Does anyone have a preference on paint supplier for classic cars? I have a 1941 SD Woody. Also, any suggestions on whether to use a single stage or two stage paint? I believe all cars back then were painted single stage. Thanks, Bob
Attached is the Pittsburg Paint formula and basecoat clearcoat combination I used. The body shop recommended this over a single stage paint. While it might have been easiest for them to paint the car this way the shine might be way to bright if you are looking for a more original look. The Body Name Plate on the firewall says the paint # is 290, the same # that is on one of the paint labels pictured below.
I trusted my body shop and the paint store that my paint was indeed the right color. I don't know enough about the paint process to know the accuracy of my shade of Ruby Marron. If you are like me without body experience you need to do a lot of research and a lot of looking for the perfect body shop. I found a "mom and pop" body shop that got my car painted in 3 months, but the car was completely disassembled and they put nothing back together. I handed them a bunch of parts told them I wanted them back with no imperfections.
They quoted me a price of $8,000 and the cost ended up being $11,000. I agreed to every extra penny over the original quote. I have yet to find any paint issues. NO orange peel, paint runs, etc. I stayed away from the guys who paint after work or shops that seemed to be so busy that things could sit around forever. They had a 2 car garage for body work and a 2 car garage for painting, my car never was left outside overnight but was moved to do other body repairs. As fast as they painted a fender, door, hood, etc. I took it home for safe keeping. While I took the car in all apart they did reassemble it to verify all the alignments, and found several amiss. Then took it apart again to paint each individual part. No surprises about how a fender or door fit. I visited often with always a few donuts, and to keep track of the process. I also tipped all the workers and the shop for their work.
It took me about 2 years to put the car back together. I did everything myself but install the headliner, and the interior upholstery.
I highly recommend that ALL mechanical work be done before the body is restored. I also recommend that you stick to a very specific reassembly process so you are not scratching the paint during assembly.
