Go to TSC.
Look for the farm implement paint.
The "Ford Lt Grey" is a near exact match!!!
I saw the Ford Lt Grey, and it is close, though just a tad more blue, I think. I just got done taking the yellow out of the plastic starter housing of the 009...read about a neat trick using concentrated hydrogen peroxide to coat it and then let it sit in the sun for a day...it really is amazing. Anyways, with the yellow out, it most definitely has more of a slight green tint to it than blue, though the TSC paint would have been just fine.
I bought a can of the Stihl grey and stripped it down to bare metal in many places. Then I used self-etching primer, followed by the Stihl paint. It took FOREVER to harden...I suspect because I followed the primer directions and applied the Stihl paint right away. If I do it again, and use that primer, I will definitely let it age for a bit before starting with the finish coats. I also used the Rustoleum clear coat, and found it had a tendency to want to melt the Stihl paint as well. Once hard, it's fine, but again, one needs some patience. Not sure if the Krylon product would behave any differently or not. Even with the clear coat, as others have noted, the spray can finishes are not terribly durable; I already have a couple of chips. For the effort involved, if you can justify the equipment or are going to do a few saws, I think powder coating is the way to go for durability.
The nameplate had a fair number of scuffs and nicks on it, but I found a paint pen in an off-brand at Michael's that is almost a perfect match for the Stihl orange, and touched up the knicks in the orange, and used a black paint pen for the scuffed letters, followed by clear coating it before putting it back on the starter cover. It isn't perfect, but it is much better, and good enough since I expect to put some wear and tear from use on the saw. My intention was just to give the outside some love to reflect all the attention I gave the inside!
I did splurge and buy a new micro mini 12" bar so I could use three 12" loops I picked up from a landscape guy who replaces his trimmer chains every job. They were almost like new, and I was VERY impressed by how well the narrow kerf pulls through the wood; I would not have guessed it was a green chain. I have an 012 almost done that I will put the standard picco .050 pitch chain and am curious how they compare.
Robert
