I am about to go by the paint shop to grab some paint for my phoenix red 74. I have never painted, but have everything I need. I do plan on practicing and am very detail oriented. I would like a damn pretty paint job, but this is not for show and will be a driver. Durability is important. I am painting over the existing finish (original) which has been repaired and prepped. I wil also be painting trunks and engine compartment. This will be done in a makeshift booth in my garage with a Devilbiss gun from Eastwood. I am torn between single and two stage paint. I love single for the fact that repair couldn't be easier. You can brush on touch up and then buff it smooth...can't do that with two stage! That being said, I understand that two stage is harder and can come out to a better shine once wet sanded. What to do?

Search for autobody.com they have a great tech forum. I did my car with SS black and after color sanding and polishing it has a "show car" shine. SS if done right will have great gloss, holdout, a little less cost, and as you mentioned easy to repair. My vote is for SS on non-metalic colors.

progress pictures
http://www.phoenixhobbies.com/html/progress.html

Paul

I shot mine in the driveway with PPG Delstar single stage, then color sanded and buffed. Since I'd never painted a car before, I did one panel at a time. Yes it did take longer, but I was satisfied with it.

Check the Classic's forum, for Omni vrs PPG. I wrote up a pretty complete procedure there you might get some hints for. Don't forget to ground the car to a water pipe. That'll cut down dust in the paint by approx 80-90%.

Good Luck, Don

We've addressed this before...

If this is your first paint job and you are spraying a solid color with catalyzed paint- go with single stage. There is no difference in durability and with your chosen color, the "Color Depth" the ability of light to be absorbed and reflected after color sanding and buffing will be better than a clear coat.

Ask any professional painter who is going to paint a solid color his choice of paint for the best display of gloss and color depth and he'll say single stage. This is especially true with black. However, my findings are that single stage paint can be more expensive.

Oh, with regard to your spray booth- I did the same thing in my shop for painting the inside jams and compartments...I constructed a hanging frame with sheet plastic and used furnace filters for inlet and outlet air along with some cheap box fans for air circulation. Between sessions I rolled up the sides for access. Wet the area and ground the car for dust control.

I like 2 stage because you can sand and buff the clear if you make mistakes.

you can sand and buff single stage if you make a mistake, too.