Secret experimental 1964 GX 455

[WkillGS]

.... cant decide ($$ ?? again) on a base coat clear coat or a hardened acrylic enamel.....

Hardened (catalyzed) Acrylic Enamel is pretty good stuff. The hardener additive makes it cure faster since it's a chemical reaction. In plain 'ole enamel, the paint stays soft for months while the reducer slowly evaporates.

The biggest advantage to modern urethane base/clear is that you can wet sand the clear for a smooth finish without disturbing the metalflake in the basecoat. And they say repairing a base/clear job is easier to blend in.

Also consider single stage urethane. Like hardened enamel, you don't want to wet sand after the final coat. But (I believe) it cures faster than the enamel and at least you can sand the first coats flat, then apply a final coat that will hopefully lay out nice and not require polishing afterwards.
Of course, the ability to apply a nice smooth final coat (skill and equipment) may point to which paint is best for you.
The guys on V8 such as Ethan could give you some great advise on which way to go. And also the Autobodystore.com forums that the Dr mentioned are the go-to for pro advise.

[yachtsmanbill]

I guess my problem is Im trying to "cheap out" on the paint which is wrong. Geez, Ive been painting boats (biggens'!) with AWLGRIP, a true catalyzed polyurethane and Interlux Perfections for decades, but cant swing one to two grand  plus, for a gallons' worth of product (Thats the primers, reducers paint and catalyst), and then we're back to the metallic issue, and least on those brands. I may have to bite the bullet and go "plastic". It'll be a few more weeks before I hafta pull the plug, so Im sure there'll be another few hundred questions.

On another note, I see this guy has the 4 door '65 with factory AC back for sale again. Anything anyone needs thats worth a 40 minute drive for me to go get? Its a California car with very little rust. The pics are from when I saw it last because I got the antenna and rocker covers. Let me know. The stupid turn signal lever is probably still there (blue?)!   Bill

https://sheboygan.craigslist.org/pts/d/newton-1965-buick-parts-car-califonia/7056383112.html

[gssizzler]

Wow you are making great progress! Have you looked at the paint kits from Eastwood!? Just a thought? When I get the convert to the paint stage I will probably use the single stage kit for it! It is a black car so get it straight and spray it! I would like to drive it a lot so I know it will get lumps! Do you recall in how good of shape the rear tail panel is!?

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks! Its getting to be a little trip into the unknown wanting the headliner to be perfect! Go back about 10 pages and you can follow all the rear end steel replacement. VERY LITTLE filler anywhere, from me anyways! I also have the nicer skylark chrome panel (64 only!!) that goes between the tail lights. Gonna do away with the 64 venti-ports.  Cant find 6 nice ones so Ill probably get a nice custom set, maybe from a mid 50s Buick??   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

Sorry man.. I was out in the shop before and literally had my hands full... of glue and small trimmings off the sail panels. What a mess at first; then I had a brain fart.
I used to help a pal do custom trim worklike 4 decades ago. He always had a "trim" table for cutting etc right next to his sewing machine, AND, a glue table in the back of the shop. Hmmm. The first panel I laid flat and traced it so I knew where to spray the glue. UH HUH! First touch down was wrong, and already stuck but good.

SIX hands worth of goo later, I got it apart now fully contaminated with rag particles from cleaning stuff which meant, dirty rags. So now theres gooey fingerprint all over the place. Lacquer thinner didnt touch this stuff. Its 3M headliner adhesive. Just like the gas pedal glue in The Blues Brothers... "Really good stuff..."

Got the first one straightened out, folded over and THEN, had to trim the excess... WRONGO BONZO! More gooey strips and crap all over my shears and every where imaginable. Double Hmmm. The second panel I traced, added a 1/2" stick and traced outside the trace for a trim line. BRILLIANT! Trimmed all the excess and pleats and gores (I felt like Omar the tent maker!) and sprayed the sticky jizz on both pieces and was wayyyy more careful when I landed at Tranquility Base.

HOUSTON: The OGRE has landed!

