painting

[geraldchainsaw]

for any one that knows alot about painting,      one of my cars has been painted with lacquer (iknow spelled wrong),  and over the years and work taken care of it,  i would leave it outside during the winter with a good cover,   well the lacquer cracked on the roof, should say,  i live in Mi,  and i decided to paint it with acrylic enamal,  not taken it down to bare metal,    so my questrion is,   if i wanted to do the same thing again and store it outside with a good cover,  would i have any problems with cracking again with the acrylic enamual,  or maybe i should just leave the car outside without a cover,  any thoughts,   thanks   jerry

[RICH MUISE]

Gerry...probably not what you want to hear, but imho, the old lacquer (I believe you spelled it correctly) under the new paint will continue to crack, cover on not, and project up through the new paint. Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't. I don't know from experience, because I was told way back in the dark ages that would happen, so I always da'd any old cracked paint off down to the primer before starting the new layers.
Funny..as I was writing that, I was trying to remember what the letters "da" stood for, and I can't....now it'll drive me bugs.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

I believe the "DA" stands for "Dual Action."

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks Bob for jogging my memory. I googled it but came up with duck's ass,district attorney, don't answer, and a few others, but nothing related to jitterbugging.

[Frankenstein57]

Jerry, I'm no painter, but what I learned being around my paint job and a few others, is that they worry quite a bit about previous materials on the car. So I would stay away from laying that paint over laquer. Unless the car isn't worth more than that.  Mark

[clusterbuster]

Jerry, You have gotten good advice. From one that was in the paint and body business for thirty years, remove the lacquer before putting your new paint down. That is usually done with a DA ,which by the way does stand for a dual action sander. It is a lot of work and you need a good dust mask and a lot of patience You can start with a very coarse grit and finish up with a finer grit such as 220 or 320 dry.. Make sure you mask off any chrome with double layers of masking tape so as not to put any blemishes in the chrome by accidentally hitting it with the sander. And of course the first step is removing any wax from the old paint before sanding, as not doing so will grind the old wax into down into the undercoats and cause all sorts of problems. I would also recommend using a good catalyzed sealer prior to putting on the new topcoats as well. If I can be of any further help, just yell.   

[Ford Blue blood]

Jerry what cluster said.  Anybody can put paint on a car....it's whats under the paint that counts!  You got cracks now, you'll have them after unless you go all the way down....

[Meteorman]

Gerald  get rid of as much of that lacquer as possible  but dont paint it with  acrylic lacquer it looks good for a while but it doesent last use a base /clear coat  useing good  primer sealers, you could use a 2 part polyurethane paint if you know someone who is good at spraying it, Its good tough paint that dosent chip so easy but you cant polish it up the same and doesent blend the same when you do minor repairs. Where base/clear  can be spot painted/ blended and polished up easily to look great. good luck,Harold 

[BAMA_57]

I like acrylic enamel, it is very durable. Base clear is what most shops want to use these days but it will not hold up as well as enamel. (IMHO) But you will need to get ALL the old cracked paint off first.

[Meteorman]

Sorry Gerry I meant acrylic enamel not acrylic lacquer. The reason we use base /clear is if you ever have to touch up and spray a small area it is way easier to do and a lot easier to match the color besides acrylic enamel is fast becoming a paint from the past. Most shops are now using waterborne base/clear or low voc (volatile organic compounds) paints. Its all supposed to help the environment, but whatever  put a etching primer on then use 2 part epoxy primers and sealers. Harold.