I know I can go and ask for a can of Skoda Apollo red and get it mixed up, but due to fading this colour is no longer the colour on the car. I wondered if there was a way to get paint closer to that on the car before I go grab the hammerite smooth black paint to do the wheel arches and door. (Seems reasonable to use black as other parts of the car are black, and it can't look any worse than a lighter shade of red I paid to get mixed). The paint on the car was neglected a little by previous owner and went an oxidised matt finish which I brought back to a shine with t-cut. My understanding is that red tends to fade worse than other colours anyway.

Thanks in advance.

I'd say that approaches an impossiblity.

And the only way was to try to T-cut / whatever more to try to get to the original colour.

Just my opinion, of course

I'd say that approaches an impossiblity.

And the only way was to try to T-cut / whatever more to try to get to the original colour.

Just my opinion, of course

Yes, clearly that would be the best way forward, restore the colour of the original faded paint.

I've already got close to the primer in two parts so don't really want to keep going at it with the t-cut.

It might not be as bad a match as I think anyway, as it was the previous owner that said the matched paint wasn't the same colour. I guess if I do it in somewhat even shapes/squares and t-cut the edges where I painted will help blend the edges in.

I have pulled out the rust that will come off from the wheel arch, wire brushed it and put on some rust converter stuff, and aluminium taped across the wheel arch (going over some of the existing paint). Can I simply degrease, mask, spray primer on existing paint and the tape and paint over that? I'm not expecting a body shop quality finish, just a reasonable one that lasts a bit and isn't too prone to rusting.

Sounds reasonable and btw it's how I try to keep corrosion at bay myself. With older cars I don't worry too much about the finish (at dusk it looks quite OK ), I'm more interested in delaying the decay without having to spend too much money. In a year or two I might have to consider to cut off the old wheel arches and replace them with spares.

I've also found Hammerite a good alternative. Better covering and wear resistant than using a spray can.

I used farecla g3 on the 12 year old red mr2 I had and look how bling it came up