I am having a good body guy prep my truck for me including removing the windshield to repair a small rust hole. My plan was to let him prep it (he's a friend, and charging me almost nothing), then take it down to the local paint shop. My qustion is i can paint it now if i want to do the less expensive single stage paint or do it at the end of summer and do the 2 stage paint job? Will a single stage last with a good prep and my routine wax jobs? Thanks Al

 

If you're going to BC/CC it, why not just do it now or seal it and paint it when you're ready. I paint cars with rustoleum and a cheap gun from lowes and it lasts pretty good. Hell one guy whose truck I painted in 05 sat here during Katrina and it still looks good. Your truck came out of the factory with single stage if that's an indicator of how well it does..

 

if you follow all the right steps and take your time you can make a $5 rattle can job look better than some pro jobs.

 

If you're going for a more original look, I think the single stage looks better...My brother had a '72 repainted in the original medium green with basecoat clear coat and they did a fabulous job, but the darn thing looked like it was dipped in polyurethane or something---like a cheap piece of waterbed furniture...Around the same time I had a '70 Sport Custom repainted two-tone in single stage and it came out beautiful---looked more "showroom" rather than "show car"....For what it's worth...

 

I did my truck in spray can ruststop flat black and flat white. Took my time and put on 6 or 7 coats each. My be cheap and not everybodys cup of tea but it is better than it was when I got it and it fits.

Pictures in my garage.

 

Don't let anyone fool you, single stage paints is fine. If you want to stay with the newest greatest, it's gotta be two stage. If you want a good qaulity paint job, it's all in the prep work, and buy good quality paint. Then make sure it's applied correctly, and taken care of, it will last as long as you want it too. As stated above, these trucks came with single stage from the factory, and you can still find some running around with good factory paint (if they were taken care of). I personally prefer single stage, I'm looking at clear coat peeling off of my 69 Bronco right now. Very irritating. I am also in the sanding process on a 71 short/wide, never considered anything but single stage for it.

 

a long time ago we used single stage nitro cellulose paint an got some awesome paint jobs by laying on 3 coats then color sanding(wet ) then 3 more coats followed by a real fine wet sanding then a great buff job. they really popped and had good depth.

 

What i dont understand is, when i go to these quick paint places (Maaco, Miracle), There low end single stage urathane only has a 1 year warranty which kind of worries me. The next level is a 3 coat single stage urathane with a 3 year warranty. Any ideas?

 

hey guys i'm new to this whole forum thing(: but i have a 1970 ford f100 that i just got, that has a cheap bright white spraycan paint job on it. i am planning on just goin with a simple rustoleum spray job, but i need to prep the thing first. does anyone know what kind of sanders/prep tools i would need? thanks! (:

 

Alvald, those cheapo prices for paint are a come-on for expensive body work. You would be better off- and get the same results- if you went to Home Depot and did a brush job with your favorite exterior semi-gloss color. I know. I bit on the come-on and two years later had to scrub all the cheapo junk off.

Semper Fi

 

Like the other guys have said these trucks came single stage out of the factory. Unless you are going to use a metallic paint I would go with the single stage. Prep work is everything......plus buy some good paint and take your time and your truck will turn out great. The only reason I went with 2 stage is that my green had metallic in it.

 

the base coat clear coat can be cheaper in the long run ,but only with the most expenseve clear. a single stage needs lots o paint and a lot of coats so you can sand and buff to your expectations. we did this in the 50' s and had some dam'n nice paint that didn't peel.

 

Plus single stage urethane lasts longer and is less affected by UV.

 

*warning honkey with *

i just now tried to paint a section of my truck with rustoleum. it is soft and picking up scratches left and right even from my nails by the handle.
i used a brush and i thinned it according to the directions it was super thick and leaving brush strokes.
am i doing something wrong? i admint i know next to nothing about paint *i work as a framer/ concrete former* if you guys could toss me some info or some links to info on this subject itwould be most appreciated.

thanks

 

I thought it was the other way round - SS fades in UV and clear coat protects ? - is that not so ?

- Stephen