How To Choose The Best Finish For Your Vehicle

How To Choose The Best Finish For Your Vehicle

Choosing the best auto paint for your vehicle may seem like a daunting task, especially given the broad variety of available options. While many different factors are important in your choice for the right auto paint, the most critical ones are the paint’s cost, durability, appearance and ease of use. By concentrating on these, you can make the right choice for your automotive paint.

Start With Primer

The best paint jobs require primer. In order to achieve the results you want, it’s important for you to begin by giving your vehicle a good foundation for the paint. You’ll want to make certain that you choose the right high-quality primer. Available types include anti-corrosive primers, adhesion primers, primer surfacers and primer sealers. The majority of paint jobs will require you using only one or two of the different types.

START WITH PRIMER

Which Primer Should You Choose?

Your vehicle’s condition will dictate the type of primer you need. If your care has any bare metal spots, choosing a 2K epoxy primer is important as it will promote adhesion to the car’s metal while also preventing corrosion. While your car may not initially have any bare metal spots, you might end up with some when you sand out any imperfections or apply filler to dings or dents. In most cases, you will only need about a quart of 2K epoxy primer for spot priming bare metal spots. It is a good idea to go ahead and use a good epoxy primer over your entire vehicle for better adhesion and resistance to corrosion.

If you have areas where there are numerous scratches, dings or areas with body filler, using a two-part urethane primer surfacer in addition to your all-over epoxy primer is smart. The urethane primer will offer better sanding and filling than the epoxy can provide while the epoxy will give the benefit of added adhesion and corrosion resistance.

If your car does not have flaking, scratches or dings and is in good shape, using a 2K urethane sealer can be enough to provide a solid foundation for your automotive paint. It is possible to get urethane sealers in colors that are close to that of your final finish, which can reduce the number of color coats that you will need to apply.

Primers To Avoid

It is best to avoid primers that are lacquer, enamel, spray bomb or aerosol. All of these types have potential issues with cracking over time, wrinkling and lifting.

The Right Color Coat To Choose

There is a broad variety of color coats available today for auto paint refinishing projects. The available choices have varying costs and performances. When you think about the choices in terms of the appearance, costs and durability, 2K urethane single-stage topcoats are good. For better long-term maintenance, choosing a urethane base-and-clear system might be a better option.

Urethane single stage topcoats give you both your finish’s color as well as the glossy sheen in one. Base-and-clear systems include a basecoat color layer along with a clearcoat finish for the final result. The base-and-clear systems are more durable, lasting longer than single-coat urethane topcoats. While the cost is higher for base-and-clear systems, you will have lower maintenance costs along with higher resale values for your vehicle.

Chrome Spray Paint As An Option

Another choice you shouldn’t forget is chrome spray to areas you want to add the beauty and gleam of chrome. This can include your bumper, detailing, rearview mirrors, door handles, or, in states in which it is legal, your entire car. PChrome offers a professional spray chrome kit that can let you chrome multiple vehicles or components. For smaller projects, they also offer a starter kit. Chrome spray is a terrific choice and is just as durable as traditional chrome plating while being more versatile and less expensive.

Automotive Paint Options To Avoid

Generally, you should avoid using lacquer or acrylic-enamel finishes. Acrylic-enamel finishes do not last as long as finishes made from urethane, and the cost difference is not sufficiently large enough to warrant choosing the acrylic enamel single-stage paints over the urethane single-stage topcoats. Lacquer finishes lose their luster much faster and tend to chip and crack more than either acrylic-enamel or urethane-topcoat choices.

Choosing Your Clearcoat

You can base your clearcoat choice on the basecoat you choose. Almost all basecoat manufacturers also produce clearcoats. Purchasing your basecoat and clearcoat together is the best way to achieve the long-lasting finish you desire. For chrome spray, your PChrome kit includes everything you need for the basecoat, topcoat and clear finish.

By following these simple guidelines, you can choose the automotive primers and paints that will work the best for your project. If you would like to learn more about PChrome spray for the parts you would like to chrome, call us today for more information.