Thanks for doing all that work Mike. That list is really great.
If I hear you correctly then I think there must be an opportunity to build a Honda paint colour list for pre-1982 machines which would become the standard - since there is no standard. I do know that a spray can of (must be reproduction) Parakeet Yellow from German ebay is about 50 bones - - - US bones!
I wonder who does the best colour reproduction today? It's probably like you say - anyone who's really good can do something interesting.
(The idea of finding a modern car colour which is the closest match to the older colours sort of interests me as well. The woman who scanned my tank said that my original Parakeet Yellow was so close to a GM Corvette yellow as to be indistinguishable by eye. I've also heard that Fiat still makes a yellow which is darned close.)
Do you still have any sort of relationship with Honda Motor Company?
Anyway - thanks for coming into the discussion - your experience and efforts are certainly appreciated here, that's for sure.
Thanks for the kind comments and intelligent reply. The list I assembled was mostly made up of Lubrictech material but it was checked against Honda documents as well, and discrepancies accounted for as far as possible. For example (and this example is noted on the site), Lubritech failed to recognize the first F1 750 as appearing in 1975. So while it took a little time, it really wasn't that much of an accomplishment, and isn't really very original material, but I figured it would be helpful. Unfortunately, the most my list can do is verify what colors came on what year and model, in the US at least, and additionally, what Lubritech did to service each example color. Beyond that, it is not very useful, I am afraid.
I have done many things in this industry, including overhauling the curriculum at MMI just a few years ago, but at present I am with corporate Kawasaki in their training dept. I worked for corporate Honda three years, and was a Honda dealer tech for over ten straight years. Received Honda registration certificate in 1983. Been around a long time, hence my username -- oldfart. :-)
Back to paint. Two things. Yes, I have heard many things (and have heard direct from a few folks who really know) about certain kinds of auto paint that are dead on close for our purposes. In a group as large as SOHC4 there has to be one or two of these folks lurking who have found one or more colors that work. Second, there are also very talented auto finish professionals who can produce anything you ask them to. Both avenues are useful, I would think, though I am not in the restoration business. :-)
Mike Nixon
