Decent Painter in Central CT?

[Yeahrightgreer]

Anybody happen to know a good guy (or gal) able to do some paint work in Central Connecticut? Prefer not to go to a shop.

All the shops I know do work for very high-dollar show cars, so I know coming in the door its going to be much more money than I’m comfortable spending. Not looking for concourse or high-quality paint. Just a driver quality single-stage paint job before I start reassembly.

It’s a ’67 Belvedere already stripped and in primer. No installing/removing of glass or parts needed.

I'm working overseas otherwise I'd do it myself or with some buddies. Thoughts?

 

[66ChargerHI-PO]

Thanks for your service Greer, I remember meeting you at Bills (or FURYGTs on the c-body forums) old house in CT before he moved. A buddy of ours can probably do it for you, his name is Kevin in Cromwell. He did our car and a friends too. We have another friend named Marty in Warren who can also probably do it for you too. They both do not own shops and work by themselves and do great work! PM me if you are interested and I can give you their information.

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

@66ChargerHI-PO Hello old friend. Thanks for your support. Yes I remember fondly. I was actually just looking for our old message thread this week but I couldn’t find it.

It’s been about 5 years since I’ve last been on the forums or got to work on some Mopars. Hoping to slowly get back into it.

I sent you a PM.

 

[Rich H.]

I can't help with an answer as I am in the wrong location, but just curious-
You were asking for driver quality single stage. What color do you want? Do you want a metallic?

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

I can't help with an answer as I am in the wrong location, but just curious-
You were asking for driver quality single stage. What color do you want? Do you want a metallic?

Haven’t decided on color yet. Guess depends on the painters skill. Was thinking a metallic 67’ color that doesn’t require major prep. Probably like Silver

 

[Rich H.]

The reason I asked is, alot of times folks will want a high metallic and they mention driver quality, single stage, and not too expensive in the same paragraph...these things are mostly in conflict with one another.

Because of the tendency of metallics to lay inside sand scratches and obvious flaws making them stand out more, silver can potentially require just as much if not more prep than other colors. All of the high metallics take experience to spray perfectly in two or three shots......which is all you can get with a budget single stage job. On top of that, single stage metallic is very difficult to repair and can't really be sanded and buffed as aggressively as base/clear.

I understand folks usually want to save money with single stage, but for silver I'd really recommend base/clear instead.
I feel the painter and you would both be happier with it.

Overall, my humble opinion is, single stage does not save money because of the difficulty of service.

Another concern is the prep done so far, what products were used....many painters will not want to spray over
someone else's work but that will vary more from one individual to the next. Some won't care, and if anything fails it's not their
problem.

I hope you figure it all out, it Looks like a great project and good luck with it no matter what you decide to do.

 

[eldubb440]

all of that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

The reason I asked is, alot of times folks will want a high metallic and they mention driver quality, single stage, and not too expensive in the same paragraph...these things are mostly in conflict with one another.

Because of the tendency of metallics to lay inside sand scratches and obvious flaws making them stand out more, silver can potentially require just as much if not more prep than other colors. All of the high metallics take experience to spray perfectly in two or three shots......which is all you can get with a budget single stage job. On top of that, single stage metallic is very difficult to repair and can't really be sanded and buffed as aggressively as base/clear.

I understand folks usually want to save money with single stage, but for silver I'd really recommend base/clear instead.
I feel the painter and you would both be happier with it.

Overall, my humble opinion is, single stage does not save money because of the difficulty of service.

Another concern is the prep done so far, what products were used....many painters will not want to spray over
someone else's work but that will vary more from one individual to the next. Some won't care, and if anything fails it's not their
problem.

I hope you figure it all out, it Looks like a great project and good luck with it no matter what you decide to do.

View attachment 2062953

Thank you for your advice. I’ve never painted a car before, so your thoughts are valuable.

The reason I wanted a single stage wasn’t necessarily cost savings but I was thinking longevity, repairs and clearcoat peel in the future. I want the car to be a driver. I’ve heard modern clear coats are much better than the 80s and 90s and I shouldn’t be worried about peel in 15-20 years but I guess Im not sure. Your thoughts?

