Since almost all of our cars at some point will need paint, I figured I'd start a discussion that could become semipermanent if people want.
I have two different vehicles that effectively require paint jobs, and another that theoretically could benefit from one. Two of these, the Stratus, and the Cordoba, are to be painted with a metallic-fleck paint. The Stratus was a metallic red from the factory, painted in a basecoat/clearcoat fashion, while the Cordoba was repainted at least once by the previous owner in a single stage process by a discount auto painter like a Maaco or something. The Cordoba oxidized and has started peeling like a bad late eighties OEM paint job and the Stratus is experiencing a complete breakdown of its clearcoat. The other vehicle, my white non-Mopar truck, is experiencing flaking off of its single-stage OEM paintjob and needs a significant amount of metal body repair in addition to a few outright new pieces of sheet metal.
My biggest concern, overriding all of the processes, colors, and finish smoothness qualities is durability. I want each of the vehicles to look good when I'm done, and I would like to sun and weather protect vehicles as best I can, but they're cars, they're going to spend considerable amounts of time outdoors, and I want to paint them with the idea that they may never, ever be kept out of the elements. Being that I only have one covered spot at the moment available, it'll probably be the Cordoba that gets to be covered.
I've heard of urethane acrylic paint, and I've heard of the basecoat/clearcoat process. The pickup doesn't need a clearcoat and would need only the most basic industrial white paint, but the other cars need to not oxidize, or suffer from a peeling clearcoat, or have a clearcoat that turns white, or have metallic paint that flat out dulls. I know that the paint won't last forever if it's outside, but it'd be nice to get fifteen to twenty years out of it, even if means spending more up front.
I'm also curious as to what they changed in paint that so reduced the durability like we've seen in the last twenty years. I've seen plenty of cars made even as late as the early eighties that still have great looking OEM paint, and cars made only five years later that look terrible...
I have two different vehicles that effectively require paint jobs, and another that theoretically could benefit from one. Two of these, the Stratus, and the Cordoba, are to be painted with a metallic-fleck paint. The Stratus was a metallic red from the factory, painted in a basecoat/clearcoat fashion, while the Cordoba was repainted at least once by the previous owner in a single stage process by a discount auto painter like a Maaco or something. The Cordoba oxidized and has started peeling like a bad late eighties OEM paint job and the Stratus is experiencing a complete breakdown of its clearcoat. The other vehicle, my white non-Mopar truck, is experiencing flaking off of its single-stage OEM paintjob and needs a significant amount of metal body repair in addition to a few outright new pieces of sheet metal.
My biggest concern, overriding all of the processes, colors, and finish smoothness qualities is durability. I want each of the vehicles to look good when I'm done, and I would like to sun and weather protect vehicles as best I can, but they're cars, they're going to spend considerable amounts of time outdoors, and I want to paint them with the idea that they may never, ever be kept out of the elements. Being that I only have one covered spot at the moment available, it'll probably be the Cordoba that gets to be covered.
I've heard of urethane acrylic paint, and I've heard of the basecoat/clearcoat process. The pickup doesn't need a clearcoat and would need only the most basic industrial white paint, but the other cars need to not oxidize, or suffer from a peeling clearcoat, or have a clearcoat that turns white, or have metallic paint that flat out dulls. I know that the paint won't last forever if it's outside, but it'd be nice to get fifteen to twenty years out of it, even if means spending more up front.
I'm also curious as to what they changed in paint that so reduced the durability like we've seen in the last twenty years. I've seen plenty of cars made even as late as the early eighties that still have great looking OEM paint, and cars made only five years later that look terrible...
