Hi all,

New to this site and forum, and new to owning my 1970 Chevelle Malibu 350 Convertible.

Happily I am almost finished with my restoration and am ready to paint the car. However, I am having some difficulty finding an exact match for GM Factory Paint Code "75", sometimes known as "Cranberry Red" or just "Red".

I want to make sure I get this right, and I am an engine guy, not a body and paint guy. The body shop that is doing the paint job is saying they're having difficulty finding an exact match for the paint. Thought we had an exact match earilier this week, but the formula turned out looking a lot like Hugger Orange.

The manager of the shop has had some bad experiences with PPG paint and wants to use either DuPont or Rinshed-Mason (RM) paint. The codes from my restoration guide appear to be out of date. Can anybody give me the current paint codes or formulas for paint job no. 75, a.k.a. "Cranberry Red" or "Red".

Thanks to all and a very merry Christmas!

goto this web site for the factory correct colors: http://autocolorlibrary.com

They have most all colors for any car.

The website listed above shows PPG codes only. Our shop uses Dupont paint and I plugged in code "75" for a '70 Chev in our Dupont computer. It is interesting to note that the code for "75" is different in 1970 than it is in 1971 thru 1975. They are both called Cranberry red and are both code "75" but are different formulations.

Code 75 for 1970 is Dupont paint code 5118. For Chromapremier base/clear it is 5118F. (For 1971 - 1975 it is code 5339.)

This should be all you need to have the paint mixed but if you need the actual formula here it is for a pint of Chromapremier base/clear:

867J--Red----------124.2 grams
853J--Red Orange----41.5 "
807J--LS Black-------35.1 "
884J--LS Red Oxide---31.9 "
62320-Binder--------212.6 "

i was looking at painting mine 69 gaurnet red. the painter mixed some up. i did not look right. so i went to the local gm dealer and looked at new cars and picked the color i was looking for. 2003 victory red. the problem i see is in 1970 there was no clear coat. and be the time they adapt the formula from enamel or lacquer it changes the color when it is clear coat. so i decided on a new colr that way it can easily be fixed if needed without trying to blend colors too match. my 2 cents. good luck in what ever you choose.

Chevy, BlackChevelle and Bradford,

Thanks for the great responses. I really appreciate all your help, especially getting the correct codes and formulas for DuPont.

Good point about using a newer paint color. While I'm tempted by the Viper Red and Victory Red, I think I'm hooked on the original factory colors (or as close as I can get to them) with a bc/cc combo.

Again, thanks for help!

if you set a true Cranberry red car next to a red car it will have an orangish look to it.

Since '70 Cranberry Red isn't a metallic color base/clear isn't necessary. A modern urethane single stage paint would look as good or better than b/c IMO and may be a closer color match. In fact it's usually recommended for black and dark non-metallic colors. Also you don't have to worry about sanding or buffing through the clear when color sanding and easier to touch up. If I were doing it again that's the way I would go for the Garnet Red on my '69.

I'm only saying this just as an option you could look into. My 72 Chevelle is painted 1993 Camaro bright red and it has been parked next to a 70 Chevelle that is suppose to be cranberry red and they looked incredibly close. Mine looked just a little brighter (and better) than the 70, this is just an option you could check out for another color that looks really close to cranberry red, good luck.