Automotive Paint

I’m looking to purchase some automotive quality paint to use with an air compressor / spray gun. I did some general searches online and came up with numerous companies that sell various brands of paint (all acrylic enamel). I also contacted a few shops that are advertised in the yellow pages. Per usual, the prices certainly do vary! One of the NAPA stores that I do business with has a paint made by Sherwin Williams (under a sub brand name) which costs $80 per quart. They estimated that it would take approximately two quarts to do a car the size of mine (a prelude). Then I would need to purchase reducer (inexpensive) and hardener (not quite as inexpensive).

My questions are:

Do you know of any other companies that I should contact to supply the paint? I’m looking for a pearl (yellow) acrylic enamel paint.

How much paint would you estimate it will take for a car the size of a prelude? Does two quarts sound about right? (I do not want really thin coats.)

If I were to run out of paint during the process, how harmful would it be to let the paint fully dry then spray it with another coat later?

What type of primer should I utilize? (I will verify that the primer, paint and possibly clear coat are compatible.)

Thanks for the advice!

email me- I might be able to help..

[email protected] remove the xxx's

Find a place that deals in commercial grade paint, make friends with the guy at the counter, he is your friend. You need a place that carries all the products so you aren't mixing and matching. Its not that you can't do that, but unless you know what you can mix, you're taking a risk. You need someone that can set you up for all the levels of prep you go through. The first time I did a car it included prep of bare steel & plastic bumpers through finish coat. I walked out of the store w/ a box the size of a case of beer and no less than a dozen different containers by the time I had all the reducers, hardeners etc for about $350. The stuff aint cheap.

Call your local indpendant body shop & ask where they get their paint.

Nason is a dupont product, cheaper than the dupont name, but certainly a nice paint.

SEM products seem to do a good job on the prep stuff (primers, plastic repair etc.)

You are better off buying more than you need, it will keep for a while, and a decent paint shop will be able to put it in an aresol can for you for repairs down the road. Running out & having to come back to it is a real pain.

Painting is fun, but the prep is where all the work is.

I'll second the don't mix and match advise. Someone posted this link a couple of years ago; it might be worth a look.

http://www.smartshoppersinc.com/index.html

I've also used the Nason brand acrylic enamal and been happy with it...until I sprayed a Yellow CRX. It took somewhere around 400 coats to cover and not look green. (ok, slight exaggeration). I sprayed the same yellow on different car with the Matrix brand base /clear and it covered well in three coats.

Since then, I've base/cleared everything. It cost a little bit more up front, but was much easier to fix when I got hit during the first race after the repaint. The urethane clear seems to flex a little more than the enamel does. This will help minimize cracks from bump drafting(not that any IT guys ever do that).

Prep work is key. A great paint job looks worse than a bad one if the prep work isn't right.

If your new at painting, stay away from "pearls" or "metallics"; you will make a mess.

I differ with most and follow the advice of my professional shop mentors--NEVER SCRIMP ON YOUR MATERIALS.

Whether it be sandpaper or top coat paint, go with the best. I won't argue brands, but I like Glaurit and have much experience with Sikkens. My paint jobs are just fair--face it, you will never be real good at it if you only paint once in a while on your race cars.

PPG, Dupont, etc. all make top shelf paint too. If you want to "cheap-out" go to a tractor supply store for real bargains. However, one thing to consider (if you can get away from having a specific color) is to go to a high end vendor and buy a gallon of their high quality "mistakes"--stuff they mixed incorrectly or was returned by their pro custumers because it did not match the job.

Have Fun!!

I've had 5 cars painted. The first 4 were done by the young son of a guy who worked for my brother and we did it it my brother's farm shop. I paid the guy like $150 and supplied the paint, etc. at a cost of at least $200. The last time around the kid was no longer available.

I had the car painted a single color (white) at Maaco for $280 and, as far as I am concerned, for a single standard color that is the only way to go. :happy204: I was quite surprised at the quality of the job - shiny and no runs - really all you need in a race car that will end up beaten and battered and needing a repaint long before the Maaco job starts fading. The only caveat is that you might want to do some additional masking as overspray got under my hood and everything is a little hazy now. I have some pix of the car before I put on the graphics if anyone wants to see it.

In fact I need to repaint the fenders and nose now - any suggestions re getting a good job w/ spray cans? Sometimes I get a good result and sometimes it just doesn't have the gloss it should.

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Originally posted by joeg@Jan 26 2006, 12:21 PM
If your new at painting, stay away from "pearls" or "metallics"; you will make a mess.

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Agreed. And on the same subject, pearls and metallics in an enamel are very tough. They lay out easier with base coat.

I am surprised we have not heard from Bodyshop.com. He is an expert on paint and body work and did a fine job painting my car.

I know two people that went to Maaco and were quite happy w/ the result, but had the same comment about overspray.

One other comment on paint choice - a clear top coat will transfer less to another car. I got into an altercation w/ a white car once (mine's red). My car had lots of white tracks on it, his had no color change (except big black doughnuts). I don't know if that is a good thing to freely admitting or suggesting.

I'd really prefer to do the work myself; it is a control thing. I previously had a autobody sponsor, but having to rely on them to fix items became very difficult.

You should be able to get what you need here: http://www.levineautoparts.com/info.html (East Hartford). 20 years ago I bought paint supplies in Hartford but have since forgotten the name. :blink:

"In fact I need to repaint the fenders and nose now - any suggestions re getting a good job w/ spray cans? Sometimes I get a good result and sometimes it just doesn't have the gloss it should."

Any help w/ this?

Rattle can paint job? on that nice car?

Buy a proper spray gun, take off the fenders, DA them and the nose piece and go at it the correct way.