Paint:Whats on your car? Single stage or two stage?

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Paint:Whats on your car? Single stage or two stage?

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Well Jim Ive got single stage on mine. The painter and I had a good discussion on it when done over ten years ago. What I remember from the discussion is what you mentioned if there is a repair to be made it is much easier with 2 stage. What he thought at the time was the single stage may be a little more durable and I have to say it has stood up amazing for close to 30 thousand miles and a few rocks bouncing off of it going over the Coke. Couldnt be happier with it and the lustre is the same as the day it was painted. Never been waxed or polished but could be improved with a polish now.

rabbit64cs · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I'm all for single stage .. My satin 65 is single stage .

Cost between base/clear vs single is staggering .. we all know that .

The only plus is the a ability to repair the base and clear at the painting stage .

A high end painter friend of mine did a black 72 blazer .. Single stage ... Cut and polish .. The deepest shine !!

beaumontguru · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Single stage all the way!!!

Like rabbit said, the only benefit to basecoat is the easy of application, touchups, etc.

I just personally hate the way basecoat clearcoat paints look, colors are way off, shine is too deep, metallics are too coarse, etc, etc.

Have you ever noticed that all the modern cars all look black when they are driving around, unless the sun is hitting them directly, man do i hate new car colors!

If you want your car to look original, then single stage is the ticket. colors and gloss will be period correct.

To me, basecoat/clearcoat is just the easy way out.

Even the high end european cars still often use single stage.

And if you are going to paint your car a solid color like black, red, white, with no metallics, then single stage is the way to go for sure

now whether to use enamel, acrylic, urethane, or any of those combinations, thats another whole story

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

My 88 Jeep was recently painted single stage 69 HEMI orange and it looks great, seems durable and has a deep shine. If I were painting a car myself that's what I'd use.

Mike Ward MB · Addicted!

I'm at the point of choosing paint for my Nova. Initially I was hoping to replicate the factory Spring Green, which was only offered in 72, but the more I see variations of that colour online I'm less inclined to go that way. My painter uses water based product, clear over base coat. He's painting a sample card for me and we'll see. But I'm leaning towards a 2018 Chevy Equinox Ivy Metallic.

Losing sleep mulling over this decision, I'm only doing it once!

dualquadpete · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

64 Wagon, I just got is 2 stage & clear coat is peeling [which I was informed of before purchase] Painters here say I'm going to have to re-paint lwr. 1/2 of car as you can't sand off clear coat with out damaging base coat?????? Opinions ??????

dcneric · Poncho Master!

Having painted both single stage and base clear I have some thoughts. I throughly loved the acrylic enamels of the early 80's & 90's. Easy to spray, laid down nice with vertually no orange peel. Solids were a no brainer to paint but metallics really was more of a challenge as it tiger striped very easily. I figured it out on my first time but a moment lapse in speed and there were issues.

Base clear, for me it seems the colour lays down almost dry that it would take intentional effort to tiger stripe a metallic paint job, so supper easy in my books. Then for the clear, two light coats and two heavier coats to flow out for a nice level gloss. If you make a run, let it dry for a few days and then carefully scrape the run off with a razor blade, colour sand, buff and done.

When it comes to gloss and depth I feel base clear is easier to achieve and maintain where as a single stage has a more warmer feel to it, if that makes sense.

My thoughts from my experience.

StriperSS · Poncho Master!

If you get more Cheetos, I'll pop over with 9 cans of paint from canuck Tire, and really lay down the color.

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Thanks for the feedback guys. Think I'm going to go single on this one. Another benefit with single is that you don't have to prep as fine,noticed with the truck that the thicker single stage filled sanding scratches better. With base/clear need to wetsand with 600 first. Also like the idea of less work/money. Have never wet sanded single stage...so if I get any dust in the paint..should be interesting! Do you wetsand the same as base/clear,2-3000 then buff? Always have beer and Cheetos John.....have painted more than 1 car with CT paint! Just add a bit of hardner. biggrin

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

dcneric wrote:
Having painted both single stage and base clear I have some thoughts. I throughly loved the acrylic enamels of the early 80's & 90's. Easy to spray, laid down nice with vertually no orange peel. Solids were a no brainer to paint but metallics really was more of a challenge as it tiger striped very easily. I figured it out on my first time but a moment lapse in speed and there were issues.

Base clear, for me it seems the colour lays down almost dry that it would take intentional effort to tiger stripe a metallic paint job, so supper easy in my books. Then for the clear, two light coats and two heavier coats to flow out for a nice level gloss. If you make a run, let it dry for a few days and then carefully scrape the run off with a razor blade, colour sand, buff and done.

When it comes to gloss and depth I feel base clear is easier to achieve and maintain where as a single stage has a more warmer feel to it, if that makes sense.

My thoughts from my experience.

Agree Eric, have always used base/clear because of the way it lays down and always has that shine/buffed look. You are bang on with the tiger stripes and transparency depending on the amount of metal flake in the paint(base/clear or single).At least with base you can open your spray pattern and fog it in on the last coat and it will still lay flat. With any enamel I found if wanting to fog in it just lays on top so you get a dull or orange peel effect. Painted my 57 30 years ago(ton of metal flake) with 4 coats of base and 3 clear..car looked perfect in the shop with good lighting,drove her outside , could see tiger stripes and right through the paint to the primer!!!(no light like day light!) Back in the shop wet sand and 4 more base and clear,even 30 years later it looks like you could swim in the paint! Will give the single a try on the 4dr to look closer to stock, also time/$$$ factor. Guess we'll all find out how she looks in a week or two. smile

-- Edited by hawkeye5766 on Monday 13th of November 2017 11:25:04 PM

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Base clear for me, my 57 Pontiac is base clear and i love it. I had my 57 painted in May 1997 and it looks as good today as it did then. I always get compliments at car shows about the 57's finish and folks are always amazed that the paint is 20 years old. Of course the painter is a major factor.

1965CS · Guru

Tri-stage, .... somewhat regrettably...