Rennbow and color codes (Schwarz Blau vs. Nacht Blau)
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Rennbow and color codes (Schwarz Blau vs. Nacht Blau)
I saw in Panorama that the Rennbow website is now live. It was fun to poke around the site to check out the amazing array of historical colors and their relative rarity.
At some point I am going to replace my very faded factory B pillar stickers. So I tried and failed to use Rennbow to solve a mystery for me: My window sticker says the car's color is Midnight Blue Metallic and the option sticker says L37W (Nacht Blau Perl) as expected. However, someone recently pointed out that my faded door sticker says "Schwarz Blau", and also "37W" which is not the color code for Schwarz Blau. To my eye the car is definitely midnight blue.
Are the two color names the same? Or was Porsche sloppy with those stickers? Does anyone have a Midnight car with a Schwarz sticker?
#3
Three Wheelin'
Porsche was sloppy with more than just the stickers, unfortunately. ID'ing most of the 928 colors between '91 and '95 is PITA because they feature both solventborne and waterborne base coats. Such as is the case with code 37W versus 39C. They are SUPPOSED to be the same color; Midnight Blue Metallic or Nacht Blau Perl. One color. Two names. Two paint codes. The reason for the two codes is that 37W reflects solventborne paint and 39C reflects waterborne (90-line) paint.
You can see the formula breakdown of both codes below. Not surprisingly, the 55-line (solvent) crossover of 39C (90-line) is an identical formula to 37W. To make matters even trickier, 55-line and 90-line DO NOT match one another!
BASF and Porsche are both guilty for butchering the color reference tools in that era. There is no telling how many hours of my life I have spent sorting this sort of stuff out.
If your options sheet states L37W, then the photo'd formulas below are an exact match for the paint on your car.
You can see the formula breakdown of both codes below. Not surprisingly, the 55-line (solvent) crossover of 39C (90-line) is an identical formula to 37W. To make matters even trickier, 55-line and 90-line DO NOT match one another!
BASF and Porsche are both guilty for butchering the color reference tools in that era. There is no telling how many hours of my life I have spent sorting this sort of stuff out.
If your options sheet states L37W, then the photo'd formulas below are an exact match for the paint on your car.
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Wow good info - thanks Kiln_Red. Sounds like if I get a new sticker I should make it for the correct Nacht Blau Perleffect rather than perpetuate the error. Note they even spelled "pearl" differently in the app from Glasurit.
This is just a nitpick but it would be nice to have it right. I think @Rob Edwards might have a 91 GT in Nachtblau and there are a few other I noticed. I think 91 was the last year for 37W and later Nachtblau cars were 39C. That would account for @NoVector 's example since he has a GTS.
This is just a nitpick but it would be nice to have it right. I think @Rob Edwards might have a 91 GT in Nachtblau and there are a few other I noticed. I think 91 was the last year for 37W and later Nachtblau cars were 39C. That would account for @NoVector 's example since he has a GTS.
#6
Rennlist Member
Porsche was sloppy with more than just the stickers, unfortunately. ID'ing most of the 928 colors between '91 and '95 is PITA because they feature both solventborne and waterborne base coats. Such as is the case with code 37W versus 39C. They are SUPPOSED to be the same color; Midnight Blue Metallic or Nacht Blau Perl. One color. Two names. Two paint codes. The reason for the two codes is that 37W reflects solventborne paint and 39C reflects waterborne (90-line) paint.
You can see the formula breakdown of both codes below. Not surprisingly, the 55-line (solvent) crossover of 39C (90-line) is an identical formula to 37W. To make matters even trickier, 55-line and 90-line DO NOT match one another!
BASF and Porsche are both guilty for butchering the color reference tools in that era. There is no telling how many hours of my life I have spent sorting this sort of stuff out.
If your options sheet states L37W, then the photo'd formulas below are an exact match for the paint on your car.
You can see the formula breakdown of both codes below. Not surprisingly, the 55-line (solvent) crossover of 39C (90-line) is an identical formula to 37W. To make matters even trickier, 55-line and 90-line DO NOT match one another!
BASF and Porsche are both guilty for butchering the color reference tools in that era. There is no telling how many hours of my life I have spent sorting this sort of stuff out.
If your options sheet states L37W, then the photo'd formulas below are an exact match for the paint on your car.
Problems i ran into included:
Multiple color codes indicated from various sources: In my case the color was referred by Porsche as "99" "947" "L947" "947 9 3" It took my painter using his Glasurit system to find it as "POR A09 C9"
Multiple color names indicated from various sources: Referred by Porsche as "Grand Prix White Metallic" and "Pearlglanzeffect" ...the Glasurit system calls it "Pearlglanzweiss"
The color tool has 4 "lines" of products: 22 90 68 and 55, and multiple "tools" to chose from to find your code. I never found a help screen or any guidance on this system.
#7
Three Wheelin'
drooman,
The first search that should be inputted into the color tools inquiry is the 3 character reference that appears in the lock pillar and shares the label with the color name, not the L code from the options sheet. My Android smartphone app doesn't require me to pre-select a paint system to complete a search, so it searches for mixes across all of them. Searching in 55-line is just as good though, as there are no 928 colors that I am aware of where a 90-line mix exists, but not 55.
A quick search reveals that "947" is a paint code used by other manufacturers. They are arranged alphabetically and Porsche is on down the page of course. Photo'd is Step 1 of your formula. Since it is a tri-coat color, Step 2 is required as a separate mix to produce the mid coat. I know that you know this. Just explaining that others should be careful not to overlook this if they want to play with the color tools.
The first search that should be inputted into the color tools inquiry is the 3 character reference that appears in the lock pillar and shares the label with the color name, not the L code from the options sheet. My Android smartphone app doesn't require me to pre-select a paint system to complete a search, so it searches for mixes across all of them. Searching in 55-line is just as good though, as there are no 928 colors that I am aware of where a 90-line mix exists, but not 55.
A quick search reveals that "947" is a paint code used by other manufacturers. They are arranged alphabetically and Porsche is on down the page of course. Photo'd is Step 1 of your formula. Since it is a tri-coat color, Step 2 is required as a separate mix to produce the mid coat. I know that you know this. Just explaining that others should be careful not to overlook this if they want to play with the color tools.
Last edited by Kiln_Red; 07-22-2019 at 11:13 AM.