I have decided to paint my 85 TA pretty soon. First, I want to strip off the white paint (with aircraft paint stripper) down to bare metal but before I do this I am trying to get others opinions on what kind of primer to use and how should I paint it, in a garage, outside, etc. I know pro's use down draft rooms but I dont have one so whats the best way to go and what is the best paint to use, dupont, house of kolor, etc.? and what kind of clear coat is best and how many coats should be used to get a good show car look? Thanks Drew


85 TPI W/700R4 and shift kit
- air foil
- throttle body bypass
- twin turbos (coming soon)

 

If you are a first time painter, dupont, ppg, or sherwin williams will be fine. they are fairly inexpensive and easy to use. Use the primer that the paint manafacturer recomends. most paint companies say for best results use ____primer. By far the absolute best paint is sikkens but this paint is very expensive but the best you can buy.

 

For my money, PPG. And for goodness sake, do yourself a favor that will help keep your paint in decent shape, even if YOU dont. Get the flexible additive and mix it with both the primer AND with the clear coat-the color coat does not need this-. It will prevent the cracking and flaking so commonly found on our cars-especially on the nose and rear due to them being fiberglass-b/c you've got a TA, the ground effects are of a flexible plastic too. And as far as how many coats yoyu should put on, I've always been of the addage that you put twice the clear coats on than you did color-example-if you put 2 color, you put on 4 clear-this might seem like overkill, but remember-it is commonly only 5.0 to 7.0 mils of paint found on the average car from the factory-and each mil is 1/1000th of an inch! Also you might seriously consider block sanding after each coat of paint is dried fully-so this is gonna be involved. Consider to yourself whether you really wanna do this by yourself. Whatever you decide, good luck to you.

 

hey thanks guys, i'll be sure to use a flexible additive to the clear and primer coats, hopefully i'll get it done pretty soon

 

Flex additive is an old school necessity. The paints now adays are formulated to be flexable. Just more money that you could spend elsewhere in my book. Best thing to do is check with your local paint store on what you need before spending all you have. I promise they will have the most info available and will get you squared away with exactly what it takes.