paint

Hi All, I,am repainting my 1975 MK3 roadster. Where can one purchase the orginal color red paint for this year?

Talk to your good local bike painter as a start. This is what they do.

If you're talking about the candy red, it's a bit more involved than buying a can of spraypaint.
It's a 3-stage finish which begins (after prep & primer) with a silver basecoat, followed by a clear (candy-apple) red and finished with a clear lacquer, and from experience I can say it isn't a straightforward job.

To illustrate the point, I used to refinish Jap sportsbikes for a living, and on more than a few occasions I'd sand back the original factory finish to uncover up to four previous attempts before the job was considered satisfactory. I'll emphasise the point - these came out of the factory like this.

If you've got the equipment, the paints are available from most auto-refinish suppliers (Google House of Color). It's hugely rewarding to stand back and admire a good paintjob, but it would be a baptism of fire if you haven't done it before!

To add to that, the exact shade you get depends on what you use for a ground coat (silver or gold) and how many coats of candy you put down. Not to worry though, the factory wasn't all that consistent with the colors anyway.

I did my 74 in R-M Carizzma candy red over silver ground coat. Stripes and decals are under the clear. This photo is before clear sanding and polish:

Dave, bloody hell that looks good!
How did you make the stripes?

Cheers,
Andy

Stripes are standard vinyl pinstripe tape (3M I think) from the auto paint store. Silver to match the decals. Nowadays I mask and paint them and the emblems on, so there are no bumps under the clear.

All good info posted already. I paint bikes and would be happy to help if you have not found someone yet. You can check my post in the Motorcycle Related section, under QUALITY MOTORCYCLE PAINTING AT REASONABLE PRICES and read the testimonials, including Jerry Doe himself.
Regards,
Brent
The Vintage Vendor