64vettegal

The vette is coming right along. I've took a little time away from the project to spend time with the kids before school started. Now I'm back at it again.

As most of you know my car will be a nice driver. I've had a couple of people tell me I should go with a single stage paint instead of BC CC.

Will a single stage shine as good as BC CC?

Is it easier to paint?

John McGraw

If You are going with a solid color, I would use a single stage urethane. If it is a metallic paint, BC/CC has some advantages. The single stage will buff up just as glossy when properly color-sanded and polished, and is much eaiser to touch up. On metallics, you are not going to be able to spot paint anyway in most cases, and the clearcoat can help you avoid "ringing" the metallic paint when color-sanding. Single stage can be repaired and touched up in a matter of minutes, and can be sanded and buffed the following day.

JMHO, John McGraw

wombvette

With the modern paints, I use single stage urethane for solid colors. For metalic colors it is difficult to shoot single stage without streaking or mottling the finish, so most use BC/CC for those. The paint itself is the same makeup as BC/CC, that is, it is the same basic formulation as the clear part. Both are urethanes. You will get all kinds of thoughts on this subject I am sure, but there is really no difference much in durability. I like the single stage for a few reasons. It can be buffed to indefinitely as it ages without fear of going through the clear. It can be made to look like lacquer very easily. It is also not subject to clear coat deterioration.

64vettegal

That's what I wanted to hear. How many coats do you guys usually put on? Brand preferance?

John McGraw

I like PPG, but that is driven by the fact that PPG has the best operation in my market, and they are the only ones in my market still selling lacquer, so I go there for my lacquer, and then they get my urethane business as well. I like the PPG DCC single stage (trade name is "Concept"). It has served me well, but the truth of the matter is that I am not sure there is much difference in the major brands. A lot of guys swear by Dupont or even Sherwin Williams! I think that it is more about what you are used to, and for me, that is PPG.
I spray at least 2 double wet coats about 15 minutes apart. This gives me sufficient material for color-sanding without the possibility of breaking through.

Regards, John McGraw

bigearl56

Nice post by wombvette and John McGraw. I have used both SS and BC CC with great results. It has been said the paint job is in the buffer however, a good painter makes that job easier. Good luck with your choice.

aworks

I also like single stage for soild colors. I'm doing my 66 black and it will be single stage. As stated above, When single stage is buffed right it will look like a lacquer job. We did a 57 T Bird for a guy about 5 years ago in black and he is still winning best paint awards. We use Dupont but I think most brands are about the same. Brian G.

bleu65vt

My '65 Nassau Blue was painted 14 years ago with 2 or 3 coats of PPG base and several clear coats. It has always been garaged and covered, and it still has a very nice shine, and receives a lot of complements, and even some awards. It has about 14,000 miles on it since the paint job, and would look even better if I had maintained the finish as well as I have in the last three years. Anyway, the clear coats are getting a little tired, now, and it is about time to restore that real depth of color and shine with some restoration work on the clear coats. The base coats appear to be fine.

Biggus Blockus

Single Stage for solid colors


BC/CC for Metallics


If you are going with BC/CC I highly recommend 4-5 coats of clear. That way you can color sand ALL the oranage peel, dust, sags, etc out of the paint and still have at least 4 coats of clear on the car. Over time, the clear will thin with additional buffing, waxing, etc and you will have a nice margin for buffing out any scratches that happen down the road.

You can have too much of a good thing - too much clear coat on the car is not good either as it will cause several nasty problems.

If you are going with a single stage, solid color - I cannot recommend PPG Concept enough. I painted my 67 Camaro with it 10 years ago and it still looks great. Very deep shine and gloss. Hopefull they still make it. Good luck!