I am getting ready to paint my car and am looking for recommendations for a base/clear system. I do not want to spend a lot of cash. All thoughts are appreciated. I am hoping to do this next weekend. I am spending this weekend finishing up the wet sanding. Thanks all and happy Friday...

I used PPG Omni single stage. I've read that Nason, which I think is Duponts entry level line, is very good.

My local shop reccomended Nason as a good cheaper brand. But still, I have about $600 into epoxy sealer, primer, and paint (and more once you count in the compressor, sand paper, cleaners, paint guns, etc... Eeek.) I also think that I over bought. I got a gallon of everything. Well, it is better to have too much the too little. Auto painting is expensive. There is no way around it. I think that by doing it yourself you can save thousands. it may be a wash if you only paint one car, but by the time you paint a second, your infrastructure (compressor, brushes, etc) has paid for itself already, and you have the skills to _really_ do it well.

Of course, there is always the $50 paint job option.
Read this thread, starting partway down the first page when 69Chargeryeehaa pipes in (it is a long ass thread, but with tons of info, flame wars, and other good stuff): $50 auto paint job

I was seriously close to trying it on my car, but I could not find a color that i wanted to paint. The next vehicle I paint, I think that I really might give it a shot.

Zach

Any idea if single stage is cheaper? I am going back and forth on that decision as well...thanks for the input guys. Man, I am not quite ready to shell out 600 bucks...

Nason _is_ a single stage. No clear coat.
And it is cheaper.

Auto paint is expensive. You will pretty much always need to put down 3 layers of paint.
1) sealer (keeps any pare metal from rusting, and also keeps other existing paints from mixing with your new paint).
2) High build sanding primer. Spray. Spray. Spray. Sand smooth (400 grit paper). Find irreguarities. Fill with filler and repeat the process until the body is perfect or you don't care anymore.
3) Color. (I am painting stripes in black on mine, so I will also have a step 3.5: Stripe color)

If you want to do a clear coat. then you add:
4) Clear Coat (i'm not doing this)


zach

Single stage is definitely cheaper. With 2 stage, you have to buy 2x the amount of topcoat compared to single stage. You probably only need sealer if you went to bare metal. Otherwise, you can get away with just a high build primer.

Also, if you are not too picky about the color, NAPA sells paint off the shelf pretty cheap. They have the standard yellow, red etc... Its Martin Senour brand and I believe its decent. Yeah, the chemicals are expensive. I think I spent $300 on my topcoat stuff (hardener, thinner etc...) then another $100 on high build primer. I didn't use a sealer. That was all Omni, Acrylic Urethane. Omni has an Acrylic Enamel that costs less.

I can do $300. The car is already primered. I had a shop do the initial body work. It is all smooth . I just need to wet sand with 400 and seal.

Yeah, give or take $50. I think Zach included his high build primer and sealer in that $600 figure. You should also get a few tack cloths to wipe down your car before painting. And, you may want to get a "last chance" water filter to put on your gun. Figure around $20 total for those 2 items. You will also need a few mixing cups, and some screens for when you pour the paint in the gun, maybe another couple $'s there. It adds up for sure and you can start to see why body work is $$$$$$$.

Oh and I bought a gallon and only used about half for outside painting only (no door jambs, trunks, etc) You might be safe with around 3/4's, but thats your dice to roll.

Dupli-Color has a new line of very inexpensive paints, maybe worth a look. Best part about these paints is that they are not as toxic as other systems and a simple resprirator is all that is needed.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

I picked up the paint I am going to try out on my car at Kragen Auto Parts for $23 a quart and bought 4 quarts. It's Lacquer and RTS and it is a single or 2 stage if you want it to be. Lacquer is easy to shoot, it is what came on our cars in the first place and you can colorsand and buff a few hours later. The paint is made by Duplicolor. Go to their website and you can check it out and find where to buy it in your area. I am doing the base/clear on this car and will be doing it in the next week, time permitting that is. I will trying to finish up the body work and the rest of the prep work today and maybe even shoot it this weekend.

