Paint Restoration
I have been asked recently to explain some of the
differences in modern day paint. Of course the first
consideration should be color. Is the color you need
available in the paint you want to use? Many times you
may need to have the paint custom mixed to get a
specific color, especially if you are trying to keep
an original color on a 50 year old vehicle. This color
match can be done if an existing panel is available
that shows enough of the color.
Next we need to consider the type of paint to use.
There are many paint manufacturers making automotive
paint and most will carry the types of paint we will
be talking about. I would encourage you to stick with
name brand paint in order to get a quality finish on
your car. Many of our cars were originally painted
with lacquer paint. This paint was inexpensive, easy
to apply, and looked great. Over the years there have
been numerous improvements in paint and of course
lacquer paint is no longer available. Single stage
paint systems don’t require an additional covering to
make the paint shine. This would be similar to what
was originally used on our cars in that it was applied
and there wasn’t anything additional needed to make it
shine. The more recent innovation in paint would be
the base coat / clear coat system. This was originally
developed to make matching colors easier while doing
repairs. With this system the base coat is applied to
supply the color to the car. Then after the base has
dried a clear coat is applied and this supplies the
shine to the paint.
All these paints are produced in various qualities.
Some are inexpensive and some are very expensive. Some
paints can approach $1000 per gallon or more. As a
general rule you really do get what you pay for. If
you are having your car painted and you try to use a
cheaper paint you will probably have to buy more of
the paint in order to cover and you will have to pay
for the additional labor to apply it.