Trunk refinish process
 

I’m not happy with the my recent trunk refinish. So while at MCACN, I asked a pro resto vendor what he used. Hot Rod Black with the correct GM black aqua spatter, not rattle can. Mine is light gray base, glossy and the spatter isn’t visible. So he’s fixing it. He should know better.

Some people add satin clear on top.

What’s your process that looks closest to factory?

Zolotone spatter paint with hardener added as cited on the label.

Trunk refinish process
 

My research indicates Zolotone is the same as the Correct GM spatter sold by some vendors just relabeled. Part no. is the same. That’s what I have. You need to apply a base coat first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not playing semantics here, but I want to clarify something. "Base coat" should not be taken literally, i.e. any base coat color. Base coat colors are not moisture resistant. Ground coat may be more accurate. Because the various trunk finishes are suspended in a clear binder and offer terrible coverage, you should spray a "ground" coat in advance that is like a color within the colors of your splatter paint. At my shop we use a coat of epoxy primer (moisture resistant) a few days prior to trunk color. If the trunk splatter contains blue and black, we shoot black epoxy. This gives a background that requires less material to hide. If your final color includes gray, use a gray ground coat of epoxy primer. Doing so gives the illusion of even coverage and will reduce the amount of trunk splatter needed by half or more.
I personally prefer to re-coat the splatter with a flattened urethane clear after at least one week of dry time. A small fan directed at it and set on low will aid in drying. The clear adds durability and prevents color transfer to your spare tire or jack that might be fastened tight against the trunk floor. When using a water based product this is even more crucial. A minor tail light or trunk seal leak can loosen water based products later down the road if not sealed with a clear coat.

Zolotone is water base and not water proof. They offer a hardener to make it waterproof saving extra time. I wish they mentioned that when I bought it.

Well put. In my case a gray bedliner product was laid down to cover the pan. Can’t recall the product name. Anyway the texture is not smooth. The black/aqua spatter was shot right on top of that. It’s invisible to me...wrong ground coat. Too bright and shiny.
I think I can put down the flat black enamel over what’s there and re shoot the spatter and then a flattened clear.

Most of the trunk will be covered by a mat and side panels. Just exposed wheel wells and spare tire area.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I personally prefer to re-coat the splatter with a flattened urethane clear after at least one week of dry time.

How does the adhesion take place in this situation? Usually one would have to scuff to get a mechanical bond if not spraying clear within a window of time for chemical bond.

As long as the trunk surface stays completely dust free, you'll have no adhesion problems. That means no sanding on the car during the cure time. Mask off any exposed panels (including interior) to prevent collateral over spray damage and lay down 2 coats of flat clear urethane.

In the past I have just epoxy primed the trunk area and shot rattle can spatter paint on top with great results. Granted not looking for or doing a high end restore.

Current car just finished painting the interior/trunk with base coat clear coat. From factory mine had body color under the spatter. So my plan is to scuff the clear coat and apply spatter on top. Good tip on applying a base color instead of trying to cover all the area with spatter paint. I do have a pint of hot rod black, and Ill pick up some flat clear to cover the spatter—also a good tip.

Thanks for the info.

I did my car with spray bomb spatter paint from Ames (or maybe eastwood?), I had red oxide put down first, then I used the aqua trunk paint. I did use about 3 cans if I recall correctly. Then I topped it with a satin clear coat. The finish matched the colour of what was originally there. It has been there for 5 or 6 years now with no problems but I do have a mat, and no spare tire. Although this paint was not cheap, I suspect its much cheaper than a specialty product that needs an air gun and it was easy to do. I too do not have a 'concours' resto and enjoy driving my car so it does the job just fine.

You got some Canadien in you ?

I wondered the same thing. "Colour"?

My brother lives there eh! Does that count? LOL
For some dumb reason I started spelling it that way when I was about 6 yrs old. 50 year old habit thats hard to break.

Here you go, just finished on a customers 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 paint code 48 Sherwood Green or Pepper Green in Pontiac

That looks good..

I used Zolotone on my last project 5 years ago and Zolotone was readily available right from the manufacturer at the time. Since then Zolotone has been bought by Valspar which is owned by Sherwin Williams and this paint is no longer available
Zolotone was also petroleum based and not water based as previous stated
It dried rock hard and was exactly what the factory used

I've used Parts Place trunk coating in most cases, and it is water based. I've used Zolotone once, and you are correct that it is a solvent or oil based product. Very messy to clean up, too!

Trunk spatter
 

I used the Parts Place trunk spatter on my Firebird this last summer. It is relabeled solvent based Zolatone. They even use the Zolatone part number changing the prefix from ZT to PP.
I was very pleased with the results, looks great. No need to clear. Sure, you can if you’d like but it’s easier to “touch up” if you just leave it alone.
I only used half a qt, sprayed over black epoxy.

How long did you wait after spraying the epoxy to apply the spatter paint?


What brand of epoxy did you use?

I did it the next day. My recoat window was 30 minutes to seven days without scuffing.
I used SW Genesis. Just follow your epoxy recoat recommendations.