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I was thinking about repainting my car, and would like some advice from some of you guys here who are knowledgeable in the body & paint department. I would like to paint my car satin black...but the question is, is it much more expensive than regular paint? And, would it require more maintenance to keep it looking good? My car needs minimal body work (just some small dents), but other than that it's really straight. Would anyone be able to give me a rough idea on how much this would cost? Any help/advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

I really love the look of it, check it out:





http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1236187200

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/4493/002zk8.jpg

 
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its still gonna be clear coated right? in which case you care for it just like regular paint.

 
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I'm not exactly sure, to tell you the truth. I was under the impression that there is no clear coat involved, hence the non-shiny finish.

 
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I'm planning on doing it this summer, here is what I have found. There are two ways to do it. Either you do a base/clear like normal paint but the clear has a flattening agent and the base coat is matte as well or you paint it with a single stage flat/matte paint. There are ups and downs to both. BC/CC - the clear has to sprayed absolutely perfectly. The flattening agent sits in the outer layer of the clear on a molecular level. You can't sand and buff it at all or it will turn glossy just like normal clear coat. This poses problems both with the actual spraying of it and repairing it. Single stage is a bit simpler. The 'clear coat' is mixed into the paint so its just paint but it doesn't need clear coat sprayed over it. With single stage you can sand out imperfections in the paint, you just can't buff it or it will gloss up too. But if you just color sand it evenly with the same grit over the whole car it will be the same amount of 'flat' all over. I even read that people take green scuff pads and go over the areas they had to repair combined with different grits of sand paper until the gloss level matches all over. BC/CC will look better in the end but maintanence is more difficult. I am planning to use single stage because I'm going to spray it myself and I will need the repairable factor. Here are a couple readily available flat black paints.

linky 1
linky 2

 
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Awesome! Thanks for the info, man. Make sure to post pics of your car after you paint it.


As far as washing goes...is soap and chamois still be the preferred method?

I suppose winter driving will also be out of the question, right? I think I'll have to buy a winter-beater next year.

 
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Everyone said washing is just washing. You just have to use a nice micro-fiber cloth so it won't scuff the paint. You don't wax it though. Then just dry it, I'm guessing the smooth side of a chamois would work nice. Why not drive it the winter though? Just rinse the salt off once in a while, it should be like driving with any other paint.

 
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You would treat washing drying winter etc as you would with any other car. As long as you do a flat base flat clear Hope that helps.

P.S. DO NOT cheap out and only paint it flat black make sure you clear coat it or you will regret it...trust me

 
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and what exactly is wrong with a single stage paint? i've seen cars from the 60's with single stage paint that looks like crap and with a little sanding and buffing it shines up like new.