Duplicolor Paint Shop

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Been thinking about this stuff ever since I saw the episode of Two Guy's Garage on speed channel on the stuff. Somewhat limited on the color choices, but it seems like another inexpensive, seemingly quality paint job, but not totally sure. Has anyone ever used it, or heard of the stuff before? I'm kinda leaning that direction, especially at $19.99 a qt., seems easy, no mixing required, shake, pour, and shoot kinda operation with no time window for respray. I;m thinking a decent paint job at just over $100 is the way to go. What do you think?

[jesusno2]

Its just a cheap laquer paint. Laquer paint is hard and chips very easy but it is very glossy. It would be great for a daily driver.

[b210in]

i have been thinking about doing this as well. especially now that they have some candy colors.

 

it is a laquer and yes its weaker than the current urathanes, but that's why you spray multi layers of clear coat.

 

you know i have been doing extensive reasearch on this. i don't think 100 bucks is going to do it. you are going to need about 4cans of primer, 5 to 6 of color and the same for clear coat. with 14 to 15 cans you looking at roughly 300 bucks just for paint. add a spray gun and misc. materials and you in another 200 bucks.

 

how do you determine how much paint your car will need? this is the question that i have not found an acurate answers to. i based the amount of cans from doiing research on duplicolor paint shop forums.

[datrod]

Even at that that's a pretty cheap paint job. If you can spray your own car for less than $500.00 That's a deal.

And if that stuff is laquer that's even better when it chips you just dab some paint on with a brush. Then sand and buff and no more chip. We can't even buy laquer paint here in cali. :(

[marioburke]

Are you talking about the stuff that you can find at autozone? It was also featured on Stacey David's Gearz and I like the idea alot. The nice thing about it is that there is no re-coat time limit ( I was reading the directions on the can). So you don't necessarily have to spend all your money at once. you can start with some primer. Then your base coat and later your clear coat. Also, you only need about 2qts un mixed base coat to cover a small car, so maybe 4qts of the ready mixed duplicolor should be fine. I would love to do this but I have no place to paint

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Well, when I said a little over $100, I meant the whole basecoat would cost around that. I'm figuring a gallon of basecoat, and atleast that much in clear coat too would cover the truck. Still need to buy primer and rust treatment materials also, either way, it's way cheaper, and I wont exactly be heartbroken if it has to be done again in 5 years since the cost is so much lower.

[ggzilla]

Don't you have to hand-polish that kind of paint (laquer)? Inexpensive acrylic enamel shines almost as good with no buffing/polishing required. It's what the car factories use.

[marioburke]

Most major manufactuers use the same urethanes most expesive repair shops use and Nissan has moved a step ahead like they have over in germany to water base paints. ECO friendly AND they can create more unique tri-coat finishes. A lot which cannot be replicated by basic urethanes and enamels. Go Nissan!

[bonvo]

Even at that that's a pretty cheap paint job. If you can spray your own car for less than $500.00 That's a deal.

And if that stuff is laquer that's even better when it chips you just dab some paint on with a brush. Then sand and buff and no more chip. We can't even buy laquer paint here in cali. :(

 

i can i canbuy the exact stuff hes talking about at the parts house down the street ive been considering it myself pick up a 20 dollar gun and go for it :P

[Phlebmaster]

I am getting this same type of ready mixed paint from Autozone for 22.50 a qt. They also have a cool assortment of clears.....Metallic, Prism, and clear. That is the way I have decided to paint my car, But be sure to spend the time and money on a good primer. :)

 

That will help with longevity.

[steve g]

i always thought the more expensive the paint the better... i have found this untrue the last few years as i have had great results shooting $150 single stage urethanes that looked as good as my more expensive base/clear systems. So im open and curious to see how this stuff works.

[Jesse C.]

Or you can try this place.

 

Read about it on the H.A.M.B. and apparently works well.

 

http://www.paintforcars.com/enamel_paint_kits.html

[Papi Chulo]

lacquer = :poop:

[Bugeye]

I used it to paint my engine block, Looks good IMO.

[marioburke]

So here is a quick update for everybody interested in the Duplicolor system. I decided to go ahead and buy it and share the results. Its cheap its easy I like it!

 

Ok first of all, squash the idea that the more expensive paint the better the qaulity. All the quality of your paint job comes from your prep work. 90% prep 10% paint. Ask any body man. Although the newer Urethanes have gaurantees that last the lifetime of the vehicle, I have seen first hand Lacquer paint jobs that have lasted 13 years. Just take care of them.

