VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Paint type

Not color, but type, such as enamel, lacquer, whatever. For the years 26, 27, & 28. What was used then and what would y'all recommend for a good looking paint job that would last. One that could be used on a driver and not a show car.

Thanks

Rbl2, I have had good luck lately with a color coat, clear coat combo with a HVLP gun on my 6 hp compressor after using two water knockouts and a good regulator. but I got almost the same final look with a good grade of Acrilic Enamel it wasn't quite as easy to spray as the color -base coat. and you can microsand the color- clear coat job with 1500 grit, then buff it out, for a smooth job, it also helps if you don't have a very clean paint booth to get the dust particles out. to me color - clear coat is the easiest way for me, a very poor painter, since I can't afford a $4000 paint job. I can't even afford Macco.

I prefer either nitrocellulose lacquer or acrylic lacquer because lacquer is easy to paint and it looks great. For a driver lacquer is easy to touch up since you can wet sand and buff, and then the touch up spots can't be seen.

Base coat/clear coat is a great looking paint too but on a driver it is harder to touch up because of the clear coat.

I agree with the nitrocellulose laquer not only is it easy to paint but to buff and shine. I haven't tried Acrylic lacquer. Nitrocellulose is being phased out of the supply loop for environmental issues.
Doggie Doodle probably has gallons and gallons of the stuff stockpiled.
Color coat, clear coat was used to touch up a dented fender on my 53 (Horizion Blue) and when the clear coat was buffed out and feathered in to the lacquer paint it is undetectable. The old body man (he did many old cars in Lacquer) that showed me how to do it with base coat. clear coat always micro-sands the base (color) coat, wipes it down with a tack cloth and then shoots the clear, then microsands and buffs the clear coat when you have to paint in a garage or other not so dust free room. I have a 68 Impala to paint this winter and I may try the Acrylic Lacquer in the HVLP gun. Do you spray many thin coats and wet sand and buff the same way as we did with Nitrocellulose Lacquer, or do you buff after a couple of coats?

You mix and spray the acrylic lacquer the same as you would the nitro. Some dudes sand between coats while others sand after all of the coats have been applied. I exclusively use lacquer and basically both the acrylic and the nitro spray the same as long as you mix them both correctly and use the right thinner for the temperature. I use a Model 7 spray gun and I love it. None of that HVLP stuff for the old mutt.

Yep, the dog does have seven or eight gallons of the good old nitro lacquer stockpiled for future use.

back to the older cars, with the Duco Lacquer bodys and weren't the fenders different paint, I saw something about Japan enamel in a body book? Someone told me much of the black parts were dipped and hung to dry.


I see the old doggie uses a regular high quality paint gun, have you ever tried a high quality HVLP gun or do you always "dance with the one you brung", so to speak?

I have a Sears Craftman paint gun, the best Sears offered at the time, my Dad bought back it in the 1940s for Lacquer and I still use it.


The only thing I have found much difference in HVLP and standard paint guns, is that I use less paint and get still good coverage with a HVLP gun, I got a economy model to practice with. It works good enough for me (I am a poor painter anyway) and my riding lawnmower I last painted looks fine, to me.

I am always looking for something that will help me make up for my lack of talent doing paint & body work. maybe I need to Practice, practice, and practice. I have done some of that and have wasted a lot of expensive paint, and spread on and sanded off tons of Bond-o and primer too!

Having used lacquer for over 30 years, it was scary to have to change over to something else. But, I got a HVLP gun to replace the Model 7 and tried the acrylic enamel w/hardner. Couldn't be happier! No overspray, no clouds of fumes, very little residue on my vent fan, and it sanded out beautifully. Used 1000 grit, then 1500, then 2000, and buffed. Use a good sealer prior to spraying, a two part urethane works great and stops any bleedthrough or lifting. I haven't tried the base/clear yet but may get adventurous and try that next.
Gene

gpallen2. do you spray on the two part sealer or wipe it on prior to spraying color?

I have tried the acrylic enamel with the hardener at great length, and I will only use that stuff to paint wheelbarrows and garbage cans. Just don't feel comfortable with it. Since the enamel has to be cut and buffed anyway for a high quality job, I have found that the lacquer cuts easier and faster and also the lacquer is way more forgiving than the acrylic enamel. However, different dudes use different types of paints....it all depends upon what suits them. I can spray lacquer in my sleep and it comes easy for me, so no need to change after all of these years. "Different strokes for different folks!" Hey, there is another one-liner!

