which white is right?

[05Mudiak]

I hear everyone talking about Birch White but when I color matched my grill the color code was olympic white and it is a good match comming from a rattle can comparing to the factory 2 stage. So is there a difference or is the 2 different whites?

 

[Neo]

i just asked F5 , he said go by the code and pay no attention to the name . GM has used a bunch of whites in the last 10 years . there can be multiple names for the same color . depending on vehicle model there can be differences in name also ...

 

[auggie mathis]

Birch white is a AM General paint code used on H1s and olympic white is a GM paint . Both are white but different shades of white

 

[f5moab]

When it comes to GM vehicles, the paint code is NOT a name. The paint code is an actual code shown on the SPID (service parts ID) label and is usually numbers, but could be alpha/numerical at the very bottom and usually starting with "WA," but could also start with "L" or "U." That is the code that will determine the actual color and shade of the paint on the vehicle the label is attached too.

Any name given to any paint color on any GM vehicle is determined by marketing. The white used on H3s was marketed under the name BIRCH WHITE. It may have the same paint code as olympic white, arctic white, etc, I don't know. When ordering paint for any GM vehicle (and this is probably true for all manufacturers), order according to the PAINT CODE on the SPID (service parts ID) label. There could be a ton of whites, all with different names, with the same paid code; thus, they are the same color. And there could be a ton of whites, with different names and actual different shades of white.

 

[05Mudiak]

Thats what I was saying I got the paint according to the paint code and it came up as olympic white and was just curious why everyone is saying birch white when GM is calling it olympic white.

My buddies paint machine and also dupacolor were both not listing birch white as a hummer color both were showing olympic white

So I was just wondering where birch white came from

I see now Birch White is a AM General named color

 

[f5moab]

Birch White was the name given by GM marketing to the white H3s, at least for my 06; can't really speak for later models. If the used a name that AM used, them I'm betting they got permission. Hell they were linked hand in hand back in those days, so it was probably not a problem with AM. If the paint code comes across as olympic white that is due to the fact that GM also marketed a white color, under the name of olympic white for another model vehicle. So, if the paint code is the same, no problems.

When I was at GM, almost every division had a different name for most colors, yet the paint codes were the same between the colors.