Painting a car black

Hello, my stepson wants me to paint his 1966 mercury cyclone black for him this winter. I have only painted one car before which is my Buick. I did it in white because I was scared to do it in a dark color because I didn't feel I could get it straight enough. I understand that black will show every wave there is. Plus the car is a crappy looking blue right now so I would have to do all the jambs and stuff. I hate to tell him I can't do it but I think it is beyond what I can do and have it turn out good. It has a red interior so I don't know what other colors would go with it. Also with fibromyalgia and osteo arthritis all that sanding will kill me. I am kinda stuck as to what to do. It makes me feel good that he wants me to do it, he has the money to have about anyone do it. I don't think he or my wife realizes how much work there is in changing colors and have it look right. Tom

 

Tom,

I think the best thing you could do is tell him exactly what you wrote us.

 

Exactly. If you have any sources for a good paint job, explore them with your stepson and help him throughout the process. It will be almost as good as if you did it yourself, with the added plus of having some time for y'all to do other things!

Best of luck from Texas!

Frank Brooks

 

I second what Jason said.

 

I, too have a black car. PAIN IN THE A**!!! If it weren't a factory triple black car, no way I would have it painted black. On the other hand, when it's clean, it's looks killer. :bglasses:

 

WOW I didn't expect such a responce. I should just show him this tread so he doesn't think that I am making excuses not to do it in black. I never thought about keeping it clean on top of everything else. Personaly I think the cyclone would look good the same white as my car is but I don't think he would go for white. Tom

 

Like Jason said before,My GN is black[arent they all with a repaint in 95] it looks great for the first 10-15 minutes after a wash,then you see all the crap thats in the air. I was in the process of another GN,this one was going to be white[something diffrent] but I bought a 71 Stage1,so thats #1 priority now

 

The 65's look spectacular in red! The 66 is a little larger body though, isn't it?

Here are a few pics for reference:
http://www.e2cars.com/cyclonephotogallery6667.htm

 

Steve, that link is all 66's and 67's.
65 wheelbase was 114 inches, 66-67 was 116 inches, plus new body style, so you're prolly right! And yes 65's are spectacular in red :beer

 

Right,

Since the car Tom is talking about is a 66, I only included links of those years.

I'd love to have a 65 Cyclone though!

 

I didn't know there was a site for cyclones, I quess his car needs some grille trim stuff maybe someone on there has what he needs. Tom

 

I have a black/gold GS painted like a GSX and an all black GS convertible.Every time a drive one I have to wash it first, wipe it down and drive it right away before it starts looking like crap again. Black cars are a complete pain in the :moonu: I had a red GS for awhile and it always looked great next too the two black dirt magnets. I might just paint them both another color and spend my spare time driving instead of cleaning them ou:

 

I've got no experience with the colour choice. I love black, but I've heard it can ne a pain. How 'bout black-esque? Like a really deep black cherry. I'm sure the two of you could prep the car a ton together bedore it goes off to paint. Even if you just take off all the trim and stuff, that's a huge job right there.

 

Don't do it!!! I'll repeat what many people above have said......it's a PITA to keep clean and always looks like $hit shortly after detailing it. If he doesn't have sore arms from polishing it yet, he will very soon after painting it black. Not just that, it can be smooth as glass after the paint is fresh, but as time goes on and the paint shrinks, and it will, it start to look wavy and every spot you fixed you will see if you look hard enough.


Mine used to be Black........that's why it's Silver now. :bglasses:

 

To repeat what others have said.... I've had 3 black cars, and they were the hardest things to keep clean! Never looked "clean" no matter how hard I tried.
I had one white car, and I think I only washed it once the whole time I had it! It always looked good though. :laugh:

But with that said.... black is still my favorite color on a car. Too bad it's so hard to paint. The car has to be STRAIGHT to look good black.
:beer

 

Nothing looks better than a STRAIGHT Black Muscle car :Brow:

But as said above.... unless he has a lot of time on his hands, talk him into another color....

 

Just out of curiosity how do you guys dry your black cars after a wash and how do you guys clean or remove any water spots left from the wash?

Thanks

 

I have never dried my car from washing it........ I figure your less your rubing on black paint the better. What I do is spray the car off the night before at a wash about 1 mile from my house that has spot free rinse. I then let the car drip dry in my shop over night and wax it with either Zimol - or my other favorit wax (can't think of the name, but a lot of the Vette guys use it and it can only be ordered) A good quaility wax system will get the spots off.... Mothers ShowTime is also good for touching up :Brow: