Which Lacquer? PPG DDL or TCP Restoration shop?

I was researching TCP Globals restoration shop lacquer product and their speed prime. Ran into someone at E-town swap meet this past weekend and they said go with PPG DDL. I thought that was discontinued long ago but it turns out it is still available and I can get it locally. The question is who makes the better product? For all I know they are the same.

Thanks,
Jim

 

TCP. Fraction of the cost and probably is the same product. FWIW I have used both recently, no issues with either so price says it all for me.

 

I don't know about prices in your area but here in Oregon DDL is God awful expensive. Clear is cheap and so is thinner but colors will ruin a budget quickly.

 

I just called the distributor and the DDL is only $406 a gallon!!! Can you say sticker shock?!?!?! They actually put the DDL it in spray bombs at $22 a can and I have been working on the interior with much success. I figured I would spray the exterior in PPG lacquer but am having second thoughts. I will check with TCP next on price.

Thanks!
Jim

 

I painted my daughters car with TCP base coat, clear coat urethane in my garage. Good stuff.

 

TCP (Restoration Shop) or Trinity but TCP has more color choices but if you live in CA, TCP can no longer sell CA residents lacquer paint so you have to go with Trinity. Here's the link for Trinity which is called "Paintforcars"
http://www.paintforcars.com/acrylic_lacquer_paint.html

 

Went to my local paint store (Finishmasters) and inquired about PPG laquer and was told it was available, but at almost $500 a gallon. Went with restoration and was very happy. Gallon of color, gallon of thinner, handfull of stix and strainers for a little over a hundred. Was concerned about the paint quality and pigment amount. Ordered a powder blue, used a white sealer, and coverage was great. Love those guyz.. Norm

 

I'm an old painter and all I can say is why spend that money for that junk. Paint has progressed so much in the last 50 years. put bc/cc on there and the paint will outlast the metal.[if you do it right]. if your doing it for a vintage look you can make bc/cc look anyway you want it. I would put waterbase on it and never have to paint it again. The acrylic lacquer they sell today will only last a couple of years and you'll be painting it again. Plus it is bad for the envirement

 

I'm thinking about using lacquer on my model a coupster for 2 reasons...

It's traditional

I'm planning on spraying in the driveway. I know lacquer isn't good for you, but the isocyoanates in enamel concern me and it only gets worse the more modern a coating you chose.

Waterborne is a great idea, but still requires chemical based primer and clear, so for a production environment with a booth it's a useable solution but in a driveway it's not gonna cut it... I can protect myself with the proper respirator, but I don't believe it's fair to my neighbors and pets to indirectly expose them to the nasties in modern paint. I suspect there are lots of guys like me considering lacquer for the same reasons.

It isn't the greatest option for a long term paint job, but for a garaged weekend cruiser it should be fine for as long as I care to have the same color hot rod...

Tyson

 

I am painting my 51 AD truck in Lacquer. British racing green from Paint for cars (Trinity) with a clear coat. The interior will also be lacquer but gunmetal grey with extra flakes added and a matte clear coat. There are some cars owned by H.A.M.Bers that have a 20,30,40 year lacquer paint job that is still presentable. It was good enough for Mr. Watson.

 

You ever notice its always the professional painters that bitch the loudest about anyone using lacquer? Ever stop and ask yourself if maybe thats because lacquer is going to give the best result for a home painter with no spray booth? Things that make you go Hmmmmm.

 

I'm a lacquer kinda guy too, 'cause it's about the only thing I can still spray and not land in bed from. See, back in the early eighties when I sprayed in a production shop they loaded our guns with the new "Enviromentally healthy" deltrons and the like and told us that the old masks were just fine 'cause this stuff is safer... Now if I get within 75 feet of an open container of urethane, I'm down for several days. I have shot TCP products and I was quite pleased with the results!

 

lacquer is the easiest for us amateurs to do a good job with---garage kept it lasts forever...

 

as a cabinet maker, I've been shooting laq. for decades. it's not the same as it was 25 years ago. i'm sure auto laq. has been reformulated as well.

 

I agree with the experts who say the newer stuff is better. Unfortunately I am doing a garage paint job and as a few said previously lacquer is probably the best route for that. I don't know if it is any easier but it is more forgiving when it comes to runs, dust, or the stray bug that manages to get in there somehow. It is also easy for me to do minor repairs and touch up in the future. I will be shooting lacquer and right now it is looking like the TCP product due to price. I still can't get over how much more $$$ the ppg product is.

