Paint GURUs wanted

[Alex7747]

So i recently painted my 280z black it came out good but I'm just not liking the black anymore (its in my build thread if you want to see the paint) http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/dsm-build-journals/460743-77-s30-4g63t-2.html#post153298772

Im not a professional painter so sorry if i did a couple things wrong .

Anyway my questions about this paint in the picture below. Does anyone know how to get that paint? What is it? is it just midnight purple? Is it black with purple flake??? i was thinking of painting my car jet black with red, purple, blue, or green flakes... would the results look anything like the picture below??

I want my car to look black at night or sun down then red/purple/blue/green in the sunlight. any help would be great!

 

[AUTOMODSGST]

is hard to say just from looking at that picture but it looks to me that is black with a purple pearl on it

 

[Alex7747]

Yeah i was talking to a buddy of mine that works at a body shop and he said it might be black with pearl in it. It looks badass nonetheless.

Anyone else??

 

[TurboDSM90]

I vote black with a purple pearl as well. Not all pearls are created equal either. Some will give off a "flake" effect, others a metallic type of effect and some will just be a very fine color sheen in the light.

If you can find them look for Zirolic or Zerolok pearls. I dont no the spelling, but from what I was told, the factory got taken out in Japan when the Tsunami hit. There are new pearls made to replace those, but they are not the same pigment.

 

[Ghost_92TSi]

Flake can be added depending on what you want, (like candy, you can shoot it straight up, or add in metal flake)

 

[Alex7747]

I vote black with a purple pearl as well. Not all pearls are created equal either. Some will give off a "flake" effect, others a metallic type of effect and some will just be a very fine color sheen in the light.

If you can find them look for Zirolic or Zerolok pearls. I dont no the spelling, but from what I was told, the factory got taken out in Japan when the Tsunami hit. There are new pearls made to replace those, but they are not the same pigment.

Yeah, i was looking for like a very fine pearl to give off a sort of sheen in the light. I think that would be pretty badass.

I still can't decide on purple or like a dark cherry pearl or maybe a blue...

 

[TurboDSM90]

Go down to the paint shop and see if they will let you look over their color code books. They more than likely have some old ones ready to toss out (as they get new ones yearly), that you can have.

I know there are at least a dozen paint shops around here. Half of them are cool like that since they want your business.

 

[Alex7747]

Flake can be added depending on what you want, (like candy, you can shoot it straight up, or add in metal flake)

I was researching it a couple days back and this guy said you can mix it in with the clear over a black base coat (which my car already has ). So what I'm thinking of doing is getting 2 gallons of clear, and mixing one gallon with pearl and leaving the other alone. Sand my car down (only the clear coat) then do like 2 coats of "pearl clear" then 2 more coats of regular clear over that so i can color sand the clear... Hope it works. Should be trying it within the next couple weeks. Ill post results.

Go down to the paint shop and see if they will let you look over their color code books. They more than likely have some old ones ready to toss out (as they get new ones yearly), that you can have.

I know there are at least a dozen paint shops around here. Half of them are cool like that since they want your business.

The only local shops around me charge A LOT for paint ha. Last time, when i painted my eclipse about 2 years ago, the paint was about $100 just for a half gallon of basic white paint. the whole kit was like $250 and it didn't have primer and it was barely enough for the exterior. Im also painting the interior and engine bay on my datsun so the less expensive i can find the paint the better.

I did see a paint that was like the purple above but red, i think they said it was a 3 stage paint with base, candy, then clear. Looked AMAZING but was very very expensive and from what i heard candys are super hard to paint and I'm a beginner so I'm not really trying to do candys haha

The online store i get my paint from only charge $70 for a gallon of clear, which sounds good to me (its the clear i used on my car now, sprayed pretty good)

 

[91-GS]

This looks like small (metallic) flake, not quite pearl.

