going to paint my car black lacquer/ how soon can i sand in between coats first time trying lacquer tks Butch Ps any advice would be helpful tks again
What amount of thinner were you planning to shoot your lacquer with? How fast lacquer "flashes" or evaporates at, and can be recoated sucessfully or sanded is tied to how much it was thinned, what speed thinner was used, what the shop temp. was and is, and if any retarder was used.
I'm betting it's because it's black. BC/CC black doesn't come close in depth. Single stage acrylic enamels and lacquer are a deeper black. YMMV
If the bodywork is done and your ready to paint why do you think you need to sand between coats? No need to do it with lacquer just shoot it one time.
X2 what pimpin paint said. There are a lot of variables. Lacquer is air dry, so temperature and air flow have a LOT to do with it. It's been a long time since I did lacquer, but you don't sand in between every coat! Another urban myth. Back in the day, for a nice paint job, you could put on 5-10 coats. About 20 min between coats, if you've got your correct thinner for the ambient temp. Wait 2-3 days, block out with 400 grit wet, and prep and shoot another set of coats the next day. Then maybe one more time. THAT depends on how much shrinking happens, how good your sanding was, and translucency of the color you choose. Remember, if you put on 6 coats, you probably sand off 3 or more. And lacquer needs a lot more coats to get the same coverage as enamels, as more than half of it evaporates off. There's a lot of shrinkage that might go on, depending on whether you used lacquer based primers, the last job I did, I used HOK epoxy and didn't get much at all. Wait about a month for it to dry completely, and cut and buff. It's MUCH easier than urethanes! 600 wet, and compound and polish is all you need to do. You might have to do a follow up buff, maybe with some light sanding, after 6 months or so, as lacquer is still drying (and shrinking) even after that amount of time.
The modern paint just doesn't look the same. Maybe if you were born after 1980 or so you wouldn't notice. Something that has always been a stick in my craw is a "restored" classic rod and they threw 2 stage paint at it. It just doesn't look right.
I might add that after I lay down the lacquer color, I do a number of lacquer clear coats. That way, when I color sand and buff, I'm not cutting any of the color. When you're color sanding, the residue will be white. If you start seeing colored residue, you've gone through the clear. Using the clear over color will allow you to spray the minimum amount of color necessary to cover completely ($$$)...clear lacquer being less expensive. You can also lay on successive coats, after the base coat, cut with clear...each successive coat haveing more clear than the last. The last coat(s) being 100% clear. It will look like you could stick your arm down into it. I don't care WHAT sytem you use, nothing beats hand rubbed lacquer for a spectacular finish...
In either lacquer or urethanes it's the clear that "Muddies" up the black. It also depends on the black you use. Jet black and standard black are two very different colors. I am fortunate enough to have came up through both era's of lacquer and urethanes. Yes hand rubbed black lacquer has a special look. But if you use a single stage standard black urethane. Sand it flat and rub it correctly. It's near impossible to tell the difference. Plus you will have awesome protection with the urethane. I can still remember the days of "Baby sitting" my lacquer jobs on a sunny day instead of enjoying the events. ie. panicking if a bird crapped on it, having heart failure if it rained and water had the chance to dry on it, some one spilling anything on it, being extra careful not to let it sit in the direct sunlight too long, because something was going to pop back up, etc. Lacquer is a very fragile paint. Through the amazing world of chemistry, they have some far superior products out there to make our lives easier. My days of sanding and hand rubbing door jambs and under hoods were history the day R-M came out with 2K clear. I haven't looked back since. Zilla!
Hey, Whyle it's true that the addition of clear to the last few coats of a lacquer job offers some additional depth of finish, it usually comes at a very high cost from a paint job longevity standpoint! Black lacquer, with the addition of a clear would be especially prone to failure given the additional heat a black base would produce beneith the clear. Unlike todays' urethane clear coats upon which big money has been spent to formulate a coating that will hold out against the sun's ultraviolets, paint manufactures havent spent much on clear development since acrylic lacquer was introduced in the fifties. If you can't pull a desent depth of shine from a lacquer job without the addition of clear you either had a substandard product to begin with, sprayed or coloursanded it incorrectly or poorly, or cut or polished it in a marginal fashion. Lacquer is much softer than todays urethane finishes, especially nitrocellulose, and it's the cutting , polishing & waxing that can make or break the paint job. The lacquer vs. urethane paint debate is kinda a specious one, you either get it or you don't, it's like asking why would a guy fuck around with a "flattie" or '' nailhead " when today's computer managed engine systems develop more power, get much better mileage, and start in any weather. It's more about why than how you get there. " Do Not Reach greedily For The Kool-Aid "
Just shoot the car ,no need to sand inbetween coats ,Let dry and sand and buff ,Drying times vary ,Should tell you on the can.
This is what I am doing to my 51 AD. I am using Restoration Shop Deep Aqua Laquer with Sunscreen Clear Lacquer. TCGlobal has tons of lacquer colors to choose from. From the Restoration Shop colors to Factory colors going back to the 20s.
i sprayed a 59 coupe deville last year that louis stoyjanovic from the rod and wheelers and barris kustoms shop in the 60's and let me tell ya, it was some big shoes to try and fill!! anyways it was originally sprayed with nitrocellulose lacquer, made product was dupont 44s jet black. now this guy louis who sprayed this thing, sprayed 3-6 coats and then bwould block with 320g. so i did the same, but i blocked it dry versus he used white lantern gas to keep from clogging. i am not into water on panels unless it is cured paint. now they say after you paint it you should let it sit for a week or two and then cut it open and let it sit again until polishing. now, my question is what products can you by to polish that shit again?? there is no liquid ebony still around is there?? do yourself a favor stick to the new shit!!
I've never seemed to have had a paint failure with acrylic lacquer, using the method(s) I described...
I doubt that car was sprayed with nitrocellulose. Henry quit using that in the 30s. More likely acrylic.I sprayed my brothers 67 427 Vette in acrylic in 74. Just as beautiful today as it was when I sprayed it. Clear coating your lacquer washes out the color and is prone to cracking because of the different expansion rates of the base and clear coats and multiple layers only compound the problem. I waited a month and sanded with 400 between coats. Out of thirty coats sprayed there are maybe ten left on the car after sanding, cutting and buffing.
From what I understand, FOMOCO didn't used Lacquer which is why his colors were limited "You can have any color you want as long as its black". Colors were expensive and limited to high end cars. Dupont came up with a inexpensive paint system using Lacquer but Ford didn't want anything to do with it because Dupont owned GM. Dupont also owned Indian Motorcycles.
I thought that they painted them all black because black dried the fastest. They were trying to get as many cars made as possible. Could be wrong Im a newb
Nothing like Black Lacquer for sure, super pretty and deep. But a close alternative is '95 BMW black. It's a dye and not tone dependant. Pure black and you can get it in Single Stage. Also Centari pure black is still available. Try not to use clear and stay with the Single Stage. Good luck, Tim
I used black nitrocellulose lacquer with no clear on three different daily drivers and never once had a problem with rain, fading, bird crap or anything else causing any scarring or any other problems even sitting out in the air with no garage with temps ranging from -30 to 100+ and snow and ice piling up on it a foot or so deep. Paint it, buff it, wax it, and get in and drive it no problems. Treat it like any other paint wax it once a month and it will be just fine and LOOK BETTER THAN ANY OTHER paint.
An overcleared urethane paint finish on a Traditional Rod or Kustom equals the look of a hooker in a girl scout dress!; a tasteless and debased look. " Beware The Irrational However Seductive "
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