Acrylic Lacquer and Primer questions

41woodie · October 09, 2006, 05:31:17 PM

Have a good friend (restorer type) that is getting ready to shoot some PPG DP-50LF primer and Dura-Cryl DDL-117 Acrylic Lacquer on a Model A Rdstr/PU. He has a decent HVLP gun but has NEVER shot anything. Anyone care to share tips, advice etc. please post here and I'll relay info to him. Has no idea about pot life, how long to wait before color sanding, how heavy or light to shoot, viscosity etc. Any help appreciated.

bigdude · October 09, 2006, 05:55:37 PM

Where did he get laquer?Hardly no one uses that any more or can get it any more. With todays urethanes why would you want to? :?

Dave · October 09, 2006, 06:04:33 PM

Quote from: "41woodie"Have a good friend (restorer type) that is getting ready to shoot some PPG DP-50LF primer and Dura-Cryl DDL-117 Acrylic Lacquer on a Model A Rdstr/PU. He has a decent HVLP gun but has NEVER shot anything. Anyone care to share tips, advice etc. please post here and I'll relay info to him. Has no idea about pot life, how long to wait before color sanding, how heavy or light to shoot, viscosity etc. Any help appreciated.

Practice on sumpin.. dp 50 lf needs to be painted over within 7 days i think . Cant quite remember now . If it was me id shoot the 50-lf then let it dry and shoot some hi fill urathane primer over that. Then id block sand and get ready for the top coat. Yes they still sell laquer in some states and years ago thats all i shot. Id do it again if the quality was there but its not what it used to be. Its still good but not as good as the old days. I geta kick outta people telling other people that its gonna crack ect. Never had one that i painted my self crack. Seen som and had some painted by other people that cracked. Why .. maybe the fact it was the 3rd or 4th paint job and no stripping! Another option is single stage acrylic enamel im building a 32 roadster to sell and i think its gonna get single stage if not flat black.
Dave

Leon · October 09, 2006, 06:08:32 PM

Acrylic Lacquer continues to shrink and over time develops cracks (spiderwebbing) and for that reason alone I wouldn't consider using the stuff even if I could get it. (I haven't had one that didn't crack) Besides, it is illegal to shoot in many parts of the country. I did shoot some years ago and didn't like the way it comes out of an HVLP gun. Not sure why but the gun shoots urethanes beautifully but wouldn't shoot lacquer right.

41woodie · October 09, 2006, 06:08:57 PM

He lives up in the Washington DC, Manasas Virginia area and purchased the paint up there. Since he has never painted anything the thought was that if you were willing to sand long enough etc that the lacquer would be the most forgiving of errors. Remember the key word here is restorer, the little A will get insert rods, pressurized lube system and maybe high compression head but he wants the car to be as he remembers doing them back in the late 50's early 60's when he was but a lad. He's long on time and energy and short on skill

Dave · October 09, 2006, 06:15:56 PM

Quote from: "Leon"Acrylic Lacquer continues to shrink and over time develops cracks (spiderwebbing) and for that reason alone I wouldn't consider using the stuff even if I could get it. (I haven't had one that didn't crack) Besides, it is illegal to shoot in many parts of the country. I did shoot some years ago and didn't like the way it comes out of an HVLP gun. Not sure why but the gun shoots urethanes beautifully but wouldn't shoot lacquer right.

Leon I never had one crack and ive got n old suction feed gun that id use if i were gonna do it again. In fact ive got a devilbus finish line hvlp that i Hate :!: I shot my 34 with it and it sucked :!: I did the flames on the 34 with the 65 dollar suction feed and they came out great.....
Dave

1FATGMC · October 09, 2006, 06:28:53 PM

Like Dave says you have to topcoat the DP within a week. I shoot two coats with the appropriate time between coats and then will shoot a coat of high fill primer, like K36 over that. Then I can go back and sand the K36 any time I want and continue on with more primer and sanding without having to re-do the DP.

I would get rid of the lacquer and go base clear. It is the easiest to paint and repair. If you get a run doing the base just wait a bit and sand it out and put on more base. If you get a run with the clear you can sand and buff it out. If you later need to repair a panel you just fix the panel and blend in base over the primer in the fixed part and re-clear the whole panel. It is simple and forgiving and will last forever.

Ditch the lacquer

.

I have some tips on my site that might help him here:

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/tech--body-paint-index.html

c ya,

Sum

BFS57 · October 10, 2006, 08:33:43 AM

Hello;
I just have to step in and set a few things straight! First, there is nothing wrong with lacquer. It does shrink! Yes but if you use an epoxy primer under, the color & clear coats will have maximum bond to what ever you paint it on! It also keeps small areas where there are sharp curves from "bubbling" and "pulling"
The job (if you are bent on using lacquer) should be: primer for prep, then use a cote or two of epoxy primer, then shoot color until you are pleased with it! Next, shoot clear about 4 good thinned coats, then load the gun with thinner, and shoot the whole car just with thinner! Now, take a break and leave it alone for at least 48 hours! Next after a month or so, if you want that "glass" finish start with the 1500 wet or dry, buff, and thats it!
I do agree with some of the other guys that some of the newer materials are better in some respects but cost can get high especially if you are wanting some of the newer specialty colors!
Guns are a personal preference! you have to use your gun several times before you can decide if it does what you want it to do or not!
Just my 2 cents worth!

Bruce