Looking for paint recommendations

[Brosky]

Because of the accident, my car is going in for a complete paint job and I've been away from this stuff too long to be up on the latest, I'm looking for advice.

The car is now in Dupont Centari, beautiful and shiny smooth, but 24 year old technology.

What is the latest and greatest product to achieve the same color and shiny finish in today's market? I'm sure that my paint guy will have his choice, but I'd like to know what you all think before I talk to him.

Yes, it will be staying Mimosa Yellow.

Thanks in advance.....

 

[TheSearcherMan]

Thats easy, the best paints are Glazurit or Siekens, both German,that can't be debated. PS, they also cost a small fortune. You haven't said if the car is going to be stripped to bare metal. If so, I like an epoxy primer, followed by urethane primer, then base coat/clear coat. I think some will want to use an etching primer on bare metal, but I like the epoxy. Or, maybe some will want to use the etching, epoxy, urethane, base/clear. However, which ever, any of these are good. You will want to see the can the products come out of. You will want to see each step, as the painter I used cheated me and skipped a step, so I sued him. I won in court, however, my wallet lost in the end. I would not want to go through what you are, I'd go crazy dealing with the paint/body crooks. I recommend hiring an attorney before you start the process, or maybe two. No offence to anyone, however, if you can find one or two, female Jewish lawyers are the best. Good Luck Oh, and I almost forgot, don't pay any money up front, you need a detailed contract, type and brand of materials, exactly what will be done, strip to bare metal, etc., time frame etc., you cannot be to detailed in this contract. The judge will want this in court. I had a contract, but it was not detailed as it should have been. Also, if the contract is not done as stated, to what end? In other words, what will be the penalty.

 

[Brosky]

Searcher,

I've known the owner of the shop for a long time. He did all of the previous work on the car. I'm not concerned about what he'll do, because we'll discuss it prior to it happening and I'll have full documentation along the way. If you look at my site, you can see that I have that from the past work. As long as he gets what he needs from the insurance company, and I think that he will, I'll be fine.

I think that he uses Siekens paint for some jobs, because I've seen those cans in the shop.

 

[TR6oldtimer]

They still make Dupont Centari, an acrylic enamel, which should attach just fine to the original paint once sanded. Provided the original coat is solid, I would have no problem doing that.

If you go with urethanes, you may have adhesion problems that may or may not be mitigated by an intermediate primer. If they need an intermediate primer, I would begin to worry about having to much paint on the car.

Of course if you are going to go to bare metal, then it does not matter.

As far as attaining the same sheen, stay away from clear coating.

Also, if you are going from Dupont to another producer (or even Dupont), be sure to get a few ounces mixed up and shoot a test sample on a couple of square feet of sheet metal. It is better to test first, because once on the car what you have will stay with you a long time.

 

[Brosky]

I think that there may be some regulations against using it (Acrylic enamel) here in RI, but I could be wrong. Neither the adjuster or Alan mentioned it as an option, even though we discussed what was on the car.

In any event, we're waiting to see what the adjuster will allow for labor for everything. I too, was concerned about paint build up, but Alan is not, because it will be coming off, I'm sure. I just ordered every new weatherstrip and gasket for the removal of all of the lamps and door handles, etc. Everything is new, but I want the extras here just in case.

I'm taking this slowly, because like the engine, I want it done right and I know that it will take time and will probably end up costing me something, because that's the way things just happen if I see something that will need fixing and it's not covered by the insurance. No biggy, I just deal with it and move on.

My goal is to be ready for spring driving season.

 

[Guest]

I had my 1969 GTO Judge done in pearlescent white with Gasurit on top of epoxy primer. The materials cost a fortune, but the results were worth the expense... the guy I hired was a private guy, who normally was booked 3-5 years in advance. I just caught him at a lucky (for me) time. He has an archive record with photos of first place winners at shows like Houston's Autorama. He cost me a fortune, but he did not skip any steps, and the results were stunning. Good luck in your re-do! :thumbsup:

 

[BryanC]

I think most of the major suppliers have various paint lines. For example, PPG has Deltron, Omni and ShopLine; BASF makes R-M (formerly Rinshed-Mason), Glasurit and Linco. The Deltron line is PPG's best, their others are less expensive (at least per gallon) but may require more coats to get coverage. There seem to be more coverage issues with light colors - esp. yellow.

Although I believe acrylic enamels are still allowed (mostly the lacquers get banned due to environmental concerns) I would go with a urethane. (I am using PPG's Deltron Concept acrylic urethane on my TR6). They are tougher and more durable with little downside other than price and toxicity (tox. is only an issue during application). The urethane basecoat / clearcoat systems are very popular. They are generally thought to be easier to apply than the single stage (just color with no clear) and give a very high gloss. Personally, I prefer the single stage acrylic urethanes for a car like the TR6. These give a shine and finish more like the original paints although they are still quite glossy.

Bryan

 

[Brosky]

Sherman,

I had a 69 Ram Air IV GTO that literally scared me, it was so fast. Sigh....another walk down memory lane. Thanks for the advice on Gasunit, but I don't think that I'll be getting that intense with it. Who knows though, the body shop guy likes to experiment and he's done some nice paint jobs on race cars in the past.

Bryan,

I think that he'll be leaning towards the urethane basecoat / clearcoat system. Mine was very shiny due to the hand sanding and subsequent buffing and waxing, so that's the look that I'm used to. Most people thought that the car was painted with lacquer because it was so shiny and smooth. All of the classic enamel orange peel was wet sanded and buffed out two years after the paint was done by the body shop in the dealership that i worked for at that time.

