Paint Question and Opinions

[mike cobine]

I had to run up to order some paint for my '79 today and I asked the guy if they were running into a problem with getting lacquer yet. He said they keep hearing that it is being discontinued, but so far their main store in Daytona still gets it. They are supplying PPG Duracryl.

Since lacquer seems harder and harder to find, I am wondering about ordering my paint for the other two cars now. I'll be painting the '68 end of the year/first of the year and the '63 in a year or so.

So the basic thoughts are:

1. Order paint for both cars now.
2. Order paint for just the '68 now.
3. Just wait until it is needed.
4. Order a gallon for each car.
5. Order extra for each car for the unforeseen repaint.
6. Order the paint in separate quart cans so that it will last longer due to only cans used being opened and the others sealed.
7. Something you guys think of.

[Wayne P.]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

Go ahead an order what you need for both cars. It will last a L O N G time in the proper conditions.

[Mac Peppers]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

probably not much difference except the cost will continue to rise. it will set on the suppliers shelf or yours. my supplier says he only makes a lacquer sell on blue moons. for long life, he recommends that you don't thin it untill you are ready to use it, keep it in cans as full as possiable, and make sure the lid is on very tight. if it should go bad, he says you'll know it when you open it. says it should last several years.

[Bill Stephenson]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

-------You are still faced with the fact that canned lacquer no longer has all the ingredients in it that gave it even the short life (in comparison to BC/CC) that it had 15 years ago. Lead is just one item. Its just my opinion but I believe I would spend more time trying to get BC/CC to conform to "original" looks than I would trying to save a gallon of paint thats past its prime (no pun intended). All this coming from a guy who painted his 66 in lacquer in 1997/8 because I felt that I wanted to have my car score as high as it could. I now have a car that scratchs if I even look at it wrong and that I am scared to leave out in the sun for longer than half an hour. I guess Im saying "pick your battles". Hope this helps in some small way..........Bill S

[Gary #41345]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

I agree with Bill pick your choice:

1.) Trailer Queen

2.) A Rider

[Grant M.]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

Bill,

When exactly did the formulation for acrylic lacquer change? I painted my '65 in 1987 with Dupont Lucite, and even though it's clearly a driver, the paint on the car still looks pretty good some 18 years later. Stone chips were always a problem with lacquer paint, probably because it's a thinner coating than the enamels and it seems to be more "brittle"; but in comparison to my experience with a 71 Camaro bought new with GM's "Magic-Mirror" lacquer paint, the '65's finish is lasting at least as well.

I agree with the perspective that suggests going with making the more durable BC/CC paint appear as lacquer; however, few could deny the user-friendliness from an application standpoint, of lacquer paints for the "hobbyist".

grant

[mike cobine]

Thanks, Everyone

Thaks for the help. I'd guess that most would agree with the buying it in quarts to keep some sealed rather than the gallon can.

As to durability, I know enamel is tougher, however, lacquer isn't watercolor.

My '79 still has the original lacquer except the bumpers and one fender and looks fine after 26 years.

My '68 went 20 years on its original lacquer and it lived that life on parking lots at work, hot blazing summer sun, winter snow and ice storms, etc. It would have gone longer if the South Florida sun hadn't begun its toll in the mid '80s on it.

So at that rate, I could easily look at 2020 before needing paint. With the amount of outside use these kinds of cars get today, that could stretch to 2030. How many will have that same car that long or even be around?

And I know I would never pay the high dollar on a restored Corvette painted in BC/CC simply because it isn't original. Isn't that the idea of restoration? If you can stamp an original Chevy engine to look like the original engine and be austerized, why is using non-original paint acceptable?

[Patrick T.]

Re: Paint Question and Opinions

I had my '67 painted this spring and I had heard too many bad stories about painting a car with lacquer these days. I wanted something that would pass the muster and still not have to worry about bird crap and the hot sun ruining the paint.

I had my painter use PPG Global Urethane....Single Stage, not BC/CC. It's bulletproof compared to lacquer, but it doesn't look like a sheet of glass and it has orange peel and if you buff it with a rag and rubbing compound, you will get yellow paint on the rag. I wasn't about to pay big bucks for a paint job that would last 6 years (as I was told here).