Does anyone know if there are any programs made that can be used to help pick colors, wheels, etc? I know they make em for houses and buildings, so I was wondering if there were some for Firebirds too. So far the only way Ive come up with is to take pics of mine or get pics off of websites and then use PaintShopPro and change colors. But theres bound to be a better way. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Charlie

I like the idea, and I've used Adobe Photoshop to do exactly that. I don't know of any commercial program that would allow you to do that, though. Perhaps you could go through the online car show photos and look at all the colors and see if any really catch your eye?

What year is your 'bird?

Mine is a 68 coupe, and ironically enough, canary yellow is one of the colors Im leaning towards lol (along with a darker shade of purple or blue), cuz Ive seen several bright yellow ones, yours included, that I was really impressed with However, every one of em was a convertible. Its actually nowhere near paint stage yet, but I was just trying to plan ahead and kinda have a general idea. Thanks, Charlie

P.S. I have Photoshop also and I like PSP much better, so if youve never tried it and you do much graphics-related stuff, you may wanna try it out...you may like it better too.

I haven't used PSP since the early '90s. At the time, it didn't do what I needed it to do and Photoshop did, so I made the switch. I might take a fresh look at it...what features make it most attractive to you?

You said you'd seen several other yellow 'birds? Other than the car show photos and a magazine cover, I've never seen another yellow 'bird. Mine is "Goldenrod Yellow" but an early '80s repaint was not a perfect match. It will go back to the correct shade in a few years.

The best way to pick a color is to look at cars on the street and in lots. Once you start honing in on a color you like, try to see it in full sun and overcast conditions.

I saw a software like you mention at Summit Racing for choosing wheels. It actually had Firstgen birds that you could change colors, ride height and wheels on. I played with it for quite a while and found it moderately useful. Sorry, but I don't recall the name of it.

I would still look at other cars and form a picture in your mind of what you want.

John

If you are looking at using an original color, there are plenty of sites that have original paint-chip pages to look at. You can import them into PSP (been using it for 10 years now) and modify slightly to your desire.

Also you can scan an original piece (paint-chip, panel, accesory, etc.) and import it into PSP and play with that as well.

Getting a NAPA guy or other paint stud to mix a batch of original paint that matches an original paint-job is pretty darn hard, impossible actually. So all shades will come out slightly glossier, slightly deeper than current 36-38 year old paint jobs. If you are truly re-painting the entire car, these minor differences won't matter.

I'm stuck in this particular dilemma right now, as my 68 original April Gold paint looks like it was painted last year, but a few important spots need new paint. Can't match it perfectly, but want to keep original paint color. It sucks to have to probably eventually re-paint the whole car just to fix a few spots.