I am going to be painting my mini sometime this spring, and want to get thoughts from anyone who has had experience as to what type of paint, (ie URETHANE, or Acrylic Enamel, either single stage, or base/clear, etc.)
I am going with a dark, non-metallic color. The car is going to be a driver, not a show car, so durability would be high on my list.

Thanks in advance.

 

a base/clear in my opinion is better for longevity......there is also a ployester blend paint that you can get that is long lasting........just depends on your budget and what your future plans for the car is........the darker the paint the less coats you will have to do since it's not as transparent as like a yellow or white........(these are my opinions)

 

Thanks for the reply Norm.
Who makes the polyester paint? Budget wise, I am looking at all possibilities. I am planning months ahead of time to hopefully minimize those restraints.
Future plans for the car, basically making it a daily driver.

 

Painting it yourself? Then I'd say use what you are familiar with.

And/or, visit your paint supplier and have a discussion about your options.

Base/clear is the most common chioce today tho ...

aside from system, you have lots of options on supplier too. A gallon of the same color can vary by a factor of 3, even by grades from the same supplier.

One thing about dark colors ... they will show the blemishes much more than a lighter color. A friend ended up starting all over when he though his body work was 100%, until he sprayed gloss black. He reskimmed and block sanded yet again .....

 

I am by no means an expert but I'll share my experience on the 3 or 4 vehicles I have painted.

I like the PPG DBC base coat and the PPG DC4000 clear. I found that it's pretty forgiving. I have also painted with the PPG Omni line (the cheap stuff) and I think if you were going to go with cheap paint I would maybe try a different brand. I also would not mix brands, I.E. use all PPG products or all Dupont, etc.

I painted my Ranger with the DBC and it held up fine except for a small spot against a decal where I did not prep it well. In hindsight I should have scrapped the decal and not taped it off. The paint was good for 2 years until I had to re-do it because part of the bed rusted from the inside out, but the paint still looked good. It was the first vehicle I painted and it looked pretty good.

I just bought a quart of metallic DBC and a quart of DC4000 with the additives for about $225. If I had to guess a gallon of DBC and DC4000 with the additives is probably going to cost around $500 to $600.

The quality/durability of the paint job all depends on how well you prep the car. If you have done alot of body work and don't have the panels smoothed out well you are wasting your money on good paint. If you are going to paint right over old paint you should spend the time to condition the old surface and clean it extremely well.

It sounds like you aren't real experienced with painting much like myself. If thats the case I would practice painting with primer cause you can sand it if you make a mistake.

Also I would check out the local vo-tec schools. Some of them have a night class where you can use their booth. Trust me, not having to worry about running out of air in your compressor is worth the price of the class.

 

Single stage urethane works just fine and is durable (that's what they paint fleet trucks with). As long as your prep work is completed well it'll look fine. After you spray, you're done unless you wish to come back and wet sand and buff.

The most important part of body work is what's done before paint is applied. That determines the quality of the job and its durability.

Base/clear coat has the advantage of being able to touch up a partial panel whereas single stage requires at least a whole panel be done.

White is a good choice if you think your body work is iffy. Dark colors require evrything to be straight. Reds have more pigment and cost more.

 

"Also I would check out the local vo-tec schools. Some of them have a night class where you can use their booth. Trust me, not having to worry about running out of air in your compressor is worth the price of the class."

ABSOLUTELY - I took such a class a couple of times b4 I every got close to my car with a spray gun. The best way to learn how to paint is on someone else' car

A proper booth and a compressor with "unlimited" air, best for painting and absolutely required for DA's.....probably a choice of guns, better than what you'd want to buy; possibly a relationship with a paint supplier for discounts; welders, plasma cutters, lifts .... in my case for $120 a semester. I eventually became one of the 'old gang' who just kept taking the course to hang out. We worked on our stuff and helped the newbies as sort of assistant instructors. Lots of experience walking around that shop, two nites a week and very willing to help out.

Do not try to spray with a 20 gal compressor in your garage,

a) the compressor won't be able to keep up with the gun

b) if the fumes build up and your garage is home to your furnace or hot water heater, you could blow up your house....

 

Minicity, give me a shout at 757-877-1100. Ask for John if I'm not the one to answer your call.
I'm in Newport News and I've got 32 years experience in this trade. Maybe I can put you in touch with some of your local jobbers and get you on the right track to gettin your car as right as rain.
Good Luck, and most importantly, have fun.

