Hi Ron,
I've just been through this part of my project. I chose to paint the car
myself for several reasons, first being the cost, second being that I could
paint sections along the way, third I just wanted to learn more about it.
While I certainly learned a lot, I'm far from an expert painter. Most
importantly, I learned what not to do.
As the owner of a NAPA store that sells paint, I do have a pretty good idea
of what's what. For a finish, I chose to use a base coat/clear coat system
(I get a wicked discount). This is pretty expensive, even spraying it
yourself. If I were to have a body shop do the job, base/clear would be my
choice. Materials for base/clear, not including primers, would likely run
around $300 to $500 depending on color. A quality clearcoat is well over
$100 per gallon plus hardeners and reducers.
To paint the daily driver at home, my choice would be a urethane enamel. It
dries hard, resists chipping, has a great shine, is durable, and sprays
nicely. The price is very reasonable too (depending on the color, red being
the most expensive, the urethane and related products will be under $200).
Our store has formulas for Triumphs in most types of finish. My car is delft
blue and unfortunately there was no base/clear formula (Triumph didn't use
base/clear) so we used an analyzer to suggest the best matching formula. By
the way, delft blue is just about a perfect match for a Mack truck color.
Technically my car is now Mack truck blue!
Any auto parts supplier that deals with paint will have someone on staff
that will assist you. Some of my TR6 painting trials and tribulations are on
my web page at http://users.clinic.net/~rpatton/paint.htm
There is another thread running about priming freshly sandblasted panels.
Again, don't want to sound like an advertisement, but the spot primer to use
is Martin Senour Self Etching light gray primer aerosol #7220. Of course
others will have an equivalent. If you have questions or need a hand with a
formula just yell.
Rick Patton
75 Delft Blue
Brunswick, Maine
> Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 00:39:20 -0600
> From: "Ronald A. Dowty" <rdowty@dowtyenterprises.com>
> Subject: Paint costs
>
> I'm taking a poll here to get some ideas on the costs involved in painting
> my car after a frame off restoration. All the fenders are new, the doors
> look great and I'm probably going to pop for a new hood and such so don't
> worry about bodywork in your calculations. I'm questioning whether to do
> hire out the whole job, part of it or do it all myself. If I were to do it
> myself the questions would be reguarding materials and equipment. A while
> back before my project turned into a frame off I did my engine bay with a
> $50 "jam gun" and was happy with the results. Not outside car
> quality but I
> did it under very poor conditions at the time and it was probably better
> than the stock paint job. I'd love to hear from people who went
> before me on
> this one and what they learned and how much it cost and what they would do
> if they had to do it again. The whole body has been sanblasted
> also (not the
> panels of course). Part of me wants to go drop it off and pick it up in a
> month ready to go. Part of me wants to save a ton of money and
> have tools to
> do it again. I'm already dreaming of my next project. This has to be the
> hardest decision I have to make in reguards to the restoration of my car.
> It's going to be a daily driver if I can get it reliable enough and I can
> take the heat in the Summer. Not much snow or ice hear in the
> winter and the
> good heater evens things up but I have a 4WD SUV that'll take over if it
> gets icy. Anyway, give me all your advice, opinions, stories, pictures or
> anything that will be usefull and I'll be seeing everyone at the car shows
> this summer!
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