Will be painting soon. Original color was Carmen Red with Black interior. Prior owner replaced interior with Biscuit. Also did a cheap respray which is now cracking and needs to be resprayed
What colors do folks think look best on DHC - not changing the interior- it is in excellent condition?
Then we come to 2 stage v single stage
Car is kept in a climate controlled garage and not driven in adverse weather
I like the look if single stage but dont know how it will hold up or what the disadvantages might be
Thoughts?
On three of my cars, two of which are factory original paint work, the clear coat is peeling off.
Base/clear systems work swell for metalics and pearls. If you’re spaying a solid color there’s no need to cover in clear. Just spray an extra coat or two for cut/buff if you plan on that.
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I have a British racing green 61 MK IX and a black 63 Ford Galaxie 500 both done in Glasurit base coat/clear coat 20 years ago. I also have a two tone light grey/creme 59 MK IX done in Glasurit base coat/clear coat 17 years ago. These are nonmetallic. The finish on these cars looks as good as it did on the day it was done. They have seen plenty of rain and sun in the New England driving season but honestly have been garaged and pampered since restoration was complete. None of my cars have ever been washed, I use a product called Dri-wash to maintain their high quality finish.
My most recent restoration is a 52 XK-120 FHC that has metallic silver Glasurit base coat/clear coat. That paint job is 3 years old and is stunning.
Clear coat adds an additional depth to the finish of a car, as well as a high gloss. Single stage is not as deep or glossy. Some people like that look and claim the original finish was single stage so more appropriate. To each their own, of course. I prefer the shiny deep look.
Tom Brady
I agree that the clear coated finishes stay in great cosmetic shape. And I prefer an original level of gloss, so I got that my color sanding and using a medium compound.
I’ll add my reason for the clear coat - these coatings are very abrasion resistant. Our XK120 is Lavender Grey and our 66 Etype is Black, both new clear/base on stripped panels in the last ten years. A couple of years ago, Lori and I were driving the Etype when a truck way in front of us threw up a softball size rock that bounced on the road, skipped along the raised hump in the bonnet and broke the windshield. I can still see that rock in “slow motion”. Anyway, all I had to do was buff the paint, I didn’t even have to color sand it. The XK120 (which we also drive a lot including shipping it to England for XK70 and the tours afterward) also still has near perfect paint.
My next paint decision is our SS100 that I’m restoring, it was originally black with green interior, so I’m going back to that. It has only been repainted once in its life (to BRG) so I have plenty of uncovered black paint under upholstery panels, under the ID plate, etc. It’s not very glossy and I may skip the clear coat inspite of my good experiences on the later Jaguars.
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Are you doing the paint work yourself or having a paint shop do the respray , if painting yourself use signal stage . If you are doing the work yourself send us a photo of the cracking paint.
Being done by a professional shop and stripped to bare metal.
Ok base clear has my vote. Clear has the best UV protection
While on the subject of paint, what is the group wisdom for repainting an XK 140 in black, its original color? I understand that Mercedes has a very nice black, but it is probably deeper and glossier than the original. On the other hand, I remember the old paints (especially reds) oxidizing quickly and requiring a great deal of effort to maintain. Is there a modern paint code which best matches the original black? Would the Mercedes black be heresy? I am finally at the point where I have to make a decision.
I’m a proponent of single stage acrylic urethane, with caveats. As Kevin points out above, it is the better choice for shooting in a home garage and the cut and buffed finish will be closer to the original effect. It is also eminently repairable. The caution is not all single stage urethane are created equally and you would be best advised to stick to the big name formulations. Even then, the better formulations tend to be high in VOCs and are as a consequence being phased out of production, many simply NLA in many jurisdictions. Regardless of the system you choose, most of the quality, durability and longevity of a paint job is what’s underneath. Bodywork and paint prep.
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Bob I believe your paint code for your car is J 869 maybe someone can chime in to confirm , when you have the paint code confirmed ask your body shop to make a spray out of that paint code . I have made many for my car as pastel blue metallic was hard to get a paint code for . We spray out a card when Dismantling vehicles prior to paint to confirm a quality paint match .
TCP Global in San Diego does all the '48-'52 Jaguar colors. They are my source for Gunmetal Grey on my '50 Mark V.
To reinforce: about 99.231% of a good paint job is under the paint.