 

The downsides to Duplicolor (these are just my opinion)

1. First if you have a darker color vehicle as I do, and you are deciding to go with a color that is lighter as I have, (Yellow/orange/white/red) USE the primer. I am sorry to say that the first quart that I sprayed was thin and I ran out after I covered only the trunk and the hood. I had to go over each one 4 times instead of only two!

 

2. Since duplicolor is reduced a little too much making it hard to cover you will need atleast 4qtz/cans of primer. I'd say you are looking at about 6qtz/cans of basecoat to cover the entire vehicle still. If you want to add clear to it you will probably only need 4-5qtz/cans. Autozone and Kragens here charge $22 a can. Lets say to be safe you did 6+6+6X$22 you are looking at $396 before tax. So the Dilema is that you are in the same price range as a Maaco single stage One color paint job. As Jesse C. has pointed out Paintforcars offers a very nice kit in a gallon set up that will cost you less in the long run espcially if you buy the kit that includes the clear coat. I remember right I saw kits as low as $178 shipped. Plus it will spray and perform as well as the urethane or lacquer.

 

Now the Upsides to Duplicolor

 

1. Unlike the urethanes and other paints you can leave duplicolor as it is Basecoat only. It is pretty strong. You could even add some clear to it and just spray it as a single stage! There is no recoat window. As I did I painted a couple coats on today, and tomorrow I can go back out side and add clear to make it a 2 stage paint job if I want to. All I have to do is clear the debris off.

 

2. Because its so strong and easy to fix, you dont have to have the cleanest paint booth in the world to paint. or if you are like me paint the vehicle one peice at a time in a hand built tool shed! :rolleyes:

 

3. I find this to actually be the most Valuable quality of all. Over the years I have become quite skilled at the rattle can approach and know how to stretch a few cans to cover a car. Duplicolor covered right over both Krylon and Rustoleum indoor/outdoor paints. No issue with bite. I learned the hard way on one of my previous cars that the Urethane does not mix with the rattle cans. It simply bites into the surface so hard it wrinkles everything. This means for the price of 2 quartz of Duplicolor primer you could buy WAY more than enough of your favorite rattle can to lay down first. I actually have 6 cans of one color, and 6 of another color to basically stencil out my two tone scheme. At my friendly neighborhood walmart which is conveniently down the street from me and open 24hrs, 12 cans of krylon at 3.29 only cost me $42.74 WITH tax (8.25%) easily saved me $95.

 

4. It is premixed ready to shoot. Which means LESS work. I know that kinda goes against #2 Downside but it does take a lot of hassle out of the guess work.

 

 

Having said all that I break it down like this:

 

Do you want to do the work yourself?

If NO, sand it down and send it to Maaco for cheap. Single stage still looks good.

if YES,

Do you have the proper equipment and facility to paint in?

If NO, I would probably suggest Duplicolor for the shear versatility of the product.

If YES, well you may want to try paintforcars.com. I wish I had the facilities because they only sell in Gallons meaning you will have lots of extra paint left over to paint everything you own the same color!

 

Hopefully this will help some of you guys. I can only tell the details right now. I will show the pictures when its all said and done.

 

excuse my mispells and omitted words, its late and I might be high off fumes

Edited August 30, 2009 by marioburke

[slam_dat_sun]

My thoughts are to just take it to macco $250 to $400 and you dont even break a sweat lol

[Bugeye]

heres my L20 in one shot, still have to shoot the second coat and then the clear. I used rustolem engine primer after it sat a week in the hot tank.

Sorry it was taken with my iphone, digi was dead.

 

And here is my rear end. all shot with the duplicolor paint shop paints

 

Edited August 31, 2009 by Bugeye
added some crap

[marioburke]

My thoughts are to just take it to macco $250 to $400 and you dont even break a sweat lol

 

I would take it to maaco if I was doing a single color. You still break a sweat though. You have to sand it down and remove all the lights and trim. The 250-400 paint job you are not paying them to do the prep work. They spray some crap that melts the old clear coat for the new single stage to stick to. Which is why when you bump into it the paint falls off in huge chunks. No strength to it.

 

But if you want 2 tone like the Bre scheme or a standard 2 stage paint job (basecoat/Clearcoat) it jumps to $1000

[b210in]

So here is a quick update for everybody interested in the Duplicolor system. I decided to go ahead and buy it and share the results. Its cheap its easy I like it!

 

Ok first of all, squash the idea that the more expensive paint the better the qaulity. All the quality of your paint job comes from your prep work. 90% prep 10% paint. Ask any body man. Although the newer Urethanes have gaurantees that last the lifetime of the vehicle, I have seen first hand Lacquer paint jobs that have lasted 13 years. Just take care of them.

