Hood paint

Hello !!!

I am looking to repaint the flat black on my Mach1 hood. Last time i used a PPG lacquer based paint. Not thrilled with it. Can anyone suggest a nice flat black that's not to difficult to apply especially in warm weather??

Thank you very much in advance!!!

I used Hot Rod Black with excellent results. It's been 10 years now and still looks good. There is (or was) a clear coat for Hot Rod Black. I didn't use it as my painter thought it might create a high edge, but I kinda wish I had put it on.
I'm sure you've read the many posts on the dimensions and positioning of the blackout to get it right. Do a search if not.

I believe my hood was done in Hot Rod Black. I like it. There's some Armor-All on it here, it's slightly more matte usually but not "flat" in Lustre.

Spike Morelli said:

I believe my hood was done in Hot Rod Black. I like it. There's some Armor-All on it here, it's slightly more matte usually but not "flat" in Lustre.

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I use Mothers Quick Detailer and found it cleans without altering the sheen, which is low luster. I suspect McGuires detailer would be the same.
A good ceramic product will also work. I tried it on the bottom black with good results. (I forget which product I bought)

Spike Morelli said:

I believe my hood was done in Hot Rod Black. I like it. There's some Armor-All on it here, it's slightly more matte usually but not "flat" in Lustre.

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Thank u

Spike Morelli said:

I believe my hood was done in Hot Rod Black. I like it. There's some Armor-All on it here, it's slightly more matte usually but not "flat" in Lustre.

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Can I ask what yellow you used too? In fact, your paint spec is almost exactly what I'm going for, so anything you can share would be appreciated!

Tocruise, the yellow color on my Mach is called "Medium Yellow Gold", and is a stock factory color, and is a Polyurethane solid tone paint. The color is what the car was originally painted from the factory. After seeing other people's two-stage ( Base color/ Clearcoat) water based paintjobs go to hell after a few years, I knew I wasn't going to go that route. My painter either couldn't get the original enamel, or it was illegal to spray in California, so he suggested going Polyurethane. I have used Polyurethane on my boats before, so I was familiar with it. The Ginger interior is how it came as well, however, it too has been re-done

manyo said:

Hello !!!

I am looking to repaint the flat black on my Mach1 hood. Last time i used a PPG lacquer based paint. Not thrilled with it. Can anyone suggest a nice flat black that's not to difficult to apply especially in warm weather??

Thank you very much in advance!!

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I’m in the boat as you Manny, not real happy with the paint on my hood either. My painter used his own recipe and wouldn’t even consider using the hot rod black like I wanted him to. Now I’m getting light scratches on it from gently cleaning it.

Spike Morelli said:

Tocruise, the yellow color on my Mach is called "Medium Yellow Gold", and is a stock factory color, and is a Polyurethane solid tone paint. The color is what the car was originally painted from the factory. After seeing other people's two-stage ( Base color/ Clearcoat) water based paintjobs go to hell after a few years, I knew I wasn't going to go that route. My painter either couldn't get the original enamel, or it was illegal to spray in California, so he suggested going Polyurethane. I have used Polyurethane on my boats before, so I was familiar with it. The Ginger interior is how it came as well, however, it too has been re-done

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I have always liked that color. Very nice!

Spike Morelli said:

Tocruise, the yellow color on my Mach is called "Medium Yellow Gold", and is a stock factory color, and is a Polyurethane solid tone paint. The color is what the car was originally painted from the factory. After seeing other people's two-stage ( Base color/ Clearcoat) water based paintjobs go to hell after a few years, I knew I wasn't going to go that route. My painter either couldn't get the original enamel, or it was illegal to spray in California, so he suggested going Polyurethane. I have used Polyurethane on my boats before, so I was familiar with it. The Ginger interior is how it came as well, however, it too has been re-done

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Nice! Mine supposedly came Medium Bright Yellow (Ford #5080-A) but the previous owner sprayed it (very poorly) a matte black, so I'm hoping to completely redo it. Medium Yellow Gold looks a bit nicer, even if it's not my factory original color.

I might be the only "outlier" in this thread, but I like the way gloss black accents the NACA (NASA) hood scoops on my 71.

351c1971 said:

I might be the only "outlier" in this thread, but I like the way gloss black accents the NACA (NASA) hood scoops on my 71.

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I really like how that looks! When I repaint mine, I don't think I'll go with a matte black for the NASA hood like Spike's, I'll probably do it the same gloss as the rest of the car.

tocruise said:

Nice! Mine supposedly came Medium Bright Yellow (Ford #5080-A) but the previous owner sprayed it (very poorly) a matte black, so I'm hoping to completely redo it. Medium Yellow Gold looks a bit nicer, even if it's not my factory original color.

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I had a MBY 73 Mach 1 back in the mid-80s. I really like the way the MBY popped in contrast to the black stripes, RA hood, spoiler, and rear window louvers. When I painted it, I used gloss black in place of matte black. Forty-year-old photo; colors are a little washed out. Back then, products to maintain matte black were non-existent.

I read that the Matte Black on hoods, ( Mopar used it as well on some models) was to reduce the chances of drivers being blinded by the sun's glare off the hood , and that this was copied from road racing practices, as many racers blacked their hoods for that very reason. I don't know if this is where the blacked out hood idea really came from, and if it's true or not, but if it is, then a matte finish is appropriate.

Sheriff41 said:

I had a MBY 73 Mach 1 back in the mid-80s. I really like the way the MBY popped in contrast to the black stripes, RA hood, spoiler, and rear window louvers. When I painted it, I used gloss black in place of matte black. Forty-year-old photo; colors are a little washed out. Back then, products to maintain matte black were non-existent.
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Wow Sheriff, Back when they took that pic of you behind the wheel of that awesome sled, you looked very youthful !!!

I understand the history of the flat black hood. I also never had sun glare reflected from the hood in 50 years of driving my Mach1.

Spike Morelli said:

I read that the Matte Black on hoods, ( Mopar used it as well on some models) was to reduce the chances of drivers being blinded by the sun's glare off the hood , and that this was copied from road racing practices, as many racers blacked their hoods for that very reason. I don't know if this is where the blacked out hood idea really came from, and if it's true or not, but if it is, then a matte finish is appropriate.

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I agree. I have heard back in the day that it was done to reduce glare. I think Detroit started doing it to copy the aesthetic of a race car look I have to admit it looks good, so good that it’s been done for decades.

The practice of painting the area forward of the windshield for "anti-glare" purposes can be represented in these photos of fighter aircraft. Note the matte Olive Drab top cowling on the P-51, that's the same thought as the Mustang car's matte hood section .In the second photo, of the P-38, you'll see that not only is the cowling ahead of the pilot "matted out", but also just the sides of the engine cowlings facing the pilot, are painted anti-glare matte black. There's rhyme and reason to Ford using the matte black hood. Also, if you look closely at the propeller on the P-51, we can see the backside of one of the blades pointing down, and it was not uncommon to have the backside of propeller blades painted non-glare black, to further keep from blinding pilots with the suns reflected glare.

Sheriff41 said:

I had a MBY 73 Mach 1 back in the mid-80s. I really like the way the MBY popped in contrast to the black stripes, RA hood, spoiler, and rear window louvers. When I painted it, I used gloss black in place of matte black. Forty-year-old photo; colors are a little washed out. Back then, products to maintain matte black were non-existent.
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I'd have to see it in person to know what I prefer haha.

I did some rudimentary color grading to your picture to bring some of the color back.

351c1971 that's the widest black line on a hood that I have ever seen.
MATE, it looks GREAT