Many Type 34 owners would like to paint their Type 34 in an original color, but they just don’t know where to go to find the right colors or paint. Here’s all you’ll need to know about Type 34 paint colors.

There are single-stage and two-stage paint systems. A single-stage uses a glossy color top coat. The two-stage is composed of a color base coat and a clear glossy top coat. When ordering these paints, be sure to tell the paint supplier whether you are doing a single-stage or two-stage, as the paint codes will be different. Some colors are not available in the base-coat, so you may have to find a suitable color-match.

If you’re looking for a “stick your hand in it” deep custom finish, you’ll want to use the two-stage system with two good coats of primer, then wet sanding, then three coats of base-coat color, then three more coats of clear coat. But if you’re after an original look, one or two coats of single-stage top coat then color-sanded & buffed-out to a brilliant shine will give your Type 34 its original luster.

Bermuda and Cobalt just didn’t have the racy looks that Jon wanted in his Type 34, so Jon’s 1965 was due for a complete color change.

When ordering paint there are basically three vendors: PPG, Dupont, & Glasurit. Most USA paint suppliers have PPG & Dupont. Glasurit is the original German paint manufacturer and is widely considered to be the very best and most expensive.

Jon House recently researched the process for ordering the original Type 34 paint colors for his 1965 Type 34. It originally had a Bermuda body/dash with a Colbalt roof/pillars. John liked the look of the darker Sea Blue body with a lighter Blue-White roof, so a complete color change was in order. His painter knew of a paint supplier (FinishMaster, San Diego: 760 734 3800) that has a computer program that takes original L-Codes and generates PPG Code formulas to mix original colors with ease in about 20 minutes. They even put the two colors onto a paint can lid so we could see them together for comparison. The cost for one gallon (body/dash/compartments) is about $305, and one quart (roof/pillars) is about $55. If you’re looking for that perfect original color, this is the best way and the results are simply outstanding!

The same Type 34 after the color-change: a huge difference! And the paints are easy to find and fairly inexpensive too.