I need my car painted and just wondering what was the original paint that was on her and what is the best paint to paint it with now?

It depends on who is painting it. If you have a pro shop do it, any of the current paints will do a good job, The water based urethanes are pretty popular.

If this is a home paint job you'll want to use Duplicolor that you'll buy at Canadian Tire. It is a pre-mixed lacquer that is super easy to work with and to touch up if you make an error

You only need a standard mask working with laquer. BTW

Hope this helps

Arn

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Best of anything is open for interpretation. If the original paint is in relatively good condition, keep the same color as it is an "easier" paint job.

I guess what I meant was what was the kind of paint that they used when it was originally painted and what brand/kind of paint should I get to give it a good paint job. The car has been painted with the same colour before I got it but it is a bad job, if I had gotten a few spray cans it would have done a better job.

The factory paint is, I'm pretty sure, a type of urethane in the 80's You do have to be concerned about the replacement paint that is on the car though. You might best plan on primer either way, that way the type doesn't matter a whole lot

Arn

If ya do go with something from the ppg line, use the flex additive in the top coats. A lot of guys will tell you that its not needed but it is. Ive done work with and without it. I will never paint plastics without it again. Its a cheap insurance against cracking when a soft plastic part takes a small impact. I also took note that ive got fewer stone chips on the bumper with flex additive.

House Of Color. The best product on the market''ive had a paint and body shop for years nothing comes close''''expensive? Yes'''--''''worth it?? Hell yes.....

I painted a subaru of mine 2 years ago in my own garage. First car I painted not using a spray can turned out quite well. I used Sherwin Williams spent a total of $700 for 2 colors to make multiple coats, etching primer, standard primer, clear coat, and masking materials. Im not a pro by any means but that paint was easy to apply and looked good for DIYing it.

A few things from 45 years in the business...and my opinions

Pretty much any paint these days is OK, from enamels to urathane basecoats. It is true that Duplicolor lacquer has plenty of advantages for do-it-yourselfers...dries fastest, easy to spray, premixed, not expensive, no special booth or safety equipment. You just pick whats best for the way your going to use the car. Lacquer will REQUIRE buffing to have any gloss and takes a lot more upkeep. For your run of the mill daily driver paint on a budget, I recommend acrylic enamel. Fair gloss, easy upkeep, cheap, no clearcoat needed. Primer is your choice...pros and cons for both kinds (lacquer and catalyzed 2 part). All prep is pretty much the same no matter what you use.

Flex agent is for soft interior parts like padded dashes and door panels. Invented for painting original rubber 60s GTO/ Firebird bumpers. Didnt work then, does absolutely nothing now. It works fine if your painting a rubber soccer ball. Contrary to Jimmo, IF you use flex...it MUST be in all coats. In fact even a flexible primer is recommended. Basecoat/clearcoat finishes are flexible on their own....enough that they can bend like a piece of paper. The flexible bumpers on my Sebring have been painted going on 6 years with barely any chips, and no cracking or peeling anywhere. Its my daily all weather driver AND my current show car.

80s basecoat/clearcoats were far different than todays. Originally the color base coats were practically lacquer, and the clear was not a true urathane. They seldom stayed on the car for more than a few years. Either basecoat peeled off the primer, or clear seperated from the base color. Best to remove at least the original clear unless its still in good shape. Sand it, DONT use any chemical strippers (or do so at your own risk). I can strip most of the paint off of just about any car sanding it with a DA in a day or two. Stripper can open a whole new can of worms.

House of Kolor has awesome colors and paint is good, but expensive (overpriced). Their clears are trash.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 09-24-2013).]