Paint advice

F

firerod

Senior Member
I am about to order paint for my '32 roadster and need advice on how much to order. I will be painting it inside and out and underneath, hood and grill shell, no fenders. I will be using lacquer (I know new paints are better but want to use lacquer). Thanks.
 
Inside & out is still some pretty good surface area figures. If you are going to try an old timey multiple coat job, I wouldn't start with anything less than 2-gallons. Is this nitrocellulose lacquer or are you talking acrylic lacquer? If you go this route, you will need to let the coats completely dry before sanding and adding more coats. The old lacquer needed to out gas a bit before applying more coats or the stuff will spider web on you. This is a long drawn out process and is a pain in the ars from my recollections. I like single stage polyurethane myself. Two or three coats and your done unless you want all sorts of stripes and clear coat on it.
 
You need 50-100% more than you think you need to allow for mistakes. Why lacquer? Single stage lasts a lot longer and you can buff to any shine.
 
I haven't painted with Lacquer before but have painted some cars. MrTexas is right (and so is rotorwrench). It's going to take more than you think. Whole car...inside and out, I plan for 2 gallons plus all the associated catalysts, thinners and other chemicals. If clear coating then X2
 
rotorwrench said:
Inside & out is still some pretty good surface area figures. If you are going to try an old timey multiple coat job, I wouldn't start with anything less than 2-gallons. Is this nitrocellulose lacquer or are you talking acrylic lacquer? If you go this route, you will need to let the coats completely dry before sanding and adding more coats. The old lacquer needed to out gas a bit before applying more coats or the stuff will spider web on you. This is a long drawn out process and is a pain in the ars from my recollections. I like single stage polyurethane myself. Two or three coats and your done unless you want all sorts of stripes and clear coat on it.
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I think this is excellent advice. I typically purchase three gallons of color. I like to have a little left over for any possible future damage (God forbid).
 
Good advice above. If you have plenty of paint on hand you will tend to paint everything correctly without worrying about running out of color. Good luck.
 
What kind of lacquer cannot be buffed as implied above? We've used single stage in recent years and it is great, but nothing beats the depth of color and gloss of a nitro lacquer job done right. (Yes, it is a many step process that consumes a lot of the calendar).
 
acrylic laquer is the worse possible choise . Even when it was good it was bad. nitro laquer is real good paint compaired to acrylic laq. BUT it is almost impossible to get GOOD nitro laquer. I painted my 33 roadster in 1971 . The paint is still good. It water spots. So its best to not wash it. Just polish and wax. Acrilic loquer does not water spot BUT it does crack, as it grows older it gets tighter and tighter and always will crack. Of course this is when it was a current product. It is not now a current product.
SO GOOD LUCK. Auto paint keeps getting better and most of all different. I have painted many cars with acrylic laquer. THEY ALL eventualy failed. Modern paint now should not fail or not be repairable .. color is also a big thing . You might not be able to find exact color ( old color ) as pigments change and some of the pigments that make certain colors are not around anymore. ( lead as an example ) as I said before GOOD LUCK
 
Like Whizzernick I have been painting cars since the 70s. If you do continue and use lacquer AT LEAST use good modern catalyzed primers. The old lacquer primer was sh*t, and was porous as a sponge. If you want failed paint as part of your 40s look then by all means find some old lacquer primer but with all the work that goes into lacquer topcoats, it would be a shame to use the old school primer. Something not mentioned is that you can paint over a 400 sand scratch 10 times with lacquer and still see it. Last lacquer paint I did (35 years ago) took the primer down to 1000 grit wet sanded before I shot the color. Prep work for lacquer is many times more then say a single stage urethane. You need all the facts you can get before you begin to insure a good finished product. As others have said--good luck.
 
I have, probably 10 gallons of old time black lacquer primer in a small drum that I would love to get rid of,but you would need to pick it up.
 
Rockfla- You need 2 types of primers no matter what you put on top of it. A primer sealer goes on the bare (etched) metal. This stuff is not sandable. After the metal is etched and sealed, a primer surfacer is applied and sanded to get the surface as smooth as possible. This is where you use a guide coat to find low spots. This step is repeated until you are satisfied it is as good as you want it. All the major makers make both kinds of primer. Any paint job is only as good as you like to sand. Then comes the color.
 
firerod said:
Using acrylic lacquer. Building a 40's traditional hot rod and want to stick with the old time look.
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If you want the cracks and peeling from the 50's, lacquer is the way to go. The cracks will appear in about 2 years and then I hope you use the modern single stage that every one is telling you to use. If the single stage paints are available then. Now the EPA is mandating water base paints that need an oven to dry the paint.
 
Kube said:
I think this is excellent advice. I typically purchase three gallons of color. I like to have a little left over for any possible future damage (God forbid).
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Kube, do you use a single stage paint or base/clear on your restorations?
 
3 gallons of colour paint to paint a single car - is it the size of the space shuttle? 3 liters maybe... 3 gallon is wayyy to much paint. how many coats are you putting on?
 
V12Bill said:
If you want the cracks and peeling from the 50's, lacquer is the way to go. The cracks will appear in about 2 years and then I hope you use the modern single stage that every one is telling you to use.
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For the most part you will get cracking if there was improper preparation prior to painting. Then the one who did the prep and painting cries about what lousy paint acrylic is. There were and probably still are a lot of 60's vintage GM cars with original acrylic lacquer sitting in junk yards that the paint has never cracked on.
I refinished my car with acrylic lacquer over 20 years ago and there isn't any sign of cracking.
 
I don't have any experience with lacquer, but I just painted my truck with acrylic enamel. I had plenty of people tell me to use urethane, or base/clear, blah blah blah, but I too wanted a more authentic look, even if it meant it had some orange peel or whatever imperfections I was warned about. Bottom line, choose a whole paint system. Primers and catalysts that are compatible with your paint, and you'll be happy. Start out spraying small areas until you get the hang of the gun.
 
weemark said:
3 gallons of colour paint to paint a single car - is it the size of the space shuttle? 3 liters maybe... 3 gallon is wayyy to much paint. how many coats are you putting on?
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1 gallon is probably enough without waste or mistakes. But who doesn't make mistakes! An extra gallon is good insurance.
 
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