felt the current "concours" standard for ice blue today is too gray. No doubt Jensen didn't have perfect controls of paint shades back in the 50's. Since memories fade along with survivor cars that carry original paint, there is really no way to determine exactly what the perfect shade of ice blue is!

Warning: most metallic paint formulations today use a "medium" silver base color. This gives silver flakes that are way larger with a metalflake look that looks rather odd on a Healey. Be sure to ask your paint supplier to use "fine" silver, it makes a big difference.
 
When I was restoring my BN1 a few years ago Mitsubishi had a colour in their catalogue called Island Blue. I thought it was a pretty good match so that is the colour that I used.IMG_0917.jpg
 

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Best to see if you can get a sample of the original colour from a hidden area for matching. I matched from under the front shroud badge.
 

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Thanks to all who have replied. It's a shame there is no definitive standard. Jeepster, yours is closest to what I think of as Healey Blue, but you could also make a case for any of the others. My car was not originally blue, so I have nothing to scan. I'll figure something out and eventually post some photos of the freshly painted car.
Ken in NC
 
Jeepster…. could you be a bit more specific? "British Leyland Rover" blue... do you have a paint code? I'm looking at and shooting sample test panels to find the "Healey Ice Blue" that I like best.

Thanks,
Steve
 
For those of you who've dragged your trunk panel down to the paint supply shop to have the original paint color matched this might be a bit of a surprise. That magic spectrophotometer doesn't work like you think it does. It doesn't scan your original paint and somehow spit out a formula to provide an exact match to what rolled out of the showroom when the car was new, even if your original paint was kept hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar for the last 60 years. What it does is search for a formulation that is already contained in the current refinish library of the paint manufacturer. As said above, bases, tints and metallic flake size have changed over the years and an exact match won't be achieved short of a wayback machine. You can read about it here: https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/measuring-color/ The formula you get will include a percentage match to whatever the original color is. Obviously, the closer to 100 percent the better. I had my original Healey Blue trunk lid matched and what came up as the closest match? A formula for a Mack truck!..Here's the PPG DBU code if anyone is interested for Deltron 2000: 16428. I like the color and it's in the ballpark (Fenway size not Yankee Stadium)

essex.jpg
 
More fun with paint matching. When I louvered a replacement hood I took the originally repainted one to the body shop to have scanned. It came up with the same formula I already had. Perfect! Got the paint and this was the finished product:

mismatched.jpg


Notice how bad the match is between the hood and the shroud? Thought I was going to have to find a shop that could jiggle the formula to get a better match. After a few attempts to find a place that said they could do it, took it to a hot rod shop that ended up plugging in the formula I gave them into their system and .... perfect match!

matched paint.jpg


Was the trouble with the first shoot with the paint shop that mixed the formula or the place that shot it? I'll never know but it goes to show how fickle this stuff can be. And after all the work I had to do to hand prime and block all those louvers three times over, I was glad I could finally get it to look the way I had imagined.
 
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glemon said:
Original cars always look a little more green or aqua to me than most repaints, including my old car a number of years ago. I know it doesn't give you a paint code, but many pics of a pampered original https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1957-austin-healey-100-6-bn4-4-seat-roadster-10/
Click to expand...

Greg,

I think you're right about the greenish tint in original cars. There was some discussion a number of years ago about a paint shop in SoCal that had accurately reproduced the Healey Blue color but I have no idea if they are still around. And with water based paints being the norm in California they might not even be able to mix it now. Shameless self-promotion time - That BaT BN4 will be featured in an upcoming "Auction Report" column in Healey Marque. ​
 
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When I got around to fixing a large scratch on my BJ8's left front wing--someone had keyed me in a parking lot in Oakland--I took the car to a local, recommended paint shop. The car was originally Colorado Red per the BMIHT cert, but had been repainted twice, once with a gawdawful metallic bronze but the second time with what it appears to be a close match to original. The scan pronounced it to be 'Peking Red,' which was a stock GM color. The match was perfect. Also, I think it's pretty much accepted that Ford 'Wimbledon White' is a pretty good match to OEW, and it's what we painted our BN2/100M.
 
The best match will be from a guy that has a good eye for colour and the ability to mix it. Obviously not all shops have such a man....or woman.
Then if he is a good fellow he will print out the pigments and percentages he used and you will have the code for the next time. Then when the next time comes around, it won't match. :smile:
 
Speaking of colors ... my upholstery guy (he's done a number of cars for me) says a guy should always bring a woman with when they are picking out interior colors to go with a given paint color. Why? He says women see colors that men don't. I don't know if this is scientifically true...but... he says left on their own more men screw up color choices that women. FWIW
 
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