(Just a note, but looks like Alex7747 already knows about it)
Reason why it is not recommended for flake-clear to be final topmost layer is because when you go to sand and buff the surface, you will get into the flake. Bits of flake that you get into will look like silver/white particles all over the car.

Also why TWO gallons? One is enough to cover a good size car. Grab a quart (half gallon at most) of clear, add flake to it, do couple of light coats over the car. Then get another half gallon or so and do a medium coat of plain clear over that. This way the flake will be covered well enough for you to sand the clear and not worry about getting into the flake.

For most clear coats (at least ones that can be got at Oriley's or Napa) it is not recommended to do over two coats. The way your car would be, you'd have:

Clear
Flake-clear
Clear
Clear
Black
Primer

Might have issue with chipping or cracking because of that many layers if you put more than couple layer over your existing paint (although that is more of an opinion rather than fact).

Finally, do couple test panels (about size of a licence plate) to get the effect just right before spraying the car. That way you will know what exactly to do.

 

[Alex7747]

This looks like small (metallic) flake, not quite pearl.

(Just a note, but looks like Alex7747 already knows about it)
Reason why it is not recommended for flake-clear to be final topmost layer is because when you go to sand and buff the surface, you will get into the flake. Bits of flake that you get into will look like silver/white particles all over the car.

Also why TWO gallons? One is enough to cover a good size car. Grab a quart (half gallon at most) of clear, add flake to it, do couple of light coats over the car. Then get another half gallon or so and do a medium coat of plain clear over that. This way the flake will be covered well enough for you to sand the clear and not worry about getting into the flake.

For most clear coats (at least ones that can be got at Oriley's or Napa) it is not recommended to do over two coats. The way your car would be, you'd have:

Clear
Flake-clear
Clear
Clear
Black
Primer

Might have issue with chipping or cracking because of that many layers if you put more than couple layer over your existing paint (although that is more of an opinion rather than fact).

Finally, do couple test panels (about size of a licence plate) to get the effect just right before spraying the car. That way you will know what exactly to do.

Yeah, ill be doing a couple of test panels for sure. And the reason i want to get two gallons is because I'm spraying clear on the inside of the car and engine bay, as well as the exterior so id like to have extra just in case if i run out. better to have extra and not need it than to not have enough . and clear coat isn't too expensive.

Also, I've heard of people doing like 4-5 coats of clear on old hot rods and classics. I figured i could maybe do that many and if i could get 2 coats of pearl-clear then 2 coats of regular clear and once i color sand id be at 2 coats of pear-clear and 1 coat of regular clear which i think would work? Well thats my logic behind it, hope it makes sense.

 

[TurboDSM90]

You guys are talking about cheap paints and clears now. This is going to take a toll on the quality of the outcome for sure!

Pearls, metallics and especially candys are not easy to spray. You can easily get "blotches" or spots that are saturated with more pearl/metallic/candy, than others.

A paint shop's urethane and even water born paints are waaay different than the stuff they sell at O'riellys, Auto zone, etc.,

Even "Gurus" can only take so many short cuts. The whole game plan here just took a turn for le toilet.

 

[Alex7747]

You guys are talking about cheap paints and clears now. This is going to take a toll on the quality of the outcome for sure!

Pearls, metallics and especially candys are not easy to spray. You can easily get "blotches" or spots that are saturated with more pearl/metallic/candy, than others.

A paint shop's urethane and even water born paints are waaay different than the stuff they sell at O'riellys, Auto zone, etc.,

Even "Gurus" can only take so many short cuts. The whole game plan here just took a turn for le toilet.

I never said cheap paints . I used 5 star Xtreme KlearKote. I know its not the best paint out there but its not bad from the reviews i read. I don't plan on using auto zone paint...

