I'm looking for advice regarding stripping a "daily driver" quality car down to bare fiberglass and having it repainted. I realize some may suggest that after all the work stripping it I might as well put a proper, high quality paint job on, but that's not what I'm looking for. I just want to end up with the paint uniform in color, no blisters or runs. I really do plan on driving the car daily. The blisters on the paint now suggest it needs to be stripped to bare glass before any paint job is done. I've seen a car painted by 1 Day paint & body that was decent. The car is tuxedo black, so I won't have to worry about the metallic content appearing correct. Anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to do the stripping and/or what type of paint shop to use or not use for the quality I'm looking for. The car has all the original factory body panels.
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
Rob,
Jerry B did my car when he was still doing cars. He uses chemical stripping and it worked great. I went with the current lacquer and it looks factory, I want it to age like the original GM finish. I wouldn't go One Day I've seen there jobs peal. I think you should buy a PPG lacquer paint with the original formula and find a local painter to shoot the car. When we hook up a Pomona or Peterson you can check it out.
Kevin -
Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
I agree with Kevin, go original if you can. If not, consider single stage urethane. That will be very durable and give a lacquer like look on the exterior, but will be shinny in the jams and hood gutters. Best paint job for durability (non NCRS) is base coat clear coat. Will weather better and have better chip resistance. Good luck,
SteveComment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
Are you sure you have to strip it ? For a 'driver' and if no body damage, you could just sand and then prime and block it. It will have to be really straight for black. If your not going to DYI, plan on at least 3K for "driver" quality
finish. The hard work is in the prep, the fun part is spraying the paint.
JimComment
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Paint
Rob I use Captin Morgan Spra Stripper I get it from Corvette America you can buy it direct from them but there is no savings. It takes 2 1/2 Gal. to strip a Vett you put it in a hand spray bottle (Comes with each Gal.) and spray it on keeping the are wet then use a Body Filler Spreader 6" to remove wipe residue with paper towels and laquer thinner. When you have the car stripped wah car with soap and water. House Of Kolor has a god book on painting wich will give you the Skinny on how a paint job is done. Its all in the Pep Bad Prep Bad Paint Job. I painted my 70 Base Clear Original color (Corvette Bronze) just because the appearance is so much better than the original Laquer. Closes thing to Original Laquer is DuPont Centari Enamel with a Hardner you can add a flatting agent to do the jambs
PPG probably has some thing good to just I am not familar with there products. Top end Paint Jobs depending on how much Body Work Start $8000.00 to $10000.00. Some Paint shops will work with you if yo remove all the exterior parts and strip it your self you will save about a $1000.00 right out of the gate some guys will let you block sand the Primer Filler Coats under there supervision. If you do the Color Sanding and Buffing your self more savings. I did a Job for a guy that did that he would pick the car up and take it home and Block Sand each coat of primer.He had it towed each time I think he new the Guy who owned the Tow CO. Its a shame to go through all the labor of Stripping an Removing all the things that need to go and have a Maco do the paint. It won't hold up and will shrink up and Die back. We all know it's a get what you Pay For World well most of the time.Comment
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oh oh better get Maco
Actually there are people who get cars painted at Mako. I have heard of individuals who do all the prep then take in Glasurit or one of the better quality paints.
A good painter at Mako may have painted 5 or 600 cars, maybe even that many per year with poor to medium quality paint. Some or most of the better quality paints spray better and are easier to work with.
It would have to be the right guy of course but it is done.
WarrenComment
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Re: oh oh better get Maco
My 62 had a Maaco paint job. Looked good enough to sell for $50K. The "crappy paint" they used was Dupont Chromabase with Chromapremier clearcoat. I don't think that will die out any time soon.Comment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
The only down side of paintstripping.Is what ever sins from previous body repairs are hidden below the paint,once that stripper gets into it you will have to redo the plastic work. This might turn a simple repaint into a major body rework.Comment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
While the fiberglass from a repair will last indefinately, the body filler used to cover the repair should be replaced. There is a real risk it will crack.Comment
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Maaco
I looked at two cars today that were painted by a Maaco shop in Houston..a mid year Vette and a Camaro, both drivers. The owner of the Camaro sanded and buffed the car when he got it back from the paint shop and it looks super. The Vette had just undergone a frame off resto so the body is void of all hardware, interior, trim, etc. Vette was painted in enamel w/no clear coat. It is figured that with a bit of education, the Maaco shop will get all the masking lines exact per NCRS on the next one they do. Maaco will do several different types of paint jobs, i.e., enamel, bc/cc or one with some cc in final bc coat, etc, etc. Price on the Vette was $750 and on the Camaro with some bodywork, $1200! Some prep work prior to turning the car over to the paint shop pays off. Of course, time will tell on both these paint jobs but fresh out of the paint booth, they each look like a way to get a car done well without spending big bucks.
CharlieComment
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Re: Maaco
Charlie, Most Maacos also offer a urethane single stage which can sometimes be a good choice on a fiberglass car. As you point out, they can do a wide variety of jobs, depending on the car owner's wishes and his pocketbook. Color sanding and buffing is optional, and a lot of shops don't always have the manpower to buff overall jobs, especially when they are busy. Late fall is typically a good time to work on "specialty cars". You can certainly save some money by doing your own prep work, but don't expect the shop to guarantee your work. It certainly is not Maaco's mainstream business to paint vintage cars, but in my Maaco shop a couple of years back we painted a 59 Vette and a 57 T-Bird in the same week. Both had significant body work done and both were painted in bc/cc. Their bills ran in the $3-4K range, with the actual paint work in the $12-1500 neighborhood.Comment
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Paint
Larry's right I forgot to mention all old body work has to go on any car you strip. You would not want to paint over unknown substrates.Comment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
When I stripped my original owner 70 back in 90 I found on the right rear wheelwell area just above the vertical portion of the fender lip body filler that had to of been applied at the factory. The original paint did have couple stress cracks at this area. I left the repair alone and I painted the car in 91 with Dupont lacquer. Noticed couple months ago the stress cracks have reappeared. If I do another repaint, I will remove the filler and glass in this area. Lesson learned.
On using urethane, a professional painter/Corvette owner showed me a door painted with urethane on a 62 Vette that he had just brought back from being judged in Bloomington. The rest of the car was painted in lacquer. The urethane door repaint was not detected during Bloomington judging. A friend had his 72 painted with urethane in 86 or 87. He says the paint still looks very good. The car stays in the garage a lot and with NY winters and is not a daily driver.Comment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
Urethane can be an excellent choice for a Vette in a solid color. The urethane is a relatively "thick" paint, especially when compared to the two stage base coat. It tends to do a good job of hiding slight surface imperfections that might show with base coat, and can be buffed to a very high gloss. Unlike lacquer, it needs to cure for a few days prior to color sand/buff.Comment
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Re: DAILY DRIVER QUALITY PAINT JOB SUGGESTIONS
If you let urethane cure for more that a few days it will be like trying to buff cement. We color sand the paint 1-2 days after it was painted and them immediately buff the car. I made the mistake of letting a urethane paint car set for three weeks before we started on it. Took about four days to sand and buff the car. 1500 grit would hardly touch the paint.Dick WhittingtonComment
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