The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Single Stage Paint

I found a shop that sells the correct color of paint for my truck. It is a Saddle Fawn Metallic. The Dupont guy said it was only available in a single stage paint.

I feel the new age base coat\clear coat would provide more gloss, althought he truck will only be out on occasions. Is this guy putting me on, or is it possible for the paint to only be available that way?

Get the Dupont color numbers and see what a local auto paint supply guy will have in a two stage PPG or whatever paint for you. OR clear your single stage. OR buff the heck out of it. I'd try option one first.

It's possible DuPont only has it in single stage. Nothing wrong with it, when you use hardener it is very durable and resists gas and things, also as MNSmith said, it can be cleared if you want. Usually a bunch cheaper too.

I have a bud who won't use the base/clear on old vehicles (he has like 12) because he says they are too glossy and I am inclined to agree. Paint has changed quite a bit since these things were painted. And on the other hand, I saw a very recent trail blazer (not more than 3-4 years old) with the finish coming off like crazy, and I have seen original nice paint on plenty of 60s era trucks. Kind of disgusting when you get down to it. Then again, paint regs are trying to reduce the good stuff which is pretty poisinous....

I'm the same way about the old bicycles I restore. The factories used a single stage paint. Folks will ask me about powder coating or a two stage paint. Well, with powder coating, decals won't stick unless you use a special solution. With a two stage paint, it just looks too darn shiny. Same with chrome. I usually ask the chromer to plate only, no polish. Look at an old bicycle that has had the chrome work polished then plated, to darn shiny. You can see it from a mile away! The factories were production line. They didn't take the time to polish individual parts before plating them. Not like an aftermarket shop would.

I have certainly never heard complaints before about new paint being too shiny. However, it is possible to get the new paints in a semi-gloss finish, which is what is currently called "suede".

Over the weekend, I saw a nice hotrodded and slammed stovebolt truck being sold at Barrett Jackson, and it had an extremely nice and glossy paint job on it. By the way, I couldn't believe the price it sold for. It was something like $90,000 for that truck!

The glossier the paint, the more it shows every imperfection, which could be a problem, because as old as these trucks are, you either have to put in hundreds of hours of bodywork to get the panels perfectly straight, or buy new panels at $400 apiece. (Holy run-on sentence, Batman!).

Anyhow, yes, you can clear coat a single stage if you wish, and it will look exactly like a 2 stage. If you don't, the sun will tend to attack the glossy paint surface and you will have to keep compounding and waxing to keep a shine on it.

I have single stage on mine and love the finish. I don't think clear coat has any more shine than a single stage. I've used both and if anything, I belive the opposite to be true. Single stage beats two stage in the shine department. Cecil..........

Sixpac, to answer one of your original questions, the paint store is not putting you on. Every time a manufacturer develops a line of paint, they have to make available to the jobbers the mixing formulas for all the paint codes that manufacturer chooses to service. That is why so many old codes are not available in modern paint. So Dupont has made your code in single stage (probably Chroma One) but not base coat/clear coat. As for my two cents on the two paint types, I think old vehicles look better in single stage. Single stage paints can be worked to a very high shine. Lay the paint on smoothly, color sand and buff and admire the reflection. Base coat/clear coat paints are typically glossy. The clear will have the wet look no matter how poorly it is laid on. It could have the texture of a basketball and it'll be glossy. I tend to think gloss and shine and different. One more thing, under certain conditions, a clear coat reflects the light in such a way that you can't see the color under it. Look at some modern cars and walk around them. Move you eyes and head around and eventually you'll catch a reflection where you will see only the clear reflecting something around the vehicle but you won't see the color under the clear. Obviously single stage won't do that. These are the knocks against clear. There are far more benefits however. Obviously on a hobby vehicle the choice becomes very personal.

Joe

Either of you guys ever been to a car show and seen a candy paint job with something like a dozen coats of clear and perfectly wet sanded? If you have, you'd know the single stage would never come close to that kind of a shine.

Of course, perhaps that should remain a matter of opinion.

My Nova was painted a candy color. Thats a different animal. Cecil.........

there is nothing wrong with single stage paint, that is what cadillac uses and they are still plenty shiney. it is just as good as the the other kind. it takes a little more talent to shoot and work with, i would go for it.

i got my 66 painted in a single stage..and still looks sharp after 4 years! i use to drive it as a daily driver and now its a weekend driver stays in the garage with car cover. But I have people come up to me all the time thinking its the orignal paint job!