So many body folks here! I never guessed. Now it's time for a hi-jack: How about flexible paints? I was told by body folks, when my Camaro needed body work, that I needed flexible body filler and paints because there was so much plastic on the car. Anything else would crack when the body panels flexed... How would those materials work on an older car? Seems like the car would be a little more durable.... Also, does white paint get, or need clear coat? What is the best 'bang for your buck' paint brand? Or should I just put enamel back over the stock enamel? Thanks much! I hope this is on subject enough that the hi-jack aspect is overlooked. Dave
Hi-jack away my friend. hi-jack away, but whats a camero? Can you fill the dings in with fiberglass? Wendy
For plastic parts that flex there is a product called Flex Agent that is added to the primer, basecoat and clear. It allows the plastic parts to bend a little without the paint and clear cracking. It does add to to overall cost of materials and would not really help to do an entire metal bodied car with it. As for clear coating a white car, unless you are painting a car with enamel, you would have to clear coat it. Todays paint procedures are mostly done in a two-step process using ureathane paint. With ureathane paints, the basecoat has no depth or shine to it at all , and straight urethane basecoat will not hold up to the affects of weather. It gets the depth, shine and protection from the clearcoat. Even white will have a degree of depth when it is clearcoated. The other advantage of ureathane paint is that it dries much faster than enamel paint. Ureathane paint is dry to the touch within 6 to 8 hours, whereas enamel can take days to dry without the use of a bake oven to speed the dryng time along.
I have no idea what a camero is... However, a Camaro is a car that wasn't discontinued in 1977... Therefore in 1998 it was the hottest domestic V8 car going. I am sure if the Maverick was still available in 98, it would have bested the Z28's standard equipment... like B&W 6 speed tranny, 3.42 posi, 320/335 dyno confirmed rwhp/tq from it's all aluminum 5.7L V8, etc... Btw: The current owner is now getting 370/390 rwhp/tq out of it with just bolt ons! The long block has never been cracked open! Sorry, we all know where my heart lies, but I just had to! I love all rwd American V8s, I just love the Fords a little more. Dave
Newbies on the Camaro boards need a little ribbing on that point all the time... and they own the cars!
I have heard that from old fogies, just must have slipped my mind. Sorry about that. We use Akzo Nobel's Sikkens line at the shop, they don't recommend putting their paint over laquer, at least not officially. I haven't sprayed Dulux, nor do I remember it, but I have sprayed Lucite, in body school, and Centari. And some PPG products, just because that is what the customer wanted, and had.
Dale used to spray dulox enamel way back in the 1960's. Opps! I think I just gave his age away. At the time it wasn't bad paint, but he said he had to spray it with air turned up on high so it would not orange peel like crazy.
Jean, When you do Grabbers, what do you charge for the stripes and decals? Mine need replacing, but the whole car should be painted first. Are the prices you describe for one color? What about 2 color Grabbers? Since I can't afford to repaint the whole car, I need to touch up some spots. I couldn't find a matching yellow (Ford 6E) for my Grabber in the auto parts store. Is there a place I can order this from? Roz
We usually charge about $325 to install the Grabber stripes and the hood decal. The price I quoted is for re-painting a car one color. When you get into two-tone paint jobs, it can cost anywhere between $1000 to $1200 more. The reason for that is because painting a car two-tone requires a larger amount of materials and good deal more time is involved to lay out the two-tone paint scheme. Two-tone cars like our Stallion are a real nightmare to do. That took an entire day just to get all the lines layed out that seperated one color from the other. That was an extreme case. Most two-tones are not that complicated to do and will take much less time to prepare. Now for your touch up paint problem. If the paint on your car is old and even a little faded, getting touch up paint to match might be next to impossible to do. If that is the case, you may have to go over the car with a mild polishing compound to remove any oxidation and inbedded dirt. That will bring the true color of the paint up, especially if the paint is enamel. If you still can't get any touch up to match, you may have to go to an auto supply store that mixes paint and have them mix up the smallest amount they can. Most places that mix auto paint have a small, hand-held machine that they lay on a flat part of the car. That little machine will 'read' the paint on the car and produce a formula so that the correct color can be mixed and matched.
Does anyone know how I could go about getting Grabber stripes done in custom colors? I have a really good vinyl shop that does my business graphics... if I could even find a detailed diagram of the stripes, I think he would do a good job. He wants to try it just off of pics, but I am nervous about that. Thanks Dave
Was at a car show today and since I a also shopping for a painter I started to ask around. One camaro was simply stunning with ghost flames and the works. I asked who painted it and low and behold it was the guy next to him! Well, that was a $15,000 paint job!! WOW, sticker shock. He said his "basic, average job" went at 5k! Better be saving those pennies
Dave; best way to custom grabber stripes is to paint them on, then you can go with any color you please. I have only seen the vinyl stripes in the stock colors and tone....reflective and non-reflective.
