I know there are probably a few but what are you guys opinions on the best paint? Im planning a base coat/clear coat for my restoration. Are most top of the line paints similar or do any stand out above the rest? The first that comes to mind is PPG even though I've never used it. any other brands that I should consider or stay away from? Ive used Sherwin Williams best before and it worked out good. It seems with bb/cc the quality of the clear coat makes the difference. The shop I use offers two Sherwin clear coats, prices from around $200 up to $600 for a gallon. He has a pretty close match but not exact IMO and I dont believe he custom mixes the paint to match?
There are no shops around me that sell PPG. Can this be bought online somewhere and would it be a custom color? Is it worth it? Just thinking options for this.

 

Depends on what you want. These days I really like House of Kolor for ease of application. You won't get a stock color mix, however. They are a custom paint supplier and everything is custom mix. If you want stock type paint, the brand names are all comparable. PPG, Axalta (formerly DuPont), Martin Senour (available at NAPA) are all good choices.

 

All the big name brands have high quality paint. Asking painters which is best, you'll get a different answer from each one. On the other hand, all the name brands have lower quality paint, "car lot" paint. Stay away from those if you want the paint to last! Yes, they look good when done, but don't hold up well over time. Omni and Nason are two big name lower quality paints.

 

If you're painting, you can choose. If you're not painting, you and the painter need to choose. I assume you're painting. Can you handle the base clear painting? I have heard lacquer is easier, but it's a more fragile paint when done. Are you painting to stock color?

 

Ive painted a car BC/CC and it came out good. I think I could handle it. Im probably going to jam the car myself and maybe have someone else with a booth and such lay the paint. I plan on stock color or as close as I can get in a BC/CC

 

Paul, it looks like this place has PPG, I think in Worcester https://bapspaint.com/products/supplies/ If you run a google for PPG Auto paint in MA, a lot come up. I really don't paint, I go for supplies, and small paint stuff. I can't help as to what to use at all. I've never been to the place I linked, but it's not far from you.

 

Thanks for that Frank. I did a search also and got lost and closest I found was CT somewhere. Ill check them out.

 

Might give these guys a look, https://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/.
Their concentration is in primers and clears so not a lot of color choices. Good customer support and a great forum.
Free shipping if they don't have a vendor in your area.

 

If your doing it at home ppg is more user friendly , covers very well , repairs easy with out lifting. If your having a shop do it, your going to get what they use. You can go cheaper on base but buy the better clear coat

 

All good stuff, thanks

 

I used PPG lacquer but that was 15 years ago. If you go with today's base/clear, I have been told that you can select different options of gloss to come closer to the appearance of traditional lacquer.

 

I'll throw this one out there. A place called "The Coating Store" has factory color selection in single stage and BC and different levels of quality. Just a suggestion.

 

On my 72 I used PPG because I painted it the original color. On my 68 I used a custom paint from TCP Global they mixed up. I can't say there is a big difference in the paint quality because I did put lots of hours in cutting and buffing and I am pleased with the results. On the 68 I did use Sherwin Williams clear.
Urethane Basecoat Paint — TCP Global

 

I spoke to the shop that sells PPG and he's gonna send me a color sample tomorrow. I priced everything with them and cost is a lot less than what I spent on base and clear from Sherwin Williams years ago. I think I paid $1,700 back around 2008 for Sherwin Williams BC/CC and everything needed. I must have got they're best clear.
The PPG guy today priced me out around $1,000 for everything.
Is Sherwin Williams that much better or did I pay too much?
As far as shine goes, I like shiny when it comes to paint.
Ill check out the coating store too.

 

Is it OK to use one brand of BC and another brand of clear?

 

Hey Scrappie
This is the clear I used. 1 GALLON KIT Finish 1 Clear Coat Finish1 FC740 and FH742 | eBay. I don't know if its not ok to use a different company clear or not but I most certainly did. As I mentioned before I spent a lot of hours cut n and buffing. I started with 1500 then went to 2000 then 2500 and the 3000. But what I think made me get the glassy shine was when I used 5000 Trizact pads. I would also believe that body shops use whatever clears are economical to them.
Here is a picture of my two cars. The bamboo one is PPG and the Black Barola one is from TCP Global.

 

That thing is shinier than Vader's helmet.

 

If you are going to do that then you need to use whatever paint your painter is familiar with. See what supplier he uses and have them do a test panel of your color and see how close it is. I am going through this with a friend with an older GMC truck. He ended up cutting a piece of the old original bed and the local PPG store is sending it to PPG to try to match. They could not get it right with the paint code or by scanning it

 

Most painters say not to mix BC and Clear chemistry’s, my car was painted with Standox, beautiful finish..excellent match to Madator red.

 

I thought you were going to do the whole car yourself, Paul. If it's going out, and the BC + CC aren't compatible or the same make, then your painter might blame you if there's a problem. Then, I'm sure they make money on the paint, too. It's like bringing a 'vert top you bought off the net to an installer, or brake pads to your service station. I guess it depends on your relationship with them. But, hey...I don't know, I've never painted a whole car.

