Help with Paint Decision Please

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Ok well im fixing to get my car painted and im wanting to do something a little bit different that you dont really see everyday on a 1g. My car was originaly white/black so im just doing white on the body and then from the spoiler up is going to be black. I am also going to put a fine white pearl in my clear coat over just the white only. The black will have normal clear on it. Door handles will be black also. Now i was thinking of painting my hood and pop-ups black. Ive seen it a few times and i like how it looks i just cant get up the nerve to do it by myself. Kinda scared

So i guess what im looking for is opinions on the whole hood/pop-up thing, or any other ideas someone might have.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jepherz]

this is purely my OPINION, but I don't think making the parts black will look good. For the door handles especially, it seems like when you buy a cheaper model car, they come with unpainted parts like door handles. I just think it looks like a better car if more stuff is painted

This is dealing with black plastic though, maybe it would look totally different since the black you will have will be clear coated and shiny

 

[miteclgst]

My advice to you is have the pearl mixed in with the base rather than have it applied on top mixed in clear. Will applying it on top of the clear give it more of a drastic color switch/custom look? Yes, but it definately isn't worth all of the headaches when you go to fix it. My car is the stock grey color with 2 coats of purple pearl layed on top. The biggest problem with pearl is a) it needs to be sprayed as a candy (too much pattern overlap = dark spots, too little pattern overlap = light spots) b) any kind of repair that needs to be done somewhere down the road will require the painting of the entire panel. This is a big problem because almost all base/clear applications could be "spotted" in if the panel is damaged. Take this hypothetical situation, you get a stone chip in the center of the hood, if you get the pearl mixed in the base then the fix is easy, simply scuff up a small area around the damage, spray the base, then use a high temp clear to "melt" the new clear into the old clear, your spot is now fixed and if the color match is right you will be the only one to ever know that it was fixed. Now say same thing happens but you don't mix the pearl in the base, the entire hood must now be scuffed, the car will need to be totally masked off, and the hood will need to be totally repainted. Not only is that a problem but, the spray gun, amount of pearl in the clear air pressure and # of coats must all be the same, otherwise there will be a noticeable difference between the new paint and the old paint. I don't mean to crush your dreams or anything, you can get a hell of a lot of "pearl effect" out of pearl mixed with the base coat, and it will be a hell of a lot easier to fix.

 

[glimt]

My advice is to always put the darker color on the bottom in a two tone paint job. Darker colors look heavier, so the look like they should be on the bottom. When they are on the top, it just looks awkward.

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Well i got the door handle thing from a friend(DSM_23). He did it to his when he got it painted and it looks real good so im def going to do that.

But a question i do have is if i put the pearl in the base(white, not black) then will it even show up or could you tell it was there? When i was at the paint store picking out the pearl, the guy told me that putting it in the base would be a complete waste because it would most likely not show up. And then I talked to a couple painters and one said that it would just not as much as if it was in the clear, which is good and i knew that already because i dont want it to be like BAM i just want something a little bit different, you know?

However i do think i am going to paint my hood/pop ups black too. For some reason i just really like the way it looks

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[miteclgst]