 

To add to the above- the car will also be stored in a garage and only be driven 1000 so miles a year so hopefully it will hold up for a little while before all that crappy lacquer just falls right off of the car!

Thanks for everyones input.
Jim

 

x2

 

I had red lacquer on my '27 T for seventeen years before repainting it and it still look good.

CRUISER

 

Hey, good thread guys.
I was nearly talked out of using Laquer on my car.
Back on track again.

 

like the, tig versus mig debate, there is a time and a place for different type paints. i just touched up an original '64 paint job with lacquer. i did it to blend in the paint here and there so it matched and looked "untouched". if i was going to strip and paint the whole car i would use urethane. i can understand someone wanting to spray lacquer at home. i would not use it on chassis parts, or under fenders, enamels are a better choice.

 

You ever notice a novice will ask a question of a professional and then question his motives when they answer. Maybe he is reflecting on his years of experience with automotive finishes and is just trying to help a guy out and save him troubles in the future. Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm.

My opinion.... Acrylic lacquer is a dynamic finish, what looks good today may be dying back or checking and cracking tomorrow. Lacquer is easy to shoot for the novice. I believe lacquer has a look of its own. Todays lacquer is junk compared to bc/cc. Just because anyone can shoot it in less than desirable conditions does not mean that it is a good choice.

 

Yea, dont try this at home kids. We get the message...

 

I painted both of these cars with ddl acrylic lacquer,the 28 was done 50 yrs ago,and the vette in 1973. The vette has 4 coats of clear ddl. Both were done with a devilbiss MBC and the slowes ddl thinner I could buy. This is how I did many cars in that time frame.Now I know they are dusty and you cant see close up,but I will tell you niether one has any checking,cracking or peeling. Yes they have not seen the sun much. Niether one has ever been cut or buffed,I never got that far with them.When I go back to toledo on may 4 I am going to wash and close up pic both of them,just to dispell the myth that acrylic lacquer doest have "staying power".

 

Bravo!

 

I should post a pic of the tank on my dads Vincent. Original 60 yr old NITROCELLUOUS, not even acrylic! Looks like it was painted last week. Any of us that has been around the hobby for any time at all knows what bullshit this idea is that if you paint your car with lacquer, its all gonna check and fall off in three years. Theres a pretty thin line between gross exagerration and flat out bullshit.

 

Anyone know if the currently produced lacquer is chemically the same product it was 25 yrs ago? Lots of other chemical stuff is different now.

 

common sense tells me that the chemicals in today's lacquer paint should be better than those of 40,50,60 years ago, yet those old lacquer jobs are still around as previous noted by our fellow H.A.M.Bers.

 

....and the age-old dispute goes on....

Why don't you guys go back to arguing what's the best--Chevy/Ford/Chrysler?

Lacquer has it's place, as well as it's downfalls. Not junk. Not perfect. Guys like me who get paid to paint will almost always default to modern finishes to get the best look, durability, and most importantly--customer satisfaction......so if a painter says "lacquer's not as good"--there's a reason.
It's dumb to argue about stuff like this, fellas. All the examples of 'my paint's 100 years old and still perfect' will always be countered with 'Well, I used ___ and it turned to shit in a week'.
Grumpy Cat says relax.

 

Nobody said that. I guess since you have 600000 posts and a 60 year old gas tank with lacquer on it, I should recognize that you are are an authority on everything automotive.

Let's get sumthin straight. I really like the look of lacquer. I don't believe any of todays urethanes can replicate that look. I don't remember saying that if u lacquer it, it will definitely check and crack. One guy that sprayed 2 cars 50 years ago with lacquer, never even sanded and buffed them and today they still look awesome. This may be true but should not be accepted as the norm.

"PPG acrylic lacquer (or any other brand of lacquer for that matter) is NOT an inferior product and the acrylic urethane products we all use today most definately are NOT inferior to acrylic lacquer. Acrylic urethane topcoat paints of today are technologically advanced compared to the lacquer products used back in the '70s (which is still the same lacquer availabe today). Yes some lacquer colors did have traces of lead in the mixing base (like all the other paints of that particular time period). Lead is no longer legally acceptible in paint so PPG no longer uses it. If acrylic lacquer is applied correctly to a vehicle and receives some basic care then it will last for many years, but not as long as acrylic urethane topcoats."