 

The downsides to Duplicolor (these are just my opinion)

1. First if you have a darker color vehicle as I do, and you are deciding to go with a color that is lighter as I have, (Yellow/orange/white/red) USE the primer. I am sorry to say that the first quart that I sprayed was thin and I ran out after I covered only the trunk and the hood. I had to go over each one 4 times instead of only two!

 

2. Since duplicolor is reduced a little too much making it hard to cover you will need atleast 4qtz/cans of primer. I'd say you are looking at about 6qtz/cans of basecoat to cover the entire vehicle still. If you want to add clear to it you will probably only need 4-5qtz/cans. Autozone and Kragens here charge $22 a can. Lets say to be safe you did 6+6+6X$22 you are looking at $396 before tax. So the Dilema is that you are in the same price range as a Maaco single stage One color paint job. As Jesse C. has pointed out Paintforcars offers a very nice kit in a gallon set up that will cost you less in the long run espcially if you buy the kit that includes the clear coat. I remember right I saw kits as low as $178 shipped. Plus it will spray and perform as well as the urethane or lacquer.

 

Now the Upsides to Duplicolor

 

1. Unlike the urethanes and other paints you can leave duplicolor as it is Basecoat only. It is pretty strong. You could even add some clear to it and just spray it as a single stage! There is no recoat window. As I did I painted a couple coats on today, and tomorrow I can go back out side and add clear to make it a 2 stage paint job if I want to. All I have to do is clear the debris off.

 

2. Because its so strong and easy to fix, you dont have to have the cleanest paint booth in the world to paint. or if you are like me paint the vehicle one peice at a time in a hand built tool shed! :rolleyes:

 

3. I find this to actually be the most Valuable quality of all. Over the years I have become quite skilled at the rattle can approach and know how to stretch a few cans to cover a car. Duplicolor covered right over both Krylon and Rustoleum indoor/outdoor paints. No issue with bite. I learned the hard way on one of my previous cars that the Urethane does not mix with the rattle cans. It simply bites into the surface so hard it wrinkles everything. This means for the price of 2 quartz of Duplicolor primer you could buy WAY more than enough of your favorite rattle can to lay down first. I actually have 6 cans of one color, and 6 of another color to basically stencil out my two tone scheme. At my friendly neighborhood walmart which is conveniently down the street from me and open 24hrs, 12 cans of krylon at 3.29 only cost me $42.74 WITH tax (8.25%) easily saved me $95.

 

4. It is premixed ready to shoot. Which means LESS work. I know that kinda goes against #2 Downside but it does take a lot of hassle out of the guess work.

 

 

Having said all that I break it down like this:

 

Do you want to do the work yourself?

If NO, sand it down and send it to Maaco for cheap. Single stage still looks good.

if YES,

Do you have the proper equipment and facility to paint in?

If NO, I would probably suggest Duplicolor for the shear versatility of the product.

If YES, well you may want to try paintforcars.com. I wish I had the facilities because they only sell in Gallons meaning you will have lots of extra paint left over to paint everything you own the same color!

 

Hopefully this will help some of you guys. I can only tell the details right now. I will show the pictures when its all said and done.

 

excuse my mispells and omitted words, its late and I might be high off fumes

 

wow, you answered a lot of my questions. thank you for posting. by any chance did you color sand between coats. i heard this added step will make the paint pop even more. what do you think?

[slam_dat_sun]

I would take it to maaco if I was doing a single color. You still break a sweat though. You have to sand it down and remove all the lights and trim. The 250-400 paint job you are not paying them to do the prep work. They spray some crap that melts the old clear coat for the new single stage to stick to. Which is why when you bump into it the paint falls off in huge chunks. No strength to it.

 

But if you want 2 tone like the Bre scheme or a standard 2 stage paint job (basecoat/Clearcoat) it jumps to $1000

 

yeah macco was a joke lol :lol:

[marioburke]

yeah macco was a joke lol :lol:

 

My bad lol

 

 

wow, you answered a lot of my questions. thank you for posting. by any chance did you color sand between coats. i heard this added step will make the paint pop even more. what do you think?

 

Glad I could help. I didn't color sand between base coats, but i sanded the primer (or what im using for primer, kylon indoor outdoor paint.) What really makes the color pop is 2 coats of clear. Wet sand it smooth no orange peel whatsoever. 2 coats of clear, wet sand. 2 coats of clear, wet sand, and buff. This will make the finish smooth as glass and look like it 3 ft deep. Thats how the old school hot rodders do it.

[marioburke]

Inspiration:

 

 

This morning:

 

 

Final Pic all back together

 

Edited September 3, 2009 by marioburke
Final Pic