What is the life expectancy of a "factory" paint job?
Let's say paint done in the last 5 or so years since the materials change as time goes on.
I would assume some companies last longer than others.


Jim

[This message has been edited by sparx22 (edited 03-29-2009).]

Paul, don't want to hijack the thread so I'll start another one tomorrow with some pics. In short, yep I do 4 x 8 test panels and then bend about a 4" radius in it to see how it reflects and refracts light. Today I did some traditional metal flakes. .004" silver in a midcoat over the black. Leaning in that direction. Anyway, I'll try and get some good pics in sunlight tomorrow and start a thread. do have some questions on midcoat techs.

Tom

quote Originally posted by sparx22: What is the life expectancy of a "factory" paint job? Let's say paint done in the last 5 or so years since the materials change as time goes on. I would assume some companies last longer than others. Jim

Depends if you are going to take care of it or ignore it like 90% of the people out there.

If you take care of it the "inferior" lacquers can last 25-30 years easy. If you treat the car like your toaster then even the best stuff will look like hell in 2. Take care of the paint, wash and wax it regularly and even a "crappy" lacquer paint job will look great for decades.

Note: a incredible pain job has nothing to do with pain and EVERYTHING to do with the prep. I painted a motorcycle and took 30 hours to prep it before I even thought of spraying. you have to fix ALL defects. that means fixing cracks, sanding all the way down to get rid of spiderwebs, etc.. the HARDEST part to painting a car is prepping it right. Most people half arse this part. you cant just sand it for a few minutes to "rough it up" and then spray.. That gives you a crappy paint job.
If you want an incredible pain job, you have to put a LOT of work into it. the painting is the easy part, the sanding before and after is the hard part.

[This message has been edited by timgray (edited 03-29-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Tha Driver: Picking a color is hard to do. Black & silver look great; are you thinking about splitting it at the side moldings? I think it would look much better than just a black car with silver ground effects, & be different from most. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"

I had a thought a long time ago about painting a two tone look. I was thinking about painting the bottom half, under the molding, silver while the top half white. That might blend in with the steelies thought. I was also thinking about keeping her the stock color. I kind of like the clean look of a white car. Maybe I might even do a silver metal flake on the white. I guess I am really not sure.

quote Originally posted by jsketcham: Good luck with the paint, post some pictures as you make progress before and after if ya will. We are not all pro's and yet we love to see what people do or dont do correctly. it helps us all to learn.

It might be a while before I start this project, but I would like to post pics. I will have A LOT of questions, and possibly screw ups too lol. I am searching around for a new rear and front fascia in white. The ones I have are ripped and I really don't want to fix them. So finding new ones might take a while. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks again for all of this information. It has been very helpful.

------------------

Thank for the sig. Bobadoofunk
1984 Fiero Sport Coupe
1990 Buick Reatta
2002 Chevy Impala base

[This message has been edited by 1984whitesc (edited 03-30-2009).]

Maybe this is a good place for this question. I'm going to paint my 85GT using Omni. (now I don't want to start a discussion of the +/- of Omni)

What I'm interested in is the quantity of paint and clear that is the average needed for a Fiero.
I also know if varies for the brand you use and the color your using and what your painting over so it's subjective.

But would 2-3 qts of base and a gallon of clear generally get close to covering a Fiero? Or is 4 qts of clear more than enough with the additives?

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 03-30-2009).]

If your going with basecoat and clearcoat urathane, I do a Fiero , Corvette, and other smaller cars with 1-2 quarts of base and 1-2 quarts of clear. On rare occasions different colors may take more but 95% of all the jobs I do cover fine with 2 coats. With the clear, if its an out the door job 2 coats of clear, color sanded and rubbed 3 coats because you sand and polish the 3rd one off. Remember LESS is Best as to the number of coats. This is with automotive paints reduced according to specs. I used 3 quarts of base on my 66 Dodge because 1/ its huge by todays standards, 2/ its light yellow , 3/ I did a color change from black also including all the under hood, deck, jams and floor edges. I had enough left over to do another different decklid inside and outside too, and still have 1/2 pint for little touch ups. 3 coats of clear was enough to color sand with DA, handsand with 800 and 1000 and buff to glass finish. Paint cost was $140 for base, $21 for reducer and $60 for urathane clear (included hardner) all with BASF/R&M quality automotive paint.

