Single stage acrylic worth it for quicky paint job?

[Improbcat]

(I tried asking this in the paint forum and got unhelpful answers, hopefully you guys will be more helpful)

I'm doing a ton of rust repair on my truck and will need to paint it afterwards, thing is, the truck is in bad enough shape it will never be straight enough to be worth doing a high quality paint job on. So my plan is after rust repair to bang out the dents as best possible, give it a skim coat of bondo to get stuff reasonably straight and paint it.

I want it to be a dark hunter green, I was originally thinking rustoleum either rattled canned or sprayed with an HVLP(I have never done any gun painting).

I have since discovered These single-stage acrylic kits for under $120
Eastwood '69 GM Fathom Midnight Green Metallic 96 oz. Kit
Summit Racing Equipment® Acrylic Urethane Paint Combo Dark Jade Metallic

The question is, for such a quicky paint job over marginal bodywork, am I going to get a measurably better finish spending the extra money on the kit? Any other advice would also be appreciated.

Some pics that make the truck look way straighter than it is:

[Indian113]

I did a down and dirty SS Black on my S10 the first time. It is a 25 footer, but going down the road it still looks good. I'm going to do it right this winter with a Base Coat/ Clear Coat job. I also have a nasty SS job on my 64 It's going to get frame up work done to it and a more expensive paint job. You might check out the - Restoration Shop, they have some good prices on all kinds of paint http://www.tcpglobal.com

[faribran]

That truck doesn't look so bad to me. The acrylic urethane works well.

[Indian113]

Thanks, but it gets rock chips easy and I have a lot of Walmart door dings I have to fix. When I do I'm going to try and do a lot better job this time. I've got all the bugs out of it and it's done enough that I use it as a DD. I promised my wife I would fix up her 64 now that I am done with S10 other than maintaining it.

[faribran]

If you have not sprayed before, not so sure this a good choice for beginners. It is a good choice for a durable and glossy finish

[terbronco7]

Dont know if you have heard about them, but Plasti dip @ dip your car.com offers a really cool paint system cheap. They offer Hunter Green as well, Plan on doing mine in a few weeks.

[chevyrestoguy]

I think your truck looks pretty cool just as it is.

Consider this option. Because you're doing a lot of rust repair and you'll probably have a bunch of primered areas, why not have your local auto paint store mix up a quart or two of your current color and you can just fog it in the repair areas. They can color match it from one of the body pieces (cowl extensions work well for this) and they can add a flattener to match the sheen you already have. This would be a temporary fix until you can get the funds to do it right. Plus, your truck will have that cool patina look that suits our trucks perfectly.

If you paint the entire truck with a temporary paint and add a bunch of body filler in the process, you're eventually going to have to strip all of that off when it comes time to do it right. Acrylics don't have a long lifespan, and you may regret using them when you're out there trying to get it all off.

Embrace the patina!!

[Improbcat]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

I think your truck looks pretty cool just as it is.

What doesn't show is that it had a crappy repaint once in it's life without proper prep of the rust at that time. so there are lots of spots where the top layer is peeling off, or the surface rust is pushing the top layer off, rust in crevices, etc. Between those areas, the replacement panels, the rust repair & the custom work there will be almost no original color left. Since I'd have to "touch up" 80%+ of the truck, I may as well paint it the color I really want.
Also it is going to spend a lot of time outside in New England, so exposed metal or surface rust turns into serious rot pretty quickly.

[luvbowties]

Originally Posted by Improbcat

What doesn't show is that it had a crappy repaint once in it's life without proper prep of the rust at that time. so there are lots of spots where the top layer is peeling off, or the surface rust is pushing the top layer off, rust in crevices, etc. Between those areas, the replacement panels, the rust repair & the custom work there will be almost no original color left. Since I'd have to "touch up" 80%+ of the truck, I may as well paint it the color I really want.
Also it is going to spend a lot of time outside in New England, so exposed metal or surface rust turns into serious rot pretty quickly.

Sounds like you plan to do only "presentable" body work & prep. No need, then, to splurge on the paint you use. If your green has no metallics in it, just go with acrylic enamel. Put lotsa coats on it and u can wet sand and buff IF your resulting shine is too dull. This should be cheaper than using clear coat for the 'coats to be sanded and buffed'. One of only a few advantages in clear would be u could use green WITH metallics--to be later wet-sanded and buffed.

