Paint advise needed.

The last car I painted came out OK, nothing special but OK. I tried my best as an amateur.
I used PPG single stage urethane. put on a few coats. I didn't like the way it looked & decided it needed to be wet sanded, 1000 then 2000 paper. Of course it then had to be compounded and polished. It was a lot of work, but came out OK.

I'm getting ready to paint another project, a '52 F1. It will be a daily driver so I am not looking for show quality. I'm thinking about trying a base coat & clear coat to avoid the wet sanding & compounding. I never used this method before and could use some advise.

I will be looking for a solid color, no metal or flake.
Can you suggest a brand name and paint type that is easy to shoot & cost effective? I have been looking at the paints at TCP Global, too many choices for me to decide.

Thanks for your help,
Bob

 

Rubberseal clear coat. Little known clear coat supplier, but high quality and affordable.

http://www.rubber-seal.com/content.asp?id=41

 

I did not personally paint my former Model A. But it is single stage from Napa. The key for the painter on the last quote was to mix it a little thinner on the final quote. It allowed the paint to flow out better and eliminate any orange peal. I had about $200 in paint supplies Not metal or flake, just color.

 

Why do you think you won't have to rub a base clear job? Peel is peel , dirt is dirt, no matter if its in SS color , or bc \ cc. If you are going for a non metallic job and aren't looking for a mile deep finish go with a SS urethane. Either system woul potentially need to be rubbed.

 

PPG Single stage DCC color only way to go or you can get the old enamel DAR a kid can spray this stuff and make it look good.

 

I have worked with BASF Limco Synthetic Enamel and the Restoration Shop Acrylic Enamel from the Restoration Shop at TPC Global. Both are single stage paints. I also used both of these to paint cars outside.

The Limco worked well and was easy to clean up, the TPC paint worked well and was hard to clean up.

Both needed colorsanding and buffing when dry.

I would suggest what I just did to make this easier for you. I put an ad out on Craigslist to rent a paint booth in my area for the next project that I am starting this month. I got a call back and talked to the owner of a shop about 8 miles from where I live, and he has given me the greenlight for sunday work.

It should mean less work in the colorsand and buffing stage. I didnt have bug issues for outside work, but I think with the booth I can get better quality and less peel.

The black is the BASF and the 31 Chevy is the color resto paint.

I used a TP Tools (Canfield Ohio) paint turbine with a 1.4 Siphon gun.

 

For any finish even coming close to a show finish, you WILL have to sand and buff it.
The closer to a "show finish" you want to be, will just involve MORE sanding and buffing!
for example: On most cars I like to do an 800 cut....this really gets rid of any peel..the finer papers can just smooth over the rough surface, not really cutting it flat.
then I proceed to 1000, 1500, and 2000. Each step can take up to 10 hours on a car, but usually more.
Then comes the compounding, ultra fine compound, then a liquid polish, followed by a finer polish, and swirl remover/glaze. Then hand glaze.
BC/CC will take no less than single stage, but it won't look like an older paint job (not in quality, but in depth, transparency, richness).
In other words it isn't going to help much, especially if you don't paint it under perfect conditions, and you're a great painter. Very rarely do I see a paint job straight out of the gun that looks great, and even then, it shrinks a bit over thime, and later needs sanding and buffing to be perfect again.
ANd I do know a bit about paint...Been custom painting for over 30 years, probably 100+ candy jobs under my belt, and I used to judge the "Best Paint" awards at SledScene East for KKOA, over 10 years ( with Sonny Daout, a true old school master! who taught me a lot)

 

Right on chop. I've met maybe a 1/2 dozen guys who can lay down a really slick finish, almost good enough to run as is straight from the gun. None of em get even close to a concours finish, but for a road car or racer, not too bad. It ain't easy, and most show finishers accept the labor of a full cut n buff and focus on color, mil thickness, cleanliness, blah, blah blah...

 

Preparation of the area and or paint booth is everything sweep and blow out the area wash down. Blow out car door jams under hood wheel wells wipe down car with paint supplier recommended product. If the car is not clean and paint area is not clean paint job won't be clean either and you can still have dirt,insects get in finish. Then your skill as a painter is the other Big factor. Yes sanding buffing does take time it all depends on what sort of a paint job you want And makes no difference weather single stage or base coat clear coat. Air movement is a huge element as to your flash time between coats also. Preperation is everything. Good luck

 

http://smartshoppersinc.com/

I just tried kirker paints for the first time and Im sold on it.
You can shoot it as a single stage or add the base maker and then clear it. I did the dash, garnish, jams and under the trunk lid as a single stage then Ill add the base maker for the body. I figure doing it this way saves on clear which is a good thing for someone as cheap as me.

test spray of body color (pale agave)






heres another place to get it:
http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/search/search.aspx?keywords=kirker paint

jeff

 

You will never get a perfect paint job (just like any professional painter) so be satisfied with what you get. The next one will be better, It only takes pratice and patients.

Try and be brave and apply a little more paint on each pass of the gun. This will reduce the orange peel. Too much paint will produce a run so try to hit a happy medium.
It is easier to sand out a small run than sand out the whole car due to orange peel.

I would prefer a run to an orange peel surface, (Think of the run as added protection at no increased cost!)

Using the proper solvent for the air tempeture is a big help in reducing orange peel.
If you overthin the last coat, you will lower the life of the paint job.

 

I swear I saw it...a zebra ladder, officer, running down the street.....it came out of that garage over there......

He is just looking for a driver finish.....not a show car...clean, clean, clean.......two stage...wet clear, overlap the top so it does not "stripe"...watch the runs on the lower areas.....

 

I am in the process of painting my OT vehicle using the black diamond line of Kirker Sonic Blue Pearl. It is a good paint for a beginner. Lays down nice and flat, even in areas where you get gravity indicators. Color is nice and deep, and mixing is dead simple with 4 to 1 parts throughout the entire system. Activators and reducers are all based on ambient temperature of your spray area. Price is pretty cheap when compared to Eastwood, PPG, or HoK when you go through the link JCS provided above.

 

It's not so much the choice of paint brand as it is proper prep of your system of choice.
1. choose the correct solvent for your temperature. Lean towards slower solvents for large areas so you don't creat dry spots. Don't be afraid to use 1/2 of a mid temp reducer and 1/2 of a slow reducer to make up a 1 part solvent mix. Next is the proper fluid tip for your gun. Clearcoats and single stage lean toward a larger tip. Basecoat colors smaller. Last but not least is the proper air pressure to atmize your mixture. To low a pressure and you are spraying marbles. combine this with to fast a reducer and the droplets do not flow. Correct pressure and you are spraying BB"s. With the correct solvent blend for your temperature the BB's flow together and creat a smooth surface. Remember if your first coat is not smooth nothing you put on top in the second or third coat will level that first coat out. Hope this helps.

 

as stated, prep is very important. make sure that all body work/sanding gets lots of time. also, whatever primer & sealer that you have used must be compatible to your final choice of paint.