Topic: What Kind of Paint to Use?

[kkupec02]

The GT500 that I just bought has that old gray paint with black and white speckles applied under the hood and trunk. I want to correct that problem before I have the whole car painted down the road a few years since the hood and trunk underside is kind of peeling off right now. The body and paint shops that I have been speaking to want to know if it is more acceptable in the Shelby arena to paint the car single stage urethane or double stage base coat/clear coat. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Under the hood and trunk, a base coat/clear coat would/should prevent the need for wet sanding and buffing all of those nooks and crannies. On the car exterior, a one stage urethane is most like the original finish and much easier to wet sand and buff out based on the large flat panels. Thoughts? Thanks.     

[Bob Gaines]

The GT500 that I just bought has that old gray paint with black and white speckles applied under the hood and trunk. I want to correct that problem before I have the whole car painted down the road a few years since the hood and trunk underside is kind of peeling off right now. The body and paint shops that I have been speaking to want to know if it is more acceptable in the Shelby arena to paint the car single stage urethane or double stage base coat/clear coat. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Under the hood and trunk, a base coat/clear coat would/should prevent the need for wet sanding and buffing all of those nooks and crannies. On the car exterior, a one stage urethane is most like the original finish and much easier to wet sand and buff out based on the large flat panels. Thoughts? Thanks.   

Originally the paint was a single stage but was not wet sanded or buffed . It had a orange peel to a minor degree. If you don't want the original orange peel or have to get dirt out of the painted finish you then wet sand and buff the single stage.You have to decide which you like best, a smooth slick finish or a slightly orange peel original finish. Which finish you want will help determine which paint product you use on the exterior.  The best way is to disassemble every part from the car and have the finish stripped before painting including the trunk, engine compartment and undercarrage . You have to decide if you do it the best way or compromise. It is about choices and your expectations of what you expect after the job is done.  I will let others expand on different varieties of paint to use.

[kkupec02]

Thanks. I saw at the body shop a freshly painted car with single stage urethane. It had a fake plastic, overly glossy appearance. Once wet sanded, it looked normal and nice. I agree a glass finish isn't original, but an unsanded single stage urethane looks horrible. Unless there are other urethanes out there? The shop was spraying 3M or LIMR, I forget which.     

[kkupec02]

I guess a single stage urethane not overly wet sanded would be the way to go. Allow some orange peel to stay if it there and light. Thanks again.

[Bossbill]

Just to be clear (ha!), you have an early Shelby with a metal/fiberglass composite hood and deck lid, right?

My car is later, is full fiberglass  and you don't paint the underside of either with exterior color.

Do note that single stage has an advantage in the trunk interior. With single stage you can do as the factory did and mist the paint lightly over the primer in some areas -- like the painter was in a bit of a hurry. See the Lime Gold GT500 in the unrestored area of the forum.
If you try to do this with base/clear you may well get clear over areas that still have red oxide showing. That will look odd and incorrect.
Plus there may be a run or two. If done in single stage this works out. If you try to clear over over a run you may well get a clear run.

Just some thoughts.

[J_Speegle]

The trunk lids and hoods (as well as other body parts) were painted at Shelby and the coverage differed between the steel and fiberglass and all fiberglass


Your car has the steel liner and fiberglass top panel so it would have been typically covered fully with body color or at least that was the plan

Below are a few examples (forgive the age and chips) to give you an general idea of the overall look. The zonatone coat on the trunk lid an elsewhere will need to be removed since the texture and thickness of the product will affect the final look

[kkupec02]

Thanks. Hood since it is off for master cylinder and booster has underside stripped to bare metal. Has been chemically treated so no rust left behind. Zonatone removed from fiberglass as much as possible. My hood and trunk seems to have more "solid looking" fiberglass areas where extra fiberglass epoxy must have been used and "puddled" or fiberglass put on really wet. Also has a coffee cup ring in fiberglass underside of hood under scoop where extra epoxy must have been used and coffee cup sat in wet area. I guess I am leaving that there because filler will not put the texture back anyway. This is a picture before chemical treatment and edge repair.   

[Bob Gaines]

Thanks. Hood since it is off for master cylinder and booster has underside stripped to bare metal. Has been chemically treated so no rust left behind. Zonatone removed from fiberglass as much as possible. My hood and trunk seems to have more "solid looking" fiberglass areas where extra fiberglass epoxy must have been used and "puddled" or fiberglass put on really wet. Also has a coffee cup ring in fiberglass underside of hood under scoop where extra epoxy must have been used and coffee cup sat in wet area. I guess I am leaving that there because filler will not put the texture back anyway. This is a picture before chemical treatment and edge repair.

To confirm the steel innerstructure hood and trunklid should be completely painted exterior body cover . Later production all fiberglass versions were painted black or left bare fiberglass before getting overspray on the bottom side from the exterior body color painting of the top side.That version is not you.