It's probably been mentioned before but I read it over on the HAMB awhile back and a trip to my local TSC (Tractor Supply Company) jarred my memory today. Valspar makes tractor restoration enamel....sells for around $38.00 a gallon. They also have grey primer for around $48.00 a gallon. So as long as you have your own equipment.....for around $250, you can lay down and very slick coat of enamel....and that's including some sandpaper, thinner and tape. For a budget paint job I'd have no problem with the popular tractor colors...they are pretty nice as long as it's not JD green. The thing is I can't find much regarding the longevity of the final product. All though the old bright red Farmalls around here seem to keep shining!
The big trick in getting thoes "Regular enamels" (not acrylic)to last is to add hardner to the paint.It will make it more durable and hold up to the UV rays better.
I painted this car with "implement paint" 20 some years ago. It was a daily driver. Faded out in about a year.
I wouldn't expect a single stage enamel to hold up real long to uv, specially colors with a fair amount of red pigment. White I think would stand up to uv fairly well. But adding a hardener to an enamel will go a mile in helping cure, durability and gloss, that for the amount a generic enamel hardener would run, it would almost be stupid not to use one. But by the time you add up your enamel paint, hardener, and reducer, one of the cheaper lines of urethane may not be much more and even one of the cheap urethanes will be a better system. I think I paid 90 something dollars for a gallon of white omni mtk urethane and hardener (used no reducer). Probably has gone up since then (2001) and white usually one of the cheapest colors, but that held up really well for a dirt cheap paint. Kept it after painted for 6 or 7 years and the paint still looked pretty dang good, still a bright white and not yellowing or anything, although had it been a color other then white, I don't think it would fair quite as well being a cheaper single stage (without the added uv protection a clearcoat gives).
Here is what I am considering. http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=RSP+AU2514-KIT-M
Every auto paint shop I have seen always has about 5-10 gallons of paint people never picked up for cheap. My local shop has the top of line PPG basecoats for around 75$ a gallon. Check your local shops and see if they have any colors you like. If you didnt want the basecoat/clearcoat, see if they have anything in a single stage urethane which will have 10 times the life as the enamel you want.
My car is painted with single stage poly, and is ten years old. Held up fairly well, I think. That being said, I think it is all in the preparation and primer. If that is done right, I think the job will hold up ok.
original paint My 74 is the orginal white/off-white or cream colored. Buffed it out last year and still has a shine to it. It does have a semi smooth texture on the metal itself and is visalbe. But it sure looks pretty good for a classic.
Did mine w/ C I L Marine enamel - seems ok a year later. Everyone says prep & primer, and then MORE prep and primer are the most important stages to good paint jobs... not necessarily the paint. I did my hood with C.I.L. marine enamel (obviously salt resistant - but it's supposed to be UV resisitant as well since it's for boats). Cost $38 a gallon, can tint it any colour you want, and I thinned it with mineral spirits to spray it with my compressor. Got mine at Rona (Canada) and the guy "deepened" the colour for me because I told him it was for a collector car (I think he added a little 'more of each colour'). On my daily driver - with a winter behind it - the paint still looks good a year later. Exact match to my 40 year old bright red. My only fault in applying it was not sanding and cleaning before the final coat (red is transparent - it took 3 light coats - but my last layer beaded up while it was wet and needed heavy sanding afterwards). Got some bubbles but it was a good first test and effectively cost me $10 to paint my hood since I still have most of the paint left over.
