Hi all,

My son and I are getting a 71 Super ready for the road. At the moment it's in many pieces, and is undergoing a bit of patch up work here and there.

It has had a sortof Baja mod, but only at the rear as the front naturally has the Macpherson strut setup. So from the rear guards (fibreglass) back it has been cut up and a tubular frame is ready to go around the engine.

We're sizing up our options as far as paint goes.

We're not looking for anything fancy really, and it's highly unlikely that someone will ever buy this beast with a view to restoring it. Given this we don't really care about the type of coating goes on her.

Basically we want something that is inexpensive, easy to apply and relatively durable. I expect that we'll be selling her on in the next 3 years, probably to another young bloke who wants a beastly looking car.

So far we're considering either:

a. Acrylic monza red
b. A basic enamel coating purchasable from an auto shop
c. Hammertone red

I've been told that hammertone is crazy, but we've done the interior in hammertone dark grey and it actually looks pretty cool. So why not do the whole car in it?

Opinions are welcome!

Are you painting it? Do you have the equipment and skills? Have you priced the products?

Maybe just get a panel shop local to get one of their boys to blow it over with no guarantees, you buy the paint on a Saturday for cash.

Ahhh, Helbus! I read a few of your posts since I opened this topic and I hoped that you might pitch in with some advice.

I was planning to do it myself in my garage. I did a Kombi in Dulux Mellow Yellow (orange) a few years ago and it came up really well, but I did that in a spray booth. I really can't remember what I used, except that I had to add a hardener to it.

Given my earlier success, I think I have the skills. I also have a compressor and a HVLP spray gun, so that's the (cheap) equipment taken care of. I really just want to know what I should load it up with. Having read a few other posts I'll steer clear of the toxic enamels. Maybe even a matt or satin finish like I've seen elsewhere??? Geez, I even saw one bug in a post that was done with a cheap roller kit from Bunnings!

By the way, I'm leaning towards hammertone red.

Hi jamsha. Hammertone would certainly be different, but quite difficult to get a perfectly even finish over a whole car. If you want a really good, mirror finish paint job that doesn't cost the earth or need a heavily controlled environment such as a booth, then you just can't beat good old acrylic. It dries so fast that getting contamination in the paint is virtually impossible, as it can be blown off with air. Enamel stays wet for much longer allowing airborne floaties to get stuck in the paint.
The only downside to acrylic is that it doesn't have a natural gloss. When I paint with acrylic, I sand the whole car/bus/bike down with various grades of sandpaper the day after I've painted it, as it's a bit easier to sand the next day, as opposed to 2 weeks later (usually 800, then 1200, then 1500 finished off with 2000. All wet, not dry sanded.) until the surface is dead smooth. It will take a day to do this, but once it's done, leave it for 3-4 weeks and buff it up with a good cutting polish and hand wax it. You will end up with a flawless dead flat perfect reflection. Acrylic is dirt cheap, easy to paint and has excellent UV protection. If you're not afraid of a bit of sanding, you wont regret the finished product. I am happy to email you some acrylic jobs I've done if you're interested in the finished result.
Have fun.