 

[jed344]

I am a painter for a gm dealership body shop I would have a body shop supply bring the color reader and see what it says is in the paint that will give you a good start I would then spray test panels at different psi's at the gun and check them in the sun. Most clears from parts stores are cheap and won't hold up well. Last time I painted my truck I used ppg dc4000 it is 400 a gallon and is very high quality. We use it at our shop and it has lifetime warranty on the paint. This color would be hard to duplicate in my opinion but with some test panels and the paint read you could most likely get close. My guess from just a photo would be black base with pearl or some fine flake in the clear coat. It could even be a chameleon paint as well witch is very expensive.

 

[red_devil]

Looks a little like Mclarens Amethyst Black.

 

[91-GS]

Also, I've heard of people doing like 4-5 coats of clear on old hot rods and classics.

On older vehicles they used enamels. With those, yes, you can have 5-10 coats (gives it a nice deep glass-like effect, too) provided you sand every couple of coats.

Have not worked with anything expensive yet (mostly DuPont), so don't know much about more expensive stuff other than the fact it it's supposed to be alot nicer to work with.

 

[Alex7747]

Looks a little like Mclarens Amethyst Black.

Thats pretty much the exact color i want

 

[vingasoline]

2 gallons of clear. Mixed with reducer, and activator, that's 3 gallons. I just painted my whole car, jambs and all with house of kolor and used 3/4 gallon mixed. That's one light coat and 2 very heavy coats

 

[AwD4g63TsI]

Many ways to skin this cat-but I've got 15 years down now painting(can't say I like the cound of that-) and I think your plan of 5 coats clear is a sound one. The paint DOES look like a metallic rather than a pearl, but it's hard to tell by a picture. Check out your local paint specialty shop and they should have a color book about 2 feet thick with all kinds of samples. You've got large, medium, and small metallic flake-and then you get in to pearls. I just got a bunch of pearl white(starfire-2011 Lexus color) that I just picked out from their book because I liked it. I like to lay down 5-7 coats of clear because I sand down to a mirror shine trying to get as near to 100 DOI as possible and I like the wiggle room lots of clear gives you. A quality urethane clear will not crack with lots of layers like old school paints which no one has used for like 30 years now. The old cellulose lacquers had a tendency to crack if you laid down too much because they got hard and brittle as they dried with no give whatsoever...but with urethanes you can just build and build to give whatever safety margin you want. Happy spraying

 

[90gsxdakilla]

You should check out tarmac black its a color that cmae on the evo's. Its black with lik ea purple tint to it in the sun. Lots of flake and looks sick.

It looks exactly like that color on that z

 

[Alex7747]

2 gallons of clear. Mixed with reducer, and activator, that's 3 gallons. I just painted my whole car, jambs and all with house of kolor and used 3/4 gallon mixed. That's one light coat and 2 very heavy coats

I guess i did super heavy coats (3 coats of clear total) because when i recently sprayed my datsun, i used about 3/4 a gallon on just the roof, rear quarter panels, doors, and fenders. i still haven't painted the hood, hatch, and bumpers. So idk? I'm just going to get 2 gallons and if i have an extra gallon of clear then oh well haha.

Many ways to skin this cat-but I've got 15 years down now painting(can't say I like the cound of that-) and I think your plan of 5 coats clear is a sound one. The paint DOES look like a metallic rather than a pearl, but it's hard to tell by a picture. Check out your local paint specialty shop and they should have a color book about 2 feet thick with all kinds of samples. You've got large, medium, and small metallic flake-and then you get in to pearls. I just got a bunch of pearl white(starfire-2011 Lexus color) that I just picked out from their book because I liked it. I like to lay down 5-7 coats of clear because I sand down to a mirror shine trying to get as near to 100 DOI as possible and I like the wiggle room lots of clear gives you. A quality urethane clear will not crack with lots of layers like old school paints which no one has used for like 30 years now. The old cellulose lacquers had a tendency to crack if you laid down too much because they got hard and brittle as they dried with no give whatsoever...but with urethanes you can just build and build to give whatever safety margin you want. Happy spraying

Thanks for those words, I can't wait until i spray it over with some" pearl-clear"