I sprayed my son's tii with PPG single stage Concept DCC and I am presently working on my 1970 Barracuda convertible with the same paint.The paint is rather expensive,but it really comes out nice.My convertible is red and one gallon of paint with no hardner or reducer was $408.White would be much less expensive.I am taking the car to bare metal(not needed if you have a good base)then spaying epoxy primer then any filler needed and the Urethane high build primer,then leveling and then I am using PPG red epoxy as a sealer and then three coats of DCC.Single stage is more difficult to spay than base coat clear,but I believe it looks more like the original on solid colors.If you get a run it can't be fixed. the panel will need to be repainted.Then again in white it may be possible to fix a run.In any other color even if you level the run it will appear lighter than surrounding paint.I have an Iwata LPH 400 LV spray gun and it really put the paint on smooth with very little orange peel.

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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

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http://smartshoppersinc.com/kirker/kirker1.html

both good paints and unbeatable prices


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I shot Dupont Nason on my 74 tii. Single stage and very forgiving. Just apply enough coars ro color sand and buff out all your imperfections. I was amazed at how much orange peel could be removed with a lot of careful wet sanding.

Thanks everyone for your tips. I'm going to head out to the local paint shop this weekend to start picking up supplies.

One issue that I'm going to have is that my whole car is currently chamonix, yet the bonnet is green (because of a replacement). Anyone suggest the best way to prep?

i assume you aren't stripping the car...if not, scuff the car with 600 grit, prime for uniform color and paint
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You are not stripping the car completely so you may have several different types of paint on the car,maybe old repair damage that you don't see so it is a good idea to seal the entire car with epoxy primer it is very resinous and adheres well and is compatible with almost all types of paints and later coats will adhere well to it within the time frame for recoating.This eliminates the problem of different paints no getting along.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

Seems that's the consensus, my mate who's doing the spraying just emailed me saying exactly the same thing:

3-4 coats of primer
4-6 coats of colour

Preceded by a LOT of prep work!!

The lot prep work part is right and that is why you should buy the best paint you can afford.All the topcoat automotive paints will look good on a freshly painted car,but in a few years the cheaper lower quality paints will start to break down and fade.Nowhere is "you get what you pay for"any more true.It is not worth it to save $100 or so with all the work that goes into the prep.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

Davo wrote:

The lot prep work part is right and that is why you should buy the best paint you can afford.All the topcoat automotive paints will look good on a freshly painted car,but in a few years the cheaper lower quality paints will start to break down and fade.Nowhere is "you get what you pay for"any more true.It is not worth it to save $100 or so with all the work that goes into the prep.

and you have used all of the "cheap" paints and that's how you know that....

plain and simple....cost of the product does not always indicate quality and/or durability
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I don't mind paying the little bit extra if the paint proves to be longer lasting or better quality. The pain job is certainly the most important piece on a car to get right, because it's the first thing anyone looks at.

Davo, I think I'll go for base coat clear rather than single stage as I'm a novice at this kind of work. Sounds like if there's a mistake, it's a little easier to fix.

The last car I painted had been painted about 4 years prior with a cheap paint.The receipt that came with the car idicated that it was Kirker.The paint was dead and chalky.The one good thing about that paint is that it was easy to sand off.I did at one time paint cars for a living back in the late 80s and I have used some of the less expensive paints.Body shops mostly use second teir products like Omega,Kirker and Nason. Nothing wrong with that,the car will look good and the finish will last for a few year . They are in it for the profit,but when those guys paint their own cars they Use Dupont Chroma Premier or Concept by PPG , Glasurits top line or something equal.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

Davo wrote:

The last car I painted had been painted about 4 years prior with a cheap paint.The receipt that came with the car idicated that it was Kirker.The paint was dead and chalky.The one good thing about that paint is that it was easy to sand off.I did at one time paint cars for a living back in the late 80s and I have used some of the less expensive paints.Body shops mostly use second teir products like Omega,Kirker and Nason. Nothing wrong with that,the car will look good and the finish will last for a few year . They are in it for the profit,but when those guys paint their own cars they Use Dupont Chroma Premier or Concept by PPG , Glasurits top line or something equal.

i'm still not convinced...products have gotten a lot better in the past 20 - 25 years...the old modified acrylic enamels...yes, poor choice but most of the urethane's which includes most if not all mfg's bases are perhaps 6 of one...add a urethane or poly clear to the mix and you have a good, quality paint job...name recognition is and always has equated to higher prices

but as stupid as it seems to me...some of my girlfriends won't buy a purse that doesn't have a chi chi label in it....

most people, including most pro auto painters don't know that kirker is one of..if not the oldest auto paint mfgrs in the US...gues that equates to someone being happy with their product
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I think your car looks great,I love the two tone and I was just teasing about the last car I painted being painted with Kirker it was a Miracle paint job.You are right the paints are much better than they were 20 years ago.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

I thought this argument was about to come to blows!! :)

Let me open another can of worms... If you were doing a DIY paint job with someone with some good experience, would you go for acrylic or 2pak (taking into account the extra work and difficulty in spraying).
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1973 Chamonix auto squarie

I would use a base coat/clear coat urethane 2k.I have a Ceylon car that I will paint some day and that is what I will use.If you use and acrylic like Centauri it will look just as good,but won't be as durable or long lasting.If you are just sort of practicing then that might be what you want to use.Dupont Centauri can be used with a gloss hardner or without.With the hardner is dries alot faster,if you don't have a piant booth to use that is a consideration as you will get less contaminates in the paint.If the car is going to be parked outside I would use urethane.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible

devilspace wrote:

I thought this argument was about to come to blows!! :) Let me open another can of worms... If you were doing a DIY paint job with someone with some good experience, would you go for acrylic or 2pak (taking into account the extra work and difficulty in spraying).

my personal opinion...i'd go single stage urethane....with bc/cc...you have 2 chances to goof...base, if messed up has to be resprayed...on the other hand with urethane you can sand any dust nibs...buigs...etc out then you're good to go...

if you get a good base of ue that you're satisfied with you can always top it with a couple of coats of clar to do your color sanding and buffing...if you go that far with the job

i've done both and my preference is the ss eu

come to blows...are you kidding...it's not a good debate unless there are a few drops of friendly blood...;)

it's all good
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That sound logical that single stage is easier,but it is not the case.If you are a beginner and get a run in single stage it will be impossible to fix it.Here is the procedure for fixing a run in clear coat or single stage.One way is to take a single edge razor and tape the edges so it doesn't scratch the paint, then hold it verticly and carefully scape the paint until it is almost level then with sand paper no courser than 1000 grit and a really hard block sand it down level switching to finer and finer paper 1500,2000 and polish it out with clear it will be gone.Do the same exact thing with single stage and it will be flat and polished just like the surrounding paint except it will be lighter where the paint was thick in the run.In white it will be kind of yellow there.Basecoat is easy to apply and easy to fix and you can fix it before the final coat of clear, clear coat is easy to fix because there is no pigment.Single stage is not and a beginner is likely to get a run or two.Just my opinion.
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Ceylon 1973 2002tii 2762669
1972 Austin Mini 1275
1970 Barracuda Convertible