1982 Dodge Touch Up Paint (40 OEM Colors)

The 1982 Dodge Vibe

Welcome to 1982, the year Dodge decided that if they couldn't outrun the competition, they'd simply out-color them. We've got a staggering 46 colors in the vault for this year, which is a lot of pigment for a company that was basically selling a car-truck hybrid called the Rampage and a "sporty" Challenger that was actually a secret Mitsubishi. Whether you were hauling drywall in a Light Pick-up or trying to look sophisticated in an Import Truck, 1982 was the peak of the "More Two Tones" era. If your Dodge didn't have two colors and a stripe, did you even really own a Dodge? From Day Star Blue Metallic to the unapologetic Corsica Brown Metallic, the palette was a wild mix of "recession beige" and "disco-is-dead" metallics.

Paint Health Check

We are firmly in the Single Stage Era, my friend. Back in '82, the factory was spraying high-solvent acrylic enamels-the kind of paint that smells like a job well done. There's no clear coat to peel off here, but that doesn't mean you're safe. The enemy of 1982 paint is Oxidation. If your Impact Red or Nightwatch Blue looks like it was scrubbed with a chalkboard eraser, that's the pigment literally dying on the vine. Without a clear top layer, the sun cooks the resin, leaving a dry, chalky film that hides the metallic sparkle of colors like Graphic Yellow or Sterling Silver. If you let it go too long, the metal starts to "breath," and on these old Dodges, that usually leads to the classic wheel-well rot.

Restoration Tip

Because this is single-stage paint, you can actually "resurrect" it-to a point. If you're touching up a survivor, you aren't just covering a chip; you're joining two chemical souls. My advice? It needs wax or it dies. Before you apply any touch-up, you have to get past that chalky oxidation layer with a light rubbing compound, or our paint won't have anything solid to grab onto. And for those of you rocking the classic two-tones, like the B39/B84 Blue combo, remember to mask your lines with high-quality tape. Dodge didn't do "soft fades" in '82; they liked their transitions as sharp as a suit lapel. Once you're done, seal it with a heavy coat of carnauba wax-if you aren't waxing a 1982 Dodge twice a year, you're just watching it turn back into dust.