It was a breeze. Just too dang long and you forget the little tricks. So before I left in a huff,I made a few adjustments in the clips on the headliner trying work the majority of wrinkles out before another glue episode. Seriously, in one second I went from smiling and singing along on the radio to mass panic with anything I touched sticking to my hands and anything else it touched. KRIPES

So, if yer still following, I cut the sail panel backers and the package tray outa some plastic sheeting from Menards thats about 20.00 a sheet. Its .095" thick and the swollen cardboard from moisture was .100" I think this is OK. 
Traced out the shelf and went to make my first cut with the shears and thought "THIS IS GONNA SUCK" looking at the next 20 feet of cutting to do. Pulled out a trusty FUTILITY knife with a new blade and the stuff cut like butter. PTL brutha, PTL.

Two nice juicy coats of satin black rustoleum and it looks purdy. Either "nice" or "good", your choice, but purdy.    Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

Yo Walt... Sorry I forgot to acknowledge your paint reply! I hafta stop looking at this things as tho its an old Ford 8N that needs a coat of paint, and instead look at the paint as a cost part of the restoration. I still hate to call it that, but its beyond patina from here on in.   Bill

[Dr Frankenbuick]

Bill, I did my 65 in hardened acrylic enamel and was very happy with the results.  But, that was a single color with no flake or pearl.  If I ever get to the point of paint for the 66, it will be a base/clear in metal flake burgundy. That will mean a lot of extra work with panels that have two sides like doors and fenders: Prime one side, prime the other, seal one side, seal the other, base one side, base the other, clear one side, clear the other and watch the over spray at all times.   

 

[yachtsmanbill]

That shine sure makes it look nice-n-juicy! Maybe I'm beating a dead horse here and should just go with some single color stuff like that in dark(est) blue I can find. I can always ad some custom touches next year; you know, panels etc. So was that red just an off the shelf product? Brand? Appreciate the pic; I'm salavatating!
Bill

[Dr Frankenbuick]

Bill, That is single stage  Nason FUL-CRYL II Acrylic Enamel. Nason is made by Dupont. It is their ecomomy paint, but most say it is the same as their general line under a different name.  The first gallon was mixed long before i was ready to paint using the Dupont formula for Flame Red.  I had them mix another two quarts the same way and mixed it all together.  It is very close if not the same exact color as the trunk hinges and other hidden/protected original paint. The 65 is my first and last endeavor in restoring to original. I like to modify, but this one came all # matching in boxes and bags.

Steve   

[yachtsmanbill]

Dr. Frank... I can absolutely relate to that, but once the 455 process was underway all bets were off. As for now, with Grammas DeLuxe interior etc. Im just interested in getting some good looking paint on it. Me thinkst that any future custom work can be done with a ton of masking and a concept idea. Too dang much turkey on the plate and not enough dressing for this go around.

Im gonna be looking around for some of that DuPont paint!    Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

I just sent this guy an email requesting a color chip. Could it be that easy? Do you think a gallon kit will be enough for the car over a dark primer?    Bill

https://www.google.com/search?q=Nason+FUL-CRYL+II+Acrylic+Enamel&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZhZWm2ornAhWJPM0KHSDdCCoQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=1536&bih=750&dpr=1.25#spd=16449276316873007995


https://www.ebay.com/itm/DARK-BLUE-METALIC-ACRYLIC-ENAMEL-SINGLE-STAGE-AUTO-BODY-SHOP-RESTORATION-PAINT-/390484578379?hash=item5aeab1d04b



https://www.ebay.com/i/390778374688?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=390778374688&targetid=856357246776&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9019109&poi=&campaignid=6470552628&mkgroupid=89345499032&rlsatarget=aud-762207186714:pla-856357246776&abcId=1139336&merchantid=6413524&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh66MuN6K5wIVxkXVCh2sKAMoEAkYASABEgJDu_D_BwE

[Dr Frankenbuick]

On the road now, but is very hard to fix mistakes/heavy media areas with a single stage paint. It?s great if you do it ALL right the first time, but it will take LOT of work to fix if not. The media will not pop or have the depth of a base/clear. I used a gallon and a half with a pint left over of the single stage.

Steve

[elagache]

Dear Bill, Good Dr., and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

I just sent this guy an email requesting a color chip. Could it be that easy?
. . . .

