Re: IML: Painting Clear Base? Think twice!!!

I've been though this six different ways regarding what I will do on my 196o.

The current paint industry revolves around 2-stage paint. It's the most efficient and modern way to paint, and asking people that are not restoring older cars, but fixing newer cars will yeild all sorts of puzzlement about why you WOULDN'T use 2-stage. It's your job to discern the difference, as there is precious little help out there in the current paint arena.

Here's the reasons that I'm shooting single stage on the practice cars that I'm doing in preparation to shooting my 196o:

Gloss/wet-look: That's the standard of modern paint technology. People want modern cars to look as wet and shiny as possible, especially the hot-rods and customs. Guess what most people ask for at the paint counter? Guess what the paint guy is most used to talking about? Guess what you'll hear about? Clear, gloss, depth, shine, durability.... When you look at clear, you are seeing the color reflected through an optical, clear lens of paint that looks very glossy and "deep" as the light is refracted through the clear before it gets to your eye.

They were spraying single stage at the factory, and your car when new looked shiny and "hard", not deep and glossy. If there is ANY portion of your car that has unrusted factory paint on it, take a buffer to it and polish it. That's what you should be trying for if you want period. Chrysler paint, especially from 64-74 seems to come back really nicely when correctly polished with a buffer. It does not hold its shine well without serious maintenance, which is why so many cars don't look their best.

Over-restoration: I met a guy with a positively brilliant 1967. The car was yellowey/parchment or some such, and was very straight and original looking with low miles and almost no wear, EXCEPT the car had been repainted. He'd taken it to someone, and they had done a very competent job of smoothing the flat sides, making it a really super paint job that I really admired at first glance. I think that he said he spent around $5k. Problem: The thing looked like it was covered in clear syrup and was still wet.. To my eye, after having polished my own cars with factory paint, the car just looked wrong. It looked too new and too shiny. Like it was trying too hard. The guy was VERY happy with it, so who am I to say, but.... The chrome wasn't redone, wasn't bad, but had a little "patina" to it, and the paint was so busy being brilliant and crystalline diamond reflective and mirror smooth, that it looked out of place on the car and sorta took over. Would have looked super on a rod or custom, but looked really out of place there. I don't want my car's paint to shout when I arrive someplace. Just be shiny and nice.

I bought laquer, which is correct for the car. I shot it and played with it on some of the doors that are off the car, and was unable to get the results that I wanted without polishing it quite a bit. The old-timers say that laquer will return to the state that it was applied (dull if it dried that way), and I tried using DuPont Nason single stage paint on my uncle's porsche and was much happier with that.

It's a little shiny even so, but that's OK. At least it isn't deep, and is close enough to the real thing (when polished). Laquer is not as bullet-proof regarding bird-poop, tar, and other things, so I'm OK moving to something more modern, although keep in mind that until recently (15 years ago or so) that quite a few of the show-cars and so forth were still painted in laquer. The paint industry and the EPA have moved things away from the older stuff, but that does not make it any less worthy of consideration when determining what to do in the restoration process of an older car.

I predict/aspire to have paint that is similar to Dick B's car (WOW! DICK, you rock!), and can't imagine ever having clear on my car.

Suggest that if you are really still concerned about this that you get a paint shop to spray a couple of pieces of metal in single stage and 2-stage in the same color or similar and take them out in the sunlight (!!) for comparison. Most paint stores can help with this as well, but be careful about opinionated folks that don't do a good job of comparing/advocating as opposed to pushing.

-Kenyon

bom tie <bomtie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I am painting black. Does basecoat clear look right for a 50's-60's factory job. Or will single stage give a deeper gloss that looks closer to factory look?

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