I would like to know whart to look for when buying a decent paint for the car. finish, type of paint and gloss, hardner, etc.

Oh man, you are opening up one hell of a discussion here, it's like a car. You can buy a cheap one and you can go flat out......

I'll give you an example; normally for a car to be sprayed inside and out you will need approximately 4 litres of color, excluding base and clearcoats. Normally a good paint will range from 50-150 usd a litre. But like I said this depends on the kind you want. Some paints need a specific base to get the desired effect/color.

I'll give you an extreme: I've had the desire to spray a car in Standox Atlantis Blue for years and my 914 will be the most likely candidate. This paint is around 1200 USD a litre........


Like I said: so many directions and possibilities, but please do not try to save money on your build by trying to save money on paint........you will make or break the car depending on this.......

you may need to look locally as laws are different in different counties and states as to what paints you can buy legally.

best advice is to visit several local automotive paint supply stores and get some advice from them. you should use a paint system form the same supplier for the entire project. the automotive paint store shoudl be able to tell you exactly what hardener, reducers, and paint conditions (spray pressure temps, humidity etc..) work with a specific brand. there are cheapo brands, and there are expensive brands and a lot in between. the paint store can help you, also do a websearch of the paint companies, adn then call there phone and ask to talk to one of there technical help people for specific questions.

companies include PPG, Dupoint, etc.... some companies have several lines of paint in differnt price ranges. but you should always make sure the entire material package is compatible. even down to the etching primer (if the wrong etching primer is sued, some paints will not cure correctly!) selction of hardener can depend on the temperature you plan to shot the paint at.

color selction may change the price, red pigments are gernealy a lot more expensive than other colors for example, so you pay more for red.

if yoru home shoting paint, and can legally get it, a laquer is an easy paint to apply. some areas onluy allow water based primers or paints and they are known to be pricey and tempermetal to apply, very hard for a DIY home sprayer to use. paint with long dry times are not a big deal if you have a filtered booth, but if you painting in you driveway, (with dust) you want a faster tack time paint for example to reduce dust defects.

iam not a big fan of clear coats, they look wrong on older cars (and i have seen too many to list peel after years of use) some catalyzed enamels and laquers can be used with no clear coats. But there are hard to get inb some areas (illegal)
i some instances you can buy "illegal" paints if you are doing a resotation of a classic car or painting a boat for example, they make waivers for things like this sometimes.

so give you local automotive paint stores a visit of give them a call, then research the prodcuts they carry or recommend on the company wedbistes, that is the best advice i have for you.

good luck,

I had a car painted previously where it was buffed after 2 weeks and a week after buffing if you put a cloth of you thumb on it, it leaves a pattern. Any reason why?

Never fully hardened. I experienced this while using an Omni brand paint, and then the paintshop recommended I use a add-in hardener.