The perfect paint system

It’s helpful for vintage car aficionados to be a little familiar with the world of paints. For that facilitates their assessment of paint problems relating to their vintage car and, in the final analysis, gives them more confidence when making decisions. Please join us in scrutinising the perfect paint system. Another piece of information before we start: a perfect finish can be achieved on your vintage car without any problems using modern waterborne basecoats!

A high-quality coating is made up of several different layers. Here, you find out what functions the individual layers have in the overall paint system and what working steps are necessary for them.

Substrate: First of all, paint residues and rust have to be removed and the car body has to be thoroughly cleaned. The substrate has to be free of dirt particles, tar, oil, and wax.

Sanding: In addition to removing paint residues and rust, the sanding process is also designed to achieve an optimal bond between the coating and the substrate. Sanding is also necessary for levelling off any uneven areas. The choice of the sanding paper’s grit size depends on the subsequent coat in each case.

Welding primer: If extensive, time-consuming welding operations are required, the use of a primer approved for welding will be necessary. For such a primer can be safely used for welding work as regards the gases and fumes generated. Furthermore, it prevents both the surrounding coat from being burnt off and dangerous splatter being produced during welding. After the welding operation and before the body filling work is done, this coat should be removed again.

Body filler: Uneven areas can be filled in and evened out with a body filler. This can be done in a single working step or in several working steps in the form of fine and/or coarse body filling. The body filler is then sanded.

Primer: The primer protects the bare metal against corrosion. In addition, it serves as an adhesion promoter for the subsequent coat.

Primer filler: The primer filler makes the individual layers bond with one another, thus ensuring the durability of the paint system. Furthermore, it has filling properties intended to produce the high-quality appearance of the finish and also protects the coating against stone chipping.

Topcoat/basecoat: The topcoat/basecoat is the coat in the paint system that catches the beholder’s eye - it provides colour and gloss. It may be a direct-gloss system (solid colours) or a basecoat/clearcoat system. Furthermore, to bring about the right colour, a topcoat/basecoat may also consist of several coats that impart colour. In addition to its visual characteristics, this layer is also designed to provide protection against external influences such as weather, the environment, and scratches.

Clearcoat: To provide vintage cars with a high-end finish, we recommend an additional clearcoat - whether on direct-gloss topcoats or on our basecoat/clearcoat systems.