People's opinions on single stage paint?
 

It's old technology but I am wondering what people think of single stage paint compared to a basecoat clearcoat spray job.
other than having to buff the single stage every once in a while to maintain the gloss...is a single stage spray job really that bad?
Iv been thinking of spraying my rx7 in a single stage but am looking for more info from people who have used both types of paint and what they think...

why do you want to go single stage instead of a multistage paint job?

I'll be spraying the car myself, I don't mind the look of a single stage spray job but just want to know if it will be worth it.
Iv seen around on a few different threads the single stage holds up nicely over a years and years was just faded and oxidised then they buffed it and it came up brand new again. I know you can do the same with a multi stage spray job(unless it's heavily oxidised), but since it's my first time I'll be spraying a car I don't want to have clearcoat failure or other problems.
It's just a thought for now till I can get some more info then I'll make my choice on the single stage or a 2k basecoat clearcoat spray job. :)

There is an older guy I met at the gym who use to spray cars. He said for a really deep shine to use single stage and then towards the final coats start mixing in more clear and then do a clear over it. So single stage with clear on top. Definitely more expensive.

But yeah I agree with you. Personally I think single stage is better, but all body shops like spraying now is base/clear. I've had clear peeling problems in the past with two stage paint jobs. The only problems I've ever had on my 94 3000gt (which is single stage) is that when I buff the car it turns the pads black:) Also I technically buffed through my drivers side mirror. It looked fine in the garage but when I got it out in the sunlight you could see there was a spot where the yellow plastic underneath was kind of starting to come through.

Get a rock chip and you want to touch it up, it never looks right. Whereas I think it's easier to hide with single stage. It's true clear protects the paint underneath. But if the clear likes like crap, the car looks like crap. If the clear peals off all you are left with is dull paint underneath.

I think body shops use base/clear as it's just cheaper paint wise. Spray some cheap paint that is the same color/shade of your car. Do a thin coat of paint over the top of that with the expensive pearls mixed in. Then bury everything with 2-3 coats of clear.

yea I have heard of people mixing clear with the last few coats of single, it must give the finish better UV protection. Price would probably still be cheaper than a base and clear job I reckon.

Iv never seen a single stage spray job in person(that I know of) just seen pictures on the intenet and they look good nice gloss, deep mirror reflection that suit a classic car nicely.
Paint shops only use the base/clear because that's what every manufacturer uses they'd only pull out the single stage when asked or it's been provided by the customer to use.
when the clear starts to oxidize badly and peel there's no saving it without painting it again that's why I'm leaning towards a single stage job at the moment. A 94 3000gt nice:icon_tup: that's a car you hardly ever see around on the roads here in Australia. The black single stage jobs look nice but I won't be choosing black on my rx7 it's not the easiest colour to keep clean lol.

Yea once the clearcoat fails and starts to peel there is not much you can do other than live with it or respray area/panel. some base clears have a blending agent you can add wich makes colour matching easier.

iv had and been doing bodywork on and off for 2 years on my rx7 and still don't know what colour I want to spray it or what paint I want to use lol. I plan on keeping the car for a while I just want it to look neat and the paint be durable. I want to use a 2k finish but seeing some of these single stage jobs they don't look to bad.

What are the actual difference between singe and two-stage? That the paint is allowed to cure fully between the two stages?

Single stage paint= when you spray the base coat it has the gloss in it wich is a 1 stage job if that makes sense. They didn't have to use a clear coat over it. Not as many colours to choose from as a base and clear job. the single stage paint job was used on older cars as a original factory finish.

Two stage = your normal paint job, a base coat is sprayed wich is your colour(stage 1) and then clear coat is needed for the gloss and UV protection(stage2) basicly it's the new technology of paint that every manufacturer has been using for a long time.

Hope that makes sense.

Here's a bit of extra info on the difference between the 2...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...coat-paints.ht

what car do you have? Because it may have been single stage from the factory. I know my base 94 white FD is.

Where you noted "single stage can fade and then be polished back bright"...yes that definitely is possible to do a nice recovery, but you're also removing paint when you do that (that's why FastFalcon sees his polishing pads turn body color) so there are only so many times you can do that before there's nothing left. The same thing happens to an extent with the clear, but typically the clear can be laid on thicker and is a big more resilient to the polishing process.

That's not to say single stage can't look good, as it absolutely can. I think that since you're spraying yourself that the prep work and ability to setup a clean work space where you can keep dirt out of the paint is going to be more important than the single vs 2-stage debate.

I have a series 1 rx7 wich was resprayed a few times with clear over base jobs.
Yea I understand a small layer of the paint is removed when polishing I guess how much comes off depends how aggressive you need to polish to bring the paint back to life. how long does it normally take for a single stage job to fade and need polishing?

Yea the single stage jobs look nice my dads series 4 FC rx7 TII has a single stage spray job I'm pretty sure.
it's getting thin in some spots the last guy to polish it and get all the overspray off some idiot got all over it said there isn't much layers left to polish without breaking through and having to be repainted.

I'm not worried about a clean area to spray in as I'll be hiring a booth out when the time comes to lay some colour down:icon_tup:

if you keep a single stage well protected, clean, and don't bake it in the sun all day every day it really shouldn't fade.

Brilliant Black on at least 93 Rx7's was single stage. I'd prefer a coating of clear on it. Before I bought my 93 the previous owner had it wet sanded and there were spots they could not get due to the thin single coat.

I have sprayed both. If a solid color, it would not matter. Every metallic I have sprayed was base coat clear coat. Only solid color I ever did was black lacquer covered with polyurethane. Best finish ever, but the 2 part poly is rather dangerous. Really cool warnings on the side of the can though..

So the single stage sounds like it wouldn't be good for daily driver that's out and about all the time, would more suit a car that's not driven very often and kept out of the sun.

I'm pretty sure my dads s4 rx7 tii is a single stage job looks very tired and as I mentioned above its probably a cut and buff away from breaking through the paint, wich sucks:icon_tdow

So they couldn't get to bits on your fd coz the paint was too thin? Couldn't they have used a cutting compound for those spots instead of sandpaper?

I was thinking of a solid colour it's easier to spray for a first timer like me:)
yea it's recommended to clear even single stage metallics so you don't wreck the metallics when cut n polishing or wet sanding.

All paint is dangerous I suppose, if used in a booth and wearing a good mask it should be alright.
So the polyurethane comes as a 2k single stage with a hardner?

I think you'll just have to be diligent to make sure the paint always has some form of protection on it to avoid damage. But that's the same for any car that sees a lot of sun exposure. I've never been to your continent, but they tell me it's hot there!:)

Yea your right, any type of paint won't last if you don't look after it like waxing, sealing...etc.
come summer time wich we are almost about to hit it gets fairly warm here in melbourne.
I'm just lucky I don't live in the northern territory(north/central of australia) im pretty sure it's hot, humid and dry all year round up there.