Where does one find the correct Jag paint code numbers for ODG? I seem to be having a little trouble relaying to the paint supplier the color I’m requesting. They are trying to sell me PPG Midnight Jade 3042 JEB.
On xkedata .com ithink
If you contact Dan Mooney at Classic Jaguar in Austin, he might be willing to provide the formula for PPG base coat. He provided me that formula back in the 90s for a barn find I bought from him. Sorry I don’t have access to it at the moment as all is in storage
The Jaguar paint code numbers are available online. Jaguar Paint Codes But they are worthless because they are for obsolete base paints and pigments.
Once upon a time PPG had a paint librarian that YOU could contact for current formulations using current base material and pigments for the obsolete colors. As I remember they called them “offset colors”. Just now I briefly looked for their paint librarian and could not find what I was looking for. I would contact PPG and see if they have their paint librarian that can help you with an offset color formulation for an obsolete color. The last time I had a vintage car painted my painter had the paint store get the current color formula from the PPG librarian.
Bottom line, pick something that you like that seems close to what you think the original was. I have been through this several times with several different cars. NOBODY really knows exactly what the original color was. Nobody. All the original cars, paint sample books, photos, and etc. have faded so there is no reference.
Thanks everyone for your replies.
I’ll try Dan as Larry suggested.
I’ll also try David’s approach in contacting the PPG Librarian.
Let us know if the librarian is helpful.
I agree with this.
I don’t totally agree with this. There are low-mileage, original-paint cars out there (like mine) with sections of paint that have never seen the light of day. Comparing/matching to something like that will get you a whole lot closer than just ‘picking something you like’.
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I had the same dilemma when painting mine ODG last year.
All my research ended with the following codes:
PO31-2638
2638M ICI code
Glasurit # JAG-7416A
All are defunct here.
My painter mixed to the best match he could get to original paint on the inner sills (which had never seen daylight) I was really happy with the result . Most important that your painter understand the difference between Opalescent (sand grain effect) and metallic (pieces of reflective metal)
There attached photo is the formula he used
Being Opalescent, the sun and shade made a big difference to how it looks…I love it!
In sunshine
In shade
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Very interesting topic! I bought, and still have, a S1 4,2 E that I bought in Germany 10 yrs ago. Extrenely well restored, but the paint lacks enough green. (Can take a picture later this week). I have a 420G in ODG, also painted in Germany about 10 yrs ago, but not the same workshop. They have the same incorrect blend of ODG. It did ’t bother me too much until I got my 50k miles 2 owner Mk10 4,2, from the US with its original paint. When placed bext to each other in a well lit garage, or outside in the sun, the difference is very noticeable. The German oaint recipy looks grey compared to the green Mk10.
I then had a small jar of paint prepared in Sweden (see the label). It is much closer to the Mk10 but not quiet. He did it via a database. Perhaps a paint scan is better. The car was far from the paint shop at the time.
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Well, it’s true there are no longer the same base paint and pigments in use.
But there are good references, not all samples are faded, and on an unrestored car the sills on the inside of the car are an excellent reference as they have been protected by foam and vinyl trim for 50-60 years.
Cheers!
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You can chase your tail on this for a long time. What is your end goal? To have a very nice looking 100 point car? Then pick a color, close to what you think is original that you like and be done with it. At a show nobody else’s car will match yours anyway.
To have a 100 point car that EXACTLY matches the way it came off the production line 50+ years ago? Then get someone with an “original” car to let you take the upholstery off something on their car, bring it to a paint store to color match in lacquer paint, don’t polish all the aluminum parts under the hood to a mirror finish, cad plate all the fasteners, have a crappy job of chrome plating (by today’s standards) done on the bright work, have more color fun matching the leather to original, and etc. Then you get to argue with the concourse judges why your car, restored to original standards, didn’t get the trophy.
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I settled on Ford Dark Highland Green Metallic from the early 2000s. It was as near a perfect match to a car with original paint that I could find. It doesn’t have the blue in it that the later Jag greens had.
When I restored my 67 OTS in the late 80s, we searched for opalescent dark green, and the closest we could come was PPG “opalescent green iridescent,” and were told it would not be an exact match. I decided to go with BRG instead, because, IMO, it’s prettier, much easier to maintain, and the ODG never really did shine nicely.
Yes, it looks totally different in low-light and direct-light conditions. It can look almost black in low-light, and then sort of ‘pops’ into a slightly metallic Olive-green in direct light.
Yours looks quite good from where I’m sitting, when compared to my original car. The thing that sets ODG apart from most metallic greens is that there are no blue hues (that I can detect) when in direct light.
Some (on this thread) may claim that BRG is prettier, but it’s a true case of Ginger or Mary Ann. One is sophisticated, exotic, somewhat mysterious…the other is simple, and straightforward. Neither is prettier than the other, but I’d take Ginger any day. 
Not moi…
No.
The goal is to be happy with the result.
I did it in 1996 and was happy with it until I sold that (ODG) car. But then I bought another E-type and have been happy ever since.
We don’t really care much about ”points” overe here. Sure, I’ve gotten a few concours trophies, but that was never the goal. YMMV.
Cheers!
Ps. My original point was only that good references do exist. That’s all.
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Ford Highland green metallic is what I would use, as it came on the 1965 mustangs, and I immediately saw the color on the Jag mentioned and knew it was very close. Fifty year-old paint, applied at the factory in the materials they had to work with back then is always going to be near impossible to match.
One thing to consider, the later era metallics used a bigger metallic flake. The Jag ODG has a very fine flake. Many don’t get it right.
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