Paint Question

[jwebb]

What brand of paint works the best on these cars, anyone better than another, thoughts?

[PeteH]

I've used PPG on all my restorations, and have the same for this car. I'm sure there are others who've used other brands successfully.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Any of the mainstream brands such as PPG, Dupont, Sherwin Williams, etc. will be fine. The key is proper preparation and application.

Jeff

[Avalanche325]

Any of the mainstream brands such as PPG, Dupont, Sherwin Williams, etc. will be fine. The key is proper preparation and application.

Jeff

You forgot Rustolium and foam roller.

[SingleMaltWSKY]

You forgot Rustolium and foam roller.

Don't forget bedliner in a rattlecan. :-P

I'm especially nervous about the paint and paint prep.....all the work in the world under the body and it won't matter if people can't see past a poor exterior finish. So much homework yet to go.

[Svtfreak]

PPG fan here, but I have considered trying either the summit or speedway or even Eastwood brands.

[mcmustang]

Don't forget about vinyl wraps! Or Plasti Dip!

[alv69]

I have used ppg and DuPont [axalta] did not see any difference, now am going to paint with Sherman Williams. will let you know how it comes out.

[j.miller]

All the major players are great.....the more you spend the higher quality of resins, carriers, pigments you get. Try to keep it in the middle to upper middle. I have shot almost all of them. They are all good unless you catch them in a product change and all the bugs aren't worked out. PPG Waterborne is my go to. The clears are the same for WB or solvent that have been around for years... I have noticed they only update or change formulas when I find one I really like ...da Bat

[DaveS53]

What's a typical price for a gallon of big-name brand urethane paint or clear? My local Axalta dealer wants about $200 for just about anything he sells, including urethane primer. I talked to a couple of young guys at last weekend's Goodguys show, who own a body shop and they mentioned PPG prices a lot higher than that.

[Avalanche325]

I used PPG and got great results. My color, stipe color, clear, reducer, hardener setup was about $900.

From everything that I read when I was getting ready to do mine. Mid to upper level paints will all lay down nice an look about the same at first. Durability and UV resistance is where they differ the most.

Paint prices can vary greatly based on color.

[srobinsonx2]

I have painted a total of one vehicle, so take this info for what it is worth.......probably not much.

I bought PPGs Shopline product. It is their mid to high end product line. It is one step below their top of the line product called Deltron. I bought a red basecoat and a gallon was a little over $600. A gallon of their Euro clear was a little over $300.

Hope this helps.

Oh, it will also cost you a couple hundred hours of work.;)

[Gumball]

I used PPG... according to a friend who owns a bodyshop, the Enviro-base version, which is water based, does a great job of orienting the metallic flakes in a way that makes the paint really pop.

[DaveS53]

Thanks for the info about the very high price of some paints. I thought $200 a gallon was high.

I painted my black car with the cheapest paint you can buy - Kirker, that cost about $100 a gallon. I did it because I had a huge amount to paint - the entire outside of the body, plus fire wall, the headliner, dash, jambs, the inner surface of the trunk, hood and hood sides. The fenders and running boards have a large area to cover.

I've had a lot of compliments from pro builders and painters on the straight body work and depth of the black paint. I won the top award for the home built heaven class at the Goodguys Colorado Nationals last weekend, where about 2,000 cars are shown. The paint came out fine, but I did have a lot of problems, so many panels were painted a second time to get the result I wanted. Next time, I'm going to pay big bucks for a top quality spray gun and see if it helps.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I shoot PPG solvent based mid/high end (Omni Plus and Deltron). Depending on color a gallon will run ~$250-$600 in Plus and $350 on up for Deltron. I broke away from their clears and use 5 Star which runs <$200 per gallon. Start throwing in reducers at 30 bucks a gallon, primer surfacers/sealers at nearly 100, mud, papers, cleaners, compounds and it all adds up---and that's befere we even consider the cost of beer!

Jeff

[alv69]

paint prices differ on color also with red being the most expensive. the more expensive paints have more pigment and will last longer as they also have more uv inhibiters.

[ej95Cobra]

We did 3 stage matador red using PPG Deltron. Interestingly we used Deltron for a test hood and liked the result. I inadvertently picked up the PPG Omni same code (3R1) for the car. The Omni was actually a different shade. Went back and picked up the Deltron. We did 2 coats base, 3 coats crystal & 4 coats clear. Came out very nice. Like mentioned earlier, don't go low cost on paint. You could have the greatest mechanical car but the paint makes the first impression.

[NICK C]

Has anyone had any experience with wraps on these bodies. There are a few companies in our town and was thinking of that as an option. Is there any special prep different than paint for the fiber glass?

[rychi1]

Has anyone used the House of Kolor products?

[Olli]

I have used HoK and have been to their paint school a few times...

Olli

[Straversi]

Has anyone had any experience with wraps on these bodies. There are a few companies in our town and was thinking of that as an option. Is there any special prep different than paint for the fiber glass?

Wraps are great if you want to change the color of an already straight car. The pros can tell you exactly, but I imagine the bulk of the expense of painting a new MK IV is the body prep. Once you have spent all of the time making the DS door true and gapping everything else, all of which you would still have to do for a wrap, I doubt the wrap is cheaper than spraying out the car.

If you are considering a wrap, I'd have the local shop throw a sample piece on the lower body to see how it holds up with side pipe heat.
-Steve

[Jeff Kleiner]

Not a wrap expert but I've seen a couple of roadsters done. I'd say the bodywork would still need to get to about 80-90% paint ready. Lots of curves on these things and not many places to hide the wrap seams---they were pretty prevelant on the ones I've looked at in person. I'd call 'em "20 footers"...then again maybe I'm biased ;)

Jeff

[GFX2043mtu]

I'm using Sikkens paint for mine. Any modern paint will look good, some just have more depth to them and tend to look nicer for longer periods of time.