Customs What paint are you using?

I am switching brands.

Looking for a middle of the road, decent product. I have time to research. I had a lot of my previous brand left over, but the primers, activators etc will be purged.

Looking for someone that make a good epoxy and high build primer.
PPG and Dupont have priced me out of that market. I am forced to spray shopline stuff.

I generally spray bc/cc, but occasionally single stage.

Anyone use SPI? Good, bad or meh?

 

I swap between PPG and Napa (Martin Senior, aka Sherman Williams). Usually got to Napa, but I pony up for PPG when doing metallic as I have seen a difference, but single solid colors its usually Napa.

 

SPI is supposed to be great stuff, lots of people love it, but I've never had good luck spraying it. I can't seem to get it to lay flat, always a lot of peel in it, but it is sandable at least.

Edit: I have not used their high build primer

 

I can make anything lay down, but the problem I having with my current brand is the activators causing solvent pop. Very frustrating. I thought it was my airlines etc causing the fisheyes, changed all the lines, new compressor, new filters etc. caused me problems for months.

I sprayed a bunch of other stuff since. Tonight, I get out the old epoxy primer I was using way back and the issue reappeared....at least I know what was causing it.

 

I've been using Omni epoxy lately. I like it and it doesn't break the bank. I know I'm going to jinx myself, but I've never had a problem with solvent pop.

 

I've used Viking too, its good stuff.

 

I haven't painted in a few years, last time I did, I used Eastwood single stage, cut and buff, was very happy with it.

 

Kirker. Ks51429. Acrylic Enamel. Just got through with my second one using it. Pleased with results. And I haven’t cut or buffed yet. Can’t wait to see it back together.

 

Still using Axalta and Roberlo products.

 

Is Axalta what used to be DuPont?

 

Following along. I haven’t painted much in years but need to in the next week or two… It will be good to practice on my daughters car.

 

We have had good results with Kirker Paints. HRP

 

For actual paint jobs, it will always be tough to beat PPG. But, I've got a friend that is the paint guy at NAPA and I have him match and mix me up all my paint for everything else.


I know a lot of guys that use Summit's house brand with good results, too. If I get around to doing a driver type car I might try them next.

 

I used to exclusively use ppg products, after being quoted $2300 for a gallon of red base coat, I decided to try another brand. There was a local paint dealer that sold Matrix, so I stopped by there to check it out. He talked me into trying another brand that he carried called Xprime. He even gave me a sample to spray out. The same color, with clear cost less than $900. The base covered really well, and the clear sprayed out nice. It cut and buffed really well.
A lot of people are skeptical, because they don’t have a website or advertise. Everyone that I know that has used it, is really happy with it.

 

$2300 sounds about right for red through in clear for just south of $1000 bucks and you still need reducer and activator thats nuts. I sprayed my 35 0lds with dell fleet sprayed well for a good price, can't go wrong with Nasson its a good garage paint for the money.

 

One of the reasons I stayed with PPG so long was for their Concept DCC single stage urethane line. I liked that it used the same catalyst and reducer as the clearcoats, and could be intermixed. DCC has been discontinued, so I have no reason to stay with PPG. I really prefer black single stage over base/clear. If some company had a single stage black that was as easy to use as DCC9300, I would like to try it. Matrix had one, but they replaced that line with a single stage that takes forever to harden.

 

My go to is nason. Whether it be ful-thane or ful-base

 

I avoid the cheaper stuff, but I've found Tamco's line of primers and clears are real good. Now they even mix paint. Will use it on the next shop project.

 

I'm not necessarily looking for swap meet priced primers, just not PPG priced stuff.

 

Good info here guys. Paint prices always scare me.

 

How high has it got?
Shopline?
We demoed vp2050. Not cheap but it’s an epoxy primer surfacer. So when compared to spraying epoxy then another primer it kinda isn’t as bad as it seems price wise.
For a regular epoxy, PPG EPX is hard to beat. It’s from their industrial line. Mixes 1:1. Smells and sprays like old DP.
Much cheaper than the DP replacements.

 

Friend of mine does resto work. Uses SPI products and loves em

 

Yes sir. They also have a line of products under high teck. I use this base any time I can. Works great, I cut most of it 1:1. If victory red works for you, hard to beat that price. Those prices have changed some, but still not bad compared to a mixed gallon.

 

Does anyone use TCP Global?

 

I've used the custom flatz that they sell. It was fine.

 

@Lloyd's paint & glass it seems like you have tried most of them!
How would you rank various brands, going from a step above rattle cans to high end resto or show quality?
I'm probably like most in that if I spend the time to properly prep a part, lay down and sand a primer, I want the final coat to lay down well, hold up to the environment and last a good long time.

 

Not being an ass, but i was just spreading filler and it hit me lol... I hear guys bitch about how much it costs to have a car painted, and also complain about the price of materials. This crap ain't easy! Add in the overhead to all of that, and it starts making sense. Then you watch TV and see them completely restore a car in a week, and you think that is actually possible. If I had 50 guys in here working on 1 car, that were being paid by sponsors, plus having every piece of the car supplied to me, and a little TV magic, I'd be a superstar! Nobody gave me these tools either, I've been buying them for 35 years. Ever hear the story about the property dispute when George Washington showed up to survey the property and settle the argument? He did the job, drove a property marker in the ground, and gave them a bill for$100. One of the guys threw a fit and said there's no way that marker cost $100, George Washington said no, the marker is a dollar, knowing where to put it is $99

 

I'll say that finish wise, the best product I've ever used is BASF, R&M diamont. That was years ago, had their system in my shop. It was polyester basecoat. No mottle on metallic, just a wonderful product. And their clear was amazing. Kinda like back when DuPont sold 7500 & 7600. Made this job a lot easier in my opinion. Recently I ordered medium solids clear from summit, wanted to see if the reviews were right... I worked my ass off trying to make that car look good, I'll never buy summit clear again. But I do use their buff 2k primer. I use Nason basecoat a lot. The difference is that my customer's aren't building cars for the GNRS, so the products i use reflect that in pricing. If I told these guys that their materials were gonna cost $10k, they'd laugh at me. Gotta think about what you're gonna do with the car, that dictates a lot of it in my opinion. But with so many guys here that paint, we all have our own preferences and opinions. Gotta step out and try stuff, some of it works out, some don't. Dust yourself off and try something else lol

 

This was summit medium solids clear. I should've stuck with my high solids roberlo, because I sanded and buffed for a solid week, still wasn't satisfied with it when it left.