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With Chris Curwen & Expert Auto Painter - Dave Gage (Car Cosmetics)

October 2nd, 2007 - Issue 23

In this issue:

• We enlighten you on Auto Paint Supply Stores.

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Auto paint supply stores or car paint shops keep auto body shops adequately supplied with paint products, body repair materials and tools for all purposes and service the general public wanting to buy auto paint and all other auto paint supplies.

Those who work in auto paint supply stores continually update their product knowledge using information supplied by manufacturers of paint and body repair supplies.

Some of the staff may not actually have any first-hand experience with painting a vehicle but their technical knowledge of paint products is extensive.

If you're a novice car painter, you'll be able to learn all that you'll require from auto paint supply store staff, who represent your fountain of knowledge, so take full advantage of this.

It is best to be upfront and honest with the staff and perhaps even bring your project vehicle to the store so that they can see it for themselves. This will help them to recommend the best paint system and auto paint supplies for you to use to complete your project.

Be respectful and ask intelligent polite questions. Don't expect the staff to drop what they are doing to give you lessons about painting vehicles.

They have a job to do and that entails primarily serving body shops rather than teaching auto painting to the general public. That's our job!

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It is best to visit an auto paint supply store during the middle of the week when they are likely to have more time to spend with you compared to Monday's and Friday's. If the store is busy when you do visit, simply go back during quieter periods.

Car paint shops should certainly be your first point of contact when wanting to buy auto paint. In addition, they carry all auto paint supplies you could possibly need such as sandpaper, paint spray guns, masking tape, respirators, primer and beyond.

They also carry free information sheets and application guides for the various paint related products they supply. This information comes directly from the paint manufacturers.

The sheets contain valuable information regarding the use and application of primer, sealer, tristage paint systems and more or less every other product you can imagine using on the body of your vehicle.

Special paint systems utilizing metallics and pearls can be satisfactorily applied by novice painters who follow all label instructions and tips from application guides.

Take advantage of this wealth of information at your fingertips to make your paint job progress as expected.

It is advised that you take an information sheet for all auto paint supplies that you are considering using.

If you want to buy auto paint, car paint shops will be able to match almost any color using the toners on their shelves.

After choosing a color, you can decide to have it in a base/clear system, a single-stage urethane, acrylic lacquer or acrylic enamel.

Very few colors are actually stocked in a ready-to-use mix, as shelf space would quickly run out.

If you want to buy auto paint in a specific color that is not displayed in any color chart or paint chip catalog, realize that it will have to be made by hand using very time consuming trial and error methods.

Therefore expect to pay a lot more for this service than for stock colors (whose formulas are stored in company computers) because of the added labor involved.

This situation will occur if you request a color match for a repainted vehicle that you have no idea what color was used or who did the work.

In these cases, auto paint supply store staff will ask you to search through volumes of color chips until the closest match is found.

Please refer to Issue 20 for further information on matching automotive paint colors using auto paint color codes and various other methods.

Then the member of staff will work with specific tints until a suitable color is produced.

Unless a paint chip can be found that perfectly matches the paint on the car, the member of staff may have to mix by hand until a match is found if no other methods prove successful.

You would also be wise to ask how much sandpaper and of which grade you will need to properly prepare your car's finish for new paint.

Along with sandpaper, plenty of automotive paint masking tape and paper should be purchased. 2-inch tape works great for some chores, while 3/4-inch and 1/8-inch works better for more detailed tasks.

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That's all we have for you this week. Thank you very much for reading. We both hope this issue has been of valued interest to you.

COMING NEXT ISSUE: We make a start on our introductory series on Auto Paint.

Happy Painting!

Chris Curwen & Dave Gage
www.LearnAutoPainting.com