The body on my 32 has a 90 percent of the 50's black lacquer paint job with the exception of some spots that are down to bare metal and surface rusted. I'd like to prep and spot these areas in. I'm not after perfection, just looking to protect the bare metal and make it look a little better, and I still want it to look old. Some areas (like the roof and upper quarters), are really finely rusted and sandable, a few spots I am thinking of hitting with a spot blaster (lower rear tail pan). The decklid might be easier to completely take down. I'm looking for recommendations on primer surfacers, maybe a high build(or old spot putty?) and techniques to get the spots filled, leveled, and top coated, and buffed. I have found that Bill Hirsch sells black nitrocellulose by the gallon, anyone use this? Do you thin with regular lacquer thinner? What is the difference between Acrylic Lacquer and Nitrocellulose Lacquer, and would acrylic be an option?
Lean to paint it your, a complete paintjob. That's the traditional way to paint it. Old paint types take some practice to master, and you would need some kind of hands on help, that you only can get in real life! But if you are up to it, I would: 1 clean prep and brush paint the bad spots. 2 take it down to flat with maybe 200 or 300, put a coat of heavy construction primer on it, and go over it again with 300 or 400. 3 paint it with about 3 coats of tractor paint/industrial enamel. Scotch brite between layers 4 this is the special trick, give it a coat of 3:1 enamel and clear coat mix of same brand. And buff on top. It's cheap and easy(ish). And you have time to learn between. And you will get a paintjob that looks old, and dosent look like a show rod. You can use it and love it. And not feel bad about using it. Just my 2cents. Use it if needed, and with caution. Rasmus Brynk Andersen, from Denmark.
Wait a minute, you are roadsir. And you are building The JustSteve coupe. I'm subscribed to your tread. My advice was toward low budget builds, and people who wants the look of old, without faux patina. But don't wants to pay for cellulose paint, from a real painter. Do with it what you wants, I like your build. Rasmus Brynk Andersen, from Denmark.
"What is the difference between Acrylic Lacquer and Nitrocellulose Lacquer, and would acrylic be an option?" The biggest difference is Nitrocellulose Lacquer is softer and will not hold up like Acrylic. Mix both with thinner and color sand the same way. Color sanding is a lot easier with Nitrocellulose because it is softer.
Back in the day to spot in lacquer on surface rust areas, we would build the area with several coats of lacquer primer [red oxide] , feather your edges so you don't see a dip in the paint. Don't go very much over the size of the spot. Let the coats dry and sand between each coat. Once the build up is complete, you would buff the primered area with rubbing compound to a smooth finish and clean it with a thinner rag, quickly, and paint it with your top coats. you will be blending so allow a couple of inches larger than the former rusted area. pull your masking tape after drying and wet sand the spot with 1200-1500 and buff it to the surface sheen of the surrounding paint. I would try all that on a spot on the trunklid that you probably are going to repaint anyway before I tackled a qtr. Also we always spot painted with acrylic because it was a harder finish like you were told above. Good luck and maybe some one on here has an easier way.
cheepsk8 has it mostly right. Definitely use lacquer primer for touch ups, but I've used HOK epoxy for overalls under nitro. Lacquer goes on thin, so I like to put on 3-5 coats of primer, then let it sit a day or 2, then block out and reprime again, do this a few times. The reason is that lacquer swells, with recoating, then shrinks back down, a lot. by letting it do so, then sanding again, it minimizes the shrinking overall. When your priming is done, as said, sand again, buff out your blend area, Id go a lot farther than cheepsk8, though, doesn't hurt to go 12 in. or more around your repair area. Cover the primer with paint, probably need 5-10 coats, depending on spray technique, then each successive coat, spray the blend area (not the original repair, only surrounding it) with either lacquer blender, or if not available, a high temp lacquer thinner. Quickly spray another coat, this time an inch or 2 outside your orig. repair. Spray more blender over the blend area, to melt the new paint in, this time going farther out again, to get the next area softened for fresh paint. Now another coat, another couple inches farther out, again blending either thinner, or blender. Do this for 4-6 coats, each time going farther out. When finished, let dry for a week or more, then 6 or 800 wetsand and buff. Lacquer is WAY easier to sand and buff, than modern urethane or enamel paints! So go easy with the buffer! Now, if you can find some old R-M Double Deep black lacquer, that would also be nitrocellulose. You might find some old stuff in old body shop supply houses, or on Ebay. If not, Hirsch, or Hibernia Restoration sells nitro. Yes, you can use acrylic lacquer thinner with it, you'll need 3-4 times the amount of paint to reduce it properly. Please try to find the correct temperature thinner to use in it, and don't spray it if it is too cold, or humid out. Definitely not if raining! Wetsanding nitro is a bit more difficult than acrylic. It tends to clog up the paper very quickly. An old timer's solution is to put some Ivory liquid detergent in the wetsanding water, then put about a cup of Kerosene in it as well, helps lubricate the paper, so it doesn't clog as easily. Spray it on in thin coats, taking your time in between coats.. lacquer is very prone to solvent trapping, as you use so much solvent in reducing it.
Oh, and you probably want to do a small area first to see if the old paint will accept new paint. I've heard stories that old lacquer can shatter when you try to reapply fresh paint to an old job, but I've never experienced it myself.
There are hundreds of shades of black. With so much spotting needed on your cars body, plus that rough looking trunk, you,ll be highly challenged to getting that thing looking right. You might reconsider spotting and winding up with a quilt looking paint job vs. a full repaint.
I did some repairs on a 40 Ford for a friend many years ago. He still had a can of the original paint (black). Where I blended it in, you could detect the color change. Two different painters can thin and spray the same paint and get two different colors.
Clr scrub, lock the rust down and leave it till you can do it right. I'm thinking the only thing to use there is a fork to stick in it because it's done.
I have been following your build thread, and IMO given the high level of quality you are building into the car it will be begging for a complete re-paint. The lacquer would be great, just take it all down, prep and re-spray everything.
Guys there is some method and reasoning to my madness. First is the car will be on the road this spring/summer, Its been off the road for 55 years and I don't want to delay it another season or two to get it into paint. Second is finanancial, the timing on this car came about while I building my 34 which I set aside, and I have two daughters in college this year. Rather than wait to build the car three years from now I want to get the chassis and mechanicals complete, so it would not have to be completely blown apart (and potentially stall). In a year or two I can focus on new paint, and full interior, which also means glass, fuzzies, re-chroming windshield trim, etc. Volvbrynk, I've threatened to learn how to do prep and paint. I think I could do the work, I just don't have the space to dedicate to that type of work. I need more shop space! 1946caddy, Thanks for the explanation. This is helpful. cheepsk8, 2many projects. This is exactly the detailed response I was hoping for, and is very helpful. I understand that I may need to be prepared to scuff and paint larger areas ( beltline up, and perhaps most of, and potentially all of the body) but the materials are relatively inexpensive (nitro less than $100 per gallon.) Yes I May need to cut in or paint larger areas. I thought about CLR, I'll test a few spots. ...as I mentioned above the budget won't allow full paint now..but thanks for the complement.!
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