I am going to do, Lets hear the opinions!

[OldnRusty]

Okay all. I am have finally decided I am going to use Duplicolor Paint Shop finish system over urethane paint. I have talked to several people and looked at their trucks and feel its pretty good stuff. I don't mind the extra effort to take care of it, but that really goes with all paint jobs. I would like to hear the opinions just so I can make the Final Final decision (Which means I have a very tiny voice questioning my pick) I will be using black as a base, then I will use the Matte clear coat to finish her off. I like the lacquer because I can take my time adding the hugger orange racing stripes so here is your chance, pipe in. Oh by the way, the truck is a 1964 Chevrolet step side.

[markeb01]

One of the nice things about this forum is you’ll get support for whatever decision you make. However I wouldn’t be one of the members recommending lacquer. Years ago it was the gold standard for show car finishes, but that was many decades ago. It can be maintained in tip top condition for decades with constant care, but it chips very easily and dark colors tend to fade quickly unless they receive constant attention. Spot repairs are easy, and it can be sprayed safely with just a respirator. It can be also be rubbed out to an extreme shine with relative ease.

A big downside with lacquer is that once you apply it, nothing else can go over it but more lacquer, or unhardened enamel. If you later decide to do a really nice urethane paint job, all the lacquer will have to come back off. I did my 1960 GMC in gloss black lacquer back in 1998 because it was easy, cheap, and didn’t require breathing gear. Here’s what it looked like back then:



At the time, breathing gear was over $2,500 which I couldn’t afford. Six months later Hobbyair came out with a workable system for only $500 which I could have afforded. I was sure sorry I had already painted the truck it was now too late to apply good paint.

Eleven years later the truck was covered with rock chips and needed a repaint. I had two choices – completely strip the truck to bare metal again for urethane, or reshoot in more lacquer or unhardened enamel. Since I no longer wanted to maintain a lacquer finish, and had also recently lost my job, enamel was the only financial option. I convinced myself to be happy without gloss black so I painted it John Deere Blitz Black (tractor enamel).

If you have any thought of ever doing a urethane paint job in the future, do yourself a favor and avoid lacquer. Another consideration is the Duplicolor system itself. The paint comes premixed, so you have no opportunity to blend the correct speed thinner for the temperatures and humidity conditions at which you’ll be painting. I’ve used most of the major brands and all of them provided nice results because I took the time to mix the paint with the correct thinners needed on the day of the shoot.

If what you want is an inexpensive flat black paint job you might consider what I did:

Post #24 shows how it turned out and has held up with virtually no deterioration:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ht=blitz+black

The Duplicolor system is capable of providing a beautiful finish. It’s just unfortunate it requires just as much prep labor as something that would hold up better. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

[OldnRusty]

Yes I have seen your truck, that is an amazing paint job, gotta tell ya. I tip my hat to ya. The question is, is there a clear coat over that. I live in Arizona and to be honest, with out clear coat the UV will tear up the paint job. I also want to put a matte hugger orange racing tripe on. What are your thoughts. Keep in mind, I respect you and appreciate you taking the time to post on this thread and look forward to all replies.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by OldnRusty

Yes I have seen your truck, that is an amazing paint job, gotta tell ya. I tip my hat to ya. The question is, is there a clear coat over that. I live in Arizona and to be honest, with out clear coat the UV will tear up the paint job. I also want to put a matte hugger orange racing tripe on. What are your thoughts. Keep in mind, I respect you and appreciate you taking the time to post on this thread and look forward to all replies.

I didn't pay attention enough to realize you lived in Arizona. There is no clear coat on my current paint job, it's just plain old tractor paint. And to be honest I'm not sure it would hold up all that well in the Arizona sun. Back in the late 60's I was stationed at MCAS Yuma and had a 57 Chevy with a brand new enamel paint job. Within a year it had a dull and sandblasted appearance. Of course sand storms can play havoc with any paint.

I'm not sure you'll find lacquer clear will help the black paint hold up much better. Perhaps they have reformulated it more recently, but back in the old days lacquer clear was very brittle and caused many lacquer paint jobs to crack and craze faster than lacquer without it. I seem to remember mixing clear in with the last color coat seemed to help reduce this tendency. Unless you have already researched any superior properties of the Duplicolor clear, I'd suggest some investigation into the UV protection would be valuable. I just haven't followed current lacquer development to know if it's any better than the stuff we had 30 years ago. Regards, Mark.

FYI - here are some earlier threads discussing Duplicolor Paint Shop offering a variety of opinions:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=356831

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=duplicolor

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...+paint+shop%22

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...+paint+shop%22

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...+paint+shop%22

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...+paint+shop%22