What's it worth ,or is it Vintage Paint

Came across a stash of old factory paint colors,,is this stuff worth anything ? Planned to keep some for motorcycles,,but not all of it. Mostly 60's Chevy Mopar and some Ford

 

Paint is like milk it dont last forever

 

actually this seems fine ,,opened a few cans and they mixed right up,,course after that i dunno

 

I had a customer bring me some OLD factory paint for his mustang years ago and I warned him I did not want to use it, he insisted so we painted it. Around 6 months later he brought it in and the paint was just falling off with no adhesion left in it. I've tried to cut corners on supplies before and it ALWAYS costs me more in the long run?

 

can you explain that what is it that casues it to stick ?? thought that was all about the prep work ?

 

You're better off keeping it on the shelf for show purposes. I wouldn't take a chance using 40-odd year old paint on anything I care about.

Bob

 

sorry i failed chemistry in high school. It has to do with solvents and stuff

 

I have heard rumors of cars being painted with old laquers.

That model A coupe in the last Mag-neto magazine was painted with old laquer.

 

I'm for sure not a chemist, but there are balancers and binders in the paint formula that could possibly not be as effective after 20-30 years of shelve life. Storage temperature could also be a factor. A lot of unknown variables to take a chance on. Stu

 

Shelf it!

 

I would not use the paint its just not worth it!

 

I think nitrocellulose lacquer (black especially) is sought after, but everything else is like the other guys have said. Just decoration for the shelf.

 

Acrylic Enamel has a shelf life.. it will be seedy as well sitting for that long.. I believe the Binder gives out..

 

Silver Lining:

All the kids bikes and wagons will have cool paint jobs soon....

 

I'm using 40 year old acrylic laquer to paint my current project it'll adhere just fine. Some of it has been on the neighbors restored 31 Chevy Sedan for 10 years of course it was only 30 years old then.

99% prep work. 1% luck just like new paint.

 

wow,,thanks all for input. I'll test some out on a motorbike frame

 

I've used 40 year old enamals. You just need to use the right reducer that would have been used back then. It will tell you on the label.

It will work fine.
Lead paint is timeless. Way better than the titanium dioxide of today's stuff.

 

So, to sum it up, it will either work like new, or fall off after you shoot it. Good to get such a definative answer.

 

So how much of that metalic gold like they used on the '66 Grand prix do ya have?

 

lol i actually think i saw that ,,they are all quart cans

 

shoot a test panel and stick in the sun for a few days. then come back and slice it with a razor blade and in a grid pattern and cut down deep to primer. then put duct tape and rub it on hard and or let it sit for awhile and try and rip off the paint. if it wont hold then the adhesion is questionable. if it sticks. well then give it a shot.

 

gotta say some things i have heard here i have never heard before,,i guess it could happen,,though to say over the years a paints ability to adhere ,well sounds kinda .....
Now I could see that if you were using modern bases and then laided the paint over that,,that there could be issues,,will shoot and old glide fender and then report back

 

I had PPG make a modern equivilant of the original factory color Oxford Maroon Metallic for my car. The used some pearl in it and wow it made the color pop. Like was said why chance some old stuff.

 

cause its free,,and trying to work with old stuff is what its all about

 

I assume you have worked in the paint industry since that is a standard test for paint adhesion in the auto mfg. industry. I sure hated repairing those adhesion tests on units that passed, since they were cut so deep and QA usually always did the test on the quarter panels.

I am now retired from the auto paint industry. I started painting in the late sixties and I accumulated a lot of unopened cans of acrylic lacquer and enamel over the years. From my experience, the lacquers seem to be ok, if they've never been opened. Some of the enamels appear to have separated and have a grainy appearance.

Even so I don't know if I would risk painting a large project with a questionable material. I don't mind shooting motorcycle parts, shop equipment, refrigerators, etc since a refinish wouldn't be that big of a deal.

Most of my stock of old paint are factory packs from the mid sixties to the late 70's, some with those catchy names like big bad blue, basin street blue, grabber green, and sassy grass green.



Drewski

 

I think original unopened cans, and an electric paint shaker will be your friends. Opened cans less than perfectly resealed, not so much...

 

So at this point its a crap shoot, who knows where those cans have been? On the plus side you know the worst case scenario and if that comes to play you know what to do. Hell Ive gotten bad results from new junk right off the shelf, now thats disappointing because you paid good coin for it.

 

One thing that has not been mentioned, primer. Did you get any primer? Need to make sure you use the matching primer or a primer that is compatible with the topcoat. The correct primer could make a big difference. Good paint with the wrong primer could fail.
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How the paint was stored, such as temp, tightness of seal will affect the quality and life of the paint.<o></o>
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The cross hatch adhesion test, described by sik_kreations, will tell you if the paint is good. Below is an example of one<o></o>



PM me if you would llike more info

 

Traditional Paint

 

For the amount of time and effort it takes to properly paint ANYTHING there is no way I'd risk using old stale paint. It takes weeks or months sometimes to get the body straight, primer blocked and smooth and slick and ready to spray. If you spray bad paint over it you will likely have to STRIP the old stale failed paint and when you strip paint you have to most times redo all of the bodywork and primer!! No way I'd use it.