unopened 42 year old cans of paint ? what is the shelf life

[rav440]

i have my 97 taurus listed for sale or trade . i got an email that reads :

" HI

Any chance you might be looking for original Mopar paint from the like about 66 - 71? I have about 6 cases of it in a couple of colors. I can get exact years and colors for you if interested. I asked a friend of mine who runs his family auto body garage and he says folks are still looking for these and I should be able to get $50 a quart but I refuse to sell on eBay any longer and have not got it on Craigslist just yet.

Thanks

Rob "

would the paint still be useable after all of those years ?

[fourforty6pac]

There is an outside chance that might still be good. A lot depends on how they were stored (inside or out). The big problem would be from settling. I wouldn't buy it, there are much better paints today. Good Luck!

[Smellslike1974]

Good or not,i bet those cans a re dented.

[fourforty6pac]

I went to a friends small shop in town. His uncles 67 ford p/u slipped into reverse while he was revving it up from under the hood. Well the door was open and it hit the garage on the way out. So I'll get to the point here. The truck was restored about 8 years ago and we saved some of the paint in case something like this happened. There was a small area on the fender that needed some of that paint. An extra door was sitting in his shop and it was painted when the truck was painted as an extra. So the paint was 8 years old and it didn't even come close to a match. It settled a lot so it was mixed well, when we strained it there was some pigment that was too solid mix in. But in the past i have used old paint without any problems. Oh, the color was a very bright yellow and the touch up had more green in it.

[71Runner]

It's junk.

[patrick]

I think I would buy the paint, take it out to the desert, and put some high-speed lead into it. Paint can so easily be matched, and many classic colors are already on file with paint companies, and like someone else said, paint technology has advanced so much there wouldn't be a point in buying it at all.