Thinking about a paint job--Decisions, decisions

[G.R.]

My '55s paint is looking rather poorly up close, lots of chips, door dings and the paint(lacquer) is starting to check/crack especially on the dark blue. So I figured it's time for a repaint, doesn't need body work and it is basically rust free though there is some rust just showing under the drip rails where they drop down and the passenger side C pillar has some small bubbles appearing which I assume is some rust under the paint.

I've gotten a couple estimates from some good, well recommend body shops and they are all within a few dollars of one another. I was thinking about just going with the same color combo, mid-80's Deep Metallic metalflake Dark blue for the bottom and mid-80's Cadillac Light Pearlmist metallic blue for the top.
But today I just saw a brand new 2010 Camaro in Imperial Blue Metallic. My neighbors son just bought the car today and brought it over to show Mom and Dad. The color is absolutely stunning in the sunlight and sort of changes color when a cloud passes over.
It's about 1-2 shades lighter than my car is right now. I talked with the body shop guys about adding some pearl to both blues I have now and they said it would be no problem and would do some test panels to see what I liked.
Now I really don't know what color to paint the lower body...the top, Caddy blue, will go with the Camaro blue.

Anyone seen one of the blue 2010 Camaros...what y'all think of the color?

My car now





I plan on having it painted in late fall/early winter. I was seriously thinking about selling it but now I've grown really attached to it so I think I'll hang on to it. It'll get new rims and shoes also after paint, Torque Thrust D's, 7x15 front and 8.5x15 rear, 225/60 in front, 245/60 back.

[Tri-five55]

In my opinion the color combo you have now looks good! Dont sell it:eek: because you will regret it!

[Ratpackin]

Yes - I've seen the blue on the camaros- does look good. But then so does your current color scheme. A new paint job would look nice either way. Pick your own favorite- you'll be the one driving it.
good luck

[555657jim]

GR, your car looks great in my opinion and the Camaro color would look great as well. I would stay away from any "custom blends" like you mentioned with metallics/pearls etc. simply because if you ever have to touch up the paint or repaint a panel, unless you've got an extra can of paint laying around you're gonna be faced with a total repaint. Stick to some factory colors or readily available metallics, pearls, or candies--don't custom blend. Several of my friends learned the hard way. JMO, JIM.

[mickeywestsr]

Color combo sounds awesome. You might try one of the sites that let you paint in different colors just to be sure. I agree, if you sell it you'll regret it later. Good luck.