oletrucks
[Top] [All Lists]

RE: [oletrucks] Painting Questions

To: merrittgene@qwest.net (Gene Merritt)
Subject: RE: [oletrucks] Painting Questions
From: Tom3600@webtv.net
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 14:58:46 -0500 (EST)
Gene ~

It is true that the solvents that are necessary in a lacquer type paint
will lift or wrinkle an enamel especially if the enamel is not fully
cured or "old".  There are so many disadvantages to using lacquer that I
doubt that you will find anybody that still uses them.  Lacquers are
very flammable, toxic, and for the most part brittle.  They have been
replaced by acrylic enamels and urethanes.  You can still find lacquer
primers because of their very fast dry.  The reason lacquers were used
in the past is because you could put on many coats that ended up looking
pretty rough and then just buff them out with rubbing compound.  They
were also great for "candy" and clear finishes.  These type finishes are
now accomplished using urethane basecoat/clearcoat.

The washboard/ripple (orange peel) effect you see is caused by the
enamel not being atomized properly or the use of too fast of evaporating
solvents.  This can be due to the quality of the equipment and paint you
are using or "operator error" from lack of experience.  Actually lacquer
finishes have more of a tendency to orange peel or have dry spray then
enamels but lacquers can then be buffed out with rubbing compound.

I suggest that the average home painter go to a local outlet for a major
distributor of automobile paints (Dupont, PPG, etc) and talk with them
about what you are trying to paint, where, what spray equip., etc.  They
can tell you what primer, topcoat, type of solvent (thinner) and how
much to add, air pressure, tip size, etc.  Then I suggest that you start
painting small parts or some kind of larger "test" pieces to get some
experience before you tackle your final paint job.  

Don't ask your friendly painter at the local bodyshop 'cause he will
make it sound like you have to know chemistry, physics, art, voodoo, and
some mysterious special additive before you can paint a barn door.

Tom


Tom Poterack
Moline, IL.
'49 Chevy Pickup Retro Rod
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49side1.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49grill.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49tailgate.jpg
Received: from smtpin-102-6.bryant.webtv.net (209.240.198.43) by
  storefull-243.iap.bryant.webtv.net with WTV-SMTP; Sun, 21 Jan 2001
  09:47:39 -0800 (PST)
Received: by smtpin-102-6.bryant.webtv.net (WebTV_Postfix) id 32838120;
  Sun, 21 Jan 2001 09:47:39 -0800 (PST)
Delivered-To: tom3600@webtv.net
Received: from teamfat2.dsl.aros.net (teamfat2.dsl.aros.net
  [207.173.21.42]) by smtpin-102-6.bryant.webtv.net (WebTV_Postfix) with
  ESMTP id B1A62130; Sun, 21 Jan 2001 09:47:37 -0800 (PST)
Received: (from majordom@localhost) by teamfat2.dsl.aros.net
  (8.11.0/8.11.0) id f0LHcEY02939 for oletrucks-actors; Sun, 21 Jan 2001
  10:38:14 -0700 (MST)
X-Authentication-Warning: teamfat2.dsl.aros.net: majordom set sender to
  owner-oletrucks@Autox.Team.Net using -f
Delivered-To: fixup-oletrucks@autox.team.net@fixme
From: "Gene Merritt" <merrittgene@qwest.net>
To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: [oletrucks] Painting Questions
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 11:37:59 -0600
Message-ID: <000a01c083d0$e57721c0$0300000a@AST>
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0
In-Reply-To: <19359-3A6AD8A2-2894@storefull-241.iap.bryant.webtv.net>
Sender: owner-oletrucks@autox.team.net
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: "Gene Merritt" <merrittgene@qwest.net>

I've always been confused by this same question.  I've been told that enamel
can cover anything, but lacquer can only cover lacquer due to orange-peel
defects.  Is this true for all cases, or only when the base coats are
relatively new?

What if I don't know what kind of paint is on the truck already, does that
mean I'm forced to use enamel?

Also, whenever I've done enamel, I get a subtle washboard/ripple surface
that is visible when trying to see a reflection in the gloss.  Is this an
attribute of enamel (unavoidable) or just poor workmanship?  I feel that I
should learn to use lacquer just to avoid this problem.

What does everyone suggest for the home painter who wants a good looking
surface?

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-oletrucks@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-oletrucks@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Tom3600@webtv.net
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 6:40 AM
To: Deve Krehbiel
Cc: oletrucks@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [oletrucks] Painting Questions


Deve ~

If the old paint is in good shape as far as adhesion, I would recommend
just sanding it lightly to remove any gloss or imperfections.  The old
saying was that the best primer is the old topcoat if it has good
adhesion and is smooth.  Of course you must feather out all the dings
and scratches and use a good solvent to remove all the old wax and any
oil on the surface.  If you sand through the topcoat and the primer down
to bare metal than treat that like you did any other bare metal parts
before repainting.
Technically an old paint job that has good adhesion to the primer/metal
surface and shows no corrosion under the paint film is just a "glossy
primer" and just needs to be sanded so that the new topcoat will have
good intercoat adhesion.

Tom


Tom Poterack
Moline, IL.
'49 Chevy Pickup Retro Rod
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49side1.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49grill.jpg
http://www.chevytrucks.org/users/wayne/tom49tailgate.jpg
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>