I will agree with the paint shop, the pearl definately won't be as noticable and obvious if you mix it with the base as opposed to suspending it in clear and doing a tri-coat. I won't however condone the notion that the pearl won't show up at all, that is ridiculious, I mean look at the stock majenta grey pearl, it has a blue pearl in it, is it something that will smack you in the face? no but it is enough to notice in the right kind of light. What white pearl will tend to do is it will lighten up areas where the light it hitting the panel at just the right angle to see the pearl, (just like adding white to a regular paint mixture will lighten the color a bit, that is what the pearl will accomplish), where the pearl is less defined you will look at the plain white base. What I think the paint place was talking about is that you plan to use a white base (very bright color) with a white pearl. Since white is so bright to begin with adding white pearl will not be as noticable whether it be a tri coat or mixed in the base. An example of how pearl would show up might be a blue pearl mixed in with the white, then the blue "hue" would definately be noticable.
All I wanted to do before was tell you the headaches I have been going through with my tricoat pearl. If you would like the tricoat job then by all means go for it. I just want you to know that if the car ever gets damaged it will be costly and difficult to replicate and fix. I got lucky, the guy who painted my car is a close friend (through work) and he has been painting award winning show cars for over 20 years and he could replicate the color all day long. You just have to be aware of exactly every variable (like I said before) amount of overlap, exact amount of pearl mixed in the clear.. I do mean EXACT, exactly how many coats were applied and at what velocity (knob on paint gun usually like 2.5 turns out) and exactly what air pressure. You will have to be super specific with the guy who is painting the car about how you need it to be sprayed like a candy color. What I mean by this is, most painters will work on a panel by panel process, meaning - spray the fender then the door then the quarter, etc. This is fine for a base clear job because getting more base over something that is already based won't really effect the color noticably (it could but as long as there are enough coats of base to cover the panel you don't have to worry about it), do that with a tricoat pearl and the edge where the door and fender or door and quarter panel meet will have noticably more pearl on them, showing up as darker/lighter spots in the sunlight. The only way to get around this is to "run" the sides of the car, meaning start at the front of the fender and make one pass along the entire length of the car, then make another pass with just enough overlap from the rear to the front. This is the way I had my car sprayed and the color is uniform from front to back. There is also the extra cost in materials, count on at least another .5 quart to full quart extra of clear, plan on throwing out a bit of extra clear/pearl, you can only mix once while your painting so you have to make enough to cover and a some more for safety. That is all I can really think of right now, but if you have any other questions feel free to ask, again do whatever floats your boat, have the shop that you plan on having paint the car spray a couple of test panels. look at them in all kinds of light, direct sunlight, indoor lighting, and dusk and see what you like.

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Oh ya i agree that it wont be as noticable. Before the car i have now, i had a 95 integra that was white with a bluepearl in the clear, it was awesome, i loved it. It being a honda it comes with a bit more appeal to everyone else and 1g's dont really. So i dont want it to be as noticable as it was in my integra but i just want it to give it a lil extra kick in some cases, you know? Im not having a paint shop do it, i did all body work myself, mainly because i enjoy doing it and id rather me do it then pay someone else to. A good friend of mine is going to school for body work/painting and hes been working on his truck for a long time along with a couple body guys that have showed him how stuff works, how to do things, the right steps, etc... He is helping me with my paint job, well me and him will be the ones painting it, under the supervision of a pro. So the less difficult, the better.

I wish I could find some pics of a white with a white pearl in it. But to be on the safe side, i will more then likely just put it in the base. That way there is less hassle all around. I'll probably also add some in the first coat of clear or so just for a lil extra kick. And if somewhere down the road something does happen and i need to replace or repaint, i guess I will just have to do what i can. Seeing as how I'm moving in Oct. to go to college, it will not be the easiest thing to just come back here and have it painted, but the college is only about 3 hours away so if the need be, then i can come back.

So now i guess what im deciding on is whether or not to do my hood/pop ups black aswell. I know everyone has their own opinion and that i should do what i think is best but i just really dont know if i wanna do it or not.

miteclgst, thanks for all the help man.

 

[miteclgst]

Hey no problem man, that's what this site is here for. I definately think that you are making a good decision in adding the pearl in the base. I too was in your same situation, I wanted to alter the stock color with the addition of different pearls so that I wouldn't have to worry about doing the engine compartment. I was also going to do it this way because I wanted to paint the car myself (at the place I work at of course, but I wanted to be the one behind the gun). When I finally set my eyes on the color that the car is now I just needed to have it, when I decided to go the route of the tri-coat the guys I work with convinced me that it probably wouldn't be a paint that I would want to spray for doing my first full fledged paint job. I agreed with them and my friend volunteered to do the paint. I too did all of my own body work and sprayed every bit of primer and color build, but left the real painting to the pro. Then again without the pearl my car is a dark grey color, so any imperfections would be very noticable, you doing a white color, could get away with some minor mistakes and it will still look perfect. Base/clear is pretty easy to shoot, I mean it's hard to screw up, the stuff dries almost instantly and as long as you maintain good equal distance between the panels and the gun, and you overlap and spray enough on the car to cover you should be sitting pretty. The part that I at first had the most trouble with was applying enough clear, I mean you have to get it so that the panel isn't dry but not put on too much so that the paint runs. That is where I think you can tell the real pros from the noobies. I mean the guy I work with could take something to the point where you say to yourself, "that has to start running" and yet it dosn't and comes out like a damn mirror. I guess the whole trick is to get it as close to the edge of running as possible and just know when to stop. Any ways good luck with your project and send me some pics when you finish it.

