September 2010 The Paint Spot Newsletter
Ok, so now we're heading to September and another school year for some of us. Don t fret, the hot weather is on borrowed time . thank God ! I don't know about you, but I will have to learn to paint again. Every year here in Texas I've had to re- learn painting every time the weather changes from hot to cold. We will get into the reasons and some technical tips regarding this in a later issue.
For now Let's go over last month s issues and some responses. First, the RSC 220 vs. MS 52. Some of you were actually skeptical about the comparison and had to prove it for yourself and maybe that's why we sold so much of the RSC 220 in the month of August. All I have to say is ..I told you so! Too bad the Indasa thing didn't go as well. We sold about the same amount as usual, but we had a lot of interested users say they would give it a try when they needed to restock. In the meantime I can assure you that Slix will continue using it. Before we get into this months agenda, I need to let you all know that we have a color tinting and matching class scheduled for this month. It will take place during the week of Sept. 20. The class will be after normal bus. Hours (approximately 6:00 p.m.) and should run through the entire week. The classes will be put on by Lusid Technologies and will cover Genstar , and Northstar , and if we're lucky maybe include Gen2o (waterborn). For those of you who aren t familiar with these names I ll break it down for you. Genstar is a polyester based base coat. The tinting of this type of paint should be very similar to Matrix and PPG (MPB & DBC), however, they are different in that MPB & DBC are acrylic urethane and Genstar is polyester. I haven't yet got into the sales end of Genstar because I was a PPG DBC user when I got into Matrix, and the customers I target are primarily DBC users for which Matrix is a direct replacement. I will tell you that I have used the Genstar and it is an outstanding product with many benefits over DBC or MPB and if I went to a start up shop I would definitely suggest Genstar as their paint of choice. Northstar is a single stage polyurethane that we sell mostly to our fleet customers. It is an absolutely awesome paint. It covers in 2 coats, has an outstanding gloss, and is extremely cost effective. I have personally painted lots of cars and trucks with it and unless you new otherwise, you can't tell that it's not base coat clear coat. Color tinting with Northstar is crucial because the toner strength is so high (a little goes along way). I really need to be a part of this class, and I think many of you would benefit from it as well. Gen2o is Lusids water born base coat. It is awesome, and I can tell you, it is the only true water born that I know of. While others claim to have water born, it's funny how they will also sell you an aqueous reducer to use with it. Gen2o uses distilled or R.O. water for reducer, which really reduces cost. The Gen2o also has the reputation of covering in 1 coat, which reduces both cost and time in the booth. Slix is making the transition as we speak to water born, and the only one that I've found that works and will make us money is Gen2o
Anyone interested in these classes please call the paint spot and let us know. I will nail down exact times and places prior to the class and keep you posted. I can tell you that tentatively it looks like the Genstar class will be at Auto Coat in Austin, and the Northstar class will be at Slix in Canyon Lake. The Paint Spot: (830) 899-2845 Suzanne, Janet, or Rick This month s agenda We left off with the vehicle surface being primed with self etch, then a couple coats of epoxy primer, then a few good coats of primer surfacer. Now we start the body work, and here s what you do. Scuff the low spots with a piece of 36 grit sand paper and apply a coat of bondo. When I apply the body filler I use metal spreaders and I push hard on the first pass so that the filler coats the metal, then slightly lift my spreader on the next pass to achieve fill. If you don't push down hard on the first pass, you ll get air pockets in your repair. Most people using plastic spreaders seem to have a problem with the metal because the edges are sharp, and I did too, but the problem was easily solved, just take a piece of emery cloth and round the edges before the first use. If you can make this change, you ll get more even flow of the body filler and reduce time. The next step is to block down the filler and this is where some of you are going to freak out! I wait until the filler just stops being sticky , using a hand block with 36 grit block it down until it's just slightly high, then switch to 80 grit and finish it. The reason I don't wait for the filler to get any dryer, is because you ll work your ass off if you do. (On previously painted areas I use a DA with 180 on the edges where the fractured paint meets the bare metal or body work, to feather, not on the filler). I prefer a 9 hand block with hook it sand paper, hook it is much more cost effective than anything else because you can reuse it later. I never use air tools unless the phone rings and I can't get back to the job before the bondo turns to concrete. And if I have to use an air tool I prefer an Atcoa Viking inline air file (be careful for the imitations)
After the 80 grit you're done, it's ready for primer. Yeah, I know, all the schools and the I car people, not to mention all the paint supply companies will tell you that the body work has to be finished in 180, well let me say this That s absolutely Bullshit . They all say that the primer won't fill anything less than a 180 scratch. If I'm using a primer that doesn't fill a 24 grit scratch (let alone an 80 grit), then I ll scrap that primer, and get one that will! I suggest MP 3
HS (it's a high build 4:1 primer that can also be reduced by 1 part of reducer when you don't need the build).
What the professionals are really telling you is you need to buy more of our materials and spend more time doing your job , and they ll try to justify it by saying that if you do it this way, you can get away with only priming one time. I dare anyone to prime body work one time then paint the car, and then invite me over to show you where all the body work was. For quick and dirty work fine, but for the good work NEVER!
Anyway, put a decent coat of primer on, wait for the primer to flash real good before recoating. This is the place that a lot of us fail not letting the primer completely flash, it will show itself as follows. You ll get die back in the clear, shrinking or mapping in the paint job after the paint has cured or solvent pop. Now, did you notice that I didn't mention glazing putty? That s because it's bullshit also! I sell a lot of it, but I rarely use it. One tube of dolphin glaze lasts me a couple years. It s unnecessary, and I ll tell you why. If you have to coat your bondo with polyester putty to get it straight, then you didn't do your body work right. If you are trying to cover up pin holes in the bondo, then here s how that can be done. Add some fiberglass resin to a little bondo, thinning it down ..you ve got glazing putty! I do this only when I've got major holes to fill, otherwise I let the primer do the work
That s what it's for! Next step, guide coat then block the primer with 180 or 150 dry, by hand. At that point you ll see any of the imperfections that didn't come out and you ll have to make a call on whether or not the next coat will fill it or not. If not, maybe you ll need a little putty or this job might take 3 primes.
On all production jobs, I like to prime twice, on restorations or custom work, I will prime and block as many times as it takes rather than use polyester putty, and here s why.
Polyester putty will be harder to block level than the surrounding primer, so if you ve put in on a low spot in the middle of a larger repair, in trying to block it out you will screw up the surrounding area, which wastes time and gives you a marginal job. When I've got a whole vehicle to do work on rather than putting bondo all over the car, I work one area at a time. This keeps the filler from getting too hard and cuts down my sanding time. This is also why hook it works so well, I can bust down the filler with my 36, take it off and finish with my 80, put my 36 back on, bust down the next area, put the 80 back on, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Don t forget to call and let us know if you want to attend the paint tinting class! This is valuable info, and to have the color guy himself from Lusid Technologies is probably a once in a lifetime experience!