Painting Insights
The final finish on your classic or special interest automobile can be considered the crowning jewel of the restoration process. It is the single most visible aspect of the finished project and it affects the potential value of the car. Furthermore, it is a direct reflection of the care and pride invested by both owner and craftsman alike. In order to help familiarize you with the art of custom/restoration refinishing, we have compiled the following information.
Our painter uses only top quality state-of-the-art materials, but a paint job is only as good as the surface it has been applied to. Nearly all of the cars that are candidates for restoration are fairly old. Invariably they have had previous restoration attempts and usually have numerous resprays on them. Today's superpaints react extremely unfavorably with the lacquer based materials found on most classics and after market repaints. It cannot be over emphasized that the only way to insure the longevity of any paint job is to start from bare metal, wood or fiberglass.
Proper refinishing takes time. Once the major metal work is finished (rust and dent repair), it is a good rule of thumb to expect the car to be at the paint shop for six to eight weeks. Primers and paints need time to fully cure and stabilize. One full week is usually spent sanding and polishing out the final finish.
The paint process at a glance. Assuming the car is metal (either steel or aluminum), the first material applied is a zinc chromate etching primer. This bites into the metal providing excellent corrosion protection while creating a tenacious bonding base for the sanding primer surfacer. The sanding primer is designed to level slight imperfections in the body. Usually two or three coats are applied, sometimes this gets sanded between coats. When primer surfacer has been sanded, the car is sprayed with sealer and is now ready for it's color coat. Most refinishing today is done with a base coat under clear coat system.
This produces the best looking finish. It is the system we use and highly recommend. Two to three coats of color are applied, followed by two to four coats of clear catalyzed polyurethane. The clear coat is sometimes sanded between coats. As stated in the previous section, this gets sanded and polished out creating a glass like finish.
A craftsman is only as good as he is allowed to be. While we understand that not everyone is endeavoring to create a show car, the basics of sound refinishing are the same for all refinishing projects. The major difference is in the attention to detail each step in the refinishing process receives. The speed and methods of discount production paint shops, while capable of producing acceptable results, are geared towards an entirely different aesthetic standard. We believe the standard for special interest automobiles is a cut above the rest and it is to that end we direct our efforts.