 

I second that. Even if you try to do small pieces at a time with a small compressor theres too much variability in the air flow to lay down a smooth coat.

Also, in the garage if you don't have good airflow over spray will linger around and ruin areas you already painted.

 

Recommendations from someone in the business: (i) use a quality paint, PPG, DuPont, Sikens, Sherwin-Williams. (ii) have a professional spray it in a controlled environment where dirt is eliminated, proper spray and product mixing techniques are used and a bake cycle is employed after initial flash of the paint (iii) basecoat clearcoat for durability (iv) Prep/clean, prep/clean and prep once more before the topcoat is applied.

Invest your money in a professional paint job that will last, look good and is applied in a manner that protects your environment and your health.

WOW...I stepped up on my soapbox here sorry for the long reply

 

Excellent advice. One thing I'd like to add here is air pressure at the gun.
Now we're getting detailed, a fluctuation of 5 psi, yes, as little as that, can litterally change a color. Some more then others of course.

Solid colors aren't as finicky as metallics, pearls and candies. Should you push a solid color hard enough, however, it too can be screwed up as well.

Painting in pieces is something I prefer to do on high end high quality type jobs. It practically eliminates overspray from the bits you don't want to paint, and it allows paint all the way around the edges of each panel.

CAUTION: try to spray all your pieces at the same time, as I said before, AIR PRESSURE is critical to color match.Don't try to spray a couple parts today, then get back to the rest tommorow. You could be adding too many variables to the finish by doing so. Hell, the temperature and humidity could be enough to throw everything off from one day to the next. (AT HOME SPRAYING)

Hence the controled enviroment, (Temperature controlled Spray Booth) This is how the Pros get consistant finishes day in and day out.

I could go on forever(my soap box is pretty big), but I'll close with this,
If you have any doubts, seek professional assistance. If you still aren't sure, be prepared to lay down some cash to someone who will hook it up right for you.

 

We spray almost everything using paint pots which allow for a much lower product release PSI. Additionally, all substrates are grounded to eliminate static thus allowing metallics, pearls and powders to layout as developed by the paint mfg. That's the biggest color match issue with metallics (in our opinion) in that the metallic fleck either laying on its side or flat to the substrate when suspended produces a big reflection and color match difference.

 

Another option if you r active or retired military is to check your local bases (if any)

My nearby AFB has an auto hobby shop with a downdraft paint booth. It costs $50 for 24 hours..... You can spray and let it sit overnight..... They sell paint there too but like a previous posted I prefer to use a higher quality, House of Colors or Sher' Williams.

I will disagre with another poster tho.... I don't use everything from one supplier. I get my base (color) from one, and clear from another typically. Now, don't use brand X activator on brand Y clear....but I don't worry about mixing brands from base to clear. No more than I worry about the brand of primer matching. {btw..this was following recommendation of my paint supplier - a primary supplier to the area's AB shops}

I'm a fan of TransStar primers and clears and Sherw' Williams ULTRA for color. Used others but when I'm working for ME.... Not saying this is best...just what I've had best results with.

You can learn how to spray and do a good job and have great pride of ownership. But don't expect your first time shooting paint to be a masterpiece. Back to the "best way to learn is on another's car" In the VoTec experience I had, we painted the police undercover cars and repaired damage for them...and did some charity cases. Good experience....non-paying customers don't complain much

 

The reason why I say not to mix brands is because one suppliers products are all tested to work with each other. A body man I know said that a shop he worked at used whatever they could get the best deal on at the time and said they ended up re-doing stuff because the different brands didn't always play nicely together.

 

+1 in that using all from one manufacturer gives you recourse in cases where the paint becomes a quality or durability issue. At least when working on the commercial side. I also agree that when painting for my personal projects I will mix manufacturers to get the results I personally want.

 

Thank you everyone for the replies. All the information is really helping me sort out my options. MD-IN-UK, I'll definately give you a shout in the next week or two to pick your brain.
I fortuantely have an old '86 pickup to practice on, so that will be painted first, and repainted if necessary. The other plus is my mini is a bare shell, so getting paint where it doesn't belong won't be too big a deal. I've replaced the inner and outer sills on both sides, the rear valence, and patched numerous holes in the floor and other typical rusted areas. Whats left is to install the both front wings, after I get more shielding gas that is, and the left door skin needs some massaging (looks as if someone tried to pull the door handle pretty hard without actually pushing the button).

Again, Thanks to everone for their input!