Stonechip in paint colour ?

[Aristotle]

Spitfire 1500 in white, paint code 19.

The engine bulkhead (engine compartment) particularly in line with front wheels - paint is getting chipped.

I'm tending to drive the car much more than PO and because our country lanes are very poor it's going to get worse.

Exterior of body tub painted some while ago (guess about 8 years) and the engine side bulkhead was painted at same time.

No stonechip or anything just same paint as exterior panels.

Question one is, so it's a "one step" solution, does anyone know - is there a stonechip paint which can be mixed to Triumph White and where can I get it ?

Or question two, does one have to spray on stonechip allow to go hard and then spray on body colour ?

If I have to use the stonechip then spray on the body colour option - question three is what's the best brand of robust stonechip to use.

Whilst I understand stonechip will have a textured appearance, I would prefer it didn't look too "heavy".

Best,

Aristotle.

[Colin Lindsay]

Stonechip is available in a smooth, primer-like finish, so no worries about being too textured. It is, however, like primer - spray on, wait to dry, then top coat; but there are different colours ranging from light grey to dark grey, black or white, which may affect the top coat if it shows through from behind. I used the smooth stuff on my Herald bonnet wheelarches and when top-coated it looks exactly as original. 

I've no doubt a good paint shop could mix coloured, but it would have to be carefully matched given the different shades of stonechip colour.

[chrishawley]

Much the same as above, really.

The only colour matchable product I know of is Raptor. Very tough but far from cheap. And I could see that to get a paint factor to match it up just-so to an existing body colour might in itself get a bit dear.

Stonechip in rattle cans gives a fairly flat, untextured, finish which can be made a bit more textured by holding the can a long way back and letting it spatter on. Most manufacturers (e.g. Tetrosyl) do black, grey or white. Cheap and handy to use but doesn't provide very much thickness for severely exposed areas.

Application with a schutz gun gives a much thicker coating and 1 litre cans are availble in grey, back and white. The texture can be controlled by either adding thinners or controlling the pressure on the compressor (low pressure = spatter/very coarse finish, high pressure = smoother with lots of flow out).

Stone chip is basically clay suspended in toluene - so, yes, it needs to be really dried off before overcoating. I once messed up but going in impatiently with 2-pack over stone chip and the result was a crazed, puddingy, mess.

Probably the most common thing is to stone chip then overcoat in 2 pack. Though I recently had a good experience using brushable coach enamel (colour matched from Paintman) over stonechip which was handy to get a job done well enough without too much effort.

As for brands, there's not much to choose bewteen. I use what ever the paint factor has a the time most commonly T-Euro, U-Pol, Tetrosyl, Promatic.

[Aristotle]

Thank you to both for your advice.

I will investigate Raptor coloured to the car paint but it really looks like the option of a white stonechip allowed to cure (dry ?) properly before painting will be the best option.

It's now over 45 years since I painted either a complete car or a panel and in those days used to use an ancient compressor and professional spray gun, we used to get a reasonable finish, with paints of the day.

On the basis that technology moves on what is your opinion on modern day rattle cans to do either this job in engine compartment where finish does not have to be top notch or say a separate exterior panel like a boot lid, where the finish has to be better ?

I don't mind a bit of finishing work to get it right.

[Colin Lindsay]

Preparation is all, but cans can get a good finish. My 13/60 was repainted with cans, mixed to a colour match from the local Autofactors, and if treated the same as more expensive paint finishes with proper preparation and rubbing down and looks good:

 

 

[daverclasper]

I've never understood the theory of using Stonechip. I understand its like a primer and will absorb water?. If it's top coated, then this will resolve this, though presumably the top coat will chip off over time and allow moisture into the Stonechip? 

[Colin Lindsay]

2 hours ago, daverclasper said:

I've never understood the theory of using Stonechip. I understand its like a primer and will absorb water?. If it's top coated, then this will resolve this, though presumably the top coat will chip off over time and allow moisture into the Stonechip? 

It's supposed to be a more flexible coating, so will bend under impact, and absorb more force than paint would, so not chip like harder coatings will. 

[daverclasper]

Ahh, thanks, that makes sense