Central PA Z

I am planning to change the front end of my car to black. It's currently red. I want to do the complete front end to black, with flames going back onto the hood and front fenders. I was wondering though, would I really need to put a clear coat on it, (the black I mean), or would just the black paint with zaino products on top to help protect it and keep the shine be ok?? I'm already on a tight budget cause of a new hood and wing, getting both painted and re-painting the roof. + I have a rear end to save for. Errrr

~John

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1994 Z Car
www.slfba.com
The usual stuff on a set of Nittos and a dead posi.
60' = 1.920
1/8 = 8.368 @ 83.88
1/4 = 12.968 @ 108.04

97BlackT\A

If you want your paint investment to last, then yes, clearcoat is required. There are some very good single stage products out there, but they will not hold up like a 2 stage paint. Why put that much time and effort into the flames et al, and not finish it the best you can?

When you say front end, you must mean the nose. If you change the front end to black, you would be into the doors with your color change.

The nose alone needs clear to help protect it from road debris.

Once the flames and all are on, clear the panels completely. This will protect the job the best, and help hide the tape lines. Put 4-5 coats of clear on and you can wet sand and buff out the tape lines to a smooth(er) finish if you want.

All in all it should only be about $100 more at the most (good quality clear, flex agent(if needed)catalyst, etc.)for the materials to clear the front clip.

Jeff

97BlackT\A

After reading your post again...

Are you thinking about painting the nose now, then doing the rest of the painting later? Is your car black and the nose red? Not sure where you're at.

Either way, the less paint on the nose, the better. Those flexible pieces don't take kindly to high film builds. So I stick to my suggestion of base/clear.

Give some more details if I've got it wrong!


Jeff

Central PA Z

Sorry I didn't really explain myself, Jeff. Yes, my whole car is red. I just got a cowl hood painted red to match with 2 coats of clear. I had to wet sand cause of orange peel and spend 2 days polishing to bring back the shine and take out the swirl marks. My fenders are ok and don't need repainted. The tops of my doors have chips and will be sanded and repainted, color matching so to speak.

Then what I want to do is change the whole front clip to black, with flames making comming back the hood (the front part of the hood will be black) and also back the fenders and onto a small part of the doors.

I was considering only black as to eliminate the ridge that will form from the black paint and clear coat(s) ontop of the red at the edge of the flames.

That, along with the worring about orange peel after applying clear to basically the whole front of the car just left me wondering if I could skip the clear coat and still be protected.

~John

97BlackT\A

OK, hopefully I am picturing this correctly.

Realistically you will be fighting a losing battle trying to keep a single stage paint job looking as good as your remaining factory clear.

To cut down on the tape line (ridge as you called it) the whole job can be done in basecoat and then cleared complete. If the painter is nervous about taping on the base coat, they can spray one coat of clear on the black, then tape off and spray the flames, then 2 coats of clear over all (to the panel edges, such as the doors, not to the flame edge). As long as they take care when applying the various colors in making the flames they should be able to keep the tape edge pretty minor. If you want to wet sand the tape line, then have 3-4 coats of clear sprayed on to give room to sand. It'll be up to the painter on how many coats. I can do it in 3, 2 if I just spray one extra pass over the sanding area. Depends on the surfaces...smooth 4th gens are easier than a mid 60's car with sharp body lines.

If the flames are to be air brushed or professionally done by an experienced auto-artist you will have better results over all. There are many tricks to doing this that can't be explained easily. An experienced person can whip out such a job very quickly and it will look awesome. I highly suggest you look one or two up and talk it over with them. Shouldn't cost anything for an estimate, and they can explain it better than I can here.

Hopefully your painter will not leave you with that orange peel. If you are concerned, I'd look for another painter. I certainly wouldn't have such a person under take a flame job for me if I wasn't confidant they could do a simple re-paint.

Good luck man. Don't skimp, you'll regret it. Take the time and save the money to do it right.



Jeff

97BlackT\A

Also, a guy (or gal) that has done these jobs before will know of paint products that can be used for higher success that are compatible with the products you will be using. I've given general advice. The type and quality of the paints used has a big impact on how the job can be done, and how well it will turn out.

So again I suggest seeking the advice of a local artist. They'll be able to tell you what will work best for you.



Jeff