paint codes for 1973 z900

[jamfan]

Can anyone please help? I have a side panel that needs repainting in kwaka dark metallic green. Where do I find the paint codes? I'm a painter and have checked on the scheme I've got but cannot find any match on my chips?
many thanks in anticipation!!

[malmojoe]

Hello Jamfan,
the 73 and 74 were a 5 stage process (white-black-flake-candy-top clear) and the finished colour was dependant upon the combination of the layers, so there was a lot of variation.
The side panels take less coats because they are already black plastic, so first there was very fine flake in clear, next, for your green/yellow bike, yellow candy paint which gives you the green, then some clear.
That's how it was done and a metallic base colour won't look anything like it.

Theses were Z1's, if your bike is a Z900 it's from later (76?) but I don't know about the paint on them.

[A1John]

Can anyone please help? I have a side panel that needs repainting in kwaka dark metallic green. Where do I find the paint codes? I'm a painter and have checked on the scheme I've got but cannot find any match on my chips?
many thanks in anticipation!!

Kawasaki did have paint codes for these years but they are no help today.

[neilbarrett]

some one told me the other day about a painter that had the codes for every month in 72-73 as they were all different

[jamfan]

Thanks for the replies lads, it's what I suspected, a candy.. I'll try house of kolour candy and see how in get on. It's an '73 us import A1. I will post pics of before and after.

[malmojoe]

The candy here is good
http://specialistpaints.com/

Jamfan - and who isn't? you might want to look at this from Z-power regarding the model history of these bikes. It might help you with youir paint too.




https://www.z-power.co.uk/merchantmanager/view_information.php?pId=21

[mick znone]

A1 was from 76-78, i would think what you have there is a Z1 jamfan, is it a 900 or 1000cc

[A1John]

Here is a Genuine Kawasaki Paint Code chart from a Kawasaki parts book, not much use today but this proves paint codes do exist !!

[malmojoe]

some one told me the other day about a painter that had the codes for every month in 72-73 as they were all different

I'm going to write this because I keep seeing this about paint codes for Z1/Z1a and not to contradict anyone in particular.
The paint on the Z1 and Z1a (I can't say about the Z1b because I have never examined a real tank or tried to recreate the paint), is made up of multiple layers:
the design is painted in black and white, and then some flake (sparkle) goes over that, then some candy (semi-transparent paint) goes over that. Slightest variations in the processes result in a slightly different colour - the amount of flakes used in the lacquer, the number of coats of flake, the speed of the pass of the gun. Same with the candy, the more coats the darker and less transparent the effect. Again Spraying technique also affects it. Because of this it is technically impossible for any two tanks to be precisely the same shade - even all over the same tank, even the same sprayer cannot exactly reproduce the exactly the same shade.

SOOOOO there cannot possibly be a paint code for this. A paint code is a number, which corresponds to a 'recipe' to perfectly reproduce a paint, so that it matches the original factory paint - like when you want someone to patch up your car. It exists so that your paint supplier down the road, and another paint supplier in Timbuktu, can mix up a batch of paint that will be exactly the same.
THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR A MULTI STAGE PAINTING PROCESS WHICH HAS SO MANY VARIABLES. THERE IS NO PAINT CODES FOR Z1 OR Z1A.

Just seen that while I was typing, the 'missing link' document has once again been laid out. It's not paint codes, those are part numbers for each constituent of the multi stage process. Part numbers which relate to nothing which is available today. But what you can see there, is that it is a a lot of steps to produce the paint effects from these bikes. That can't be mixed up by your paint supplier - so no code guys. Even if you have it expertly matched in one stage paint, it will not reflect the light like the combination of basecoat/flake/candy does