Newbie to painting. I even started down the rust-oleum route, but couldn't do it, I might want to sell it some day! One local paint supply shop worker sold me on how easy lacquer would be and how forgiving mistakes are with lacquer primer. I bought a quart and primed the hood (front and back) as well as the nose and fenders. The front clip looks 1000 times better already. Uniform and pretty smooth without even wet sanding yet. Went back to get more lacquer primer and another guy there tells me to forget old school lacquer, on this Fiero I need Urethane, for atleast two reasons, it will fill the small sratches way better than lacquer and it will flex well with the factory primer. An additional benefit would be the beige color would lend itself to the Corvette Millenium Yellow I intend to shoot. It was a little more money, but Ok. I got a gallon this time. Sprays on nicely for a novice. Has a bit more grip to it, has a sharkskin texture at the moment. I'll have to wet sand for sure (400 / 500 grit?)
So now the front clip is lacquer gray and the rest of the car is Urethane beige. Am I going to have to remove the lacquer before laying the Urethane on the front clip? I don't know how these two will interact and I've subsequently heard lacquer isn't good on panels with much flex to them. I'd hate to crack the primer coat dropping the hood closed or something routine.

Next item is that since this is a learning project and budget job for a daily driver, I've heard Nason paint is a good value and it's SS paint is a good option for a novice. This the route I'm thinking of going. On the other hand, how much harder is base coat/clear coat? Does it significantly increase the costs. Finally would a novice BC/CC look better than a novice SS? I know MAACO puts out a lot of SS and I've never seen a MAACO job I liked. I figure I can jack up my own paint job for 1/4 the cost of MAACO.

[This message has been edited by ApexNC (edited 04-20-2007).]

If you want the paint job to last, sand off all the laquer primer. Painting over laquer primer with anything other than laquer is like painting a ballon - different expansion rates & solvent reactions. These days there's no reason to use laquer at all. It's really better to seal the car with epoxy before the urethane primer, & after blocking before painting. Or - if it dosen't need blocking - just prime it with epoxy, sand & paint. Final sanding should be no courser than 400, unless you're sealing it with epoxy after sanding then you can get away with 320.
Go with base/clear: if you have a problem with the base it will dry quickly & you can sand it smooth & keep shooting. If you have a problem such as runs, dry spray, or a little dirt/trash in the clear just keep shooting, & sand & buff it out when it dries.
Nason is decent quality but it's not as durable as the more expensive clears. To do it right & using high-quality paint you'll spend more than a Maaco job, but it will be better & last longer. It's up to you to decide.
HTH,
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

If you choked a Smurff, what color would he turn?

You can paint over the lacquer primer, but it's not the best idea. What you'll find is that the lacquer primer that has filled in any sanding scratches will over time shrink a little more and your deeper sanding scratches will magically reappear in your final paint due to that shrinkage. Roger likes to use lacquer primer but I prefer to use a catalysed primer. I still use a little lacquer primer here and there for some projects and I don't have any compatabiity issues, but I'm spraying PPG Deltron and I'm using PPG lacquer primer. I have had no compatability issues. But, the less material on the surfaces the better. Thicker paint will crack and peel much faster if you or someone else bumps into the bumper covers. So, I'd sand off as much as feasible just for the paint thickness factor.

One thing that I would highly recommend is that you use a white primer/sealer after you are finished with your bodywork. Using anything other than white as a base color under your yellow will give you off color results. The white will also allow you to use less base color and give you the brightest yellow finish when you are done. Any other color under your yellow will darken your results.

Let us know if you need any other info.

Mark

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I use laquer primer on 95% of my jobs without any problems at all. Some cars are still gorgeous i did 25 years ago. Almost all my paint jobs are urathane base/clear finishes. If your using Millinium Yellow...MAKE SURE you cover it completely in base white before the yellow. Its too transparent on its own. This is the only acceptable way to use it on Corvettes per factory instructions from GM.

.........................................

Owner / Operator Custom Paint and Body...
specializing in Corvette & Higher End Autos for 40+ years
Ferrari, Mercedes and Porsche Approved

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 04-21-2007).]

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: ...... If your using Millinium Yellow...MAKE SURE you cover it completely in base white before the yellow. Its too transparent on its own. This is the only acceptable way to use it on Corvettes per factory instructions from GM........

I should have stressed this more. You must use the white as a base color as Roger said.

Mark

So, white sealer isn't enough on it's own. I'll need at least a coat or two of white base (2 quarts?), regardless of my primer type.
Assuming now the whole car is getting a white urethane base, should I specify anything about the white? I'll probably go all Nason, but do I just order "pure" white? Is there a flat, semi-gloss, gloss specification/preference for this purpose?
Roger, I understand you to say that you do lay Urethane base on lacquer primers without issue? If I lay down a white urethane base next, I may not have to redo the entire front clip currently sprayed with lacquer (?) I'm sure I can sand down the front clip primer in a couple hours if it's the best thing to do, but If I have to add a white layer and the lacquer won't crack on the plastice nose, does it buy me anything(?)
If I take this lacquer off, any tips? IE: Wet sand with 220/320 or is it faster to dry sand if I'm just trying to get it off? Should I use lacquer thinner to wipe it down as I go? Thanks

[This message has been edited by ApexNC (edited 04-21-2007).]

I would imagine if you can find white primer, that would be OK. I use Chrysler Brite White myself code PW7. I covers faster than GMs pure white. You CANT put urathane over laquer PAINT except if its old paint and sanded well. Anything less than 3 or 4 year old laquer will not let urathane get a good bond. Urathanes always bonded well for me OVER LAQUER PRIMER. Ive never had a job return for scratches showing, peeling, cracking or any other defects. In some cases after I buff it out the next day, it may or may not dull back out slighly within a week or so and need a quick re-rub but thats it. That may also happen with catalyzed primer...but I cant say since I dont use it. The only time I use catalyzed primer if if im repainting over something that has been recently done in an unknown kind of paint. Thats to isolate it so I dont have any issues. I generally dont use a sealer myself...I personally think its just a way to cut corners in prep sanding since it tends to stick better to anything because most sealers are straight enamel based. I used to use it a lot on semi cabs. I would strip them with chemical stripper to bare aluminum, then instead of primering them and haveing to sand it, just used non sanding sealer to make acrylic enamel stick to the bare aluminum. Erased all the sanding time on primer. I sand the primer with #400 before the basecoat.

In your case just sand the primer and the catalyzed primer both with 400. Tack it all down for paint. Put on 2 coats or minimum needed to get even white color with white base paint. Put on your yellow base over that until you have it covered, follow with your clear. I try not to have more than 3 coats of clear to reduce chance of cracking. I find that 3 is plenty to allow one to be sanded off if your going to wetsand and rub it out. I go really light on sanding within 1/4" of sharp edges as buffer tends to eat it there faster than flat surface. Of course that depends on how heavy you lay each coat and you may need more. No matter what, I try to keep the number of coats of each stage to the minimum for durability.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 04-21-2007).]

I use a white primer/sealer. One coat and it's done. The two coats of white base color will work also, and you can check with your paint guy and go with whatever way is cheaper.

Mark