harveyf

Dash01, one thing to keep in mind is that a 25 year old clearcoat is probably near the end of its service life. I don't know about Porsches but many Jaguars from the 90's are starting to show clear coat failures. No amount of compounding can bring them back. So again, we are back to looking at an overall paint job being your best bet.

I had a 1995 Jaguar XJ6 sedan turnkey painted by a local guy for $2500. Same color. Single stage Nason urethane. Almost zero bodywork. Just a case of the clearcoat was failed. It looked very good when he was done. It took exactly 1 gallon of paint to put down 2 coats. I would have never been able to pull this off because there would have been blems if I had done it and any sanding would have probably gone through 2 coats.

Also, I'm sure you know but it is safe to assume that one should not breath any of the modern paints (vs say enamel or lacquer). You must, at a minimum, wear a good quality mask. Supplied air is much better. Your health is nothing to mess around with.

Dash01

Does anybody here know how well Dupont 2K acrylic urethane shoots through an air brush? I have an air brush and need to spray some aero mirrors to replace the flag mirrors on this car, so thought I might start by experimenting with that, then move on to painting fenders with the HVLP gun.

And, Harvyf, although I do have to prime and respray the replacement fender and header panel, the rest of the car clear coat is in pretty good shape--car has been garaged for decades here in the cloudy Northwest, so I'm guardedly optimistic about most of the paint staying OK for the foreseeable future.

william_b_noble

I've painted a few dozen cars over the years at home - I have the spray equipment but no booth. Lacquer is the most forgiving and easiest to use, it is brittle and is far from the most durable. Properly applied it is good for about 15 to 20 years in the sun, nearly forever in a garage. Acrylic enamel with a hardener works well, is more durable (cracks/pitting), requires that you get it right because you need to do a panel at a time. Urethanes like Imron are great for frames, they are a little soft, properly applied they have an amazing luster but they don't get the mirror finish you may want. Clear coats get waxy and flake off with time. Pick you poison.

I buy my paints from Finishmaster, generally DuPont brand. Lacquer is harder now due to VOC regulations but it can still be acquired

Dash01

Well, if lacquer will go 15 or 20 years in the sun, and is easier and more forgiving to work with, maybe that's the route to go. I doubt this car will be around for another 15 years, on my watch anyway. This for a practical daily driver/occasional use car, not a museum piece. It needs to be attractive, durable, presentable, and reasonably economical.

This car had a nose ding in a prior ownership, and lacquer was used, so there's lacquer already on at least part of the car.

How does lacquer compare to acrylic urethane cost-wise?

Would lacquer work well with a urethane clear coat over it? I am planning to spray the rock chip prone areas with SEM Chip Guard urethane or similar, for toughness and prevention of sandblasting.

I'm not married to any particular type of paint or procedure, hence this thread.

From your perspective, how and most efficiently/economically to proceed?

Speaking of urethane, the stuff is tough and so used for furniture, flooring, etc. Would the same stuff (urethane in a can from Home Depot) be suitable to spray on over a lacquer base? Or, would a special automotive formula be needed, with UV and automotive chemical resistance?

Such questions may seem profane in a Porsche discussion, but OTOH maybe folks more knowledgeable than I have some handy, useful ideas that work well, and are inexpensive.

Thoughts?

PS: Here's one of may YOuTube vids on hoop houses, suitable for occasional spray booth use--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am1Tso2l3kc

Aero426

Lacquer is not durable compared to even old tech acrylic enamel. The areas that will be most vulnerable are the nose and headlight panels and the areas where stones will be kicked up by the wheels. But it IS easy to work with and safer to spray in your garage than modern urethane paints. Lacquer can be wet sanded and buffed to a beautiful gloss.

Lacquer was often used for touch ups and repairs. Today base/clear is used.

It depends on whether you can even get lacquer in your color in your area. Most paint jobbers do not handle it. It may be able to be ordered through autocolorlibrary. It may be cheaper as it is just the color coat and the appropriate temperature lacquer thinner.

At that point you are better going with base coat/clear coat. You could use the SEM on the rocker panels like it was intended.

No, the stuff from the home store is not the same stuff. It is not catalyzed. It will not have the UV protection.

Aero426

It will spray fine through an airbrush. The issue is that the spray pattern is so small. You would be better off using an inexpensive touch up gun on the mirrors or smaller items.

If the clear coat shines up nice, it should be fine.

turbodave

When getting estimates on paints don't forget about Sherwin-Williams automotive products. Yup, the house paint people. My custom painter here in town uses it exclusively and touts it as the best quality paint out there. They are also the makers of Duplicolor and Krylon paints.

harveyf

Ha, I hadn't noticed that you lived in Anacortes! You really need to look into adding a biocide to your paint to keep the moss from growing on your car

BTW, re all the discussion about lacquer. You generally don't want to mix paint systems or products. I sprayed some Duplicolor on my Ford truck for a small repair. It developed spider web cracks almost immediately. Looked at the spray can. Lacquer! Damn!!

flashx

In some parts of the USA you cant buy lacquer anymore. The EPA does not like it. Delaware is one of those states.

Aero426

This is generally true. Mixing systems is not encouraged.

In the old days, you could top coat lacquer with an enamel, but not the other way around. The lacquer has "hot" solvents. Your problem could also be shop condition related.

The answer really is: if you are going to do this project on your own, find an economical base clear or single stage paint system. Price it out at autocolorlibrary. They will also know if they can do it in lacquer. But to me, that is a step backwards even tho it is garage friendly.

Option 2 is do some prep work yourself and get someone to shoot the car for you. You may get lucky and find someone who can do it as a side job for less labor cost. It sounds like you will be satisfied with a ten footer that is shiny and color matched. You are not going for Pebble Beach!

Dash01

Excellent points made above regarding chemical compatibility between old and new paint. If I can get more of the original stuff, and it's reasonably safe and easy to work with, that may be best.

What type of paint was the original Copenhagen Blue LY5B stock paint? I know it was used in the mid-1980s by Porsche, Volkswagen, and Audi, but what's in it? Acrylic, enamel, lacquer, or what?

Would the paint companies have this information on file? Ditzler/PPG shows this color as 15374, and DuPont says H8275, but does that simply refer to color, or to chemistry as well?

It would be an absolute pisser to do all the work and money for respray, then have new chemicals attack the old ones.

Sorry to ask so many pesky questions, but OTOH this is the sort of information that others may need, too.

Aero426

The original paint on my '87 is a single stage acrylic enamel. Time and technology have moved on. You are still better off with a modern base/clear or single stage urethane.

As far as compatibility, for a complete respray, most paint lines have a sealer which goes down as a single coat before your color. This acts as a barrier to prevent any reaction from the new and old.

The paint jobber you select will be able to cross reference the old paint codes into the modern system.