I have absolutely no idea how easy it would be but I did a web search on Nason acrylic enamel auto paint and came up with two videos from a body shop on how to use this paint.  The first shows repainting an entire car:

https://youtu.be/2H3UHCgQu2Q

The second shows painting a door panel:

https://youtu.be/-ykX4DNCcNw

Perhaps the videos will help you decide how comfortable you are with this painting strategy for BADLASS.  Nonetheless, . . . . .

. . . I hafta stop looking at this things as tho its an old Ford 8N that needs a coat of paint, and instead look at the paint as a cost part of the restoration.
. . . .

You have put a ton of work restoring the body of BADLASS.  It would be really a shame to skimp on the paint.  After all that trouble, I'm sure you want BADLASS to really be a car that you can proudly display at a car show.  Perhaps you need to ponder some budget shuffling so that you can paint BADLASS in a way that you truly feel good about.

Cheers, Edouard 

[yachtsmanbill]

I agree with both of you guys. I had really good results painting my 1968 Electra 225 with a BC/CC from Spies/Hecker. To make a long story short, I told the guy I bought it from it was gonna get painted outside... He kicked my butt for 6 months and persuaded me to paint it in my old garage, which incidentally was full of birds in the attic and they sure didnt like the fumes LOL. Joke was on me that time!

Theres so many ins and outs to this besides the cost of the material. Masking all the door jamb stuff for paint, weatherstripping etc etc. The most important one is how out of practice I am. I should just do a dark blue and call it a day then recoat next year. I cant say Im overwhelmed from the work, but all the footwork trying to get all the eggs into one basket is befuddling me. Hmmm...

Still playing with the headliner job. Gotta have that done so I can get that glass in Sunday I hope with some help from my pal Jeff. He works nights for Federal Mogul chrome plating piston rings, and is only available after church Sunday. KRIPES!

Got all the windlaces into the bath tub for a scrub this morning while the place was warming up. It was about +8F here.  After washing all the pcs. I realized the rear window inside trim was MIA. That was a wasted hour, but found them well put away so they wouldnt get damaged. Weird as it sounds, it looks like they had been replaced. Altho they were blue, they had some ancient green masking tape on them as tho the blue ones were put into a green car that was missing a set, and covered with tape to match. Somebody got some bad acid. As everyone knows, 40 year old tape sucks. I ended up scraping the stuff off, then washing with a 3M scrub pad (scrunge) with mineral spirits and they look like new. That old tape has a P.U. factor of about 23 when it came off.

So that stuff is all done, and I fitted the base sail panels, and did some more headliner stretching. I also made one of those helper tools from an old scraper. Rounded the corners and bent the blade to push the stuff up into the channel. Worked like a champ! Then I was feeling overwhelmed again looking at the job from the front seat and decided it was time to man up.

With the cloth all snugged up, I ran the windlace edge with a blue marker between all the clips. I needed to know where to trim and where to put the glue. The contact cement was done by brush. I finished the front windshield piece and got it all secured. Turned out really good. I had to leave the material long to pull on against the windshield. The welting will come off tomorrow and trim the the HL in place, then continue down the sides. I had to straddle the shifter with a bedsheet across everything so I didnt drip glue all over. Its pretty "hot" on anything plastic... kinda like model glue.

So the white sail panels are in and Im not sure about the steel bars. Does the HL material wrap around under them and then tighten? The finished sail panels cover them up into a nice finished seam. They were full of glue and old cardboard and I didnt pay that close attention when removing them. My bad!

I hope the long chats dont getcha guys bored. I have a tendency to be thorough and long winded LOL.    Bill

[Dr Frankenbuick]

Bill, I cant remember how it all fits together back there as it has been a long time.  I do recall that you have to leave extra material on the headliner near the sail panels or what is behind can show through.  Mine was very close to having to cheat the panel one way or another to cover. 

I had two friends that worked in a high end body shop after graduating high school for a while.  They helped me paint my 63 Riv in the mid 80s.  We used a single stage Centari Enamel with metalflake and painted it in the huge garage of my excavator (and sometimes employer) neighbor.  People would wave me over just to talk about the car and paint job.  Two of us were even pulled over by the Man because we looked to young to belong in that car (I think he just wanted to look at it too). When I think of that paint job compared to say a factory Nissan base/clear metalflake, the Nissan paint looks ten feet deep and the flake sparkles like it is suspended.  Sorry to say, our single stage metallfake was nowhere near that!