Correct Paint for NCRS Judging- 1970 and 1972 Vets

[Steven S.]

Hi. I will soon be painting both my 1970 Donnybrooke Green and 1972 Steel Cities Gray convertibles. I am trying to find out what type of paint I should use to lose the least amount of Judging points.

My painter will do a one stage paint job, and will not be using clear as a second coat. We called a local paint store today, and they offered Omni or PPG paint. Should we be using acrylic Enamel paint, or are there other choices? Does anyone have recommendations as to a specific brand or type of paint, to get the most judging points possible?

Thank you all in advance,

Steve

[Chris E.]

Re: Correct Paint for NCRS Judging- 1970 and 1972 Vets

It isn't so much what MATERIAL is used, how HOW the material is applied. Metallics are tricky because of the size of the metal flake being different than the paints from years ago. Coverage is also a sticky point. The factory left areas on the car (down low in particular) with very poor to no paint coverage (bottom of the doors, very bottom of the rear valence, etc). If you completely cover the car's exterior surfaces, it doesn't matter what material you use, there will be a deduction.

Before you instruct your painter to "go", I'd be crystal clear on the following elements.

1. What kind of coverage are you targeting? (look for guidance on coverage of factory typical paint jobs)
2. Distinctiveness of image (orange peel) should be poor, and not mirror-like
3. Metal flake, make sure you are clear on how the metal flake will appear. With my crude understanding of painting a car, there are variables that affect how the metal flake sits on the final paint job like gun pressure and such.

You can do this, you just need to make sure you are clear on the details. I'd direct you to guys that are more "in the know" on paint. John Ballard, Tom Ames, Gary Bosselman, etc.

[Curt S.]

Re: Correct Paint for NCRS Judging- 1970 and 1972 Vets

Hi Steve. I am also in process of painting my 70 Coupe Donnybrook Green. I am using PPG acrylic lacquer. Everything has been going as expected other than the buffing. I have found that because of the difference of the metallic , I can only hand buff at a very slow pace. If I use a power buffer ,and not very much,I was having problems keeping the metallic uniform or what the paint store said was moddling(sp). So, back to slow color sand and slow hand buffing and it has been just fine. Hope this helps Curt

[Mike F.]

Re: Correct Paint for NCRS Judging- 1970 and 1972 Vets

Keep in mind that a really nice paint job and a correct NCRS paint job are two different things. I recently looked at a 78 Pace Car where the factory painters missed an area of black paint. They took a towel and smeared the wet black paint over the missed area. NCRS correct....yes, good looking.....no.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Correct Paint for NCRS Judging- 1970 and 1972 Vets

Hi. I will soon be painting both my 1970 Donnybrooke Green and 1972 Steel Cities Gray convertibles. I am trying to find out what type of paint I should use to lose the least amount of Judging points.

Thank you all in advance,

Steve

You need to use paint that when applied appears exactly like the original paint used in 1970. To get this effect you can use acrylic lacquer, single stage urethane or base coat/clear coat. Each can be made to appear like 1970 St. Louis-applied lacquer - though I will say up front that with your metallic paints the most difficult one to use and get the appearance you want is single stage enamel, and if it were me I would not go the same direction you've mentioned. Omni is the "budget" line from PPG and I would not waste the time to look at it.

If I were you I would hope that I still had original paint on the car; often the underside of the convertible decklid is a good place to look. Now find high end paint stores and have them scan your original paint and make a mix that matches it. You want the smallest quantity possible - probably half a pint. Your painter will then spray a test panel and compare it to your original paint, and ideally you can then bring both parts back to the store and have another mix made that is closer to the original paint. Play the odds and you will go through 2-8 mixes to get a paint that is the same as what is on your car. Yes it takes time and money, but in the overall cost of a paint job ($10k and up) it's nothing.

Again, if it were me I'd find a BC/CC mix that was dead nuts on. To get the right appearance you will likely have to mix a bit of flattener into the clear, with more added to the paint used on the door jambs, hood lip, under the decklid, etc to appear like the car has 1970 applied lacquer. Straight BC/CC will look too shiny/glossy and be easily identifiable in both locations. With proper preparation and studying of technique (the paint is only a part of getting it right) you can make your paint job appear very much like an original lacquer paint job and do well in judging.

Patrick