Could someone tell me about the paint used in 1964 and the differance between it and the newer paints? My 64 was repainted once and Im curious as to just what the original paint is.....

 

Probably an enamel originally (think ford called it diamond lustre enamel from a little searching), no idea what would have been resprayed with. Urethanes are superior in durability and many other aspects to the lacquers and enamels of old, and a urethane clear will give uv protection to the color. Also better for repairability in the future. Urethanes will require little in the way of maitenance. Urethanes dry by chemical crosslinking while older paints were air dry systems. With urethanes and epoxys, you must keep above 60 degrees for crosslinking to take place, and the parts you are painting is what really needs to be at that temp. All paints you should protect yourself, but urethanes have isocyanates and you should protect from them entering your body through eyes, skin, breathing them in. For the best possible job and being it was repainted, I would strip it for a couple reasons. You can see what what may have been poorly repaired in the past, or is hiding waiting to bite you, since that truck is over 40 years old and give you the opportunity to fix it right, and you already have a bit of paint on that truck. You will remove any outdated 1K materials that may be on there, and you can use an epoxy primer over clean sanded metal for great adhesion to the metal and good corrosion protection, it is also the only primer that will totally seal against air and moisture, other types are somewhat porous, and lacquer type primer will give very little in the way of protection. Here is links to a little about paint and its history.
http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/...feature15.html
http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/..._feature7.html

 

Thank you for the information, I have saved the links and will check them out.