My 72 SS is still wearing its original burnt orange paint.

So paint build up is not an issue. the paint is too thin in some spots, which is why it needs paint.

I think I just want the jams taped up the car scuffed, and prayed with a good B.C.-C.C. but a friend of mine says you can't put urethane over laquer, and that 72 they still used laquer, so I need to stip it all.

Heck, I even thought about taping over the black strips so the originals would show though after the repaint.

The underside of the hood, and the inside of the fenders are all ready cleaned and repainted.

I read somewhere, (maybe here) that you will never get better paint adhession, to the metal than the original paint, and if you don't need to strip don't.

Your opinions Please.

Thirty year old lacquer is NOT the preferred substrate for todays' Urethane finishes.

For the ultimate outcome, strip the car.

Even if the old finish has no cracks or crazing it still is not the ideal base for a urethane.

I have seen paint failures when urethanes were applied over lacquer.

Most paint Manufacturers will not stand behind their product if not used properly.

Karl

Karl's right. You don't want to paint over that old paint. It gives your new paint something soft to sink into as compared to spraying over metal.
Roger

Can't you knock down the original paint (assuming it's still sticking good and isn't built up too much), then spray a sealer over it? Then you can spray whatever you want over the sealer? That's what we did for my '72 chevelle (11 years ago)... but the paint we used was an enamel. Held up great for at least 4 years (then I sold the car.) Thoughts on this process?

jC.

Sure, you can go the sealer route and it will probably work, but its not the right way to do it, IMO. A paint job is only as good as the weakest link, in this case it would be the laquer.

I respect you guys' opinions - definitely more experience than me on the matter. I wouldn't have even thought to leave the factory paint on, but a guy who was mentoring me at the time put it this way - if the factory paint is still sticking on the metal (i.e. not flaking off, peeling, wrinkled, etc) after all those years, then why mess with success? His perspective was more from the "do the least amount of work to get an acceptable result" point of view rather than "I'm going to win the show with this job." Since my '72 was a driver, I figured what the hell. :D

jC.

Bummer :(

Do I have to go all the way to bare metal, or can I stop at the factory primer ?

I would go to bare steel, but you may find the primer is more work to strip with paint stripper than the paint itself. My 69 was that way, the paint came right off but the primer wasn't affected much and required additional steps. If it goes the same way you may want to sand the primer off instead.

It may seem like a lot of work, but in reality the result will be much better and should last longer. Don't skip the etching primer or you will regret it someday.

My body guy strips the old paint off with a razor :eek: blade in an inspection sticker scraper. Takes the paint off to bare metal. Cleans up with a rug sucker when he's done.

If you use a top quality 2part sealer you can get great results without stripping, that is after you knock down all the poor condition paint.I've done tons of cars this way.just make sure any substrate left is well adhered and any spots you break thru to metal are etch primed. You are correct that factory adhesion is tough to beat, however, the base must be sound to get a quality top coat.If it is not , then you had better strip it.Try wiping a rag of thinner on an area you think is in good repair, if it pulls up some paint it is not very sound!

Thanks guys,
Some of the paint on the driver side quarter panel, is "checking" is looks like the paint got dried up and cracked like a lakebed.

I was really liking the idea of original paint, now it doesn't seem like such a bonus.

I need to make a repair to the bottom corner of the rear window too. I've got about a 2" long by 1/4" wide rust repair.

the beauty of orig paint is there can't be alot of hidden sins! Good luck.Dave