If body work is gonna be marginal, a duller-than-normal outcome from using A/E and NOT sand/buff [regardless whether final coats are color OR clear]would tend to hide the lesser-quality body work & prep. And the duller outcome would offer somewhat of a patina effect at the same time. Should u luck out and end up w/a slicker-than-normal outcome, you can sand and buff months on down the road--remembering the caveats mentioned above.

One last comment: A/E is really a hard and durable paint. A/E in pure colors[those without metallics] can be sanded-and-buffed to appear almost indistinguishable from similar jobs done with old-time lacquer--with swirls et al--yet last better due to its superior hardness.

Hope this helps and maybe answers some of your questions,
Sam

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

The yellow paint that is on my truck now is Acrylic Enamel. It was painted in 1998 or 1999. I have decide to go back with Acrylic Enamel instead of Base Coat Clear Coat.

[63burban]

Acrylic urethane is great stuff if the preparation and application are done good and right. Why don't you get the body ready and take it to Maaco for paint?

[Improbcat]

Originally Posted by 63burban

Acrylic urethane is great stuff if the preparation and application are done good and right. Why don't you get the body ready and take it to Maaco for paint?

It will likely need to get painted in at least two stages(cab & bed) as I get stuff done. Also I want to be able to paint the back of the cab & front of the bed, which would add to the cost at Macco.
Macco is still a possibility, but I've heard mixed things about the local one.

[cortcomp]

Check out my build thread below, basically centari acrylic enamel, topcoated with cheap nason clear. It looks very nice as laid, clear gives extra UV protection and AE is tough as is. If you want to go nuts, nason clear is very easy to wetsand and buff, whether is is the next day or 6 months down the road. Not everyone is going for that level of shine, but i guarantee that AE doesn't have to be "quick and just ok" paint, i would put my paintwork so far against many other basecoat clearcoat jobs. I'd say it's easily in the top 10-15% of nice paint jobs on 60-66 trucks.

sure, clear over AE is like doing basecoat clearcoat, but it's tougher and cheaper, AND if you are going to wetsand and buff, it's CHEAP insurance. A gallon of clear is like $140, and will lay over anything and stick (check out my bedwood), and if you have a mistake, clear is easy to fix. I would say you could even lay it over rustoleum and it would keep it fresh (test first of course.)

It's not even a lot of extra work, i wait for the paint to tack, then lay it, and i put about three coats on (unless doing bedwood then just dump it on there.)

If you have a rough spot, just sand it 1500-2000 and buff. My truck below is my first time and i'm very pleased, although most of the color gunwork is my father in law.

[Sharps40]

Thank the truck gods yer willin ta use paint. Plastish_t is so getto and in 2 weeks ya realize normal dirt and greasy fingerprints are forever just like the handles on yer plyers. Press on wif pride and paint!

[PGSigns]

The lighter the color you go the better it will look with the body work plan you have. You can do a Macco paint job and still do behind the cab and front of the bed. Just get a pint of the color you want them to spray it with and then prep and paint the back and bed while you are doing the repairs. Let them do the sand and spray of the rest. A good painter can make all the difference in how it lays down and looks even with just straight AE.
Jimmy

[spacedebris]

I've got a neighbor that used the SS Acrylic about 2 years ago and he has been cussing it ever since. I got better results on my Jimmy with a simple rattle can paint job. Lasted 4 years before I had to do any touch ups (and only cost me $40) Now in his case he did a piss poor prep job. From what I have seen, its a good paint if you put the effort into it. But you have to really watch the details. Its not a quick shoot and go paint.

[62 Barnfind]

Gloss 55 turned me on to Hotrod Flatz for my truck. I love the satin color and it's easy to spray and designed for biginners. I have also been looking into the Plasti-dip on dip your car.com. They have come along way painting cars with this stuff and they look sick. All you need is to clean and paint with a wagner power painter and your done. A Gallon is $60 cant bet that and if you don't like it you can peel it off. You can even send them a paint code for them to match colors. If I da to do it again thats what I'll be going with. I hope this helps a little.