Not a good place to start for your first full body job IMHO

 

Pearl is not hard for someone that has a little experience but if it is your first paint job then I would stay with something simple

 

I agree ,even BC/CC is a little tough.I'd start off with SS solid color urathane.

 

paid to practice

50 years ago I worked in a shop that built food processing equipment and farm equipment I was asked if I could paint. I had done the sanding and primer on my car but had someone else spray the color. I was soon the designated painter. No runs, thin spots. they said that was the best finish they has sent out in years.

 

Another probably simple question....what is the "SS" in "SS solid color urethane"? Will this type of paint last a long time and look good? Does it need to be/have to be polished?

 

single stage.. doesn't need buffed. it'll shine w/o, but it will shine better with a nice cut and buff.. pretty durable and easy to spray

 

I read the tech sheet on a single stage acrylic urethane. Is that what we are talking about? It mentions that a clear coat could be added if more protection is desired, but it does not say at what point you would shoot clear over it. Would you wait past the stated 16 hour drying time? Or do it at some point before? Or wait longer?

 

the tech sheet should state the recoat time.. it might not say it directly for clear, being it is Single stage, but you can use the paint recoat time

 

SS= single stage... no clear coat.
there are many brands from 50.00 all the way up to 800.00 a gallon..... forget metallic in SS paint they will look like crap even if a pro does it.
I really like Nason ful-thane at around 100 -150.00 a gallon it'll last 5-10 yrs if prepped well...
BC/CC will run two to three times that ,so,If you have your heart set on a metallic or pearl BC/CC is a must... get a base with your pearls already mixed in it.
.. don't even try using a tri coat system for a first attempt (way to complicated)
Some guys get lucky with their first attempt at base /clears ...Just gotta ask yourself one question, ...(do ya feel lucky).....
all paints can be polished

 

Something Deadbodyman always preaches is for metallic or pearl, use the Chromabase or other good base, for solid colors you can get away with Nason or Omni. The good bases are made with less binder which actually results in better coverage with less material usually. It also turns out to be moderately 10-20% more to use the good base than the cheap stuff once you figure in the amount of color/base you have to buy. It takes nearly twice as much of the cheap base as it does of the good base to achieve the same coverage. At elast this is my experience with this stuff.

Back to the original question, I wouldn't try a pearl or metallica as a first paint job, but to each his own, you might turn out to have a knack for this work.

 

I'll go a bit against the grain here and encourage you to take a shot with the pearl...but with the condition that you use a paint with the pearl mixed into the base (as others have mentioned above).

I shot my sedan/delivery with this Restoration Shop brand and it was my first bc/cc. I had shot a few cars with lacquer some years back and one with a solid urethane, so I really had no experience with the bc/cc system or with metallics or pearls. I'm pretty happy with the results. You can hunt around at that link above to find other colors with the pearl already mixed in the paint.

 

O.K., I am sold on the SS solid color. Never having purchased paint before, can I get Nason on-line, or is it a paint store kind of thing?

The tech sheet I was reading was from an outfit on-line called TCP Global, I think....their "restoration shop" brand, at $119 for the SS acrylic urethane kit. Anybody know whether this brand is good or bad?

 

The whole deal with painting is getting the natural feel and fluid movement of your hand ,Once you get it, you can paint just about anything if you have a good eye ....Some guys are naturals (like C boy) others have to work on it and then again others never get there..
really wanting to do it yourself is half the battle....The lower costof SS will also take a lot of pressure you, so dont worry if you mess up the first attempt the second try you'll be blessed. :thumbup:

 

....their "restoration shop" brand, at $119 for the SS acrylic urethane kit. Anybody know whether this brand is good or bad?

I think we must have cross-posted onpyramid . See my entry above yours. I used Restoration Shop from TCP global. You can see more of the results in my journal starting about here.

The body just after being shot with Restoration Shop Firethorne Pearl Red and clear.

 

....Some guys are naturals (like C boy) others have to work on it and then again others never get there...