What additives ? none are needed with urathane.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-30-2009).]

is there such a thing as single stage urethane?

in other words just one coat?

if so, what are your thoughts on it, or am I smoking something?

Thanks Roger, that is basically what the paint guy is telling me for amounts also. I'm switching the car from red to a white, he "thought" 2 qt of base would cover ok.

Do you find it necessary to prime the full car or would doing the top where the clear faded and the bumpers since you have to work the lines in the old fihish would be enough. The sides are in really good shape. All sanded of course..

One paint shop guy told me the more coats of clear the better. I thought there use to be an issue with more coats and thermo expansion though.. so wondered if he had inhaled to many fumes.

If I might answer that one I put 3-5 coats of clear on, simply to protect the actual colour, if somebody keys it. It is much easier to sand down the clear to get rid of the scratch, and then spray it over with clear again, without having to try to match the colour just on a small area.
Nick

Its really a choice. Some brands of clear are thinned, some are not. SW and BASF do not thin, only add hardener. As a result it is pretty thick on the surface and easy to run. Some are thinned or just are thinner, and may take more. Laquer used to take as many as 10 coats, custom shops as much as 40 coats. That also includes sanding between several coats at a time too though. It is true if the actual thickness (mil) is too thick, it will crack from any impact, or even setting in sun and heat (spider or cobb webbing). By keeping it down to a minimum, its not as likely. Ill guess that the brand Fetish is using is thinner or thinned with reducer to spray, thus his mil thickness is close to same as what I spray. If panels are in good shape, sanding thoughly is all thats needed and not primer. You only need to primer body work areas, or areas you sand thru clearcoat. (ie/ like peeling hood and roof require primering after all the clear is sanded off. Make sure whether it primered or painted, its all sanded till its dull before you put on the basecoat color. A nice fender or door panel just needs sanded till all the shine is gone, particularly the edges, then base applied right over it. Some people also put a midcoat sealer over the whole thing before basecoat. Talk to your supplier for his recommendation. I generally dont use a sealer because it really only makes it so dull spots wont appear after a while on the gloss over your primered areas. If you sand and buff, you wont have that problem anyway. The 'sealer ' really dont seal much else or make the paint stick any better. Another case for using it would be like you changing colors. It might help to keep the color even over the primered and original painted parts. Just me, but I prefer a red oxide or black primer over gray. Gray primers and sealers dont seem to hold paint as well. A PPG factory expert told me this is because the particals in the grays are smaller than others and gray should be sanded with a courser grade sandpaper than red/ black. If you see cars going down the road with paint flaking off, youll see its always gray. I havent ever seen a car peel with red primer. If your doing a color change, another possibility is to use one of the color tintable primers and use that in place of any sealer and primer.

------------------

Owner / Operator Custom Paint and Body...
specializing in Corvette & Higher End Autos for 40+ years
Ferrari, Mercedes and Porsche Approved
____________________________________________

05 Dodge Magnum Custom Hemi R/T
66 Dodge Killer Bee Coronet

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner: I'm switching the car from red to a white, (snip) Do you find it necessary to prime the full car or would doing the top where the clear faded and the bumpers since you have to work the lines in the old fihish would be enough. The sides are in really good shape. All sanded of course..

I would seal the whole car with PPG epoxy primer. Red has a tendency to bleed through, especially white. Not only will the epoxy prevent bleed-through, it will help the paint stick.
One good thing about epoxy is if you have the car smooth (sanded with 320 or 400 wet), & you get the epoxy smooth (no trash), then you don't have to sand it if you paint it within a couple days. Get a tech sheet on all materials when you buy them.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Remember 1/2 of the population is below average.

[This message has been edited by Tha Driver (edited 03-30-2009).]