Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

[Troy P.]

Getting close to painting my 63 convertible and have a few questions:

1. What is the appropriate grit paper to use on the primer/sealer so sand scratches don't show? Seems to me lacquer is thinner than modern paints and suspect the build won't fill as much as local painters are used to.

2. How many coats are recommended to provide enough for cut/buff? I was thinking maybe 3 or 4. Don't want to cheese out and have any spots to do over that get sanded through. Back in the day the ultimate show car lacquer paint jobs were referred to as "7 coats of hand rubbed lacquer". I don't want to overkill it like that.

3. Given the number of coats that might be recommended, how much paint should I need using the paint manufacturer's recommended mix of 1:1? the areas to be covered are entire exterior of body, underside of deck lid panel (which I assume should be body color?), and door jambs+sills. No interior parts and not repainting the removable hard top.

4. How long should I wait after painting to cut and buff? It has been said its best to let the car sit out in the sun for "X" days/weeks to let the paint shrink first. What is "X"?

I would have addressed this with the NCRS Body & Paint technical advisor but the latest issue of the Restorer indicates that position is N/A.


(As a historical note: Last time I had it done in 1992 I paid $850 to a small shop for prep and painting. Plus, I provided the Riverside Red DuPont lacquer, which cost me $46/gallon over the counter. I forget if I provided the thinner. The price included prep and paint for the hard top as well. That paint job held up very well and looked very nice...but not perfect. Maybe accidentally factory original quality. I expect I will have to pay a bit more now than I did back then.)

[Mark F.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

Troy,

This is the paint process used at the factory per the GM spec book for 1967.
You should get the book from the GM Heritage center for your '63. I'll bet the paint process is the same, but who knows ?
Hopefully you can download this and magnify it so it's readable

Sorry, but they did not specify grits in their descriptions...

Hey, can we see a picture of your ride ?
'67 Exterior Paint Process from GM Model Specs Book.jpg

[Jerry M.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

Troy

Do you have your paint already?
I have several gallons of PPG Duracryl Ermine White available if you need it.

Jerry M

[Duke W.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

It's been awhile, but I've done some panel or spot painting with acrylic lacquer. I wasn't looking for a Pebble Beach concours job... just trying to get a decent "factory quality" job so the panel blended in well with the OE paint job.

As a minimum use 600 grit wet paper to final sand the primer. Then I shot four double coats of acrylic lacquer, let the panel sit for about a month indoors (leaving it out in the sun for a shorter period is probably okay, but I preferred to let it "cure" more slowly), rubbed it out by hand with Maguires #2 fine cut compound and finished with carnuba wax. I don't think anyone who didn't know for sure that the panel was a repaint would have been able to tell it was not the original factory paint.

Lacquer is a thermosoftening plastic as opposed to a thermosetting plastic, like enamels and urethanes. Lacquers remain soluble in their thinners. Enamels and urethanes do not because they cross link with oxygen (enamels) or the various polymers cross link to form longer chains via a catalyst in the mix (urethanes).

Lacquers are fairly easy to shoot by amateurs because they are relatively easy to blend. The downside is that they are softer than enamels and urethanes, so not as durable.

Back when my SWC was my daily driver in the sixties and early seventies I did a very thorough rub out with a mild cleaner and coat of carnuba wax every year. For best durability lacquers should be "sealed" regularly because they continue to lose solvents as they age, and this is why they ultimately crack and craze.

For a vintage car with a nice acrylic lacquer job that spends most of its time in the garage a yearly "instant detailer" job is probably adequate with a mild rubout after a few years when it begins to show a little oxidation.

I think the biggest problem nowadays is finding lacquer as most paint suppliers have retired their lacquer mixing machines due to lack of demand, and some paint manufacturers don't even offer it anymore.

I've also heard from users that current acrylic lacquers are softer and less durable than when they were OE on GM cars, and many colors are tough to match, especially metallics. Also, field use lacquers, which are designed to air dry are somewhat different formulations that the factory mixes that were designed to be force dried via baking.

Follow the manufacturers recommendation for the ratio of paint to thinner and use the appropriate thinner for the temperature conditions that you will be spraying in... slow thinners for high temperatures and fast thinners for cool to cold temperatures. You want to give the paint enough time to flow out so as to prevent or at least minimize orange peal while avoiding runs.

You'll likely need more than a gallon so buy two.

Duke

[Kevin F.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

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Feel free to give me a ring. 440-667-4342. Txt as well..

There are too many intricacies to discuss depending on what your intentions are

I can Accurately answer your questions

40 years of experience

Ownership of Untouched Originals:

1957 FI 4spd

1963 Several...

1968 L89

1969 2,411 orig. miles

1969 L88 L89

Lacquer Originality Re-creation

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Kevin

[Ronald L.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

Paint in general went up 100x. Red lacquers, even OEM modern base are over $1000. I just sourced a gallon of blue, last year 1000, last week 1200. Having said that if you know the formula for the red, as I acquired all the rally red when it went disco, ther could be a chance to get the real original formulated. Lacquer is not taking a base and then adding pigments, the original is done by weight of properly mixed components.

Getting close to painting my 63 convertible and have a few questions:

1. What is the appropriate grit paper to use on the primer/sealer so sand scratches don't show? Seems to me lacquer is thinner than modern paints and suspect the build won't fill as much as local painters are used to.

2. How many coats are recommended to provide enough for cut/buff? I was thinking maybe 3 or 4. Don't want to cheese out and have any spots to do over that get sanded through. Back in the day the ultimate show car lacquer paint jobs were referred to as "7 coats of hand rubbed lacquer". I don't want to overkill it like that.

3. Given the number of coats that might be recommended, how much paint should I need using the paint manufacturer's recommended mix of 1:1? the areas to be covered are entire exterior of body, underside of deck lid panel (which I assume should be body color?), and door jambs+sills. No interior parts and not repainting the removable hard top.

4. How long should I wait after painting to cut and buff? It has been said its best to let the car sit out in the sun for "X" days/weeks to let the paint shrink first. What is "X"?

I would have addressed this with the NCRS Body & Paint technical advisor but the latest issue of the Restorer indicates that position is N/A.


(As a historical note: Last time I had it done in 1992 I paid $850 to a small shop for prep and painting. Plus, I provided the Riverside Red DuPont lacquer, which cost me $46/gallon over the counter. I forget if I provided the thinner. The price included prep and paint for the hard top as well. That paint job held up very well and looked very nice...but not perfect. Maybe accidentally factory original quality. I expect I will have to pay a bit more now than I did back then.)

[Troy P.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

I do have the Riverside Red.

[Troy P.]

Re: Need painting details for a 63 in acrylic lacquer?

Not really looking for that not so great factory original look. But thanks for the offer.
At one of our meets I did attend a seminar on how the original paint jobs are seen to be.