Don't let dbm fool you. I'm as klutzy as they come around a paint gun. The only reason my paint job came out half way decent is because I got a LOT of good advice from the painters here on HR.Com and I spent a good deal of time visualizing and actually practicing with not paint in the gun before I ever pulled the trigger.

As a novice, I think painting is one of the most nerve racking tasks there is in the car building process. I had a number of sleepless nights going over in my head exactly how I would approach and shoot each and every panel of the car. And I asked a lot of questions beforehand to make sure I was on the right track with my painting plan.

I would never suggest you will have an easy time of it...whether you choose a solid or a pearl, or SS vs. BC/CC. But I believe you CAN do it no matter which route you choose.

 

Last three questions for today....

1) With the SS Acrylic Urethane, do you paint one coat, then wait through the 16 hour recoat time before hitting it with a second coat...assuming I have not gotten complete coverage the first time, or can you shoot it again after a lesser amount of time? Tech sheet says to shoot 2-3 medium wet coats. Times given are for 77*F ... 2 hours dry to touch; 6 hours to tape and 16 hours to recoat.

2) With a 2 1/2 -3 hour pot life, I am assuming I will mix up all the paint and shoot around the car 2-3 times, or until I run out of paint??

3) Is a one gallon kit (1 gal. paint, 1 qt. hardener, 1 qt. reducer) enough to paint a '68 Mustang coupe?

Thanks, so much for all the advice. Maybe, in the future, I will be able to return the favors to someone else.

 

Last three questions for today....

1) With the SS Acrylic Urethane, do you paint one coat, then wait through the 16 hour recoat time before hitting it with a second coat...assuming I have not gotten complete coverage the first time, or can you shoot it again after a lesser amount of time? Tech sheet says to shoot 2-3 medium wet coats. Times given are for 77*F ... 2 hours dry to touch; 6 hours to tape and 16 hours to recoat.

2) With a 2 1/2 -3 hour pot life, I am assuming I will mix up all the paint and shoot around the car 2-3 times, or until I run out of paint??

3) Is a one gallon kit (1 gal. paint, 1 qt. hardener, 1 qt. reducer) enough to paint a '68 Mustang coupe?

Thanks, so much for all the advice. Maybe, in the future, I will be able to return the favors to someone else.

I don't believe you understand the directions.

The 16 hour re-coat is how long you can go to re-coat without having to sand for adhesion. All these times will be dependent on the weather, heat, humidity, etc. Shoot your coats depending on the flash time after the first coat is applied. The 16 hour re-coat just lets you know, in case of sags, a sudden duststorm, dinner time, the dog having puppies, etc., on how much time you have before it is necessary to wet sand the paint for adhesion and more coats. 6 hours for taping, this is for stripes, 2 tones, anywhere that you might have to use the tape to the fresh paint.
2 1/2 hour pot life, how long is that paint is going to last before you won't be able to spray. If you're using metallics, you will want to mix it all at once. It's probably a good idea to do this anyway, but now you're committed and there is no turning back.

I would buy 2 gallons. After the first gallon is used, you will know approximately how much more you will need, mix only what you think you will use. Depending on how well the paint covers, what color going over a primer color, and it doesn't hurt to have some extra for touch up. Don't be shy with SS paint, a decent tack coat, then as heavy as you dare to go with the following coats will produce a nice shiny paint job. Dry paint looks horrible, you may get a few sags, sand them out after a few weeks, touch up if needed, buff. Good luck, show us some pics. Dan

Just an after thought, I have had decent luck saving paint using a small container that seals tightly and leaves little air space in the container, in other words, the fuller the container, the better. mason jars in an old refrigerator seem to work well.

