Thread: Show car finish?

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What is the very best paint to use when you want a show car finish? Are they all the same or do they have different characteristic such as ease of color sanding and polishing.

From my experience... which over 40 years includes various lines of Dupont, Ditzler/PPG, and many many others... what you need is a stable paint, that sets up, and does not continue to shrink AFTER it is sanded and buffed! I use R-M, which I believe is also what Foose uses.

I let it dry two days in the summer months, and an extra 1-2 days in the winter, before I sand and buff. At that point it is becoming very stable! In about 15-20 years, since I was intruced to it, I've never had any desire to switch away from my favorite R-M "Diamont DC92" clear, as the others have always disappointed me by comparison.

There are stilll many that I have NOT tried, so you need to speak to people who do high end finishes with those BEFORE you assume that all popular brands are the same. They are not!!!

By comparison, I recently used a PPG clear that a customer had already bought, that I let dry two weeks... sanded and buffed... and the orange peel and a couple sags I sanded out CAME BACK! I talked to a guy who uses it exclusively. He said to let it dry 3-4 months! Are you kidding me???

Good luck to you.

Originally Posted by carman89

What is the very best paint to use when you want a show car finish? Are they all the same or do they have different characteristic such as ease of color sanding and polishing.

For me,it comes down to ability,,but,the quality of the producy helps..Don't know what you guys have up there,,but I am a firm believer in Spies Hecker,Standox,(,same company now anyway),,owned by DuPont,,also a good product..
A couple of years back,I repainted a friends Chev pickup,,in Nason..The Nason clear coat went on a dream,and rubbed back and polished real easy..Truck still looks good today..I am using nason at various times,to paint the plugs,before I start molding,,and even the solid colors impress me with the way they flow..Real easy to polish up.. Am using Duxone clearcoat on the wifes Customline,,and the stuff's brilliant to apply..Will find out later what it's like to polish. What it comes down to,is,the more prep you put into the job,,the better the finish will be..I have seen people use cheap enamel,and by the time they have finished,,it's lookin good.. Depends on how far you want to go..

First off, what is your definition of "show quality"? A finish that will rival those of a Riddler Award winner, or a finish that will stand out at some local get together??? World of difference in the two!

I usually use PPG, the Cutlass will be House of Kolor, used to use Sikkens.... They're all good, but if you want a show quality finish on a car the prep work and panel fit is far more critical then what brand of paint to use. A lot of it is just preference, anyway.

There is no "magic bullet" paint that is guaranteed to turn any car into a show car, but quality body work, using the right materials in the substrate, proper application of the paint and clear coat, and the correct sandpaper, compounds, and pads along with their correct application can make most any paint "show quality".

I have a friend who has a bodyshop. He does many high end cars and also quite a few local hot rods. I was there the other day to see a 56 Ford pickup and a 55 Chvy he had done. Both were done in single stage(no clear coat) paint(Dupont) The 55 was already color sanded and buffed and I'll tell you what...............it was hard to tell the difference between that and one that was done in BC/CC.

I've generally used DuPont paints mostly because it is most easily available. I also used R-M on one project - nice - but that supplier didn't last the economy ripple before this current one. PPG is available, but much further to get to the suppliers and I don't care much for their primers, preferring SPI (Southern Polyurethanes)sanding epoxies and 2K. I don't care much for DuPont's Nason (sorry Robin) having used their clear on my '31 fenders and it has gotten a bit hazy while the rest of the car is SPI Universal clear. One paint that I've seen lately that I like are the DuPont Hot Hues - vivid is all I can say, plus deep color.

Any of the national brands are good along with a few of the smaller ones like SPI - it's the prep for paint and application along with the final buffing that makes them show car worthy.

Don't know much about paints.I do think this post is still on topic.Does a show quality paint mean long term durability issues??.

From your profile you posted your question and then have never come back, so answers may be a waste of time, but it hasn't been two weeks yet so..... I'm not an experienced painter, but have done a bit and have talked to my local paint guy a bunch, trying to learn before I screw up the '33 After preparation, getting the surface clean, and getting ALL of the dust & debris blown out of nooks and crannies the most important step, seems to me, is to understand the specific product that you choose to spray, and to stay within the defined time windows on application. For example, on most products you don't want to pile on too many coats of clear before letting it cure or it's going to give you problems - may have to shoot two to three coats, let it cure for some finite time, then give it a quick wet sand and cleaning before shooting another round of clear for the "depth" you want. Pick your paint, then talk to the supplier enough to be sure you understand the application process. I've been told a "good" paint job you can see your cell phone reflected in the surface. A "great" paint job you can read the numbers on the keys.