 

It absolutely is. A lot of new car manufacturing facilities use combos of primer, basecoat and clear sourced from different manufacturers. A new Kia coming off the line may have Nason basecoat and Sherwin Williams Acme clear on it.

I used Sherwin for 18 years, now I buy direct from Axalta. Personally I like Axalta basecoat better but I like Sherwin clear. Sherwin Williams dimension DC5020 is a high solids clear that is hard to beat even at 4-5 times the cost. When I last bought sherwin(2014 I think) I was paying about $48 gallon for it. When doing restorations now I usually just use Nason base coat and their 465 clear, but if I had my hands on some Sherwin 5020 I’d prefer that. I paint about 2,000 cars per year and it costs me less than $200 to paint a car in base clear.

I’ve got a 66 cutlass now, but if you look back at my old delta 88 threads, you’ll see a car that won a wall full of best paint trophies when parked next to guys who paid $15k for paint. And I did it with a $50 gallon of clear. Don’t listen to all the “don’t buy the cheap stuff, it won’t last” nonsense. With proper application and maintenance, a nason or Sherwin dimension paint job will outlast me and you both.

Feel free to pm me. I’ve painted cars for 25 years and Training painters was a significant part of my job for the majority of my career before I became an independent shop owner.

 

You’re absolutely right. If you come into my shop with your own paint I tell you 2 things. 1) my painters are proficient with one paint they use all day every day. A good painter can spray anything, but some things do require some adjustment to really dial in, which takes time. 2) I don’t give you a discount. You paid list price for that paint that would have cost me about 1/3 of what you paid for it.

also, to paint your car, after bodywork and prep I use: sealer, sealer activator, basecoat, reducer, basecoat activator, clearcoat, clearcoat activator and more reducer. So out of 8 products, most people who got their own paint walk in with two or 3. At the very least, they’ll be missing one or two of the needed products. When people bring in their own paint, I ask them if they take their own eggs to the restaurant when they go out for breakfast... jokingly of course.

 

20 or so years ago I used some paints from a relatively unknown paint company called Kirker. It was good stuff, but ultimately not versatile or cheap enough to convert the chain of production shops I was working in at that time. It’s my understanding that summit racing paint is private labeled for them by kirker. I would, without hesitation, put their paint on my car.

 

Martin Senour is Sherwin Williams that is private labeled(and marked up) exclusively for Napa. Back when my shops were spraying Sherwin, I occasionally grabbed a fill in item from Napa when we were out. The part numbers are the same with different letter designations in front of the number. On one occasion I got a bottle of dry pearl for a car I was working on after the Sherwin store was closed. The label was loose, so I peeled it off and it had the Sherwin label underneath the Martin senour label.

 

Thanks for all that info. It’s sounds like you know your way around the paint shop. I will definitely consult with you I appreciate the offer.

 

Jason gave me a lot of advise when I painted my yellow car about 13yrs ago. I do remember him telling me that you can make crappy clear look good if you put the work in it. I also asked him if I needed a spray booth and he told me people use to paint cars outside. He is a great source of knowledge.

 

13 years ago!!?? Whoa. Where did the time go?

I had a toddler at the time. He’s driving himself to work now.

I sold the delta 88 I had at the time and was out of the olds game for a while. Recently picked up a beautiful 66 cutlass and jumped back on here.

 

Yes the time has flown by. So happy you are back on here. I really want to say I would never have been able to paint that car without your advise and giving me encouragement that I could do the job if I took my time. You guided me thru how to cut and buff and the products to use in that process. That is what makes this hobby great, people like you!

 

You might want to check out Tamco Paints.
I started using them about 4 years ago.
been very happy with the quality, coverage and anytime
I needed support the owner was there.

https://tamcopaint.com/

 

I have heard good things about Tamco. I read the paint is named after his wife who is active in the company.

 

I would go with Glasurit paint 90 line. I really like this line of paint cover’s great lays down nice. The clear lays down like glass.

 

glasurit is good stuff, no doubt. For a diy’er though, a $500 gallon of clear isn’t going to have much benefit over a $100 gallon of clear.

 

It is a little high in price but if your doing a full restoration. You are already spending a lot of money don’t go cheap on the paint or primers. I feel like you can’t be cheap don’t wanna do all that work to your car. Then a few years down road it fades or just don’t look the same when it first got all done.

 

As a general rule, any clearcoat can be applied over any basecaoat.

That Acme Finish 1 is one of Sherwin Williams' inexpensive lines of acrylic single stages and clears along with the Dimension line. I used to buy that. It's good clear, but their DC5020 is hands down the best inexpensive clear I've ever used. I sprayed Sherwin exclusively for the first 18 years of my career before switching to Axalta.

Also, that Finish 1 line has a matte/satin clear that is really nice if you ever have use for that. Lays out way more even than any other inexpensive matte clear I've been able to find.