Use clear over it, esp black/dark grey. It comes out looking "oiled". IIRC, Lance Sorchik(sp?) did this many years ago on a chopped n raked 34 ford cpe, n had light blue pinstriping. Looked killer. & I *hate* the primer look, even though I've had to run it in the past. Probably why I seriously dislike it, although it's better than rust(so-called patina). Marcus...
There are if you're willing to dish some extra to buy a primer base that's capable of a tinting. After that the gallon gets decanted into quart or pint's, tinted up and things get as colorful and you choose. Design as well.
NO,,, primer is a preparation for shiny finish paint. All other names for primer are made up as part of an excuse. If you do your own painting, the cost is more about your time an how well you smooth* it out before adding the real finish . Cost of materials can be fairly low, if not going for extra high $ stuff like candy's etcetera. If your a lazy and like lame excuses ? >or just like to make jokes=$10,000 paint job LOL In the 1950s,I got a part time job at a Paint n Body Shop,learned a lot >{ today there are video's n lots of way to learn,if you don't know.} You can blow stupid $$$$ on paint,but none of it will cover up lazy prep. Low cost, high gloss Enamel works well,I have used that on many of my cars an a few buddy's too. My last paint job,outback on my padio a few years back,,cost of total materials under $200. Let dry a few weeks before buffing out,if going with enamel with a few drops of E-hardner. Mark's red 32 is parked next to my black 28,so ya can see his red as a reflection. I like black,but black dose need to be extra smooth=and that is the work,not the cost.
Not too much you can do with primer. While I was building my Olds, and driving it to shows at the saem time, I changed color primers a few times. Red oxide, black, and then last, to see how it would look in tu-tone, I got white primer and tinted it purple. For a while, tinted color primers were all the rage.
The look of red primer in an old 1960 8 mm film I found from another photographer. Hello, Primer is, as others have said a base coat for the final finish color. When we started with our build, we had a worn out black paint on the surface, but no rust anywhere. So, we did some prepping and sprayed the whole car red primer. We had color films of the completed 1940 Willys Coupe, but those films are gone. So, the closest thing is a faded black/white photo. But, with the modern digital companies allowing a process to make any old b/w photo into a colorization process, sometimes the end result is close to reality. Colorization process for digital photos, to get as close as the computer brain sees as real. The film I found of our Willys shows a black primer or at least an 8mm faded color in the processing. It was not taken by me, but 8mm is ½ the size of a 16mm color film, so a lot of the old films are not the best for showcasing actual color. We had big ideas of a final color being either silver or yellow. But, we never got to that stage. Everything was in the final prepping stage to go faster and break the C/Gas class record first, then get the whole thing done with full upholstery and detailed color paint. The red primer was verified by our oldest hot rod friend, who said, “It was definitely red primer, not black.” One day, I will find those old 40 Willys films that I took during our build/race days… Jnaki Don’t worry about the primer paint. Over the last 5 years or so, the general consumer has been given the cost of a factory paint job called “Frozen Ice.” It came in a dark grey, almost black. To old hot rod folks, the extra cost for the Frozen Ice was over the top. My wife knows colors of old hot rods and new cars. when she first saw the newer "Frozen Ice," she said "...that guy painted his car a black primer, but it is shiny..." It was a finished black primer that had a satin finish look and if one took a regular black primer car and buffed it up, that was what most would call “frozen ice.” Those folks that got a car painted from the factory were the forerunners of the fancy paint colors and fancy names to come from other factories. Popularity grew, despite the over the top cost. Now, a new contender steps up to the plate and has offered a simple process of making a car look as if it just got a new black primer paint job. We were filling up our daily driver at our local gas station and up pulls a nice “Black Primer” modern sedan. Blackended windows, lowered and nice wheels added to the look the owner was happy with, in the make over. “Nice paint…” But the answer made me look twice. He said it is a “wrap.” There is a local place that has been putting on different designs for advertising and now has moved into the whole car wrap with various colors of satin finished paint. But, it is hard to see if it is a wrap or a real good paint process. So, as usual, YRMV Note: Here is the best example of a black primer paint on an old Suburban wagon.
I primered this...then added some paint, a bit of clear, some sand paper and polishing compound. Did it all at home and spent less than $6000 in materials and a new Iwata paint gun. Some assembly still required. I will admit that when I started the project I was going to spray it in a matte black finish and put a shop logo on the door, but shit happens and my builds usually get carried away in the process. I am not disappointed in the result.
Two tone Uro primer, it was like this for 13 years. Then I spent about a grand for paint and another grand for shiny stuff, and it turned into this.
I wish! Have you priced paint lately? I spent that on 4:1 polyester primer. And that much again on my gun! Add $1000 for my electronic water cooler. I did use some pretty good products. I believe you get what you pay for.
When I was in high school ('58-'61) there were very few classmates with cars and even fewer who knew what they were looking at if the hood was open. I was one of the ones who walked until I was out of school and 18-ish. But I recall these 2 older cars at school that were in black primer and the impact that they had on me. I was impressed that somebody my age could do that. Something inside of me clicked to what I thought was "swagger" and making a bold statement wherever they rolled. They were like those cars in the magazines at the newsstand. My young eyes were always drawn to them, whether in the parking lot or coming around the corner in town. They got my attention. I don't know if they ever got painted but they were rolling around in black primer for a long time. There weren't any others at that point in time that I recollect. The primer didn't bother me nor did I wonder, "When are you going to get some paint on that thing?" I guess that I sort of felt like if they got final paint, they would blend in with all the rest and disappear.
134 dollars for the paint, 2 days labor, and some old material I had laying around. Sealed and protected until I can paint her. All chrome and trim now safely stored on the car.
Not quality paint, although I was shocked at the $130 ( New Zealand ) each, quote to powder coat a couple of steel wheels . I just used a spray can. I was actually afraid that your $6000 quoted was just for materials and no labour involved. Makes me wonder if the $10,000 paint job that the original poster mentioned, will soon become a $20,000 paint job…….
Why would you waste clear over primer? If you’re going that far sand the primer and base it then clear over it. You maybe mean blending clear?
My coupe was two tone at one time. The fenders were one shade of gray and the body was another. I didn't know one brand of gray primer would be different from another. Dupont fenders and Martin Senor body best I remember.
It is easy to see, after paying so much for materials, why a quality paint job cost upward of 20-30k. The 6k I spent includes nothing for the nearly 2 years of my labor, though it was mostly nights and weekends and not consecutive. I possess a lot more temperance toward custom auto body and paint prices having lived for a time in their particle filters.
I restore classic cars for a living, but I don't do paint, so I asked my paint guy last year what a very nice paint job would cost on a car that appears straight, rust free, and complete. The answer: $12-16k. Most is labor, but yes materials here in the states as well are absolutely outrageous! I can understand spending that much on a car that's worth 100K+ when it's done, but not on a driver hot rod/custom. There's some great products out there for amateur's to mess with that can result in a fantastic finish. Hell, the brush paint thread here on the HAMB has changed quite a few minds! ~Peter
The Jalopy Journal
