If you are like me and actually use your XJ off the road, it's gonna get some pinstripes or other trail damage. I see absolutely no point in taking it to a body shop when it's going to happen again, so I just rattle can body panels when I need to replace them and can't find the exact color in a junkyard.

So a while back I took a nasty hit on a trail. A HMMWV slipped into reverse (without the driver in it) and came down the trail right at me. Luckily, the JCR DIY bumper took the impact pretty well, but the header panel and fender got destroyed.

I got one of each from the junkyard, but all they had in the 97+ flavor was blue. Oh well. Duplicolor makes that perfect match, right?

Nah.

That stuff is waaaay off. It's closer to purple or fuschia than the Mopar flame red color.

Rustoleum Regal Red to the rescue!! I realize the picture is of a piece of cardboard, but it really does show the difference quite well. I painted my whole fender with the Perfect Match at first and just couldn't believe how far off it is.

So there you go. Shoot it with Regal Red and drive it to the trail again tomorrow.

 

The match looks good .

 

yeah, the red match looks pretty good, despite being cardboard. What can I apply to rust, to
mitigate it and prevent it from spreading, anything?

 

Great find. Yes, Duplicolor's Flame Red is notoriously off. For a true factory Mopar Flame Red match on our 97+ XJs, use Duplicolor's Chevy Orange-Red (code BGM0507) or Chrysler P-Red" (code BGMRR). Your Rustoleum Regal Red trick is a solid, cheaper fix that looks way better than the "Perfect Match can. Good tip for trail rigs.

 

Flame red is a very popular color across the mopar board...The first few years of durango seen a bunch of the red ones...That's one of those colors that takes A LOT of coats to even get it close...But in all honesty you've found a better solution.. The lacquer used in the Duplicolor paint match cans really doesn't hold up to the elements well even with the recommended clear coat...I still have my old Durango I have my wife use it instead of the new ram truck when the salt flies...I shot this with Summit Racing flame red base/clear and it matched great..

 

Funny a friend of mine was just talking about Perfect Match. He went to repair a scratch on his wife's car and had same results as you! He even took pics and carried can back to the parts store for a refund as it was way off and of course they said since he used some of it they couldn't. He told them WTH...it's called perfect match and not even close. he still lost the argument....LOL...just noticed I qouted you from a old post....