Back in the Eighties, we used to fill all post lacquer primed pinholes with Nitrostan in my uncle's shop before shooting a color. I haven't painted anything in ten years, and I know the days of lacquer or one step enamel have kind of gone by the wayside. I am not gonna get to really finish body work this summer for the show but I do want to clean up the truck so it doesn't look hack. I am thinking flat black everywhere as it will look good enough for the summer and leave me with a good primer like base for when I pull the car apart, rebuild the engine and finally get to paint. Few questions: What has replaced Nitrostan (I have heard it is now ancient and there are many products that dry a lot faster and are easier to work with)? Any recommendations for flat black products and thinners that will work as a good sealer and base for later prep and paint work? Go easy on me fellas. I know what I am asking is a tall order with a lot of opinion, but I just want to clean everything up a little so it doesn't look like something that begins with an R , second word R as well. Pork
Do you have a local paint supply store? They can tell you what's new and what everyone is using. I buy my stuff from these guys. http://www.kemperle.com/index2.php
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I looked around online and it seems my closest is about 45 mins out; so I was just hoping some folks might share good and bad experiences, so I can get an idea of what to ask about when I finally do go in and sit down on the stool and my wallet gets raped for 300 bucks (or more).
Nitrostan was or is spot putty. DuPont spot putty is what I use it comes in a tube and you wipe it on with your finger. When it hardens you scuff it and paint over it. Anyway what you are looking for is called spot putty here in the Midwest.
glazing putty? they make real fine grain polyester filler (aka bondo) that is used for this purpose these days.
Unless you are stripping the entire truck down to bare metal I wouldn't worry too much about buying a paint that you can work over top of at a later date. You don't want to do good work over a bunch of old layers of paint as you are asking for trouble down the road. If you are stripping it down use an Epoxy you can get them in black. If you are not I would just get one of the cheaper hot rod black kits (flat black) available from a number of manufacturers (SEM, Kirker, Paint Guru could probably whip one up for you a well) and use it for the time being with the plan to take it off along with everything else when you are ready to do the job right. 1 K lacquer putty is still available from all the filler manufacturers. All will also make a variety of 2K putties from paste style to pour able. 2K's dry faster and are more stable (less prone to shrinking) than lacquers. There is way too much work and cost involved in body work to take short cuts these days so I would suggest you plan on some thing temporary and do it right when you are ready.
How about just using a good primer, like a gray 2k. Do all the prep work so it's good enough to paint over when it's time. I did that on my 55, drove it in primer for 14 years, then sanded and did a little more bodywork and a little more primer, and paint. That was 5 years ago, the shiny paint is doing fine. black primer looks more rr to me than a normal (gray or red oxide) color of primer. And buff primer looks like shit no matter what you do.
NAPA has a couple of good spot putties. My local body supply place sells Nitrostan and has it in colors. I still like it but the tube goes bad before I can finish it up.
True that Jim. Especially if it isn't allowed 100% cure time. Guys get in a hurry, block it off them prime too soon. 24hr minium from the old rodder I learned from. (& thinner the better FWIW.) Times may have changed since, but that's how it use-ta be. I've got an old tube of 3M red out in the cabinet. I'm sure it's harder than a wedding peter. In the process of doing an OT truck bed, I may have to try some of the new-fangled stuff.
ya all can still buy it... 14.95 @ http://www.tptools.com/Nitro-Stan-Red-Glazing-Putty,1809.html as squirrel says (and i know this to be true) shrinkage is still an issue ...
Nitro Stan......in the old yellow tube with the Cordoba looking car on it...1K spot putty...will shrink on ya...no really compatible with today's paint systems..much better off with a 2K putty
Don't use that old crap! Many problems with it, esp. under today's finishes. There's a whole lot of good glazing putties out there instead.
I use it on model cars mostly. Spread it on, the model goes into a dehydrator for a few hours, no shrink after that. Could probably do the same with a shop light, but why bother? At work we use it quite a bit on antenna assemblies for final touch up before paint and it did get baked out, I wrote the procedure.
Be careful what you use for black. These Blitz-Hot Rod-Blah-Blah products for quicky shit will have you inventing new cuss words when you go to sand and refinish. Not all of them but most will. You want something that will powder off nice and not wad up into rubbery balls costing twice the paper use and exponential angst. I suggest SEM "Trim Black". Easy on the wallet, covers fast with few coats, will sand real nice when you're ready to get real, and it won't fade or chalk up like primers do. Pretty water proof too, although not as resistant as a regular cured finish to certain things like sun baked bird shit or chemical spills. Still a good alternative. As I recall (not much modern black trim on Packards) no solvents or hardeners required either. I think it runs about $120/gal or $32/qt https://www.semproducts.com/aerospace-refinish/trim-black
SEM makes pretty good stuff from my experience. When I was running parts for NAPA, a lot of the body shops used their products. I've used a couple their products with excellent results (for an old hack).
Use a 2 part glazing putty, the stuff you use right out of the tube will shrink for weeks after you have sanded it flat.
The Jalopy Journal
