Great paint isn't "sprayed on." It's engineered: surface prep, primer stack, booth control, gun setup, reducer choice, flash times, overlap patterns, and cure schedule. The right tools are required, and one contamination event, one wrong mix, or one rushed pass can force a full respray.
"Paint" isn't one thing. It's a system of layers and decisions, chosen for correctness, durability, repairability, and the intended use.
Single-stage can be the right call when you want the authentic vintage look: correct gloss character, cleaner lines, and a finish that doesn't scream "modern clearcoat." But it has to be applied correctly, because you can't hide mistakes under clear.
Base/clear gives strong UV resistance, deeper clarity, and easier long-term maintenance. It's often the smart move for driven cars and trucks, especially if you want a show-level finish with durable protection.
Pearls and tri-coats are beautiful, and brutally honest. Gun distance, overlap, and pass timing must be consistent across every panel. A slight variation creates striping, blotching, or tone shifts that are obvious in daylight.
Candy finishes look incredible when done right, and expensive when done wrong. Because color depth builds with each pass, inconsistencies stack. One mistake can force a full redo to keep panels matching.
With paint, you don't get to hide behind marketing. Quality shows in coverage, flow, UV stability, and long-term behavior. We spec premium systems and match products correctly across the stack: primer, sealer, base, and clear.
Placeholder list (swap to what you actually use): PPG, BASF Glasurit/R-M, Axalta (Spies Hecker/Standox), Sherwin-Williams, House of Kolor (custom), etc.
Premium paint doesn't save bad process. The booth, air supply, filtration, mixing accuracy, and gun setup are part of the finish. One mistake can destroy a coat: fisheyes, solvent pop, dry spray, runs, dirt nibs, or adhesion failure.
This is the real work. Painting is a controlled sequence. Skip steps, mix brands wrong, or rush flash times, and the paint fails later.
Identify silicone, old coatings, questionable repairs, rust bleed-through risks, and adhesion issues. If contamination isn't handled early, it shows up later as fisheyes, lifting, or edge mapping.
Bare metal isn't always required, but correct prep always is. We prep based on what's underneath and what the system needs, not what's fastest.
Epoxy is your foundation layer: chemical seal, moisture barrier, and stable base for the rest of the stack. Apply it wrong and you're building failure into the car.
This is how you get straightness. Guide coat reveals truth. Blocking creates the reflections you see in the final finish. Shortcuts here are permanent.
Sealer levels absorption and helps color lay down consistently. It's also insurance against patchy coverage and tone shifts on complex systems like pearls and tri-coats.
We validate color and sheen in the lighting that matters: real daylight and controlled booth lighting. Test sprays and panel strategy prevent mismatches across doors, fenders, and hoods.
Correct air pressure, fluid control, fan pattern, overlap, and pass speed. This is where one mistake ruins an entire coat: runs, dry spray, mottling, striping, or trash in the finish.
Flash and cure aren't suggestions. They control solvent escape, film build stability, and long-term durability. Rushing this step creates solvent pop, dieback, or premature failure.
After cure, we refine: remove minor texture, correct nibs, and bring uniform reflections without thinning the system. The goal is clean depth, not "burned edges."
Inspect under multiple light sources, check panel-to-panel consistency, edges, jambs, and transitions. This is where a "nice paint job" becomes a premium finish.
Paint failures aren't just ugly. They're time bombs. A single contamination event can force stripping and respraying. And if panels don't match, the fix isn't "touch it up." The fix is doing it over until it's consistent.
