Base/clear coat or single stage paint

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71cdnduster

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I am getting the body work done on my 71 duster and the guy who is going to paint it is now recommending single stage versus base coat clear coat. This is my first car project and I would have thought base and clear but he says no. Any advice??
 
The original paint was single stage. Resto correct would say single. I am going with single because of price, paint color, ease of doing it myself, and not having to worry about getting the clear on in a certain amount of time. The way I look at it, if it was good enough for Ma Mopar, its good enough for me.

P.S. I have a badly peeling clearcoat on myt dart right now that was painted 15 years ago. I have seen many 2 stage paintjobs loose their clearcoat in the texas sun. Look at any 90's dodge pickup from texas on souther hot states and you will damaged paint.
 
Also depends on the colour it's being painted. If it's white or a light non-metallic colour, there's not much point going base/clear. Why people would paint a white car base/clear is beyond me. Mine is getting a base/clear (3 coats each) since it's a dark metallic colour that a clear coat will really show off.
 
I heard something simalar, they me told metallics and pearls are prefect for BC/CC, while solid picment look better in SS.
 
Thanks for the replies. The car is going to be Curious Yellow - non metallic.
I have heard that some paint shops prefer base and clear because it is easier for them?
Can a single stage come out real shiny like 3 coats of clear might?
 
single stage you can wet sand and buff the snot out of. Not only will it be shiney it will be as smooth as a baby's butt.
 
Here are some pictures of my last Dakota, it was painted in a custom mix PPG Delstar single stage, it was a real standout in sunlight, got a lot of attention. The paint looked good, but it was even better when I buffed it out. It took a day of my time to do that and lay a good coat of yellow wax on it.

DCP01587.jpg
 
Sorry to buck the trend but BC/CC is generally the way things are done these days, it's a more forgiving system especially with metallics since you can't sand and buff out single stage metallics. All the clear flaking off problems you see are from the early days when they had not yet ironed out the problems. You get a great wet look from the clear and you can sand and buff the snot out of it too, then shoot a couple of flow coats, sand and buff and it'll look a mile deep. Single stage can come out really shiney but I don't think it looks as deep. If you're trying to be all original with it then maybe single stage is the way to go, I don't know, I don't think SS Urethane really looks like the old finishes either?

Here's a single stage I shot, it's shiney all right
JP07.jpg


I did this one in BC/CC, it's so deep you can dive into it
Cam2.jpg
 
I've painted a lot of cars with various paint systems over the past 40 years, and it seems that all have their good points and their bad points. SS Urethane is a good system for an older car, but I think the B/C system is even better. One of the drawbacks to a lot of the paint colors we use on our older Mopars, is that the hi impact colors such as the yellows, reds, and blues are prone to deteriorating rather quickly compared to colors like white or black. The base/clear system will keep these underlying color from fading and chalking so quickly, since there are UV protectants in the clear coat. With other paints, such as SS Urethane, there is a very thin UV protectant that forms on the top skin of the paint as it dries, but it can't match the protection of clear coat. Both systems can be buffed to a shine, however, shine isn't what makes a great paint job, it's the depth and distinctness, or clarity, of reflected images that make a really standout paint finish. You can see this quite clearly in both of Rob's vehicles pictured above, especially the Camaro. Can you say "DEEEEEEP"? :)
 
FWIW, my car was orignally painted with Dupont Chroma Base/Clear in Sublime back in 2000. I have since had to do some rust repair (this was my first attempt at body work and rust repair) on both sides of the car. I still had a quart of Dupont Chroma One single stage that I had used for under the hood and in the trunk. I have spotted painted the rust repair with this paint figuring I would clear it. It came out so good that I just wet sanded wet sanded and buffed the repair work. You just can't tell where the transition from single stage to base/clear is. There just is no difference with a bright non-mettalic like Sublime.

I wouldn't hesitate to paint a non-metallic car in single stage. The quality single stage paints have all the UV inhibitors that are in the clear so fading won't be an issue.
 
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