Current paint option

[Ian Williams]

I have painted a lot of cars over the years, Cellulose, Acrylic, Enamel, and 2k, my first choice today is 2k for several reasons; It is tough, it won't sink as it dries which is a major issue with the others, you don't get anything like the same degree of dry overspray as the other systems, once chemically cured it is hard unlike the others which although touch dry can take weeks to fully cure. Concerns about 2k being too glossy are unfounded, but you do need to add flatting base to take the shine back a notch I use 10% to 25% depending on degree of shine I require, I also go over any paint job with 2000 grit paper then polish this gives you a finish with thousands of minute swirl marks as an old paint job would have, light is refracted differently from this surface than from a perfect gun finish which can look plasticy. I would warn against applying a lot of high build primer, it is a common mistake made by many paint shops on old cars, high build primers help hide blemishes but they also loose details and round off edges which again makes a car look plasticy and is in my opinion wholly inappropriate on a 90 year old car. It is far better to spend more time on your preparation and apply primer sparingly, body shops are all about quick turn around so use the one shot high build's to speed up the preparation process. As for concerns about 2k and health they are real, but the comment about paint drying in your lungs applies to any paint system! You do need to use a respirator designed for spraying, cover your body and hair with a painters overall, wear gloves and ear plugs, but that is all good practice with any paint system, for one off jobs with sensible precautions an air fed mask is not necessary.

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I have just read Andrews post which appeared as I was typing, yes overspray remains wet in the air so sticks to anything it lands on, but if you are getting a lot of overspray perhaps the gun pressure is to high. Personally I don't find 2k runs any more easily than anything else, in fact in my experience probably less. Curing is by chemical reaction but the speed of reaction is temperature related, so if you are painting without a booth in winter it will take a long time to dry. I only use it in summer and find it will be completely dry in very short time, in fact I sometimes have to use a retardant to slow down the cure time.