MY65

I have a 65 Rally Red that I will be restoring. I would like hear from the experts and you that have recently have done a restoration the pros and cons of single-stage vs a two-stage paint system. And, if you include the best paint brand for each would be great.

porchdog

for solid color i prefer single stage ppg concept .

DUB

Single stage paint is just that..the color of the car and IF a contaminant gets on it...it can damage/discolor the paint....this is more of a concern when dealing with single stage metallic color where attempting to do any severe buffing on it can disturb the appearance of how the metallics laid down.

AS for solid single stage color...as like I wrote above....if anything gets on it it does not have the protection of a clear coat. If it gets scuffed...it will depend on how bad the scuff is and how deep it went and how much single stage paint you put on it.

Is single stage solid color better than or worse than basecoat /clearcoat...who knows???? It depends on what aspects a person is comparing it to. I prefer the protection that the clearcoat provides in regards to the applied color under the clearcoat myself.

Imagine that have a hand carved mahogany coffee table and is has nothing but the stain or linseed oil on it to show the luster of the wood. And someone spills grape juice on it is the grape juice soaks into the wood grain. The table is screwed or very hard to repair. BUT...if you had put a sheet of glass over the top of the coffee table the juice would not have gotten to the wood grain. BUT yet...if someone drops a cinder block on the table...regardless if it has glass on it or not..the table will more than likely be damaged....so...it is all in how you look at it.

AS for repairing single stage solid color or basecoat/clearcoat solid color...they are about the same and trying to find an area where you can hide the line of where the paint has to stop IF youare not planning on painting the entire panel.

THIS is where BC/CC is better( in my opinion)....because I can prep a full panel...and we will use a hood as an example...and get it scuffed for paint...then I can blend out the red paint and NOT having to apply the paint on the entire hood....because the clearcoat will then be applied on the entire exterior of the hood.... and thus making the hood shine....and if the blend was done correctly...you will never tell where I shot it.

IF a single stage color needed to be used to do the same thing....either the entire hood would be shot and it could possible not match where it meets the fenders...or...blend out your single stage like was done with the basecoat and then apply coat of clear on top of that to get the hood all shiny.

With the current 2K paints of today...when blending is done...it is almost impossible to blend out clear coat or single stage paint and have the end of the blend melt into the previously paint panel 100% perfectly.....thus...it leaves a very very faint line that someone like me could find...and it can become more pronounced IF it is not maintained and may show up more in time.

I blend my basecoat paint quite a lot due to it is what it is and it needs to be done that way....and I strive to make it so that you have to darn near put your eyeball on the panel so see the line...but that takes time an careful attention when prepping and buffing the blended area when completed. That is why when I am blending out BC/CC on cars I look for a 'break-point' in order to hide that thin line in a body line or wherever I can that you could not find because it is on a a bend of panel. If there is no place to break the paint area...then the entire panel is prepped for clearcoating.

A lot of information about how to fix something.,.BUT that is something to consider...because something will happen in time and need to be repaired.

As for paint....NEXA is what I use ( both single stage and BC/CC and waterborne also)..and then I would use PROSPRAY...and then PPG Global if it were basecoat....and if it were single stage I agree with
'porchdog'...CONCEPT is good paint and I have shot it also.

DUB

MY65

DUB,

Thanks for that detailed reply. It didn't occur to me, but I agree that the added protection of a clear coat has it's advantages. I've wiped off enough tree sap and bird droppings to understand your point.

I'm not planning NCRS judging my car, but have a follow-up for you and any one else who wants to chime in.

I have heard the discussion that as far as judging goes, they are looking for a finish that resembles a factory finish. Can this be achieved with a two-stage. And honestly, I'm sure could never tell the difference, just asking.

DUB

A correctly applied clearcoat can look like original paint. Because many of us who shoot 2K clearcoat do know that you can achieve orange peel and a slight dull look to it. Just because a car is clearcoated in today's clears does not mean that it always have to have that 'wet' look to it....even though it can.

Hopefully other will chime in and give their thoughts.

DUB