Best paint ?

[Mr_B]

Here's a question for body shop painters. What would you consider the best paint to be, and do various paint types fit with different types of use, or is there really a one is best type.
Lets say you are restoring a car that's a bare shell rebuild and total nut and bolt job. It's going to be painted to an original colour of a non-mettalic red and have a finished value of say 20 - 30K when done and while not being a show car, pretty close and be used for a couple of thousand miles a year.

I know nothing about various types of paint, so what would you use in the above example and could you say any differences and any suitablility variations, if any. Also an idea of costs between any different paint systems would be great.
Thanks

[Mr_B]

domster said:

I think 'best painter' would be a better question to ask. It's a bit like asking what paints you'd use to create the next masterpiece to grace the walls of the Louvre. Some paints cost a bit more, some a little less, but feck all that price per litre nonsense. It's who's doing the prep, the spraying and the finishing that I'd worry about. I'd rather the best painter in the world use cheaper paints than a rubbish painter using a very expensive paint.

Get recommendations for decent painters in your area - or beyond. You need to be prepared to travel. Truly excellent painters are few and far between. Most bodyshops will do an OK job, but the really good places will charge many thousands. After the labour, the few hundred quid in paint and sundries will pale into insignificance.

Thanks for taking time to reply. I fully agree with what you say about finding a painter, but while I'm not at that stage yet, I would like to have a better of what , if any, paint is best for the type of work I'm looking for.

I'm not looking to try and save a few Pounds on paint, was more just wondering if they vary in suitability. For example, do some give a better finish but prone to stone chipping easily, so not suited more mega-miles cars, but better for a concours car that never gets driven. I have no idea if that would be even possible, but as with everything in life, you get what you pay for, so wondering what the differences are, and do you pick types of paint over others, pehaps on mettalics over non-mettalics etc.
Would just be interested to hear what any decent body shop people would pick type and brands wise if they were doing a bare shell restoration.

[Mr_B]

Many thanks all.