TheSamba.com :: View topic - Is it ok to paint car in pieces? BC-CC

Mon May 12, 2003 9:48 pm

Hi, my painter wants to paint a beetle in pieces. Do the body one day and the fenders doors hoods another day. He says he prefers to do it this way. And is due to it being a complete repaint and size of his booth is smaller he cannot paint everything at once. This kinda worries me about the panels color matching. The paint is DBC base coat-clear coat PPG. It is a brown color. Will there be problems with the colors matching painting at different times?

Also, how long should you wait before wet sanding and buffing BC-CC

Thanks

Tue May 13, 2003 12:58 am

We try painting all our cars (& customer cars) all at the same time. But there have been occassions when this isn't possible. But in this instance, we will paint the interior, door jams, trunk & engine compartmnent one day, and the entire exterior the same day.
If you hire a compitent painter, he should be able to match the color accordingly. We use the DBC-series of PPG exclusively on most of the cars & bikes we paint. It is an excellent line. As for color sanding, wait 3-5 days while the car naturally bakes in the sun. Afterwards, start with 1000 grit, then 1500 wet/dry. Finalize the polishing proces with some micro-polishing compound and you should be good to go.
There's no real reason to use any grit finer than 1500 unless you have some major flaws in the paint.

Tue May 13, 2003 7:59 am

The biggest problem with painting on seperate occasions is mixing of the paint or running out of paint and haveing to get more mixed. Most shops should have the ability to mix thier own paint inhouse. The booth should be big enough to spray the body hood and decklid all at one time. Find out the painters reasons for painting the panels instead of a full spray of all parts.
Panel painting is becoming a thing of the past for the high tech painters. With spray bake boths to aid in the curing process.

Tue May 13, 2003 2:53 pm

I have done them in pieces on several occasions, but like the other advise given I made sure to have plenty of paint and generally still sprayed everything in a 48 hour period.
same as rareair stated they do...Starting with interior and under hood jambs etc. one day and the rest of the car and pieces the next.

I was using PPG or SW or centauri... arcylic enamel one shot with urethane hardner... not the DBC...

There is always a chance that parts will not match perfectly though.

Tue May 13, 2003 10:17 pm

Thanks guys. I am actually thinking of having another guy actually a shop do it. They are best in town and have done cars for me before.

Another question though...when cutting in the dash and trunk areas...do you mask off the rest of the car? If not does not the over spray mess with all my super nice flat freshly 600 ed panels on the outside of the car? Or does the small amount not matter.

Thanks

Tue May 13, 2003 10:41 pm

IMO and experience with the kind of paint I spray and the amount of paint and coats it does not matter. or I also usually back tape the area or tape off the under trunk/jambs dash and scotchbrite the exterior one last time ( smoothes out even a 600 grit wetsand job even more) then blow it all off with air wipe with prep solve/ tack rag and shoot it.

Mon Feb 09, 2004 12:28 pm

A friend of mine painted the body of his oval and the various parts 4 years apart!!!

It might be that it is a dark color but I can't see any difference in the colors. It's flawless.

Check it out for your self on www.aircooled.nl

Erwin
Holland

Tue Feb 10, 2004 1:04 pm

Chillkoot once advised that it will help to reduce but not catalyze the paint first. Just catalyze what you are going to shoot during the pot life time. Then the next day when you are ready to shoot the rest of the parts, catalyze that.

He also recommended against trying to paint the car in pieces when shooting metallics. I can't find the thread but I remember his advice and he does know his shiat.

Thu Feb 12, 2004 7:08 pm

If you have enough paint and it is all mixed together you can paint one part each day or week and it will match. It is best to use the same gun. I have restored many cars and I paint them apart. I have never had a color match problem. The only time you need to paint everything together is when you are using a tri-coat

Sat Feb 14, 2004 8:16 pm

If you look at the picture the paint matches purfectly....I painted under the deck lid and hood one day....the rear fenders about a month later...the body about 2 weeks later and finally the doors last week! I still haven't painted the hood and front fenders. This is single stage non-metlalic.

I did it this way because I hate bodywork and putting on some color keeps me motivated!

John

Mon Feb 16, 2004 7:17 pm

Lot of the time you can get away with this using a single stage paint. I wouldnt recommend it with bc/cc. Though im sure it has been done, I just wouldnt.

Mon Feb 16, 2004 9:53 pm

Painted mine on seperate days,weeks no problem. I even sprayed the door upside down. 8) METALLIC,pearl BC\CC SILVER. It all matches perfect and have won many best paint awards. The trick, mix ALL the paint at the same time without the hardner.

Tue Feb 17, 2004 8:55 am

A lot of good info posted already. I definately mix all my base coat and reduce it before I start to spray. I have paint mixed and reduced for my next two projects. I usually paint "in stages" espically if booth space is limited. You just have to remember how many coats of sealer, base, clear, ect... Solid colors are no problem, you can paint them months apart. If you plan on doing that, use the same gun and note air pressure. There will be no color problems but possibly texture problems for the fact if conditions are not the same or gun doesn't spray the same. I do perfer to paint metallics at one time even though I will still spray with the car apart so there are no tape lines.

Wed Feb 18, 2004 10:18 pm

hey rareair what shop you work at? i live in san diego and im tryin to find somegood places to get my car painted