A lot of areas in the US won't let you or won't sell you Lacquer paints because of the high VOC ( volital organic compounds) which are hard on the eviroment. A base coat clear coat system as long as you are not painting a matalic or pearl color are very easy to repair and will last longer than a laqquer paint system. If scratches are in the clear coat; sand it. If the sanded removed material is white your OK to use a 3M scrub pad to dull the clear on the other panel area then reclear back to new surface. If you get into the base color, repaint area and reclear.

JYD, you better be careful, the one liner enforcement officer will be taking a close look at that one!

Jarhead,...The only reason for painting the ship is to prevent rust and preserve the steel, why do you think we use Battleship gray paint, to make it look cute?

Master Chief Rawlings USN USS Missouri

That is true, lacquer is hard to get or not available in various places around the country. Where I live, my local PPG paint store has black acrylic lacquer in stock on the shelf since we can still use it here. Lacquer does have VOC but it is funny to note that other "modern" paints, such as Imron and etc. seem to be more hazardous to our health and the environment than lacquer.

When the day comes that I can no longer use lacquer (that probably won't happen though since I seem to have a lifetime supply of black and other colors) then I will definitely switch to base coat/clear coat. That stuff looks great when it is done correctly and it has a quality looking finish also. Don't know about it lasting longer than lacquer though. I have seen way too many newer GM cars with the base coat/clear coat system with the clear peeling off. However, on the flip side of the coin I have seen many original cars that have the nitrocellulose finish or the acrylic lacquer finish that are 50 to 70 years old and the paint still looks nice. Don't know how much longer you would want paint to last than that.

The clear coat is to protect the color coat from acid rain and other pollutant in our air and also contains UV protection. It was originally made for metalic & pearl color aluminum particals that corrode from above pollutants. You put so much work in painting a vehicle that you never ever want to do it again.

Absolutely, the clear coat is to protect the car from UV rays and other pollutants, but, that is only if it doesn't peel off as many GM cars are doing. Normally, however, the clear coat should last for years.

In contrast, the nitrocellulose lacquer that is on my original '32 has been there since 1932...that's 74 years. While far from perfect (because of its age), the paint still looks very presentable.

Hey JYD I have fingernails and skin that is almost as old as your car, same color, just has a few bumps and wrinkles here and there. Presentable? well maybe not so much now.

All the damn paint pealed off of my daughter's 89 Corsica, then we found out later that GM would not paint any more of them on warrenty!
So guess what? she traded it for a rice rocket, it has good paint but the sheet metal is like tissue paper, what there is of it.

rbl2
The original paint on the bodies starting in 1925 was nitrocellulose lacquer. It was hand rubbed. The fenders and other chassis sheet metal was dipped in an enamel paint. It was hung to drip off and then baked in an oven.

Acrylic lacquer was first used in the late 50s. I could look it up be think a few colors in '57 and then all colors in '58. Have slept several times so might not have it exact on the dates.

I read somewhere years ago (I'm going from memory here and we all know how that is), that General Motors used nitrocellulose lacquer up to around 1955 and then switched to acrylic lacquer.

I believe that all the paint types will perform well if properly applied. The problem is that as occasional painters, most of us don't want to take the time to relearn what we know from experience. It's not comfortable to drop the old Model 7 gun that has always delivered. That new gun is going to require time for familiarization, your air supply has to be a little different, spray preasures are critical, additional regulators in the system, on and on.

My first effort with acylic enamel was not wonderful. Back to the paint store to confer and more adjustments. I think the key is to get a gun of reasonable quality, stick with it, set up your system for that gun and the product you want to use, and you can do a good job.

The first time I tried a clear coat, it clouded after a year or so, all sorts of "possible" causes per the supplier. First try at nitrocellulose I put on too much paint and it cracked after a year or so. The old lacquer was hard to give up, can't get it in my area any more, it was forgiving, spray it under an Oak tree, touch it up easy, etc. But, after I used my last gallon of stockpile, a change was obviously on the horizon.

By the way, the two part sealer is really simple to use. When you're ready to spray color, spray on a medium coat of sealer, give it 30 minutes to flash, just about enough time to clean up the gun, and proceed with the color. No more evidence of lifting around repaired spots, no more shrinkage after you buff out, just a clean job.

Gene