Base coat clear coat or enamel ?

[Hershal Byrd]

I got to thinking about all the nice
GT40s that I have seen pictures of on this
forum. So I was wondering which type of
paint was used on most of them.
I know the orginals were enamel but
I think many of the replicas are using
base coat clear coat.
So what type did any of you use and why?

Hersh

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Hersh,

I would Highly recommend a type of urethane for the car. As this is a composite body this type of paint will hold up much better. The clear-coat/non clear coat issue is somewhat dependant upon your choice of colors. Solids can be done in a single stage process, metallics and others must be cleared to have any gloss. Solids may also be done as a two stage process and will give a somewhat better gloss plus give you extra mil thickness to wet sand and buff. Any of the good paint suppliers have a good urethane based system to use. The benefits of the urethane type paint is it is more chi[p resistant and more flexible and heat resistant, an important factor on a glass body.

Rick

 

[Guest]

Hersh

Urethanes are the way to go.
Clear vs non clear coat is a matter of
preference.

Non clear coat is less work to apply and
less work to repair. It also looks more
like the original finish since it's
not the "wet" look.

Clear coat gives more layers of protection,
and provides that "deep" look along with the "wet" look.

Either way I stongly suggest using an HVLP
gun. Takes a little getting used to.
But boy do I like it now!

MikeD

 

[Hershal Byrd]

Rick and Mike,
Thanks for the info. Most of my experience
in painting has been with the urethanes.
I do my own paint and body work. All of
my street rods were sprayed with Deltron
2 part system. When it's buffed and polished
it looks wet. However I did paint my Cobra
with Dupont base coat clear coat system and
it looks super.
As most of you know I am now ready for paint and decided earlier to go
with BC-CC but now that I need to buy the
paint I figured I would get a second
opinion. The urethane with clear sounds
like the way to go.
Mike, I got my new HVLP gun and I love it.
I practiced with it and found it to be
far better than my old Binks No#7.
Now I will look into which brand of
urethane to buy. They have changed a lot
since I last used them so I will compare
and see which will work best for my
application.
Thursday is the day. I can't wait to see
it in color.
Any more suggestions or experience with
peticular urethane brands are welcome.

Hersh

 

[Gordon Levy]

Base coat clearcoat urethane is the way to go. We use PPG base and a European high solids clear that is fantastic. Don't use any enamels, they just won't hold up in AZ.

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

PPG, Sikkens or Glasurit are the ticket.

I am sure there are other good systems also but these are the ones I have experiance with. Spies-Hecker also comes well recommended.
Rick

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I'm curious, are the above paint systems acrylic urethanes, like Imron, or polyester urethanes, like the Awlgrip I mentioned in a different thread? The acrylics can be touched up more easily, the polyester paints are harder, shinier and more durable. For a small object like a car, which can be shot in one go, I would prefer polyester paint, especially for one so close to the ground which is bound to get stuff thrown up at it.