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Ya i agree on the pearl in the base. But ya im just going to let a painter i know paint it for me, it will cost a lil extra money, but i think it will be worth it. Because if my friend paints it this will be his first time actually spraying paint, and i dont realy like the fact of that. The paint isnt what im woried about so much, its the clear like you said. But i plan on getting it done this weekend sometime HOPEFULLY, and when i get it done, i'll post some pics.
Later

 

[Defiant]

My advice is to always put the darker color on the bottom in a two tone paint job. Darker colors look heavier, so the look like they should be on the bottom. When they are on the top, it just looks awkward.

Oh?

 

[98RedGs]

Oh?

Tell eagle that bro.
There's a white 2g in the gallery somewhere that has the upperhalf white and the bottom half black and it starts mid-way up the door. I think his car is awsome looking personally.

I say get someone to photoshop it in the ps forum (in the hangout it's a sub-forum) and see if you like it.

I would do bottom darker myself tho.

 

[miteclgst]

here is the pic 98RegGS is talking about and the link to the thread concerning 2 tone paint...

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Thanks for the pic. That is a nice car, dont get me wrong, but i think the dark on bottom looks ugly Ive seen a few 1g's with dark from bottom of spoiler down, but i still like the black on top for 1g's.

Now the decision is about the hood/pop-ups.

 

[IMMORTALSPYDER]

I've never heard of pearl being mixed with the clear. Either it's in the base color or it goes on as a second coat before the clear. I'm a painter and your clear coat should be clear only.

 

[miteclgst]

Tri-coat - 1st coat base, 2nd coat pearl suspended in clear, 3rd coat clear.

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Yup...

 

[IMMORTALSPYDER]

Must be the brand of paint you use. With PPG you mix the pearl with the color blender.

 

[miteclgst]

I would disagree with that, my pearl was actually from ppg and I used a Glasurit clear when I did my car. This method transcends all paint lines, the only real difference between paint lines is catalyst/reducer to paint mixture. Omni Au 2:1 (comes with hardner and reducer already mixed), Glasurit 2:1:10% (separate hardner and reducer) in clear and 2:1 in base, R&M 4:1:1. Sikkens 3:1:1. This 3 step method has been employed for many years, perfect example is my mom's 90 lexus, that uses a tri-coat pearl. The method can be compared to that of a candy color, base-tinted clear-clear. In the case of dry pearl powder or any pearl for that matter there is no problems with mixing them directly into clear. Matching your mix consistantly is a different story though. When you talk about a color blender it seems to me that you are talking about a high heat clear that will melt into old clear allowing you to blend in spot fixes. This wouldn't be necessary with the pearl because you are adding it point blank right onto the base so no real blending is necessary. The color blender though could be another way of PPG selling you the same thing under a different name and charging you a higher price for it. The only thing I know is that this method is used for any paint line, no special materials are needed, just base, clear and pearl.

 

[Frontwheeler]

I am pretty sure he is talking about DBC500 as the PPG's color blender. This is very commonly used to make custom mid coats for pearl or candy. It's basically just clear basecoat. We use it to blend out color in all of our spot repairs.

It adds pretty good depth for a midcoat. But the pearl or candy in the first coat of clear sounds pretty interesting to. That should really add depth to the color.

I am debating on what color to paint my new 1G project car. I might have to try that pearl clear coat idea.

 

[WhiteTsiAwd]

Well the paint booth im using wont be open till sometime next week, dangint. But we have come to a final way on painting it. Seal the car, then lay down the base(gloss white), then the mid coat which is the stuff frontwheeler is talking about with my white pearl in it, then the 1st coat of clear will have some pearl in it also, then the rest of the clear. Hopefully orange peel is kept to a minimum. But since its white, it will hide a lot of it. The less peel, the less wet sanding

I'll post some pics when i get the darn thing done.