Cadillac Forum - Enthusiast forums for Cadillac Owners

Quote:

ORIGINAL: foxpaws

Stomps -

Looks like you did a great job -

I do have to wonder about the lacquer route - I just got done looking at a 70 camaro out in the shop that was lacquered - and needs to be taken down to metal because it is actually peeling, large pieces of the paint surface are coming off.

Fox,

Lacquer doesnt peel for being lacquer.

IT peels just like any paint when:
- painting over waxed or any other contaminant surface.
- painting w/o primer.
- contaminated air supply or equipment.
- painting over glossy paint.
- silicone anywhere.
- painting in the sun.
- painting over a surface that is not prepared.

Gary is almost right. For Lacquer, I say 60% is surface prep & mask, 35% is rubbing/buffing the finish down, 5% is applying the paint. Should one decide to apply a optional clear lacquer coat, you now have to spray the clear coat and rub it down again. Buffing is at the very end. Hey, you just found the $6,000 paint job - lacquer base color and multiple clear coats, all lacquer, all hand rubbed !

Many repaints today, simply wipe the car down with a wax remover (usually acetone, lacquer thinner, or mineral spirits based cleaners), mask and spray. There you have the $299 MACCO paint job. For economy, go two part paint. For glass glossy surface, go lacquer.

Also, one is advised to use the same paint formula when doing a panel repaint. Should one not do that, you will have different fade rates on the car's paint when exposed to UV. Give it a few years and you will see the color shift differential from the repainted panel as compared with the rest of the car, specially if one is lacquer and the other is urethane.

So why isnt lacquer that common anymore? labor intensive, hand rubbed finishes, and it doesnt last as long as urethane if the car sits outdoors in weather and sun or worse, pigeon droppings.

But two stage urethane doesnt come in glass smooth gloss, lacquer does. Lacquer is a single stage paint.

I also happen to like epoxy paint, which works nicely on concrete and appliances. But that is a whole other subject.

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for acrylic lacquer
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By Corey

"Today we pretty much use 2 part paints. Also these paints contain isocyanate which can be deadly.
Nitro cellulose LACQUER was replaced with acrylic lacquer in the 50's.

Acrylic lacquer is still made by Dupont (under the name Lucite, this is the original acrylic lacquer) and ppg under the name duracryl. These are easy to spray and will give you a glass finish. When you see show lacquer jobs this is usually what it is, "acrylic lacquer". The stuff polishes up like glass."

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for nitro cellulose lacquer
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By James

"I'm currently restoring a classic car and am looking for a source of the old lacquer type paint that the manufacturers used to use before they switched over to the two-pack, base coat/clear coat paint (urethane).

I've tried using the modern two pack paints on the car in areas but it really doesn't work for touch-up as it stands out -- it just doesn't blend with the original paint."

By Shane

"Nitrocellulose Lacquer paints/varnish are used on high end electric guitar finishes - check out Luthiers and Guitar repair shops."

By Johnny

"Robert Turnquist, his shops name was Hibernia and he is located in NJ. He used to have a larger selection of nitro cellulose lacquer paints."
" Nitrocellulose paint for restorations is also reportedly available from Durobond Paints in Australia."

by Jim

"ML Campbell makes a 550 VOC, legal in the SF bay area, and a 275 VOC legal in the LA area, Nitrocellulose Lacquer. Louis and Company distributes it locally from their Fremont, CA location for the wood working industry."

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