BOB WINSKI

Hi Guys,It it is my understaning when a car was sprayed with laquer in the fifties they did not wet sand it after being painted.Only buffed out and off to the dealers Is this correct.And talking to people that have sprayed there car with laquer they all say they did wet sand at some point.Were is the advantage to wet sanding and if you are doing a car and trying to replicate the originality of it to look like a factory job WOULDN'T wet sanding be out of the norm.And how manny coats of laquer did the put on at the factory.Thanks Bob W

DansYellow66

I believe they applied two to three wet coats of color coat lacquer and then buffed out the top surface. Little to no buffing took place below the beltline. They would only have lightly wet sanded a blemish or two before buffing - if even that.

I'm answering based on third hand info just to get you to the top. JohnZ can give a more precise response when he sees it.

I believe they also ran the cars after painting through an oven area that somewhat re-flowed the paint and speeded curing.

tach drive 61

I have even seen 1970 original paint car we pulled from storge container it was put there in 70 and runs in the white paint ,thats how that left the factory and arrived at a dealership .

jprop

I wet sanded the primer layer in preparation for the lacquer. I put on 4 layers of lacquer and only buffed; no wet sand. I did buff below the crease but less than above. I had my car judged at Bloomington and received relatively minor deductions for paint.

We had a relatively low mileage, original paint Mosport Green 66 coupe in the shop the other day. We found numerous runs in the paint and little to no paint in the wheel well area. There was also very little paint in the lower portion of the rear valance, in the area below the front grill, and the lower part of the doors. Generally speaking, if it was hard to get to or couldn't be readily be seen then it got little to no paint.

Although I tried not to make my paint perfect there was no way I would duplicate an original paint job. I would have probably demanded my money back from the painter!

John BX NY

Dont know about the fifities but the later acrylic lacquer plant process involved reflow ovens which as the name imlies allowed the paint to even out and shine without a dedicated buff out process..

RestoMike

I understand the oven got as hot as 250 degrees to stimulate paint movement starting the flow process. The process which John BX eludes to eliminated a great deal of 'hard core' buffing.

chris ritchie

Bob, I don't have personal knowledge of 50s and early 60s cars. But I do distinctly remember going to Chevy dealers in the late 60s and through the 70s to look at Corvettes on the showroom floor. The paint on them was awful. All cars were bad in those days. But Corvettes were the worst. I seem to remember the reason given was that the Corvette plant processes and equipment were the oldest. Much orange peel in the paint. Many stories of Chevy dealers painting brand new Corvettes because customers wouldn't accept them when they came in. The perceived quality of cars in those days was bad. But I particularly remember the orange peel on the Corvettes. Maybe the fiberglass body couldn't take the heat necessary to reflow it in the heat booth. I seem to remember hearing something like that too.

Most restorers today wouldn't spend the amount of money they must spend for a paint job to make it look that bad.

(Thanks again for the use of the rivet tool.)

BOB WINSKI

Thank's guys for all the input.Will be doing a car in Laquer and want it to represent as close as possible to the factory finish.Lots of people tell me to do it in Base coat &Clear but i want to do the paint myself and see how close i come.Thanks once again much appreciated.Bob W

Frankie the Fink

I know some vintage Mustang restorers who painstakingly reproduce the paint runs on certain parts to make them look as nasty as they did when they came from the factory

BOB WINSKI

Hey Frankie, Funny that you mentioned Mustang.My wife and i will be at our house in Florida in a few weeks i will be looking at a 66 mustang convertible while we are there.Hope all is well with you.Bob W

c6 CHEVY

Join NCRS. National Corvette Restorers Society. All the paint pros are members.

wonderful

My comments on lacquer paint will be censored. Nothing to do with it.

JohnZ

The DuPont thermal reflow acrylic lacquer required a final bake at 325*F for full reflow, eliminating any need for final buffing; that's what it got in the steel car plants.

The Corvette body couldn't withstand 325*F - the Corvette final bake oven was 45 minutes at 250*F, which wasn't hot enough to reflow the paint; that's why Corvettes were buffed manually (only above the bodyside feature line) to bring up the gloss level.

c6 CHEVY

Great picture John.