C1 paint repair

[Michael Jones]

[Bill W.]

Re: C1 paint repair

forget it is a Corvette and let them blend the qt.pnl. with lacquer. Paint dont know what its going on. Keep the repairs as small as possible . less is best.Bill

[Ed Jennings]

Re: C1 paint repair

A competent painter shopuld be able to blend the damaged area in lacquer. The paint doesn't have to be a 101% match, just close enough to blend (99.9%). Depending on how old the existing paint is, the entire car will probably need a good buffing to make everything match.

I would be very concerned that trying to repair the area with bc/cc would cause the lacquer underneath to lift. I also think the clear would be very difficult to blend, as it would have to either cover an entire panel to some "cut off" point, or be "burned" into the existing finish. I've never tried, but I don't think a urethane clear is gonna burn into a lacquer coat without lifting the lacquer.

The lacquer repair should be relatively easy.

[Frank H.]

Re: different type paint repairs

Want a idea of whats involved in this?
I had a similar repair to a 66 roadster that came in to the shop this summer it had gotten scratched on the drivers door and had chips in the middle of the rear body panel on the edge and was all lacquer.The scratches sanded out easy to a featheredge and the repair was urathane primed just to keep the edges from lifting when painted.Our painters are young and never have sprayed a car with lacquer let alone know how to blend it and won't spray anything but basecoat/clearcoat mostly since they must give a lifetime warranty on paint as specified by the suppliers.
The electronic color eye is placed on a hand rubbed spot on the door and on the rear deck and a different formula is given out for the two areas,the differences in the recipe are noted and the first color is made which is for the reardeck using half the mix with less of some toners it is based first ,after its covered the extra toners are added to the other half of the mix for the door recipe and it is based,when dry the whole door and rear are clearcoated.Keep in mind that the fomulas the color eye gives are not for a particular car.The whole car was buffed and machine glazed ,new paint and blends are timeless since blends can't be burned thru.
I lacquered my white 62 in 1979 and has been spotted in dozens of times with two quarts of extra paint mixed when first sprayed as some guy named F___k you carved his name in my car a couple times .
If you go lacquer the color is mixed for the color code and a (good) painter or paint store needs to tint it for the best match or a "blendable match" .have sent the paint store the gas door many times,and they tinted it at no charge.
You always want to blend the color to soften the changes of the new paint(except maybe a solid color or black),if you blend the lacquer you risk exposing the blend/s whenever you buff or polish it .unless its clear lacquered over to protect the blends,which adds some wet look
sorry to go on
hope this helps you decide
FH

[Ed Jennings]

Re: different type paint repairs

When I bought my 67 some years back, it obviously had some repaired areas in the paint. Most of the paint (red) had faded, but the areas that had been spot painted aparently had been done in bc/cc and were still shiney. The older paint was some sort of single stage, probably urethane. I stripped the whole car and repainted in bc/cc and the car still looks like the day it was painted, even though the paint is approaching being 10 years old.

Lacquer is probably the appropriate choice for some cars, but personally any car I own is going to be done in bc/cc. I drive my vintage Vettes on a very regular basis and put the paint in harm's way pretty frequently by parking next to other cars, etc. Haven't had to do any repairs yet, but eventually I'll probably have to and the b/c will make it pretty easy.

Still, lacquer was the paint of choice in days of yore for making spot repairs, even on cars with factory enamel. As long as lacquer can be found in a color close enough to blend, a painter skilled at spot repairs ought to be able to handle it without too much difficulty. For the moment, there are still plenty of painters around who have lacquer experience. That may not be true in a few years.
The biggest difficulty I see is finding someone who actually is MIXING the lacquer, not just supplying in factory pack. If the factory pack paint is not close enough in color, the local supplier may not have the proper toners to tint it with.

[Dick W.]

Re: C1 paint repair

Bill is right. IF you can find a painter that can do a spot repair. Most today want to do a panel. Doesn't take as much talent in paint matching that way.

[Steve Westphal]

Re: different type paint repairs

Since I will be painting my '56 next summer, I am still in the middle of the "lacquer" versus "BC/CC" debate. It is a driver and I like the durability of BC/CC but I also like the look of the correct lacquer as it is not as shiny as BC/CC. My brother-in-law is an expert at mixing and matching automotive paints. He has been doing it for 35 years and is a local legend. He tells me that you can flatten the clear coat to approximately the same sheen as lacquer. Does anyone have any experience with this method? Just curious.

[Ed Jennings]

Re: different type paint repairs

Don't know about flattening the exterior, but it is fairly common practice to use 5-10% flattener in the clear sprayed inside the door jambs and other places that were not buffed to simulate the appearance of unbuffed lacquer. Same can be done with single stage urethane.

[Dick W.]

Re: different type paint repairs

It is a lot easier to duplicate the lacquer "look" with single stage, however it can be done with BC/CC. I do not have experience with metalics, but with solid color BC/CC you add approximately 10% color to the clear. Then when you color sand and buff if you burn thru one coat it does not cause the visual flax that it would if it was straight BC/CC. Flattner in the jams, hood ledge, deck lid ledge, trunk ledge, etc. Rub these areas with coarse rubbing compound and do not polish. This is the hardest part as it is time consuming and hard on the fingers. You can use a D/A to color sand the body, saves time. Use 3M foam pads while buffing.

As I stated in a prior post, do not hesitate to start the sanding within a couple of days after painting. Urethanes get very hard, QUICK! Ever tried to sand cement?????

[Richard H.]

Re: C1 paint repair

Hope things turn out well in your final decision.

[lee boyer]

Re: C1 paint repair

Been painting for years, stick with laqure, find a compitent painter, see what he has done!! blend and buff, it may take more time to do,but should turn out fine.

[Michael Jones]

Thanks, I'm set!

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. The concensus seems to be to try to get someone very experienced in doing spot repairs using lacquer. I visited 3 more shops this morning and two of them hadn't done lacquer in years. The other one has a man who has had 25 years experience. They're confident they can get the lacquer. I selected them to proceed with the repair.

Mike