The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop acrylic enamal paint

Getting ready to paint, after talking to the body shop that I was going to have paint my truck, I am wondering if the paint supplied by JC is a decent quality paint? I am not a paint person so need some advise. The body shop is quoting me anywhere from $350.00/gal and up. After all the work I want a nice paint job but I don't want to break the bank either, JC paint seems reasonable in price. Thanks for any help. Keith

With all the work you've put into you truck, you should be concerned about the quality of paint. One thing always to remember. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!!! The $350.00 plus paint is a normal price for quality paint. Your body shop is probably going to us a Base Coat/ Clear Coat method which is the only way to go.

Acrylic Enamel is what Earl Schibe and Maaco uses. If you want your truck to look like one of their paint jobs in 6 months, use the Acrylic enamel. If you want it to look good for the life time of the truck, go with your body Shop.

Frank Cox
Cox Custom Cars

http://www.myspace.com/495542216

$350 a gallon, unless it is a specialty paint like Chromallusion or Kandy color, is a massive rip off. You can get any regular color in PPG for around $80 a gallon at the body supply store.

I agree with longbox55; $350 a gallon is way too much!
Any color with RED it in is going to cost more; I stay away from reds/browns because of the money and they oxidize so fast.
I like primary colors because they take longer to fade (oxidize) but then again I still shoot what ever color I want because I know how to make it last (I keep a good carnuba wax on it) and last.
There is nothing in the world wrong with most any QUALITY paint. The trick is to ask around.
IMHO base coat/clear coat system is over rated; you can shoot 2 coats of clear over your conentional paint to get depth and still have a job that lasts.

Base/Clear the only way to go ? That might be true if you need to spend more money and are looking to get depth in your paint job.
But you have to remember the great looking paint jobs there were before B/C even showed up.
I paint both using acrylic enamel when it's not going on some show piece and I don't want to spend all that money for B/C.
As far as durability I haven't seen much difference if you leave it out in the sun 24/7 and only wax it it every 2 years.
Now my 95 acrylic paint job which I always keep waxed and sometimes it's in the garage still looks great today.
I think what use use depends on what you want the end result to be for the dollar it cost.
B/C might be the way to go, but I'm not going to put it on one of my tractors unless I want to create a show tractor and even then it's kinda over kill for a tractor. If your truck is totally stock, B/C on a truck that's 60 years old is not stock looking.
Dan

Enamels, and later, acrylic enamels replaced lacquers as standard automotive finishes from the 60's into the 80's. If properly prep'ed, applied, and cared for, an enamel paint job will last a long time. And, yes, there's clear enamel, to get that "depth" on a metallic base. It's tougher than lacquer, but takes longer to dry/harden. Acrylic lacquer is still favored by custom painters because it dries fast, subsequent coats bond readily, and it buffs out to a mirror finish.
$350/gal is way high for acrylic enamel...sounds more like the price of urethane, the base coat-clear coat system so common nowadays. Urethanes tend to be the best available, and even come in a water-borne formulation to reduce toxic emissions. Fast curing, extremely durable, and highly buffable (is that a word?), just super expensive.
Any paint job is only as good as the prep work. I've got an old motorcycle with a 25-year old acrylic lacquer paint job: red metallic under a few coats of clear. A couple scratches and chips around the edges, but it still polishes up nice.
I'd say shop around. You generally get what you pay for, but it's good to know what you're getting.
Good luck.
cm

DuPont Chroma Premier Urethane is around $500. (reds) a gallon in the Boston area. Urethane base/clear is the way I'd go for durability and lasting shine.

Good paint is very pricey. I would shy away from acylic enamal (AE) as that is yesterdays technology. AE paints would be around $200/gal.

For a little more $, you can get acrylic urethane (AU), which is a single stage paint that offers alot of the benefits of BC/CC systems without adding that shiny plastic look to your old truck. AU paints are around $300-$500/gal.

If you want that shiny plastic look, BC/CC is the only way to go. Here is where pricing gets tricky. BC/CC systems can be cheaper because they are more forgiving. They are easier to apply/buff/colorsand, so it may be significantly cheaper than AU for a shop to apply and deliver to you.

Do you know the exact brand, model, type of paint that is being offered for $350/gallon?

I am looking at my invoice and I paid $213.15 per gallon for Acrylic Urethane, PPG Paint, in Burgundy Maroon for my 53, quarts of the 2 Greys for the bumber and grill bars ran $75. All in for primer, reducer, hardener, etc was about $1500.
My $.02, your mileage may vary.
Mike

Excellent example.
I'd guess the materials for an acrylic enamel paint job would be about half that. Labor charges would be similar for prep & spray work, but urethane dust & vapor are poisonous so more precautions are required.
Acrylic lacquer would probably be even less, but not by much.

AE is NOT a good choice and I know from using it that IT WONT LAST , the base clear is hard and will chip but IT WONT FADE !
base clear is the paint to use if you are gonna keep the vehicle , as far as being able to do a nice deep looking paintjob with AE you can but it won't last long ,

Thanks everyone, after going in and talking to the paint guy at the auto parts I find that a gallon of BC is not as much as I thought. The body shop was adding a little profit margin, I guess I need to shop around. Thanks again for the advise.