What is the best paint these days?
08-01-2004, 01:03 PM
#1
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What is the best paint these days?
What kind of paint is recommended for Corvettes now? My '71 originally had lacquer paint, but I assume Corvettes today use enamel. Since the car is nearly all stock, I'm not sure I should go away from the original type of paint. I will keep the original color, but I was thinking it should have some clear coat over it. What do the experts say?
08-01-2004, 01:21 PM
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Paint
If you want to keep the car as original as possible use Lacquer of course once you repaint it it isnt original anymore. A lot of owners are refinishing in BC/CC nowadays but keep in mind if you go that route you will have to strip the car as the BC/CC will have an adverse reaction to the original Lacquer paint. If you use lacquer and your original paint is still in decent condition you can get by with wetsanding the original finish down and shooting the new paint over it. Acrylic Lacquer is getting hard to find but I know for a fact it can be ordered online from PPG. I personally prefer the look of Laquer and the ease of repairing dings and scratches as compared to BC/CC. Hope this helps some.
08-01-2004, 01:38 PM
#3
Race Director
I think Corvettes now use urethane? I had mine redone in BC/CC and do not regret it. It is holding up great in the Texas sun. I drive it to work where it is parked in the sun all day and after 5 years there is no deteriation or fading.
08-01-2004, 02:03 PM
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My final was PPG Urethane clear. I started wet sanding at 1200. but the clear kept gettting harder and harder every hour. I had to drop down to 1000 just to get it to cut. Tough stuff.
-Dan
-Dan
08-01-2004, 02:17 PM
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My car has already been repainted once
So, the paint itself is not orginal although the same lacquer was used. The job was done in the mid-70's basically to correct flaws in the original paint and body. The quality control from GM wasn't the greatest in those days and got even worse for some time after that, as most people who have C3s already know. I stripped the car myself (a horrible job 
), and color sanded it after it was painted. It looked great after a pro did the rubout. Can you clear coat in lacquer?
), and color sanded it after it was painted. It looked great after a pro did the rubout. Can you clear coat in lacquer?
08-01-2004, 02:37 PM
#6
Drifting
Yes, there is a lacquer clear you can top coat it with, but it isn't very durable. That is what they did back in the 70's when lacquer clear was the best thing available. Gas will break it down, it will crack and turn yellow with age. When Dupont Imron enamel became available the clear was used to topcoat custom lacquer jobs. It was called a two step paint job. Imron is a durable enamel that is still used today. The new urethane bc/cc is the best of all worlds and the reason it is the system of choice today. Tell your painter your goals and listen to his advice.
08-01-2004, 05:32 PM
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Paint
People tend to complain about the durability of Lacquer
I dont know why, My car still has the original lacquer Paint on it and I think it has held up just great over the past 28 years. Once every year or so I polish it out with Liquid Ebony and a good coat of Carnuba wax and I have no complaints. The only problem I encountered was the urethane bumpers fading, so I have repainted them with Acrylic Lacquer.
I dont know why, My car still has the original lacquer Paint on it and I think it has held up just great over the past 28 years. Once every year or so I polish it out with Liquid Ebony and a good coat of Carnuba wax and I have no complaints. The only problem I encountered was the urethane bumpers fading, so I have repainted them with Acrylic Lacquer.
08-01-2004, 06:51 PM
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My original lacquer was just so-so
Frankly, the original factory paint job was just not all that good. It was thin in spots. It also showed stress cracks fairly early in its life. In addition to that, it was very prone to chipping, more so than some other cars I've had. Bottom line: I had it repainted early in its life. It doesn't look terrible now, but since I want to do a full body-off restoration, I figure it deserves a new fancy paint job.
