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Sun May 08, 2005 10:25 pm

I am getting ready to paint my baja this summer and sa I have been going to local car shows I have been really interested in rat rods and other flat black cars. My original plan was to go with a nice orange color but now am having second thoughts. I had planned on trimming it with black (bumpers, side bars, and such). Now my new idea is flat black with red welting and red bumpers. Now this is going to be a on road baja, which may not be right with some of you, but its the look that I am after. I know its my final decision but would like some suggestions on the idea. Its not a rattle can paint job my dad used to restore cars in the 80's and he will be painting but materials would be cheaper.

thank you for any thoughts in advance!

Sun May 08, 2005 11:29 pm

i hope it doesnt get hot where you live

Mon May 09, 2005 3:31 am

i'd skip the red trim. that usually looks really cheesy. flat black and chrome, on the other hand.... nice!!!

check the gallery for examples of what you want to do. most likely, there will be some variation of what you're thinking about, and you can get an idea of what it will look like. and thumbs up on the flat paint scheme. suede rocks!

above all else, have fun!

Mon May 09, 2005 5:41 am

I'd use a sealer primer or or a flatner in a single stage paint. Straight base coat also holds up for awhile and still seals pretty well. I wouldn't rattle can, 1 it looks like shit, 2 usually doesn't hold up for shit, 3 if you decide you wanna give it a real paintjob down the line, you gotta deal with another layer of shit that doesnt sand for shit!

(can you guess what my word of the day is?)

Mon May 09, 2005 6:25 am

like i said my dad used to paint a lot of cars so he has all the nice gravity feed guns, we make a special paint both in our garage with exhaust fan, and have a nice compressor with water trap.

I would never waste my time with the rattle can. If it is worth doing its worth doing right/

I could go with the bumpers being black too i suppose but i think it would need another color for appeals. Chroming I am not sure on the Price but I bet its expensive.

Tue May 10, 2005 1:06 am

I do custom painting and sheetmetal work as my main source of income during the winter. My real business is seasonal so I have winters to twiddle my thumbs. I mostly do custom bikes, roughly 10-20 bikes a winter with some hot rod and custom car stuff thrown in as well.

Anyhow,

Out of all my work, I think the stuff that gets the most attention is the flat black, with nicely detailed graphics thrown in. A nice flame job over a flat basecoat is usually a crowd pleaser. A street baja painted like this would be cool in my book. personally, just using the falt color seems kind of boring and half assed, no matter how nicely it is done However, if you can apply some "nice" graphic element along with it and make it appear like the whole job was intended to be that way, admiring looks will follow.

I totally agree with using a single stage color. Just have it pre-mixed for a satin finish. True flat is hard to achieve and really doesn't look as good as satin. I shoot for that "replacement body panel" look with my work. Stay away from using a sealer primer for your top coat. Primer will still absorb moisture and the appearance isn't nearly as nice as actual paint. One thing to take into consideration before you go this route, flats, semi-gloss and sating finishes are TOUGH to match if you ever need to do a repair.

SHMO

Tue May 10, 2005 6:45 am

i found the closest example I could find is:

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/188112.jpg

Good idea on incorporating graphics into the paint scheme now I have something else to toss around in my head. As far as matching paint later on it should not be an issue seeing I don't plan any off roading so just normal street wear and tear.

Mon May 16, 2005 9:31 pm

not bad, not bad... i thought about doing black, but seein how VW forgot to include an A/C in these things... it can get a little toastie. Hope your windows open nicely, they'll be that way alot. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but would black be bad for an aircooled engine if you dont have some kind of aftermaket cooler? just things to ponder on. I'd like to see the finished product & I hope all goes smoothly for you.

Tue May 17, 2005 10:15 am

I've been preparing on painting my baja flat black also. My boyfriend was just going to do a quick one-stage job. We were going to use trim black. We bought it in a can also and sprayed the front fire wall and all the good stuff up there with it. I really like how it looks. I have a whole graphic and color scheme ready in my mind to make it look nice on the street. SHMO, I'm really looking for your input here since you seem really experienced (and you like the idea of flat black). What would you suggest I do for prep? Anything? How do you think the trim black will stand up without any primer? I already know that I need to sand it, but is anything else really required? I will be painting over red...

Tue May 17, 2005 12:56 pm

Well,

it depends on the condition of the red paint and the bodywork already on the car. Is there any dents, scratches or blemishes in the paint currently?
Those things should be dealt with before you do any top coating.

I would wet sand it with 600grit. If the red paint is in pretty decent condition try not to sand completely through it. Use a gray scotch brite pad in areas that your sand paper can't easily reach, like in creases and recessed areas. You want the entire surface to have a dull appearance before moving on to paint.

For the actual painting process, I recommend using some primer sealer. That will assure you get good adhesion and an even looking top coat. Other than that, spray away. Flat black is going to be pretty forgiving.

SHMO

Tue May 17, 2005 11:21 pm

That's great info. Exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to use a spray gun for the black but can I use a can for the primer??? My red paint isn't doing that great so I'll probably really go at it with the wet sanding. You can see the very original green underneath in some parts and the primer under the red in a lot of other parts. No dents or real scratches though, so I guess thats good. Thanks again, you helped a lot.
-Jennie :D

Wed May 18, 2005 9:45 am

Nope, no spray can primer!

Buy something decent for the sealer. I recommend a PPG product called DP 90. It isn't cheap, but it will help a lot with adhesion. That is very important, especially if you ever decide to re-paint the car at a later date. Nothing is worse than needing to completely strip a car before paint because it was poorly prepped in the past. Do this step right. You will thank me later.

With the way you are describing your current paint, you might have issues with the sealer and topcoat “bulls eyeing”. If you spray the sealer primer on and it appears to have blotchy areas or there are obvious places where you can see where the chips and scratches are, do this. Allow the primer to dry overnight. The next day, come back with your 600grit and lightly wet sand the car concentrating on the bad areas more thoroughly. Again, use the gray scotch bright and thoroughly scuff everything. It sounds like a lot of work, but if you have areas like this in the primer it will surely show through in the topcoat. You want to make sure you get it right before the paint goes on.

SHMO

Wed May 18, 2005 4:36 pm

SHMO,

how do i fix my microwave? sometimes it takes 4 minutes instead of 3 minutes to pop popcorn.

Wed May 18, 2005 5:34 pm

pfffft,

everbody knows you cross reference the microwaves wattage output to the container size of the intended popcorn. under your circumstances, I would suggest entering a value of 3:30 and pressing "start".

Now SHATUP smart ass.

SHMO