Expert: William Forster - 2/9/2007

Question
I am in the process of repairing dents and rust damage on my 86 Mazda B2000. I am planning to paint the truck with urethane primer, urethane base (white), and urethane clear. Any recommendations on what brand to buy? I don't need a showroom finish but do want durability and a decent shine. Will the lower grade base and clear coats provide adequate protection and shine? What is the difference between the low-mid range urethane paints compared to the high end urethane paints? Do the primer, base and clear coats need to be the same manufacturer? I bought "PRIMA" urethane primer about 2 years ago the cans are unopened, and was planning to use it to prime the car.  Any suggestions?

Answer
You will be fine on the primer, the B2000 isn't exactly a 65 GTO, you know what I mean? Your vehicle is just right for what you suggest, a low buck paint job. It would be silly to spend 600 bucks painting it. I suggest just painting it with white acrylic enamel single stage from Nason. It's cheap, sprays good, and holds a shine if you use hardener. Be sure to use overall paint job hardener in the paint. You won't need to buy separate color and clear, so you will save a boat load on paint. CLEAR COAT DOESN'T REALLY DO MUCH TO ENHANCE- whoops! white paint. Bill