I have prepped the body on my 79. Now I have to decide what paint to use I have used Acrylic Laquer on another car with good results. I hear that Base Coat Clear is the way to go I am not sure if that is as easy to handle. I need some opinions. I do not have access to a paint booth.

 

If you like Lacquer and are comfortable with a single stage, look ae something like PPG Concept or depending upon color, SPI products.

 

Most guys benefit from Base-clear's characteristics of being able to be buffed out and look nice (like lacquer). It sprays on like enamel, meaning, it dries slower than lacquer ...and you'll likely get dust and maybe a few runs, heck maybe a few bugs. But that's ok, you can wetsand and buff most imperfections out for a nice garage job ...just like lacquer. But it's also flexible (urethane) therefore it won't crack on a fiberglass body like lacquer was prone to do.

Now, if you go single stage, you won't have the ability to buff out. Well, you can buff out, but you'll remove the very small UV protecting layer than floats to the surface ...and then the paint will tend to haze up faster. If it's a reddish pigment you can plan to buff it out once or twice a year.

Another thing, if you are stunned of the price of Dupont or PPG base/clear, you can explore Nason or Omni (by Dupont/PPG respectively) and their clear coat ...or use a universal clearcoat like Transtar, Rubberseal or USC (there are lots of others). I've used Nason and Omni base colors and coated with a universal 3rd-tier clear for years and have had great results and some on the road to this day that still look great. I like Morton (USC) clearcoat, but I'm going to put Transtar Euro Clear on my 81. A lot of smaller shops have been doing it for years.

If you're not comfortable with that, just use Dupont or PPG or Martin Senour paint. Also, I hope you didn't use lacquer primer as a primer. The right way to do it would be to use Urethane 2k epoxy primer, then a non-sanding sealer (right before you spray the base), then 3 coats of base, then 3 coats of clear. Good luck.

 

If you have a BASF rep near you go check out there water base paints, its called Glasurit (not sure on spelling). shops are converting because of changing regulations on emissions, bla bla bla,,, anyways, painters are surprised how easy it goes on. Mine was done base/c-clear/c. I'm just pointing this out as another possible option, its different, but don't underestimate it because its waterbased.

And no, it does not cause rusting.