Question: Painting my restoration Corvettes

[Fritzo]

I have a my 73 to get ready to paint and my 77. I'm at that point on these two cars. My question is what topcoat to use? Bough cars
have the essences of left over lacquer. I have painted every Corvette I have restored since my first 62 in about 1983. However, when I have painted and average of one Corvette every 3 years, every time I have another one ready to paint I have to retrain myself in everything.

I want to use a product that air drys quickley and that I can wet sand and buff for a correct appearance. I like working with basecoat/clear but clear is tacky too long and picks up dust. Single stage? with hardner or without hardner? My paint code for the 73 is 945, Blue-Green. Where is best place to get the best products?

Lots of questions and I have to paint these cars myself. Can you imagine what a professional paint company would charge me, yel, about 5K each..

Thanks for listening.

Fritzo (Fred) :ugh
Mooresville IN

 

[Tom Bryant]

Welcome to the CAC. This is a good topic. If you want the cars to look similar to original then clear coat is out. Clear coat is easy to spot. I have sprayed black single stage with hardener and after color sanding it had the look of lacquer. Hot sure if metallics will do the same. I have had several people tell me that black single stage without hardener will have the look of lacquer that's a few years old. I haven't tried that yet. I'm planning on it though. I would think that you could get the same results with other colors.

You could go to a paint shop and see if you can buy a few types and colors of paint that have been left over from past jobs. Then spray some test panels on an old hood or something to see how the different techniques work out. When I was doing a lot of painting I had a multitude of small amounts of leftovers in various colors. You never threw anything away. That pint of '77 dark red may be just what you need next month.

Tom

 

[Fritzo]

Welcome to the CAC. This is a good topic. If you want the cars to look similar to original then clear coat is out. Clear coat is easy to spot. I have sprayed black single stage with hardener and after color sanding it had the look of lacquer. Hot sure if metallics will do the same. I have had several people tell me that black single stage without hardener will have the look of lacquer that's a few years old. I haven't tried that yet. I'm planning on it though. I would think that you could get the same results with other colors.

You could go to a paint shop and see if you can buy a few types and colors of paint that have been left over from past jobs. Then spray some test panels on an old hood or something to see how the different techniques work out. When I was doing a lot of painting I had a multitude of small amounts of leftovers in various colors. You never threw anything away. That pint of '77 dark red may be just what you need next month.

Tom

Hey Tom!
Thanks, those are good ideas, doing spray outs with old paint products. I never thought of that. I am going to do that before I touch my Corvettes.
I don't think I want to use any metallics myself. I will use hardener cause I want the durability. Single stage is also what I will use. The brand I am not sure yet.
73 is Blue-Green (945), and the 77 is Corvette Dark Red (83).

Fred

 

[SVO]

Acrylic lacquer is available from TCP Global thru their restoration shop, mixed to the paint code on your trim plate. In fact, they can furnish your required color in different paint systems if you don't want to go the lacquer route. If your car is a non-metallic solid color, then a single stage paint system is an option. If your car is a metallic color, then your best bet is a base coat/clear paint system. A metallic single stage isn't recommended if you are wanting to cut & buff it, as the resulting finish will be blotchy.

I understand well what you are talking about dust & trash in the clear coat. The clear coat can be cut (ie sanded) and buffed to a high gloss to remove such trash. If you don't mind the time & effort, I would recommend shooting two coats of a quality high solids clear, and allow to dry. Then wet sand it out smooth with 800-1000 grit. Then re-shoot the car with a third coat of high solids clear. Wet sand out with 1500 - 2000 grit and buff that out to a high gloss.