Learn me: Automotive Paint (challenge variety)

So I went full retard on the rx7, body, electrical, engine, trans, front suspension. I got the body work going and everything is all primed.

I ran out of the duplicolor primer so I found some rustoleum which didn't have ketones in it like the duplicolor but I think thats a propellant, it didn't say enamel so I assume its a lacquer? No idea. Lets see how it goes...

Yup, totally have an rx7 for a roommate...

but primer came out good.

My issue is now that I have never painted before, only just spray bomb. I have lacquer acrylic clear spray paint, I used lacquer primer from duplicolor and I'm getting ready to do color. I might just go with this:

Most whites seem to match mine pretty well, aside from the lack of flake.

Just spray and done, its in the family of the paint that I have been using before on this project.

So I know this is a rallycross car and I know it will get dirty but I got tired of it looking like complete poop dick so I want to avoid it flashing or reacting. My understanding is that enamels can be sprayed over lacquer substrates BUT Lacquers have a tendency to lift enamel surfaces. I want to avoid wasting time reworking due to it looking like a dry lake bed.

Do i get the paint matched up and just hope for the best? Can paint stores mix up a lacquer based paint? or are they all enamels? are lacquers not oil based and enamels are?

help?

Back in the day... (as all the 20 year old kids seem to say)

...hot rodders used lacquer because it was easy to spray and easy to wetsand/buff to a shine. It was not, however, particularly durable. It tends to crack and chip easily - not very attractive qualities for a rallycross car.

I'm no expert but I'd consider a second look at the plethora of DIY Rustoleum roller jobs that abound in threads here and elsewhere.

prime + plastidip or similar or vinyl

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/search/tractor-paint

agricultural equipment paint is what you want for a rallycross car.

I wasn't planning on wetsanding or buffing. Just spray color then spray clear then install. I rollered the suburban and it came out pretty okay but a little rough, granted it had smooth bedliner as primer...

I've been thinking about plastidip actually. it had been suggested to me before but I don't know enough.

EDIT: so did I prime it with lacquer? thus I can paint enamel over? If so then if I do paint enamel over I just need to be sure to enamel based clear coat? If I do sand my primer what grit should I use? 200? 500?

I gave up and bought rustoleum enamel spray paint. Seems to be working fine.

Bedliner the whole thing.

Even when you put enamel over lacquer, you have to be REALLY careful not to lay the first coat on too heavy. Lacquer doesn't really "cure", the solvents just dry out of it. Once you put solvent back on top of it, it will become a liquid again, underneath your freshly sprayed enamel. It will look like this:

It's called solvent pop, and if it happens, there is no way to fix it but to start from scratch.

The primers you have pictured up there are enamels, so you should be safe to put an enamel paint over them. DON'T put a lacquer over them, it will crack and peel and you will be back at square one.

I've used this cheap stuff on a race car before, and it is cheap, easy to spray, and fairly durable.

http://www.paintforcars.com/enamel_paint_kits.html

Paint, reducer, and hardener is $71 per gallon for white. Tractor paint is about $55 per gallon after adding thinner and hardener, so it's not that much more to use real paint. I did this car with that exact paint:

It was a great 50 foot paint job and held up well. I even used Rustoleum enamel primer underneath it! It is a dirt track race car where body panels are a consumable/wear item, so I don't spend much on the paint materials.

Also, when you sand your primer before putting color on, don't use sandpaper any rougher than 400 grit. If you do, the sanding scratches will show up under the color coat. Like this:

I know i got a little long winded and I saw that you decided to go with spray paint for a color coat after I started this post, but I hope this helps. Budget paint is near and dear to my heart.