 

[Guest]

Actually, the GTO was given to me sans engine and transmission. I just happened to be building a 455 Olds motor at that time. In those days, THE Wayne Zufal lived in my neighborhood, (He was Dr. Oldsmobile in the late 60's factory campaign cutlass drag race car that drove the car.) By this time, he was building race boat engines! I went over and asked him what he recommended that I do to the engine. He gave me a list of instructions and I followed them to the Tee! (Ever hear of Mondello racing?) When I dropped that 461 c.i. engine into the car with a TH400.... The first time I drove it and wound it up and launched it, the front wheels came off the ground, and the car went sideways! Scared the heck out of me! Found out right after that that it was running on only 6 cylinders. After I fixed that problem, the car was too radical for the street...but oh-so-fun!

 

[DougF]

I used a one step urethane on my car and wish I had cleared it. The car doesn't sit in the sun much outside of drive time and I have to buff it 1 - 2 times a year to keep up with oxidation.
I used PPG Omni since that was the only paint the store had information on for mixing mallard blue.

 

[billspit]

PPG Omni may be the economy line of PPG paint usually used by resellers. Looks good long enough to sell. I think Concept is their better line.

Somebody said Glasurit and Sikkens cost a small fortune. Not true, they cost a big fortune (to me anyway).

Brosky
I think you need to use the paint line that the shop is most familiar with. Most shops have one particular brand that they use and have all the bases in stock to mix it up. There is nothing wrong with Dupont paint. I've used PPG/Ditlzer myself and like it. I thought basecoat/clear coat was a lot easier to spray than single stage, but personally don't like it on LBCs. Too shiney for me, but to each his own.

 

[tomshobby]

Hi Paul, the shop I went to used Sikkens base/clear. They also had an electronic tool that they used to match the color to the existing color. Worked great and I am very happy with the result.

 

[Tinster]

Hey Paul,

I hope you get a better price than the $15,000.
I was quoted to respray Crypty..

d

EDIT: <span style="color: #000099">Paul - brainstorm.

My car has no rust, dents or dings. Just small
chips from road debris and me constantly hanging
into the engine bay..

YOUR yellow paint job looks fantastic to me.
I am sure your paint price is well under $15,000.

Remove your existing body panels and ship them to me.
I'll pay the freight. I'll ship you my red panels
and you can have them repainted yellow!

A win win all around!!

d</span>

 

[CraigLandrum]

For what its worth, I did the paint job on my car myself and went low budget. Got a complete painting kit from www.paintforcars.com - included a gallon of urethane basecoat and a gallon of clearcoat. I also got a gallon of self etching primer and a gallon of high build primer. The paint was called "Starfire" brand which was probably some cheap knockoff, but it turned out OK. We were going from blasted bare metal.

I gave everything a coat of the self etching followed by one or two coats of MAXX 2K high-build primer and that stuff is excellent - sands out like a dream. I then sprayed everything with the basecoat - surfaces that would be inside or covered got enough to cover the primer and the exterior surfaces got 2 or 3 coats of basecoat color. This was followed within 24 hours with several coats of clearcoat. I sprayed everything using a dual gun Devilbliss set that I think I paid $99 for. I used a nose and mouth covered respirator with fresh air supplied from the (new, clean) compressor off a "T" connection - the other part of the "T" supplied the gun. I also wore a $20 zip up bunny suit and sock cap and gloves and had no problem.

The bottom of the car got two coats of rubberized undercoating from Eastwood and that needed a special Eastwood gun to apply, but was easier to do than the color and clear and took a couple of hours or so to do the entire underside, all wheelwells and the inside of all fenders (the body tub was on its side on a cart at the time making access easy).

Working 8-10 hours a day, it took 9 full days for me to go from bare metal to finished clearcoat. This was my first time attempting to paint any car or use a spray gun and it turned out OK - once you get the air pressure and feed adjusted right on the gun, spraying is actually not that hard to do and drips are easily avoided with a modicum of care - and I imagine that the more expensive the paint the thicker, and that drips are even easier to avoid with the high-end stuff (I really have no experience in this).

Since I had planned on doing it myself from the start, I never priced out the job locally (VA near DC), but if one of these jobs really does cost $10K, then I would guess I saved a bunch. The paint and primers ran me a two or three hundred from the website above, the fresh air mask ran me $75 or so, and the throwaway bunny suits and sock caps and gloves probably ran another hundred or so. I also bought a dessicant hose to ensure that only dry air reached the paint gun. I took a week off work to do the painting and used every day of the week and both weekends.

If you are the adventurous sort, you might consider doing this yourself.

 

[tomshobby]

If you are the adventurous sort, you might consider doing this yourself.

Well Paul, do you feel lucky, well, do ya? (Did you notice my Dirty Harry imitation here?)

Sorry Craig, not making fun of you, just know Paul and his comfort level with things like this.

 

[Brosky]

I have prepped many of the cars that I've owned for complete paint jobs when I worked for the dealership in the 60's through the 80's. Those days are over for me.

I don't have the time or the inclination after doing at least ten of them, including one that had to be completely stripped after the last of five coats of hand sanded lacquer was applied, because the heat went off in the shop overnight in the dead of winter and I came into a sagging mess the next morning. Along with a few broken pipes.

It will be urethane base coat/clear coat after the paint is taken off down to the base metal.