So. I wanna paint my 91 black. But I want a nice, mirror like finish. Where I can see myself. I'd like metallic maybe, but I could deal without it, (:
I wanna buy a somewhat cheap paint, because I dont want to pay $500 a gallon for something like Imron? Or Enron? Whatever it is..
Anyways! Post pictures of yours if you've recently painted it black,
Thanks.

 

its really no the color black you need. that mirror like finish comes from prefect body work and some one that really knows what they are doing with a buffer. i would recommend dupont nason line of paint. its the best bang for the buck. this is one of those times where you should spend the money and do it right once. just my opinion.

 

How many gallons of paint would I need to purchase,?

 

one gallon of base and one gallon of clear. you'll have plenty left over for if you ever need it. or if you go single stage, a one gallon set up will be plenty

 

Nason is a very good product for base coat. Nason's clear isnt as good as ChromaClear. That stuff is amazing. Very durable and very glossy when buffed right. For a few bucks extra its worth spending the money on the clear coat

 

Your not gonna get that great mirror wet finish unless you go with a quality clear. High solids, at least three coats and heavy. A good painter can get it on heavy enough with out too many runs.

You can go with pretty much any compatible base coat to your clear. You are just spraying for coverage. The more expensive base coats will cover with less coats. Cheaper stuff will take more to cover but a gallon will be more than enough of any brand.

What is your exact budget? Company's like Shirwin, nason, kirker, ect...all start at about 150-250 a gallon depending on color. These are base line paints and are just okay. So thinking your going to spend less than 500$ for a paint job that looks great is out of the question. Your going to need primer, sealer, base, clear, reducer, hardener, and cleaners. That's at the very least $500 in spray-able material on a good day. Then dont forget about all the prep, blocks, body filler, glaze, paper, pads, wax &grease remover, mixing cups, strainers ect. Thats at least another couple to few hundred dollars.

The clear is going to be where you want to spend your money. SPI, PPG, Deltron, sikkens, transtar eurotech, 2k super flow, ect. Poly's are going to be the hardest followed by urethane, and then enamel. Comes down to the gun, and the painter.

Most clears I like to spray with a 1.3 tip. No cheapo guns here you should be looking at sharpe and devilbiss at minimum but better of with Iwata or Sata.

I just shot my car not black but viper red, with a high solid urethane clear.

 

Matrix is good paint as well and is reasonably priced

 

I know a lot of people hate on single stages but in my opinion you cant go wrong with PPG's Concept 9000. Its about the best high gloss deep looking black I have personally ever seen.

 

Single stages are sweet. I have a lot of experience with them. They are super easy to spray, excellent coverage, cheaper, and awesome color. Problem lies within the durability. UV, rain, wax, and chemical. I have seen cheap wax that was left on chalk up the finish when dried. I have also seen degreasers and or wheel cleaner leave light spots in the paint. Color sanding and buffing pigments your microfibers and pads whatever color the paint is. If left without treatment for a long time the paint tends to chalk up though easily buffed out it gets annoying.

There is a reason bc/cc systems are use and its because they are superior in durability and shine. Some heavy coats of clear and if you look closely you can see into it at the thickness, gives you a much deeper finish if done correctly like you can almost reach into it.

I have used many different brands of SS, in fact most people prefer it due to the ease of use and the price. At the end of the day though bc/cc is superior especially with the use of the newer super hard super clean poly clears.

 

If your not familiar with what it takes to produce a professional B/C paint job with the proper prep.and materials than your in for a surprise. A friend/pro painter worked on mine and I helped allot with the initial sanding but all in all most of the work was beyond me. It was amazing watching him work/tecniche.

 

^ Its going to be the same for any finish, SS too. I have well over 100 hours into the prep work, filling, blocking, shaving, ect of my car and I have done it before. Its not for the faint of heart, but in then end its very much worth it.

It is better to just dive in head first, rather than step in one foot at a time. This way your actions force you to produce, if you care about your vehicle. IF you go out and spend 700$ on supplies, and rip your car to bare metal you are pretty much forced to prime that finish ASAP and get going. If you do one panel at a time and tippy toe into buying a sheet of sandpaper here, and a can of primer there. I can ASSURE you you will never actually get it done.

 

I'm going PPG 9300 "Triple Black" Single Stage, it is a urethane paint...
Some paints are just black, some blacks have brown and some have dark blue's, etc...
the blacks with the blue's look darker than just black or black with browns (standing next to all 3, cold / warm colors)

But as noted above, mirror finish is the body works part...

Rafael

 

There is a metallic black. I have seen one car painted with it. It does look good but as with any metallic it does tend to make the color look a little lighter just due to the metallic. With the black I seen the metallic stood out more because it did not have much of a black hue to it. Definitely more work than plain black.
As for the mirror finish that is from good proper prep work and after the clear is sprayed (BC/CC) a good buffing or color sanding and buffing to remove the inherent orange peel.