Technical Base/clear or Single stage paint

I have a question that has been bothering me for quite some time. I have a '59 Chevy pickup that I have been working on, and when done it will completely original except for a 327 replacing the six, two bucket seats, some wider tires, and a pair of chrome stacks. No dynamat or polished bed wood, basically restored save for the above changes. Original interior and exterior colors. What does the HAMB say? Basecoat clearcoat or single stage paint?

 

Depends on a lot to me... How good of a painter are you ? Solid color ? (probably, not sure if there was a metallic option on 59 trucks) If you're a decent painter, go for it. Metallic color ??? Base / clear for sure, then you can lay down a drop coat to even your metallic, and get your gloss using the clear. I two toned my car, in single stage using a metallic/pearl on the top and rear quarters, solid on the front half....I'm not quite a good painter, and couldn't get the flow I was wanting. Since it was urethane based single stage, I ended up scuffing and clearing the whole car anyway...

 

This one is green and white, solid colors. Except for two years in a grinding wheel factory, and 16 years drilling oil and gas wells, I've been doing bodywork since 1977. It has always been bodyfun to me. Nice '55 by the way, great color combo.

 

I wouldn't put a fancy expensive paint job on an old truck....that would make it loose it's old truckness.

(my 59 fleetside and my 57 Suburban both have acrylic enamel, with lots of miles on them)

 

You only have to paint it once with single stage. Bob

 

Looks good Abomb, would look better with correct paint divide quarters and in full bel air trim including front spears and rocker trim. Just my .02, carry on.

 

Stay away from clear. Have you noticed all the "new" cars on the road with all that white stuff, looks diseased. That's the clear breaking down and you can't buff it out like you could with single stage paint. Go with single stage enamel. Bucket seats?? UGH!!!

 

Heavy metallics and average to less than average ability I would say base/clear to prevent metallic sag
and orange peel. Straight colors use single stage.

 

I agree with Squirrel. Single stage has the right look on an old vehicle. The shine on clear coat paint isn't right for what you describe.

 

Singlestage or acrylic enamel with hardener

 

There should be no noticeable difference in the degree of gloss between properly applied single stage and base/clear.

 

John Worden. Both paints have shine. The shine is different between bc and cc. Just like the shine is different between enamel and lacquer. Some people see the difference and some people never notice.

 

I have always liked using b/c. I feel it is more forgiving. I also agree with squirrel, that its a truck. I'm the worst at taking care of paint jobs on my own stuff. For some reason when I paint my own stuff it turns out great, but I never wax, or wash then it seems like, but I will do it to my wife's car , doesn't make sense to me, I build my stuff to use.

I'm also not sure on the stacks, is this a big rig?
Tony

 

Oh yeah, make sure to stay away from that awful, terrible, no-good base clear that breaks down and makes your car look horrible. I can't possibly understand why anybody would use such a thing, it's just not the right look on an old car.




If you use that devil BC/CC paint, there's no telling what could happen. Magazine coverage, attention from attractive females, people taking your picture, constant high-fives and thumbs-up.... things can get crazy. Best be safe and just stick to the single stage.

 

I shall start a "gofundme" campaign...surely you'll help pay for the sparkly stuff.

 

bc/cc is very forgiving. Get a run the base coat, let it dry for a second, knock it down with some 400, keep shooting. Same for the clear. If you run the clear, just be careful not to sand on the base. I love it. Plus, I think it is less prone to chipping , especially on corners. ( I may use too much hardener, sometimes).

 

Single stage, especially for a truck. There is just something to the look of single stage that BC/CC cannot do.

 

I've had real good luck with SS (catalyzed) enamel over the years. If you have a little experience (and it sounds like you got plenty), you can lay it down pretty damn flat.

 

Single stage is much easier to touch up or fix in the future, if you plan on using the truck as a truck.

 

x2

 

It's easier to touch up the rock chips a year or 2 down the road with single stage. If your car is a climate controlled garage type trailer queen/ trophy hunter, do whatever you want. But then, whenever I'm asked to pick out cars for best whatever plaques or trophys at events, I always go for the ones that they couldn't quite get all the bug pieces out of the radiator before the show. Extra points scored for a little tread wear on the tires, especially the rear ones... LOL

 

It breaks down to what you want the final paint job to look like? Acrylic enamel is what is used on industrial paint jobs, busses, trains semi trucks. The basic solid colors that no one really pays attention to it because it looks cheap. Its a real bearcat to blend and match cleanly. Base clear is used and almost every production car. It looks good and is just as easy to work with. Since it takes the same amount of prep work to mask off the car and your really only saving the time it takes to clear it and the price of the clear at the expense of a so so finish.

"Just because you can put tap shoes on an elephant doesn't mean it can dance!"

 

Those are all show cars, not daily drivers and those old show cars used multiple coats of lacquer

 

Comparing any lacquer to any enamel is like comparing apples to oranges. The chemistry is completely different.
Acrylic urethane single stage color chemistry (contains pigment) is very similar to acrylic urethane clear chemistry (without pigment).
Which , if any, of the pictured cars/truck is a clear coat finish?

 

good one there, 57Joe

somehow my orange peel, wavy crappy home done enamel job ended up on the cover of Hot Rod. you don't need fancy paint, if that stuff is all you're after.

 

While all those examples are beautiful, they don't capture what the OP was looking for (IMHO).
Too many times guys don't realize that sometimes a builder just wants a nice original looking ride that's not over processed.
My way of thinking, it looked good in enamel on the showroom floor... there's your answer.

 

I just wonder how base coat/clear coat will patina out. Old lacquer and enamel paint jobs can patina out real good. I'm thinking bc/cc will look like crap, not like patina, but more like skin cancer. It seems like all the old and abused bc/cc factory paint jobs end up looking really bad.

 

As a driveway warrior, single stage. One and done. Just lay down enough to sand out the flies, rodents, birds etc. and buff.

 

If you're going for 'traditional', then single-stage is your only choice. 'Back in the day', pretty much only show cars had paint with clear and the clear was notorious for failing quickly.

 

I'm all about the Original, Patina, or SS paint, cause who has time to wash and take care of cars that way? I drive my stuff and live on a gravel road, I need to actually be able to drive my cars not wait for it to stop raining before I can take it out.