At some point in the next year or so I will be painting my project car. If it matters the car is an Austin Healey Sprite and the color will be either a very strong, vibrant yellow or a light green. Me and my wife both like those colors, and my sense of self-preservation wants the car to scream SEE ME! Small cars tend to get overlooked, and therefore hit a lot. My wife's Subaru Justy got hit 3 times, all of them while sitting still in traffic in broad daylight. I will probably pick an oem color for a recent model car instead of a custom color so if I need to make any repairs in the future I can order the oem color code and hopefully get a very good match and not have to paint the complete car again if it's just a door or fender that needs repainting.

Anyway, I have heard that the color matching or color consistency of some brands and/or product lines isn't very good, or at least not nearly as good as some others. I am not terribly concerned about whether or not the color is a perfect match to the oem color, just that if I buy a quart of the same thing a few years from now that it's a pretty good match to what I buy and spray today. So with that in mind, can you guys recommend any particular brands or product lines that have good color consistency and aren't TOO expensive? I know that you usually get what you pay for and to avoid most of the cheapest bottom tier paint lines, but some of the high end stuff available today is shockingly pricey. I haven't decided if I want to go ss vs. bc/cc yet, or if the color will be metallic or non-metallic. Do either of those choices make the spraying much easier or harder for a (almost) beginner, or is it pretty similar since the skill set applies equally to both? The last car painting I did was when I helped my brother apply acrylic enamel to his MG Midget about 30 years ago, and everything has changed since then.

PPG Deltron might be a good choice for you.

bc/cc or SS depends on what spray gun you are using,

Also, if you write down the exact steps you took in painting the car, like gun settings, reducer speed, primer brand and color, number of coats, it will all help in the matching process.

both I will add, if your concern is reparability then I would go with BC/CC. as for quality I have found that name brands that cost more are usually better,. I like ChromaBase its expensive but works very good. your car is small so it won't take much at the most 2qts and with certain colors maybe a qt.. ChromaBase mixes 1-1 so a qt. makes a 1/2 gal to spray. some brands mix at a less ratio so your buying cheaper paint but really not getting as much.
Jay D.

Yep, another vote for both Chroma or PPG's Deltron in base coat/clear coat. Did some minor touch-up on my 25 year old Acura red paint code, color matched easily with the Deltron....expensive stuff but you do get a lot of bang for the buck with premium color. And, yep, you can splurge with such a tiny car......