So, The Cody got me a neat Zippo for Solstice. And here I am, looking at it, trying to figure out a) How they get the color on, and b) How long will the color last?
This is a clever black in dim light -blue in the shade - purple in the light kind of color job. Shiny, and my fingerprints leave oily color-changey streaks on it.
So, how do they do this?
Hmm. That was interesting, thanks.
But it doesn’t tell me how the paint gets on my Zippo (kiln, brushed, er, whatever other methods there are), or how durable the stuff is.
Since I don’t tend to lose lighters, well, ever (I have a lighter graveyard in my car for disposables, as well as an imitation Zippo from 3 years ago), I’m worried about chipping the finish off this lighter in a few years.
Wash your hands, and you won’t get the oily spots. 
Just a guess here, but I’m wondering if they’re using an auto paint trick. In this case, probably a black base coat with a blue/purple metallic tinted “clearcoat.” (This is how those color-shifting cars are done.)
You can probably contact Zippo and ask how they did it. If it wears off, they may be able to repair it.
Genuine Zippos are pretty indestructable. Apparently, there is a lighter in their museum that a WWII soldier had in his shirt pocket. The lighter was hit by a bullet, and saved the soldiers life. (I was told that the lighter still lit afterwards.) Your experience with your lighter may vary.
Excellent gift!
Ha! It is Mood Indigo.
And I wash my hands all the time, meanie. heh.
I know how the undercoat/overcoat looks, because my dad used to paint motorcycles that style, so answered my question when I saw a truck made that way. Familiar with it now. And that’s not what this lighter looks like.
I have a Zippo from 1990 (L VI), and the cover is in nearly perfect condition, even if I can’t get it to light (no spark, despite new flint. Need to look up the troubleshooting guide, heh). But it’s a plain silver. Here’s hoping the colored ones are as durable.
And it’s a great gift. He got my name etched on the front. Aww. Might try to make this a tradition.
What kind of fluid are you using? I’ve found that Ronsinol and Zippo fluids are the best. Anything else never seemed to work well in mine. You may also want to try repacking the cotton filling. Maybe the fluid isn’t flowing to the wick. You can also try changing or trimming the wick. Has it been used before? The wick may simply be burned out. Pull it up 1/2 inch, trim away the excess (or you’ll take off your eyebrows when it lights, and give it a shot. Make sure you have plenty of fluid. Top it off if you need to.
I’ve had 4 in my life… in the past 15 years, anyway. I lost the first one, and the next day, I broke my ankle. When I lost the second one, I was fired from a great job a week later (unrelated, on the surface…). I have a 1998 Daytona 500 (the one Dale Earnhardt finally won) Zippo, but the hinge pin came out and the logo is mostly worn off (which is not covered under warranty) I am afraid to send it out for repair for fear that it’ll get lost in the mail and my house will burn down. Fortunately, my wife knows I’m superstitious, so she helps me when she misplaces it and I go spastic trying to find it. For a woman who says she hates Zippos, she “borrows” mine an awful lot!
The one I use regularly is from 1999. It was passed out to members of the media (well, I got it from a media-type) before the Daytona races, and it had Jimmy Spencer’s Zippo Busch Car on it. The graphic has long worn off, and alas, it is not covered under warranty.
God, I love Zippos. They make me proud to be a Pennsylvanian. (Zippos are made in Bradford, PA…about 4 hours NW of Scranton.)
The Mood Indio is sharp looking. Since it’s not just painted on, but rather seems to be incorporated into the construction of the lighter, you shouldn’t have any problems with it.
Well, it’s not that it won’t light, it’s that there’s no SPARK. I’ve have a faux Zippo for about 3 years, so I know the maintence and all that. So, I trimmed the wick and put in a brand new flint. I’m not purring any fluid in it until I can get a spark. It’s just be a waste.
A friend of mine in TX left this one at my last apt. Since he was always leaving things at our place (when we moved, we had a HUGE pile of Adam Crap), I decided to charge him a Zippo and a clip-on car ashtray cup thing for acting as a storage unit. Besides, he forgot that I had it. Screw it.
Maybe it’s that spinny thing that you spin to light it is all clogged or something. I don’t really want to take it all apart, tho.
Now that I have a real Zippo, I need to go get some real Zippo fluid on Wends, lol. And some spare flints (tho flints seem to last foreeever). I had some cheap Wal-greens stuff for my faux Zippo (I think I got the fluid when I bought the lighter, and I still haven’t finished the bottle off, yeesh). Now that I have a real Zipoo, tho, I figure I should treat it right, hehe.
I love the way Zippos sound when you open and close them. Mmmm.
I just wish I knew how the color got on. I thought, well, maybe it’s a neat type of metal. Nope, the inside of the Zippo case and hinges are silver, so it can’t be made out of a neat metal. BUT the etching deep enough that if it was a thin layer of tint, I’d be able to see silver.
I am perplexed.
Hint: keep a spare flint packed in the cotton inside. Your flint WILL run out when you are nowhere near a 7-11 or drug store to pick up another pack, and the pack in your car will have been lost long ago.
AnimistDragon
If a Zippo sets unused for a long period of time the flint in it can go bad. It will no longer spark but it will block the new flint from making contact with the wheel. Try cleaning the throat (where you insert the flint) with a stiff piece of wire and carefully gouge the old flint out. I had one once that I could not clear the old flint from with wire, so I used a 3/32 drill bit and slowly drilled it out. I put in a new flint and it sparked like new.