Hi am looking at respraying my Mini K.

The choice I have is Acryclic or tupac. There a re two chains of thought. Some say do not do tupac as it always bubbles on a mini and the rust grows under the paint.

Others say I would be crazy not to do tupac.

Any ideas based on experience would be appreciated. It's a costly thing and I don't want to have any regrets afterwards.
thanks.

You can solve the bubbling paint issue by removing all the rust, and I dont see how 2k paint would be worse in that regard that acrylic.

Acrylic would be safer to use if you are spraying it yourself, but if its being done professionally, then there is no real problem there.

2k is supposed to be harder wearing

all that said, if the prep work is not up to scratch... the top coat will rubbish anyway

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1975 Hairy Lime/White Clubby
Build Thread: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80657

I'm about to get my car done too so interested in this subject. One thing I was wondering is if you had to get any damage repaired later, is it any easier if it is acrylic? I have seen plenty of 2K repair jobs and the colour always looks out of place, ie. it looks like they should have resprayed the whole car. Is it any better with acrylic or is it just that the person mixing the colour got it wrong? I was going to get it done in acrylic with 2K primer but I can't remember if it is any better or just more original looking. Thanks.

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Flute - 68 MK I Cooper S
Member: VMCI #2474
Member: International Mini Model Collectors Club

If I was paying someone, I would choose 2 pack, but I will be spraying my car with Acrylic Laquer myself.

2 pack paints have drying times that can vary, I can think of nothing worse than a car sitting in a shed waiting for hours for some 2 pack paints to harden. It would just be collecting every bug and bit of dust there is. We have a lot of trouble where I work with some 2 pack paints that take forever to dry, we're talking still soft after a whole day,
And impossible to strip or sand and recoat in a reasonable time.

2 pack is probably the best available, but a lot less room for error, and can be very annoying. Acrylic laquer can be rubbed back and recoated the next day if you make a mistake, its sands and polishes really nice and doesn't ever seem to clog the paper as much as other paints.

A cheap, fast, but good crash shop I know only uses acrylic laquer for base coats and then follows with a 2 pack clear

This was painted in 2pak 20 years ago. Still looks pretty good (and no bubbles). Was a bare metal respray done by a professional though
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/1204 ... c966_o.jpg

Ok lots of thoughts and opinions here so here is mine.

Acrylic is easier to spray and will polish up really nice with a wet sand and polish.
2 pac will shine out of the gun but will have orange peel. Af5er a really decent wet sand it will be smooth and shiney.

Single pack and 2 pack cant be mixed as the thinners react with each other. You can spray a sealer but certainly wouldnt spray a 2pac clear over a 1 pack base..

Both systems are just as good as each other in regards to wear resistance.

Single pack is easier to spray in the shed but will require alot of wet sanding to shine where as 2 pac will shine off the gun.


All depends what you want at the end.

My recommendation is a full 2 pack baked spray job done in a proper sprsy booth with heaters but how much you got to spend....

I paint in my home spraybooth with 2 pac qnd have no dramas..

Rodney

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The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

I have had experience with spraying both acrylic and 2k for the manufacture of signs and shopfitting items.
Acrylic is much easier for the lay person to use and is certainly much safer as its chemical make up does not contain the isocyanates that 2k does.
Acrylic does not come off the gun in a full gloss that we would expect on a vehicle and as such requires cutting and polishing to achieve the lustre.
(Some say do not do tupac as it always bubbles on a mini and the rust grows under the paint.) The only reason it bubbles is that the rust was there when the 2K was sprayed. This is usually caused by the panels being contaminated prior to the undercoat or the car sitting in undercoat for too long and absorbing moisture through the undercoat. The secret to a successful paint job is to have the gap between the vehicle being in bare metal to being covered back in paint to be as short as possible.

I would definitely spray in 2k in the correct environment with the proper air fed mask as this is the ducks guts. Hire some time in a booth if you have to.
Andrew........... In regards to drying times of 2k this can be shortened by the hardener chosen.
Normal hardener, Fast hardener, Extra Fast Hardener, and there is also an accelerator additive that can be put in as well.
I have sprayed items in 2K that are touch dry by the time I finish washing out the gun.

Be aware that even though acrylic is quick to surface dry it needs to outgas overnight before recoating or you will find yourself with bubbles appearing if you push it to hard.

I have seen Steve's car that was painted 20 years ago and I must agree it is a well done job.

Brian

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"Investing my Super in a Cooper" &
"Re-living my Surfing Past in a Woody"

I'm pretty sure Micks red car was acrylic.

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"Investing my Super in a Cooper" &
"Re-living my Surfing Past in a Woody"

Thanks for all the replies, I guess tupac it is.

1. it's 'mini', or 'Mini', all capitals is a bini

2. it's a type of paint, not a rapper. Two pack

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Initially i was going to say..
Tupac is no good, hasn't been heard of for years...
I wasn't sure how useful it would be to the debate tho.

My car is painted in 2K Direct Gloss, so there is no clear coat required, just 3 coats of color then a wet sand and a polish.... easy

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1975 Hairy Lime/White Clubby
Build Thread: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80657

It's a 1971 mini k.

Currently in acrylic.

For a round nose, do it justice and spray in acrylic.
2K is hard, too glossy, too orange peely... it's a modern paint used in modern procedures for a cost and a use....
I have seen PLENTY of original paint jobs come up perfectly with a good polish - I bet I won't be able to say the same for any 2K job in 50 years!

The choice is yours!

My car was resprayed in 2pac by the PO. On it's next rebuild I would like to take it back to original. It has a few bubbles and orange peel at the moment. I wonder how hard it will be to go back to original - most probably a sandblast job?

Wow... thanks for all the replies. I can see even from the replies that there are two chains of thought.

Most of the old school swear by the acrylic and the new generation two pack.

However in saying that, I did inspect several different minis in two pack and all seemed to have bubbled. My mini mechanic says every single one he has seen in two pack has bubbled, even bare metal restores and really quickly.

Hence why I began this discussion.

So I guess I am back to square one.

I don't mind the extra shine of two pack, I know acryclic will look good, the panel beater is going back to bare metal so I just don't want to have any regrets.

thanks again everyone.