When I was in high school I painted my roadster with spray paint. For $50,
the car looked good from 20 feet. The problem with that kind of paint job
is that you'll never get a really good shine on it. Still, for $50 worth of
spray paint it won't look like it just returned from the dead.
When I did the restoration, I had it painted by a very good body shop while
the body was off the frame. It was a bare metal re-spray. I stripped the
car myself with chemical stripper. It's a lousy job but it doesn't require
much skill. After that, the shop used several coats of self-etching primer.
They'd spray on a coat, sand it, spray another, sand, repeated for several
coats. When they thought they had is right they mist a bit of black spray
paint over the whole thing and lightly sand it with fine paper on a block
(the technique is called "Blocking"). If there are high spots, the black
comes off first - at low spots the black doesn't come off. This way they
can get the whole thing absolutely FLAT. Once that's done, they spray the
final coat of sealing primer and then spray color. Only with that kind of
blocking can you get paint that looks like glass.
When I had my Bugeye painted, the shop didn't do that and the paint had a
lot of texture to it. It didn't look bad - really the same as just about
any new car - but it wasn't like glass.
A lot of what you pay for on a good paint job is what's under the color
coat.
Another note - My funds were very limited when I restored my roadster some 8
years ago. As a result, I spent every dime I could on the body and skimped
on the interior and engine knowing that I could always go back and do that
at a later point without much effort. Something to consider if you take the
body off the frame.
If you have a shop paint it for you, make sure you've seen their work in
person, not pictures. Try to see a car they've painted that cost about what
you're looking to spend. These guys love to talk about the latest paint
chemistry and high tech paint booths but painting is still an art.
Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of
jon_wissler@pngc.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 7:56 PM
To: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Paint / Body Questions
Ryan Bird wrote "what is the preferred way to paint the car"?
I was hoping to hand wet sand,
throw a coat of primer on with spray cans, and follow with enamel from
spray cans
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