Help with choosing the best paint for my 1938.

[Thom]

I am ready to paint my 1938 Dodge 4 door sedan (a frame off restoration project) and need some advice on which paint to use. I am restoring the car to original, but will use as a driver to meets, cruise-in, and the like. I want a paint that will last and resist chipping. The car will be painted maroon. Some people have suggested using base coat ? clear coat. While others have suggested acrylic enamel, telling me that the clear - coat will not look original, but more like a rod. Still others suggest using a 1-step urethane. I have recently seen a 54 GMC truck finished with an acrylic enamel and thought that would look the most original from factory, but my painter wants me to use base coat- with 4 coats of clear. I know there are a lot of different opinions on paint, but remember I want the car to look original. Anyone have suggestions or experience with any of these paints, pro or con? Thanks, Thom

[mrpushbutton]

first off Thom--if you ask 5 experienced body/paint men this question, you will get 5 completely different, impassioned answers, all of them "right". I have seen old cars painted with base/clear that looked fine, and authentic, not "dipped in plastic". If your painter is any good, you should be able to show him an example of what you want your car to look like, and he should be able to hit that mark. I still like acrylic lacquer like Deltron--I know of cars that were restored in the 80's that still look fresh. Good luck--you are going to get a lot of different answers, all of them correct.

[Guest JDHolmes]

Thom,

go here www.autobodystore.com and go to the forums and ask this question.

These guys know their stuff and will provide you with sound advice and explain why you should choose one or the other.

Personally, i'm gong bc/cc because based on their info, it is the most chip resistant and will hold up the longest.

[DizzyDale]

Dear Thom,IMHO if its a solid color,NO metallic,i vote for single stage urethane.diz <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[A by the sea]

Here is the question, How close to the original patina of the car do you want to be?

Older cars tended to be buffed out lacquer which nice shine, but not a super gloss.

The BC/CC is usually a urethane clear. They are great paints, but they are just plain glossy all the time. Great if you want a glossy look, but quite frankly if you are doing an authentic restoration it is just too much.

Acrylic Enamel is ok, but it is not as good a single stage urethane.

Single stage urethane can be put on super glossy by a good painter, but you can buff it out and get a patina that approaches the original finish. The urethane paint is a very tough paint and keep in mind they use a urathane clear coat for many systems.

As far as durablity goes it really comes down to prep work. The paint is only as good as the layers below. I can make a rusty fender look great without removing the rust, but for how long? Also bear in mind an antique car kept in a garage will far outlast a paint job when compared to a car driven everyday.

It is your car to do with as you like. Remember to read the technical sheets on how to properly use your paint products.

[Thom]

Thanks for all your input helping me choose which paint to use. To answer your question, I want the car to look original, but most important is to get a good paint job that will last and look good. I have seen several cars in our local club painted in SS urethane and they look very nice. Something I would be proud to have on my car. My prep work has included dipping the body and all parts, applying an epoxy primer (several coats) and then paint will be next.

It sounds like my painter may be the man to make the final decision. And I suppose it depends on what he works well with. If he can do a better job with enamel, then maybe that is what I should use. He is very experienced with body and paint and claims to know the current paints. I have seen his work with enamel and it was very impressive. Thanks! Thom

[Guest De Soto Frank]

For what this is worth...

Starting in the mid-1930's, Chrysler Corp vehicles were painted with Ditzler (PPG) enamels.

As paints improved, they switched to acrylic enamels by the '60s, but were still using enamel.

I should think you would defintely want your paint-man's input... but it sounds like he's most familiar with BC/CC... you might need to look-up an old-timer who actually worked in the days before BC/CC...

That said, I personally feel that the modern base-coat/clear-coat finishes I see applied to older cars (pre-1970) "just don't look right"... they're too shiny - like one of those pub tables with all the kitsch laid around on top, then a 1/2 " of polyurethane finish is poured over top... put another way: "all shine, no depth "

Classic lacquer finishes have a very "deep" shine, and the color goes all the way through... lacquer buffs-out, and is quite forgiving if runs /orange peel have to be sanded/buffed-out.

Lacquer also tends to craze and crack with age, and is usually least resistant to UV and weather.

A properly done enamel job would come the closest to your Dodge's original paint, and properly cured (factory finishes were baked), it's pretty durable...

Also, most BC/CC jobs I see have a metallic BC; there were no metallic finishes on Dodges in the 1930s...

[Guest 1959olds]

When restoring my 40 Olds I asked several sources and they all told me BC/CC. I rented booth space from a local body shop and they guided me on shooting it. The color was "Sylvan Green" and was matched as close as PPG could get with an original color card of 1940. I have won a "best paint" and "most original" with the car in the last year at some very large and respected meets. I had explained to all the body shops I interviewed that this car was to be a "driver" and showed on occasion. And that I wanted a paint that was strong, but easily repairable for chips, etc. All that I talked to said to go BC/CC.

[CrimsonSam]

I agree it CAN be fixed but its hard to do unless you do it yourself or have a friend who's a body man do it since the body shops make their money on insurance payouts not on fixing cars really.

After a long time I finally got this guy to do my car since he can do custom work:

<A HREF="http://mastermatchauto.com" ALT="auto body repair, long beach, body work, paint, california, mobile auto body">auto body repair, long beach, body work, paint, california, mobile auto body</A>

The rest said "man that's going to cost more than your car is worth" or "sure I can just slap some bondo on there..." or "its not worth it..." - they didnt understand that I just wanted the dents fixed for an honest price. And half of them didnt even know wtf they were doing saying that they had this "special tool" that would do it and they werent making much sense explaining how the magic tool would work (it was pretty funny and obvious they were making it up as the went.)

but like the guys said, just NEVER take the insurance companies first offer, find the 10 highest priced 944 turbos in your area or on ebay (like the $20k ones) and show the insurance those prices, they have to come close to them (I think its the law).