Wow.  I can't believe it.  I'm posting the very first question in the new forum!  Well here goes.  I'm currently doing the body work on my 65 and will be painting it in my shop.  I wanted to paint it silver - in particular Porsche GT silver.  I have painted a number of cars before back when acrylic lacquer was still widely available.  Many of these cars were painted under less than ideal conditions, with no special worry about airborne dust, because I always finished the job with a wet sand and buff, not to mention that any more serious problems could be simply sanded out and reshot in about an hour.  However, I'm not sure I can take the same approach with metallic silver.  I've read about how silver can be tricky, especially when doing basecoat/clearcoat due to the re-coat time window.  Metallics in general seems like a one shot deal with little chance of fixing problems, as it doesn't seem like you can do any sanding without a major repaint.  Single stage, on the other hand seems to be more forgiving, and more like painting lacquer in that you can cut and buff it.  I've also seen a LOT of clear coat failures.  In fact, now that I'm looking for it, it seems like I see clear coat failures every day - most on factory paint jobs.  My son's own 2012 car has a clear coat failure.  So after much rambling, my question is to start this forum off with the age old debate: which is better, basecoat/clearcoat or single stage?  In particular, If you're not going with a metallic, why not just go single stage?

This shows a fair technique on blending. I only noticed one small flaw flaw that he did at the end. Do not flick your wrist or in other words do the sissy. This will make you go from a proper 6-8" away to 10-12" you'll get what's called a ringer. You'll see it wondering why but not now though. also go off the TDS sheet paints clear sealers some times change from manufacture. Usually 1.3 for solvent base 1.4 for water borne paint 1.4 or bigger for primers 2.0 usually work for flakes.

I don't think one type of paint job is better than the other. If you have a certain level of confidence that you can get the finish you are after ,that will tell you which way to go. Hope this doesn't sound stupid.

My experience based on real world/no spray booth conditions.

Modern paints are very forgiving.  Just shoot it after proper surface prep.  My method to paint Cara's silver blue coupe was this:  I put the base color on, then waited an hour and did a tack coat, then immediately a heavy wet coat of clear.  Let that dry for a day and block sanded it with 400 wet.  Then I shot one wet coat of clear.  Most of the car required ZERO color sanding or buffing.

By doing it that way, the clear sets up quickly on that first wet coat, minimizing the possibility of bug/lint/beach umbrellas/small children, etc being trapped in the clearcoat.  Then, the wet sand with 400 grit eliminates any of that stuff that DID manage to settle into the clear.  Then the final wet coat after sanding goes on so quickly and dries so fast that virtually nothing gets embedded in it.  This way worked very well.  Most of the car was smoother than most new car paint jobs from the factory.

When most people clearcoat a car, they tend to pile on coat after coat until it is really thick. "SHOOT UNTIL YOU RUN OUT OF PAINT" syndrome.  In non-controlled conditions, that just continuously buries any contaminants into the clearcoat, making them impossible to ever get out.

Spraying in a controlled environment like a paint booth I am sure can be done totally differently, but I have never sprayed a car in a paintbooth.

My fastback was done in the "shoot until you run out" method and took a lot of wet sanding and buffing to get it perfect.  Still good enough for the centerfold of Mustang Monthly Magazine, though!  It was the first metallic paint job I ever did, and had the same fears you have.  Main thing with metallic is to get back far enough to never get a real WET spot in the color.  Don't worry it looks like sandpaper.  The clearcoat will take care of that for you. 

And be sure to run a ground strap to the car.  All that moving particulate creates a heck of alot of static electricity that attracts dust.

And one good thing I learned painting silver cars... When a bee lands in wet paint, quit spraying...  You cannot believe how far they can drag their little butt around before they die or the paint sets up.
 

I am new to this site as of today. My 65 coupe SIX is finished except I can't seem to get the hang of HVLP and basecoat/clear coat. I am 74 years old and my cars have won shows but they have all been acrylic lacquer/enamel shot with a Binks #7. I can't seem to get the "flow" as I make a pass and I am using the instructions on the can. Any info appreciated.

See my other post about how I painted my car.  I used a cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gun and a 5 HP 25 gallon compressor, with a cheap water trap so you don't need high end equipment to get good results.  One of the keys for me was to use a single stage, non-metallic urethane.  That way, there is no need to worry about putting down a near perfect base coat (problem is magnified if you use metallic paint) and laying the clear coat down within the specified time window.  I didn't want the dipped in plastic look of a lot of base coat/clear coat paint jobs I see, and I see clear coat failures every day. as I drive around.  I concluded that if the factory can't seem to get the process right under their highly controlled painting environments, I stand little chance.  With a single stage non-metallic paint, you can almost roll it on and wet sand and buff out the imperfections.  Now, if I need to touch up the paint, it's very easy - there is no blending like a base coat/clear coat paint job.  The whole process is similar to painting lacquer so if you're familiar with that, you can do this.

If you're having problems with your equipment, tell us what you're using and what pressures you've tried and where you're measuring the pressures.