im going to be repainting my car in the near future, ill be painting it myself, not wanting to deal with clear coat issues from being a newbie painter im going with a solid single stage. i want something different, and here is a few thoughts:

porshe grey black

audi aviator grey

id like to stick with a color along these lines, ive had a white car before, burgandy but never a grey/dark colored car before so think im headed in this direction.

please give me your input

(the aviator grey has slightly changed its color 3 times. newest aviator is the lighter shade on mr2)

 

Second porsche color is bomb

 

I like the color on the Audi

 

scratch that, that mr2 is the one i like.

 

If I were you I would give the 2 stage paint a second thought. It will look a LOT better and will actually be easier to spray than the single stage. A single stage paint has to go on heavy and wet to even look half way decent, and it will run easily. The base coat on a 2 stage job goes on fairly light and will not run easily and you do not have to lay the clearcoat on real heavy if you do not want to. Yes the 2 stage will be more expensive by almost double, but it will look a lot better.

I would find some parts or a junk car to practice on.

Re'

 

On color, darker colors are harder to get right. If the body work is not spot on or the paint didn't go on right, it will show a lot more with that dark Porsche color.

Take your time and it would not hurt to get someone who has painted a car to help you. Only thing worse than a car in bad need of paint is a car with a botched paint job.

Re'

 

I miss paint (and wheels) without clear coats myself... All I had to do was keep a good coat of wax, and it'd shine like a clear coated paint. The clear coat on my car now is slowly breaking down, and it drives me CUH-RAZY!

I'd go without one...

 

I would not do a single stage. Take the time and spray it base clear. Its far more forgiving to fix your painting errors. You can wetsand and polish it to a much better finish, even with painting errors.

 

Don't like the idea of a full color change and a single stage paint job.
Are you doing the jambs as well ?
Single stage is cheap but for reasons.
Please do the jambs or the car will be trashy on top cheap.
And any value of the car will be destroyed.
Don't do a single stage unless you just don't give a shit.

 

thanks for the input guys, im still set on a single stage cus im no expert and from Everything ive read, the clear coat is where experience will show, you must keep a wet edge and can really screw up the job if you dont know what your doing. its not like spraying 2 base coats, the clear is different in so many ways. after reading all of the major paint/body forums ive seen enough of badass single stage solids that still look new years after it was sprayed. believe it or not the general consensus from what ive read is if your going to do a solid color(non metallic, non pearl), single stage will have a better end result.

places around here start at $2500 and go up for full paint job. sorry but my 2001 with 92k miles just aint worth it to me, i dont plan on selling it and when i do, im sure some high school kid will scoop it up, no car collector so im not worried to have a show car finish, its a daily driver.

im not planning on painting door jambs or engine bay, i understand, looks cheap etc i totally agree but im just not concerned about it considering the extra cost, i dont care what the guy at the gas station thinks when i open my door to get out and its a diff color ya know.

i didnt mention it cus i keep going back and forth so much, but ive even thought of satin black. i dont care if snooki or beiber painted their vehicles in it, IMO its not played out. other than car shows, ive seen maybe 2 satin blacks in my town in the last year and one had florida plates

 

With a single stage paint you have virtually no paint protection.When single stage gets a chip, 9 out of 10 times it will chip right to the primer.
2 stage, the clear will actually protect the paint if you get a chip.
good luck

 

And i can tell you as a painter (on the side) that you are just as likely to mess up single stage as well, and if you dont know what you are doing you will screw up both equally as easy. If you take your time it will turn out fine. If you spray single stage too dry you will get the same results as clear. Both will need polishing to get it to shine. The beauty of 2 stage is repair work is much easier if you do screw up to fix.