When I finally get the right color selected for my Brody tribute Blazer, what kind of paint do I want to paint with? The original 1974 paints were enamel from what I have read, and apparently everything now is acrylic urethane?
What is the best brand of paints?
Can I or should I even attempt to paint it myself or is this a job best left to professionals?
Can you please give me the most crucial tips on painting and if I need to pay a professional what am I looking for and what do I need to stay away from?
I am changing colors, so everything inside and out will need to be repainted...
i'll see if I can go thru these for ya without writing too much of a novel...........
absolutely, you'd be using urethane.... enamel paint is about as dinosauric as it gets, is problematic, and hasn't been used in the refinishing biz in about 25 yrs.... the only people using it are the cheap people that want paint for $50 a gallon......
the real question will be whether you go with a single stage (goes on wet and shiney) or a base/clear system... there are variables to this in how you go about applying it.... you will also get vastly better UV protection with a base/clear... tho that can be evened out between the 2 products if you add clear to your last coats of single stage... your painter can help in these decisions... both products have a slightly different look to them, but alot of that can be controlled by spray techniques....
base/clear will be more money.... your buying an additional material... unless your adding clear to your single stage... and contrary to web rumors you may hear, base/clear is a MUCH easier product to touchup/repair down the road....
best brands... eh, it's really a matter of opinion.... most of the major manufacturers have a quality line out that'll perform well... PPG, Dupont, Ditzler, House of Kolor, etc.... but I will voice my opinion... hands down, if you want the absolute best urethane on the market, it's Glasurit... a tad bit pricier than other lines on occasion... but it's about as good as it gets... it's what they run on Mercedes and BMW's...
more than likely you should just have whatever shop you use, use one of their higher quality lines that they like to use...
which brings up the next one.... honestly, if your wanting a good looking, as good or better than factory finish, DON'T EVEN CONSIDER DOING THIS YOURSELF...... you need to spray in a proper booth and prior experience helps a ton........ nothing worse than wasting 4, $500 in paint with a screwup.... guys that have been around and have a decent setup at home can get very nice results, but it really isn't for the beginner imo... EXPERIENCE means a ton... well, that and prep... which is the next point....
as mentioned, prep is everything.. the more perfect your substrate is the better the finish... can't have a perfect finish if the primer isn't perfect... alot of this can be done by you... removing trim, bumpers, etc.... initial sanding, getting jambs ready, etc.... PM me when the time comes that you wanna start this process...
color change........ this will be the real ball-buster.... in order to do this correctly, it requires a large additional, initial process.... once again, alot of this prep can be done by you.. but this will be a test of the shop you use on their quality.. trimming out jambs (all the jambs will be painted prior to the outside finish) is usually one shops skimp on somewhat.... masking techniques are critical here, just as it's critical on the final shoot...
I know this is a lot of info to take in, but there are rediculous amounts of minutia i've learned about paint/bodywork over the yrs...
I can expound in more detail if you need clarification on any subject......
not to swell my head, but trust me, ANYTHING you could want to ever know about this subject is floating around my cranium somewhere....
