I have most of a gallon of this and would like to use it in the next few days if it hasn't gone bad. It's acrylic lacquer and a few years old.

Do you think it would still be ok to spray?

I ask because I don't know if it's one of those situations where it looks fine when you're spraying it, and then a few weeks or months later it hits the pits.

Thanks.

It's Laquer and that means that it's no more than hazzardous waste.Dump it and use nothing but etch primer followed with urethane primer for fill. You'll be glad you did.
Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports

I used some that was almost 10 years old and it worked fine. Just stir/mix it good because by now all the solids are in a very firm lump at the bottom of the can. You should try the polyester primer though. It's much thicker (faster build) than the lacquer primer. Unfortunately it does have a pot life unlike lacquer primer which lasts forever in the gun.
Lance

Thanks for the replies.

I'm limited to about 35psi at Sear's smallest gun because my pancake compressor can't handle much more, which is why I'm using lacquer (plus I have it).

I've done this before, and it's very labor intensive, but that's the price I have to pay for not being experienced and for not having the proper equipment.

I would say open it up and see what it looks like, if it mixes good, then it should be fine. We've had Kondar that has been on the shelf for 3 years that worked perfectely.

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Bryan Shook
My website with lots of classic cars (http://www.geocities.com/elcamino_1972)
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Favorite Quote: Some people have shrinks. Some people have their garage.

I agree with Gordon, use a urethane based primer instead of that lacquer based primer. Lacquer has very poor film build shows sand srctaches like a mad man requires more coats and more applications to get the film build that a urethane primer will. I would use K36 by PPG or even their NCP271. Both are great primers, the NCP271 being ISO free. Also lacquer can die back the color meaning the color changes and clear coat losses it shine...eric


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1970 chevelle
1970 chevelle SS455 not a typo its a buick baby
1949 and 1972 chevy trucks
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I started this paint job several years ago with acrylic lacquer, and somewhere along the line life happened.

It's about 1/2 painted the wrong shade of white, 1/2 ready to be primed. I have a gallon of the correct shade of white, in acrylic lacquer.

I have everything I need, and it's all acrylic lacquer, which is just about all my equipment can handle, so at this point I'm committed to finishing what I started in acrylic lacquer. Just white, no clear coat.

I plan on repainting from the doors forward and the trunk lid tomorrow, weather permitting. It's rubbed out with 400 and I'll be putting white on white, except for the fender extensions which are still in primer.

I appreciate the input on better paint systems, but I'm too far along to change now.

After tomorrow, it'll be time to deal with the typical funk around the perimeter of where the vinyl top was. I've been keeping my eye on another post in here on vinyl tops, as well as have searched the subject.

Once again I must say that this site is my most valuable resource for this stuff.

Thanks again.

You are not too far along to finish the job with what you have. If you want a so-so job, use what you have. We never use laquer anymore as the jobs just don't hold up over time. You'll expect to see cracking a couple years down the line and then you'll be doing all this hard prep work over again taking the car back down to bare metal.

Do you want to do the job right one time, or do it a second time later? Your choice.

I've sanded/stripped several cars with older laquer paint jobs and it's a horrible job with a ton of work (like sanding concrete)...you'll be sorry down the road WHEN you have to strip that laquer off.

Why would you make a post if you were going to ignor the advice given? ...unless you were simply hoping people would agree with the fact that you were going to use what you have and wanted their blessing http://www.chevelles.com/forum/confused.gif.

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Malibu Motorsports (http://www.malibumotorsports.cjb.net)
414 ci bbc, 3500 lbs
10.66 @ 125 1/4 mile
6.74 @ 101 1/8 mile
1.48 60' on 9" tire

[This message has been edited by 10secBu (edited 10-02-2002).]

I wasn't looking for moral support or anyones blessing. I asked if the old primer was still sprayable, as indicated by the topic.

From the results, it looks like two say yes, and three say use something else.

The paint that's on there now is probably about 6 or 7 years old and it hasn't started to fall off yet. The car has been garaged for most of that time, if that's a factor.

Right now I'd be delighted with a so-so paint job that's finished.

On the other hand I've painted another car with acrylic lacquer, and it looks bad in spots; but I'd suspect the underlying fault was in my preparation as opposed to the paint itself.


[This message has been edited by Glenn1018 (edited 10-02-2002).]

Glenn, those who agreed with you, said that you would be able to spray the laquer. I didn't see where they said anything about the durability of this grossly inferior product,by today's standards. I don't mean to insult you, but using laquer in 2002 in very foolish, not to mention illegal. There are so many better options out there. For the difference in cost, you will be way ahead,using etch primer and urethane or epoxy.
Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports

Glenn,
Let me restate my position. USE IT. There's nothing wrong with it but like everyone else has said there are better options out there. The big plus is it's already paid for and the alternatives are definately pricey. Personally if I am doing something small I use it all the time. Always seems a waste to mix up a batch of something with a pot life when I can spray a little lacquer primer and only have to use what I need and can save the rest for later. Much later....

Just My Opinion http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif As the saying goes everybody's got one.

I don't understand this "difference in cost" argument. I have the lacquer, thinner, primer, sealer, and equipment barely capable of spraying that and nothing else. I thought I made that clear.

Anyway, thanks for the input.

It went ok today. The wind gods reminded me of their presence and my fine neighbor decided it'd be a good day to stir up some dust with his lawn tractor; but progress was made, bug guts and all.

Lance, I haven't gotten to using the primer yet - probably be Sunday before I do, and I'll take your advice and give it a shot. Yeah I know...bad pun. I have a bad feeling that 1 gallon of color will almost be enough.

I'm not very experienced at this, which is why I'm sticking with one system (Duracryl acrylic lacquer) made by the same company (PPG). I don't know how the other systems will interact with what I have, so I'm playing it safe.