NOS2006

Sometime next year hopefully I'll be repainting my entire car with a new hood, body kit, spoiler, etc. Now, I'm trying to stick with a medium-color (in contrast to light or dark), but I don't know a lot about paint jobs at all...

First question.. is there any type of clear coat out there that will prevent dings/scratches/rock chips at all?

Second question.. what the hell is orange peel? lol I see it everywhere.

Third question.. how much should it cost me in paint supplies (is it worth going to House of Kolors paint?)? I was thinking of either a medium pearl blue, pearl silver, metallic blue, or metallic silver with the opposite (blue or silver) color being used for a stripe on the hood/spoiler and hockey stripes down the side...

TIA if you can answer any of these questions..

95LT1conv

no i dont believe there is a clear coat to prevent any of that.

2. orange is uneven clearcoat coverage.

3. your looking at probably $3k to $5k for a whole new paint job like you want

NOS2006

Aw, I thought House of Kolors had a tougher/harder clear coat.. Guess not..

3-5k? Lot of money, but it'll be worth it I'm sure.

EdkicMedkic

not that much if he is going to paint it himself

shriekingtires

Okay, orange peel is a characteristic of cheap paint jobs. Solid colors, especially black, are most susceptible to this flawed texture. It gets its name because the paint, when viewed up close, has a texture like the surface of an orange...slightly bumpy. You usually have to be within 5 feet to spot orange peel. A good paint job will cost you over $3000. If you want a paint job that will look as good as the paint from the factory, it will probably cost you $4500-$5500. Of course, for the absolute best, you should remove all body panels from the car, and have both the frame and panels painted, otherwise your hood will be one color and the engine well will be another (a bit of a fashion foupax for cars) Black is cheapest, at least for the shop, but they might not tell you that. To my knowledge there is not a good clear coat for Camaros. Hard clearcoates do not flex, and will crack if they are used on the flexible plastic body panels, like the front and rear clip, and maybe even the new ground effects. Even the factory paint is susceptibly to this. Maybe you have seen cars with several hairline cracks in a concentric pattern. This is usually called spiderwebbing, cuz the cracks look like spider web thread stuck to the car. You will want to make sure the the flexible parts are painted with a good flexible "flex" paint, otherwise the paint will crack and flake off just from the pressure you might apply when polishing the car. This happened to my Fiero after being painted by what I thought was a reputable shop (cost more than Maaco). Metallic colors will cost more, and look bad if you have a cheap place do it. If I were painting a car for less than $3000, I would definately recommend solid red or solid black. These colors should be the easiest for the cheaper guys to do and should end up looking the best. Finally, I would strongly recommend having the car's original paint removed (sandblasted) and reprimed before it gets its new paint and clearcoat, otherwise the car will look like crap in 3 years. This probably isn't what you want to hear. For me, when I come to the realization that my car needs paint, I usually come to the realization that it is time for a new car. Good paint, unfortunately is expensive and nearly impossible for a doit yourselfer. Don't try to paint the car in your garage or driveway. You will end up with so much dust (even on a perfect windless day) in the paint and it will look bad. You won't be happy.

shriekingtires

I just wanted to forewarn you about the difficulties of painting with metallic colors. Metallic paint has tiny metal fragments in it, thus the name, metallic. This gives the paint that really great sparkly appearance. Here's a good analogy: Remember those kindergarten projects in which you got to use glitter and Elmer's glue??? Remember how hard it was to get the glitter to spread evenly over the paper??? You would end up with glumps and voids and it would look bad. Metallic paint is the same kind of pain. If you spray it on too heavy, the metal fragments pool and settle unevenly. You will need a very high tech paint gun to get it looking right. If you're not careful you may end up with a blotchy metallic ride. I made all these mistakes in the past, that's how I know this stuff. Black or red is best and easiest. Best for resale, if that is ever is a consideration.