Here is a link to the website. http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

It even has a how to section.

I guess someone beat me to the link, here is what it looks like and the clear is sold right next to it and is the same price. I am even using thier thinner to clean up the guns.

On the program "Extreme 4x4" (hey, I like to watch anything automotive!) they painted an off-road truck using a new line of paint from Dulpi-Color. They claim it is laquer, though I suspect it is some form of acrylic lacquer. Anyway, they claim it's about 1/4 the cost of traditional auto paint systems though they did say it's likey not as high a quality. I think they said the truck cost less than $300 to paint. Apparently, it is available at any dealer that sells Dupli-Color products.

In past years, I have painted many things using acrylic lacquer with great results. Anyway, you might check it out; I'm sure they have a WEB site that describes the product.

Andys

Love that show and all the other ones they show at the same time. Lotsa good education there and no OCC/Boyds type of drama. Oh and Courtney Hanson

Automotive paints were subjected to a series of laws over the years to lower the VOC's that end up in the air. Industrial paints haven't been given the same scrutiny. Paints for boats, furniture, hardware, etc. haven't had to change as much, so some are still available pretty cheap that are still pretty good. Check for an industrial paint supply in your area, they might have a line of paints that will work. My autobody supply has a store next to them that has industrial paints, I bought a gallon of black to paint my trailer for $25.00 with reducer. It's not very shiny, but they had better stuff for a little more money. Make sure that they have color samples of the actual sprayed paint to look at. Any catalyzed acrylic enamel should be fine, as well as a catalyzed urethane.

Do they color match or can you just buy the select colors? I have to keep the car Phoenix Red! Thanks

No, they don't color match, they have just the prepackaged colors, red was one of them however, Not sure how close it would be to Phoenix red but it was red. They have a color chart on their web site.

I think Phoenix red is a mix with orange, you could always pick up some red and orange and mix them together on your own till it matches. Otherwise, you will need to take a different route. I am doing a complete color change from white to yellow. Which is why I am painting the entire body of the car inside and out.

Exactly. That figure included 1 gallon of sealer, 1 gallon of primer (which I nearly used all of, don't buy less then a gallon!), 1 gallon of green paint and one quart of black paint, 1 gallon of laquer thinner, all the mixing chemicals needed for the paints.

Its a lot of stuff.

Zach

You can try AutoAir Colors It is a water borne base/clear paint system. After you color coat with the auto air, you clear with a conventional clear coat

I painted my 911 with AutoAir caribbean blue, and clear with SPI universal clear SPI

My 911, just have to figure a color for the rockers.. 1840# wet

nice looking color, i love it... i think they also sell AutoAir Colors out of the Eastwood website, it might be worth checking it out...

My previous owner spray-painted the car with red oxide primer, so i re-spray-painted it smoke gray untill i get the time to paint it for real...

I hope for your sake, you did not use etching or filler primer to respray it, those both just absorb moisture and will rust your car from the inside out. You should at least shoot it with a sealer as a barrier for moisture. The elements are not friendly to primers on cars.

I am also interested in an answer to the OP original question...

While I may go single stage, I am looking for opinions/recommendations on the best bang for the buck BC/CC system (brand and product line). I have been trying to find the time to drop by a local paint jobber to get their opinion (they sell Dupont and maybe others), but I am curious to what others have used and liked.

FYI.. I am going to be starting at base metal.

Cheapest would be MACCO or Earl shibe (I know, way off on spelling). If you get it ready, body work, prep, etc. Won't be world class, but good for 5 feet depending on your prep work.

Good Luck

In the FWIW department,I've painted my car 2-3 times over the last 10yrs.

The first time was with plain old single stage enamel,

each time I painted something I bought a higher grade of paint.

What I have found,is that you do get what you pay for.

The higher quality results come from higher quality paints.Thats not to say that you can't get a good finish from a cheaper paint,but you'll definitely notice the difference in how easy or hard it is to lay a smooth glass like finish.


