Bodyshop says no

[mriz]

My neighbor up the road from me has a body shop so I stopped in on the way home today to see about painting the Z. He said he was not able to do the job because he has too much collision work lined up and would not even quote a price . Hint taken. His recomendation was go to Macco for $750 and have them do it but he said it would only last about 3 years. The car is prepped ,no windshield ,bumpers,badges,locks so it would need to be towed around for prices. He doubted any shop in the area would touch it although I will ask around. He said if I paint it use a single stage solid color for my needs as BC/CC would be too difficult to do at home with my equipment. So any opinions on single stage solid colors as to how they look on a Z.Probably going with a dark shade of blue. Thanks

[JimmyZ]

Geez! Sorry to hear that. You can paint BC/CC at home. There is a lot of danger if spraying in a homemade booth though. Even with halfway decent ventilation there are sometimes fires. If you get debris in the clear you can sand and buff. This is not ideal though.

Def wouldn't go with Macco after the work you've done. There will be someone out there who can do your car. Somewhere someone's always hurting for business. The problem is WHY they are hurting for it though.

[280~Master]

Dude thats freaking crazy. he is telling you single stage so you have to paint it once and thats it. If you don't have a booth your single stage is going to have dust an dirt all up in the paint. You have to color sand witch can be a pain and before you can buff it up you got to wait 30 days for the paint to cure all the way.

Now for BC/CC

Easy

primer, base, then clear.

first pick a matching primer for the base and clear. Ask the paint store if they are compatable (primer and base). Some paints will not stick to certain types of primer. Once you have the primer situated move to the base and clear. Base is easy to work with you just have to apply clear within a certain amount of time after applying the base. One coat of clear and wet sand with1200. Then a second coat of clear and sand again then apply your last coat of clear. let dry and buff to a high shine.

You can also try and get a shops painter to do side work for ya.

[mriz]

I didn't think of hiring just the painter ,so I'll look into that option also. Thanks for replys.

[JimmyZ]

Oh yeah, Get some fine tweezers for picking the bugs out if painting outside. Paint in the morning if painting outside (less dust) See about getting some accelerator for your clear do reduce the dust free time too. You can sand base if anything really whacky happens but you have to reshoot the entire panel or car because you'll have paint dust at the fringe of where you stop spraying.

Omni is PPG's cheap line of old technology paint. If money is an issue use it be be aware that the base doesn't hide well and might take six coats to hide. You might squeak by on a quart of PPG's DBC base which would run $60-$90 avg. (DBC usually covers/hides in two coats) Omni base in a gallon runs $80-$150. (Just a rough estimate.) Omni primers aren't the best but if money is an issue... The Omni sprayable polyester (sprayable glazing putty) is pretty good stuff if you have large areas with small waves to fill.

Is your compressors CFM rating enough to feed your gun? You can't wait for the compressor to catch up or you will have paint dust in areas where you split. (Roof and hood halves for instance) Once you start spraying you've got to stay on it,

[280~Master]

Jimmy is right PPg is not a bad product sold it for years. I would use the K36 primer by ppg if you use that product. I would stay away from Omni if at all possible. It only lasts a few years before it has problems. Set up a plastic tent to help keep dust out. Get a good quality clear and apply a min of 3 coats the more the better. If you look at the cars in magazines like Lowrider and stuff you will see they use like 10 to 15 coats of clear on 2 or 3 coats of base. Thats what gives them the shiny show room look.

If you are going single stage add a little bit more hardener to get more of a shine/glossy look out of your paint but you have to act fast if you are in a hot climate

[mriz]

The compressor is the weak link at 8.6cfm and a gun that I was told is compatible although not the optimal setup. The setting up the gun is the hardest part of all but it does work. I can step up from Omni because I want to shoot as few coats as possible with my marginal equipment. I would rather not paint it myselfe as I had done a temporary job a year ago after some bodywork to keep it from rusting. I wanted to drive the car to see what it needed before finishing the rust repair and spending money on a good paint job. I feel the car is worth a $1500 paint job but around here I guess it's not worth thier time. All the prep is done and I would have it taped off before transport.

[Carl Beck]

It sounds like you need to "network" in the old fashion way - get out in the physical world and meet some fellow car nuts...

Go to as many local car shows or meets as possible in your area. Walk around and talk to the guys there with car - street rods, customs all the better. As them for recommendations for a shop that will paint your car, and one that has an owner that is good to work with... Take a note pad and write things down - - chances are you'll see one or two names pop up as "recommended shops".. be sure to get the names of the people giving the recommendations.

The visit a couple of the recommended shops - and tell them who sent you. This does two important things. First it lets the shop owner know he has happy customers out there sending him more work: and second it reminds him that the quality of his work and his ability to work with his customers - is what is important to him... He's bound to keep that in mind when dealing with you too...

BTW - My body shop used PPG DBU on my White 72 m with a couple coats of high quality clear- It was painted several years ago - and I've been very happy with the results.. I also agree that it is far better to stick with higher quality materials that your body shop likes to use.. "Higher Quality" does not mean insane retail prices either.

When selecting the materials - it's important to let the body shop know how the car will be cared for in the future. One paint system might be far better than another if the car is going to be parked outside. Likewise other options might be selected if the car is going to be strictly a week-end pleasure driver and kept most of it's future life in the garage.. One important aspect of "Quality" has to to do with how well the product meets your needs. Paying for features or benefits that you won't need or use, is simply a waste. On the other hand, failing to to address your "real" needs is negligence you'll pay for again and again...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[FHPTOM]

Mr Beck is correct on all points. Word of mouth is the best way to find just about anything. And I feel you will definitely get treated better. That is how I found my mechanic, painter, and racing connections. You would have no problems finding someone to paint it done here because everyone from up north has moved down here..... Over abundance of people makes for terrible driving conditions though..

[mars23z]

If he is doing it himself doesnt he want to use an oil less compressor as well? I was always told to use oil less because the oil can get into the lines and mess the paint up. Just my 2 cents but I have painted using base coat clear coat and it isnt that hard to work with if you are paitiant. Chris

[sakijo]

Sometimes, High Schools and Technical Schools have demonstrations for the students. Professional painters or the instructor will shoot the car so the students can get "real life" exposure. They normally do it for the cost of the paint.

Sometimes, these schools will rent out the spray booth when it's not busy.

Sometimes, a student needs a project (risky).

Just some thoughts.

[mars23z]

Ya our local Vo-tech school does that for student projects. You have to be paitiant because its a "school project" and it takes sometime but its a cheap way to get a paint job.