Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
The vette a 1964; I have I've chosen to keep it all original since it is all oringinal, although a paint job is desperately needed. Looks good from 10 feet but has a dimple from a skrew in form of the hood and behind the light; rock chipes on the hood with some stains that ate the paint; door jams had worn the paint off somehow; plus scratches and some seams cracking; anyway my delemma is go original or new base with clear coat "would look much nicer" which is what my friends with other type of muscle cars suggest. Body shop is recommending base and clear coat. How about you all out there your more in tune with what should be done?
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
First the disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author only and do not represent the membership as a whole.
As always, it depends on car and what you plan to do with it. If it were my car, I would leave the original paint alone - no matter how ratty it's looking. As they say, "It's only original once."
If you plan on having the car judged at an NCRS event, I would not go with BC/CC. Sure, you can have them do a crummy job so it's hard to tell from a factory original '64 paint job, but what's the point? I would go with either lacquer or a single stage acrylic enamel that requires no CC. Both Dupont and PPG make these types of products. Personally, I would choose the acrylic enamel. It looks great, wears great and is relatively easy to work with. You can buff it as little or as much as you like to achieve the look you desire.
If the car will be a driver and you have no judging aspirations for it, then use whatever you like. IMO BC/CC looks great on a C4 or C5 but looks out of place on an earlier vette. But that's just me.'69 Blue/Blue L36 Vert w/ 4-Spd
'73 Blue/Blue L48 Coupe w/ 4-Spd
'96 Red/Black LT-4 Convertible
"Drive it like you stole it" -
Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
"I would go with either lacquer or a single stage acrylic enamel"
Good idea but finding lacquer paint is getting very difficult.
RickComment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Where I live getting the lacquer really isn't that difficult. I suppose in some states - California? - it is probably difficult to find (or even illegal to use) because of it's high VOC penalty. lacquers are often reduced 2 to 1 and depend on the evaporation of the reducer to dry. But given the capabilities of modern single-stage urethane acrylic enamels to duplicate (IMO) the look of lacquer while at the same time having a lower VOC, easier to apply, longer lasting, better buffing, etc. - why bother with lacquer? Unless you desire absolutely no compromise while restoring an older car.
I believe all of these factors are making shops with the equipment and expertise to apply a good lacquer job nearly extinct.'69 Blue/Blue L36 Vert w/ 4-Spd
'73 Blue/Blue L48 Coupe w/ 4-Spd
'96 Red/Black LT-4 Convertible
"Drive it like you stole it"Comment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
which paint matches the original lacquer or a single stage acrylic enamel for a 64?Last edited by Robert K.; November 29, 2009, 10:05 PM.Comment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
What do mean by "matches?" Appearance, color, gloss, durability? Paint is one of the most difficult restoration decisions to make. If you take the car to a quality paint shop and they do a great job, then the car is "over restored" and you will take an originality deduction. Corvettes were not works of art, they were mass produced vehicles. The guy in the paint booth may or may not have had a hangover when he sprayed your car. If it was late in the day, he was probably tired of bending over to get a good coat of paint on the lower end of panels. It isn't uncommon to see original paint jobs on C2's and C3's with very little paint on the underside of front and rear fascia and/or the rocker panels. If you find a paint shop that understands NCRS paint criteria and how to do a poor job in the correct way (counterintuitive isn't it?) you end up with a car that frankly doesn't look very good by today's standards but will probably do well on the judging field.
Lacquer is what was put on your '64 at the factory, but it is getting very difficult to find a shop that is set-up for lacquer and knows how to do a good job - for reasons described earlier. The metallic colors are especially difficult to get right. I don't think it is necessary to use lacquer to obtain a look that is very close in appearance to the orginal paint applied in '64. But I'm sure there is no shortage of people who would disagree with me on this point. I like the single-stage enamels because they are similar to lacquer in the sense that a single coat of material is applied (i.e. no CC required). This allows you to control appearance factors such the sharpness of the reflected image, the amount of gloss, etc. Just tell the paint shop that you are after a factory original appearance and not to go crazy buffing it out.'69 Blue/Blue L36 Vert w/ 4-Spd
'73 Blue/Blue L48 Coupe w/ 4-Spd
'96 Red/Black LT-4 Convertible
"Drive it like you stole it"Comment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Allow me to suggest you have the car judged, preferably at a Regional, before you paint it. If it is as original as you say, you may be pleasantly surprised by the reactions of the judges. You just might get some positive reinforcement to keep it original. Remember it is only original once, and often the owner is the harshest critic of his car.TerryComment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Hi Robert;
Terry McManmon has a good idea. If you have never had it judged do that first then you'll have a good idea and game plan to work from instead of wasting a lot of time and money. Plus may be destroying the originality?
I had to repaint my '66 Big Block car, but I got it as a hack paint job so no question which way to go. We used gel coat then non-shrink primer, base, clear, color sanded. It looked like lacquer, but the painter had been doing NCRS paint jobs for years.
My '65 convertible was an original car and sounds kind of like yours. I had it judged, which gave me a good direction for a restoration. I did paint the front clip and the doors. My painter was able to match the paint exactly. I would say take your time, drive the car, have it judged and go from there.
Good luck,
Jim 43119Comment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
I received word from my buddy who is going to paint my 67 Rallye Wheels that a quart of lacquer is over $100.
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Rick -
I was paying over $300 per gallon for Viper Red basecoat ten years ago, in 500-gallon tote tanks; paint ain't cheap!
Wheels were originally painted with enamel - much more durable than lacquer.Comment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
neither one. single stage has the look of the original paint and the durability of new paint. best of both worlds.Comment
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1967 L71 Silver/Black Coupe - Unrestored/Original Paint, Top Flight at 1998 Regional in Ontario, not judged since
1995 Red/Red ZR-1 - Top Flight back in 2010 Michigan Chapter meetComment
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Well genlemen I really apreciate all the feedback, I've decided this car is for me to drive and rally around with the local colletor clubs and biker clubs as time allows. Enjoy the car for what it was made to do; chase woman, drink beer and have good ol american fun. I'm glad I have and understanding wife 
; also take it to shows and accept what they judge 
it to be. But I will judge for myself; the corvette as it is intended 
to enjoy. The body shop is going to take great care of her with there many years of experience and artistic finish. They will be stripping it all the way down and then check and seal any cracks and seal the fiberglass with a non shrink fiberglass sealer, do some minor body work, prime it, hand block sand, prime again. Then paint 5 coats of lacquer, sand, 5 more coats sand, and then 5 more coats to finish; all for $5800.00. From what I see out there I'm getting a $20,000 paint job. I will be there throughout the process to ensure a great job. I've checked references on this local shop and around here you don't want to do bad work or you'll have no work; and then end up being part of Obamas unemployment plan. Thanks Again hope to see some of you at some events.
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Re: Oringinal paint or Base and clear coat?
Since you asked, I'm ALWAYS for leaving it original. If you have to paint it, go with lacquer. That's what was originally on the car. If your car is mostly original now, why start changing it? Any good paint job is going to cost a few bucks whether or not you go with BC CC, or lacquer. Go with the lacquer.
Jim C.Comment
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