The last finish I laid on my car was using BASF Diamont BC/CC. Signal Orange. Painted it all right out in the yard. The kit was about $450.00 That is a lot of scratch.However,the result speaks for itself,and to the color sanding I did on it a week later took far less than I expected.
I probably spent 700 bucks or so on materials,But I'm satisfied with the result.
What ever you use,the key is gonna be to follup the job with a good color sanding and buff job.
All that really matters is that YOU like the finished product.

Ron

In the FWIW department,I've painted my car 2-3 times over the last 10yrs.

The first time was with plain old single stage enamel,

each time I painted something I bought a higher grade of paint.

What I have found,is that you do get what you pay for.

The higher quality results come from higher quality paints.Thats not to say that you can't get a good finish from a cheaper paint,but you'll definitely notice the difference in how easy or hard it is to lay a smooth glass like finish.


The last finish I laid on my car was using BASF Diamont BC/CC. Signal Orange. Painted it all right out in the yard. The kit was about $450.00 That is a lot of scratch.However,the result speaks for itself,and to the color sanding I did on it a week later took far less than I expected.
I probably spent 700 bucks or so on materials,But I'm satisfied with the result.
What ever you use,the key is gonna be to followup the job with a good color sanding and buff job.
All that really matters is that YOU like the finished product.

Ron

Nice post and a nice paint job. I've been an amatuer painter since I was 17 yrs. old. I'm 62, I'll probably die of complications with breathing. I've had asthma since I was 13. I don't like respirators especially if its hot. I feel like they block my vision and my glasses don't set on my face as well. I usually try to paint with a big fan blowing the fumes away. The fan is 20 feet away. Anyway my experience has taught me to use the best paint I can afford. Cheaper paints fade and crack much sooner than expensive paints. Why would you spend two months prepping a car getting a perfectly straight body and then put a paint on that will probably dull in about three years? I like to only do things once if I possibly can. Once you have applied your paint if it turns to s##t you have to then remove it. Which is better spending another two months taking the old paint off or paying double for quality paint to start with? You say, I'll put a good paint on over this paint if it goes bad. Paints don't work well if the film thickness is too much. Also some paints will lift cheaper paints especially if you use too much thinner. As Zach was saying he added more filler to his surfacer primer to level some low spots. Thats something you usually have to do but should be avoided because it will probably show up when it shrinks in a couple of years especially if the surface is really smooth. I have never done a perfect paint job but they usually last several years most of them outside in the sun. With my painting shed I usually need to sand off 20% of the paint to remove bugs and dust sometimes less but I count on about 20% waste. Thats 1/5 of a gallon of paint that cost about 200.00. You could probably save some of this waste if you have a good paint enviorment. My paint jobs usually look very good for a daily driver. They usually are completely disassembled so the jams and rain gutters look good. Details are what makes a good paint job. If you apply tape, do it Like someone is behind you with a magnifying glass. If you use a guide coat on the first sanding of the sandable primer and all the ones afterward you will get a straight surface. It would be ideal to put enough filler on the first try to level the surface for the second coat of primer surfacer so the rest of the time your only leveling very small spots. A air long board is a good tool to use on flat areas with the first application of filler. Do it, it's the only way to learn. Good luck, Charlie

Decent cheap 2 stage paint wou;ld be NASON ONLY to be used for an all over job. It looks pretty good but doesn't blend for sh#t so if you ever have a repair you will be best to reshoot the whole panel and pray it isn't to far off from the adjacent ones. I shot this car last year in NASON. Easy to werk with (THIN !!) Buy a gallon unreduced as it will take several coats to cover.

I just repainted my engine bay with single stage Omni paint. I spent about $150 on a pint of paint, primer, thinner and hardener. I am not saying that is a cheap way to go, just how much I spent. With that said I am very happy witht the results.

Also, my car had about a $600 paint job that the previous owner put on it about 6 years ago. The car already needs to be repainted as it has about 4 spots where a dollar size peice of paint has come off. Whats worse is that the original paint looks better then the respray.

PPG sells a Shop-Line brand that worked well for me. BC/CC.