Hello All;
It's my understanding, from talking to people in the auto body business,
that what drives the cost of automotive paint is how high tech it is. Car
paint of the "Good old days" was cheaper, sure, but it was no where near as
good, or predictable, as it is now. With a lacquer paint job of the 1950s
you would be lucky if it lasted three years before needing a respray. You
could get enamel paint, which would last longer, but it would take forever
to dry unless it was baked on. The paints also didn't look as smooth and
shiny as they do now and took a lot more skill and effort to get results to
even come close. It was also rare, up until the eighties, not to have a
factory paint job with runs and sags in places like the door jambs.
Modern paint covers a lot more smoothly and is a lot quicker to put on.
Many are designed to go over existing paint work without a major reaction,
with the old paint you always had to test it to make sure. A good modern
paint job will also last and look good for 10 to 15 years without even
trying and can be made to look decent even over a so-so (not lousy) prep
job, one of the reasons base coat clear coat paint is so popular.
The HVLP spray guns of today also produce less overspray and therefore
waste less paint, if you use one of the more conventional kinds. Many of the
newest paints are applied electrostatically, better application, less wasted
paint, fewer solvents. Another thing to mention is that the choice of
colours and textures is almost unlimited and colour matching is far more
precise then it was.
You can still buy the old style paint but you have to look. I have known
guys who have used industrial enamel (tractor paint) on cars but it takes a
month to dry properly. I suppose that you could use bathtub epoxy paint but
your choice of colours is very limited and it is a lot harder to work with.
Lacquer is much quicker, but harder to find, and doesn't hold up near as
well . Theoretically you could still paint a car with a badger hair brush,
(a friend's ancestor used one of those when he painted cars) but you would
spend days rubbing it out to get rid of the brush strokes. (His ancestor
used a leather block and pumice)
Like anything there is a trade off, more money for the paint, less money
for labour or less money for paint, more effort; guess which is more
expensive with the body shops. If you want to save money do as much as you
can yourself and farm out what you can't handle, just make sure that you
buy, and supply, all of the compatible materials for the type of paint you
plan to use.
Let The Flames Begin
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezel and oither trim parts.
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