Old Acrylic Urethane Single Stage Paint Durability

[Slavs]

This is my Granada Red 1969 1600-2 which I just pulled out of my garage after 7 years of hibernation. I left it out for two days so that the rain can wash away the very thick layer of accumulated dust. The following morning I just wiped it down with a towel. I only washed the wheels with soap and water. I had this car painted back in January of 2002, and it spent 10 years of its life in the elements and sun. Back then, I purchased a gallon of Dupont's Chroma 1 line  single stage acrylic urethane for $600, including hardener, reducer and rental of a spray booth. I then hired a young painter who worked at the facility to paint the car for $120. That is all they charged. And, this is the result 18 years later. I never color sanded it because the paint was applied so smooth. The paint has a lot of dept and is extremely durable. I've seen a lot of so called $7,000 paint jobs today that don't look nearly as good. Now days, everybody is trying to sell you two stage paint which eventually peels. In my opinion, it also looks artificial. But, now there are fewer painters who paint with single stage.

 

What I'm trying to illustrate is just how inexpensive it was to achieve this result. My car isn't perfect, but it is presentable and very functional. It's a matching numbers car with a tired, but smooth running motor and stock mechanicals including the Porsche synchro trans which works flawlessly. I purchased the car back in 1990 from the original owner for $900, and I drove it home. It only needed brakes at the time. The paint was faded, but otherwise the car was rust free.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Slavs

[joebarthlow]

On classics with non-metallic, single stage is the way to go (sure, others may debate). I bet a cut and buff would make shine even more. It looks great and have considered Verona or Granada as a future color option.

[adawil2002]

Man your car is amazing looking! Single stage is the way to go. Painted in early 2018 Verona Glasurit.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by adawil2002

[bluehills2002]

That car looks great, Slav.  I have wondered about that durability question.  My ‘74 sat in a garage for 30+ years, since the 80s.  It must have been painted with single stage Granatrot in the early 80s or maybe even the 70s through a dealer, I do not know the history.  But after a couple of washes, no wax or buffing, it looks pretty good.

[AustrianVespaGuy]

I remember that the factory black paint of our new '88 Jeep Cherokee was effectively GONE in about 3 years; ridiculously poor stuff with zero UV protection.  My dad got it repainted in a red single stage urethane at a local one-day place.  I think we got a bit lucky with a good painter, it was a really nice job, but more importantly it held up outside in the Albuquerque sun all day every day until I think 2014, when it had finally faded (but not peeled!) enough to warrant another 1-day repaint.  Dad finally sold it about 2 years later so can't say much about the second paint job, but that first urethane repaint was absolutely spectacular.  We even worked out the value once: $600 for 20 years works out to about 8 cents a day, which for paint is extremely hard to beat!!!

[TobyB]

PPG Concept was not that durable in an urban environment.

3-4 years, and spots started to go flat.

Volvo 122, painted in 1996, had dull spots on the hood by 1999

Jenn's car, painted in 1999, is almost completely flat on all

horizontal surfaces.

The roadster, painted in 1995, and stored inside, looks as good as

it did when it came out of the booth.  

 

Also, the paint you could buy in 2002 is no longer available.

It may have the same name, but the chemistry inside is different.

 

t

learned things the hard way.

[Slavs]

Yes, the old high solids paints available in 2002 are no longer available for sale in many parts of the country. In many cases the lines have been completely discontinued.

 

I've never been a fan of PPG, the preferred brand of "Hot Rodders" here in the US. And having spent a lot of time surrounded by them here in Burbank, CA, I've learned that many of them have nothing but contempt for any cars manufactured outside of this country. "PPG" is something they almost exclusively use. Maybe, I may be biased in taking such a harsh view of them. If any of you guys can share a good quality single stage urethane paint brand with me, please do so. I've had some bad recent experiences with painters.

 

Slavs

[Flamingo 5]

Solvent based

[TVeye]

Just got done seeing Slavs car in person and, it does look real good.

The paint we now get in CA doesn't even deserve to be called paint.