Also, for a darker color like a burgundy, dark copper (not black) would you equally recommend the base/clear over single as you did silver?

 

[Rich H.]

Glad to be of help, and I hope you continue to find it helpful rather than critical.

The clear coat peel we see on many everyday vehicles is mainly due to UV exposure, and
either that particular clear unable to take the UV, or in some cases the clear is good quality but
the application has insufficient mil (too thin a coat to provide UV protection, or was sanded and polished
to the point of losing the UV protection). The OEM paint jobs with clear peel typically have as
little clear on the whole vehicle as they could get away with.

So because of that, Folks tend to conclude if they avoid clearcoat, then the paint can't peel.
It's not the clear's fault, it's the UV, the properties of the clear, and when a quality clear is used it is the film thickness
of the finished job.

Single stage urethane is clearcoat with color pigment blended into it.
When we use that product, we may feel as if we are avoiding clearcoat, but we are in fact going directly to it.
Expose any product to UV long enough, past the products time capability, and single stage too will peel,
but it will either peel down to the primer....or if adhesion was excellent, it can fail so badly it takes the primer
with it and exposes metal. I have also seen base/clear fail the same way....when it lets go, the whole thing can
potentially let go. This is usually a 20 year process with the entire time spent outdoors in all weather + often driven.

If you garage a vehicle and maintain it, treat it well, for the most part none of that happens.

Paint them, and then Set them outdoors for 20+ years like I did my first two complete jobs (due to not having my own garage), and you'll get to observe failure modes, which is really nasty but definitely provides a learning opportunity like no other.

A copper or burgundy will usually be high metallic, and because of that, yes I'd strongly recommend base/clear.
You may want to price any variants of red (like burgundy) separately as the materials tend to be the most expensive.

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

Glad to be of help, and I hope you continue to find it helpful rather than critical.

The clear coat peel we see on many everyday vehicles is mainly due to UV exposure, and
either that particular clear unable to take the UV, or in some cases the clear is good quality but
the application has insufficient mil (too thin a coat to provide UV protection, or was sanded and polished
to the point of losing the UV protection). The OEM paint jobs with clear peel typically have as
little clear on the whole vehicle as they could get away with.

So because of that, Folks tend to conclude if they avoid clearcoat, then the paint can't peel.
It's not the clear's fault, it's the UV, the properties of the clear, and when a quality clear is used it is the film thickness
of the finished job.

Single stage urethane is clearcoat with color pigment blended into it.
When we use that product, we may feel as if we are avoiding clearcoat, but we are in fact going directly to it.
Expose any product to UV long enough, past the products time capability, and single stage too will peel,
but it will either peel down to the primer....or if adhesion was excellent, it can fail so badly it takes the primer
with it and exposes metal. I have also seen base/clear fail the same way....when it lets go, the whole thing can
potentially let go. This is usually a 20 year process with the entire time spent outdoors in all weather + often driven.

If you garage a vehicle and maintain it, treat it well, for the most part none of that happens.

Paint them, and then Set them outdoors for 20+ years like I did my first two complete jobs (due to not having my own garage), and you'll get to observe failure modes, which is really nasty but definitely provides a learning opportunity like no other.

A copper or burgundy will usually be high metallic, and because of that, yes I'd strongly recommend base/clear.
You may want to price any variants of red (like burgundy) separately as the materials tend to be the most expensive.

Thank you a lot. You’ve definitely got me to think a bit more critically and deeper about a non-metallic vs metallic and single vs base/clear.

If you don’t mind, I have a few more questions as a novice if I could send you a PM.

 

[Rich H.]

Of course!

The forums on Autobody101 dot com are also loaded with information.

Don't let me discourage you in any way----you can definitely do single stage metallic, but it can't ever be cut and buffed like base/clear without risking weird looking halos from cutting through to the layer underneath, which always exposes metallics laying in a different direction.... so whatever texture it has, you're pretty much stuck with it. Slow activators and reducers can be used to make it lay as flat as possible, and it can still look super nice. Most repairs will be a repaint which risks color match and/or metallics not laying the same. Just be totally aware of what you would be getting into..........

But to avoid that, is usually better... base clear for metallics and pearls is totally the way to go in my humble opinion.