 

1 gallon of paint ,1qt of hardener,1 qt of reducer = 6 qts of sprayable paintso the mixing ratio is 4;1;1
half of that (3qts of mixed paint) should be all you need.(it depends on your gun)
I'm not sure about your brand as far as a tack (mist) coat goes .but with Nason SS you start off spraying just like you want it too look and spray two coats.After the first coat wait 10 min then touch the overspray on the paper to see if its tacky, if your finger can slide its not ready it should only leave a finger print with nothing on your finger...spray the second coat just like you want it to look ,if you get runs keep going once you make two passes stop. dont use up the rest of the paint...throw it away...you still have the other half unmixed so wait a couple days before doing anything else.let us know how it turned out then we'll take it from there.
Dont mix all of your paint at once.you'll waste it...two coats thats it..
.If you pay attention to how much paint you use per coat and have enough for a third coat then go ahead and give it a third other than that throw that mixed up paint away.
dont forget the pics.

 

Thank you, everyone. My task has been much clearer today. I have a couple weeks (unfortunately I have a real job that will not allow me full-time access to my project ) of priming and blocking to make sure the surface is as close to perfect as I can get. I will post pictures, and probably ask for advice to fix mistakes, as I get it completed.

 

Well, I finally got around to shooting the entire car. Aside from a couple of runs down low, just a bit of orange peel on one rear quarter, and two pesky mosquitos that landed in the paint, I think it came out pretty good. It is a much nicer job than I originally got from Maaco, for sure.

How long should I wait to wet sand and polish? (This was a single stage urethane application.)

Thanks to everyone for the advice. It was invaluble.

Mark

 

Awesome Job!!!

awesome job on the paint man! im shocked to see a SS come out that clean! im trying to break into the ordeal with painting myself and already learning some hard lesson (i.e. etch primer goes only on bare metal and primer, NOT the whole fender) so to see you progress like that is awesome. keep it up and post more pics!

-Josh
"Drive It Like Ya Stole It"
:evil: :evil: :evil:

 

Well, I finally got around to shooting the entire car. Aside from a couple of runs down low, just a bit of orange peel on one rear quarter, and two pesky mosquitos that landed in the paint, I think it came out pretty good. It is a much nicer job than I originally got from Maaco, for sure.

How long should I wait to wet sand and polish? (This was a single stage urethane application.)

Thanks to everyone for the advice. It was invaluble.

Mark

Mark, I agree ,your car came out great. As far as sanding and polishing SS goes....ONLY if its a solid color....(its hard to tell if its solid or not by a picture) BUT.....If you sand a metallic the flakes will be disturbed and look terrible....So ,....you can polish a little but you cant sand a metallic SS, you can sand and buff a solid SS ....Some of the best jobs I've ever seen were SS paints...(solid colors)
I can offer one more piece of advice (I've learned the hard way) for anyone thats going to paint their own car.....THE most important piece to take off would be the antenna,you be going right along looking at what your doing then your hand will hit the darn thing and stop you ,in that split second you'll get a run.mirrors are the same way.Every time I get lazy and don't take them off I always hit the dang things with my gun and get the dreaded "flow indicators"Keep up the good work.dont you wish this WAS your REAL job????

 

It is a solid color, not a metallic, so I am going to wet sand.

I figure to start with 2000, move to 2500 and then finish with 3000 grit. Does that sound reasonable? It has been four days since I sprayed. Is it o.k. to start sanding at this point, or should I wait longer? How long?

 

For years I always started with 1200 and went to 1500,but I found it was better to start with fifteen then buff but I cant hurt at all to go to 2000 if you want.
I would get started pretty quick ,once that paint gets hard it'll be tough to buff
its ok to sand while the paint is still a little soft but wait untill its cured before buffing.... differnt paints cure differntly but you should be safe... if its not to late already...dont wait longer than a week (in most cases)...
A good way to tell if its cured is to try to put a dent in it by pressing your fingernail in it ...if it leaves a dent its not ready to buff....but start buffing as soon as its ready....you got a couple days of sanding and buffing to do so started sanding as soon as you can...
What brand of paint did you end up going with???

 

Thanks for the info.

It was the paint sold by TCP Global....I do not know who actually makes it.