paint brands

[todd]

anyone use sherwin williams auto paint? Pros and cons if anyone has used it. I am going with a stock ford red (laser red, although I believe they spell it Lazer). I have a friend that paints with Sherwin Williams and likes it as much as Chromacolor.

Oh by the way, stop laughing, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT HOUSE PAINT!!

Todd

[SERPENT]

Todd,
Many companies make very good products that will last forever if maintained properly. I would recomend any premium urethane base-coat along with the same brand urethane clear-coat. Just as important to longevity is the choice of sealer. Use the entire system of one company as the finish couldn't be expected to hold up with dissimilar elements.
As to which system to use;I'd go with the one that my painter recomended as he will get better results from a system he has experience with. Hope this helps.
SERPENT

[Geary L. Sarno]

Todd- I used Sherwin Williams Base/Clearcoat on my Unique. I bought the more expensive Glamor Clearcoat. The clearcoat took any extremely long time to harden to the point that it wouldn't surface-scuff. The car was sprayed in October of 2001 and the surface hardened July 2002. We were at outdoor car shows every week from April until November. The sun finally baked the surface to the point where moderate pressure would'nt mark the surface. I have a fender cover that I could not use when working in the engine bay because the soft underside would mark the finish to the point requiring light polishing with 3M microfinish product. -Aggressor

[Bob Parmenter]

Todd,

In addition to following the painter's recommendation because it's what he's used to, you also increase your chances of not hearing the dreaded phrase "It didn't come out right because I used what YOU wanted". Assuming you're going to get some warrantee of quality for both application and material, you don't want to give anyone an out. The painter is responsible for his application, the manufacturer for the material, but most manufacturers won't back their product if the painter is not "certified" in the use of their product.

As for Geary's comment on time for hardening, it sounds like the finish wasn't baked, though he didn't indicate one way or the other. Modern catalized paints can be air cured, but are designed to be baked. The higher temperature causes a cross-link at the molecular level that ensures a durable finish, air cure won't achieve that level of cross-link. Typical bake cycles are 140f to 170f for 45 min to 1 1/2 hours depending on manufacturer. Some will advocate chemical accelerants that each manufacturer offers (implying endorsement of their use) for use when heat is not available, but my personal experience with them has been poor. You can do it right, or right now, your choice.

[Geary L. Sarno]

Bob - I did my own painting so the paint was air dried. You comments on baking the finish make sense in light of my experience. - Geary

[conway]

Todd,

I'am a paint jobber in N.C. , I agree with Serpent . All the paint companies make good products. Just stay with the system regardless of the brand and you will get good performance.

If you have any questions please contact me.


Conway

[todd]

I thank all for the post. I am going to try to figure a way to bake it. The shop doesn't have a heated booth. They do have to large heaters I could probably point at the car and get the temp up. Any suggestions on heating?

[sfry]

Todd,
Don't get in a rut by thinking that you must bake your clear! Todays refinish paint dries by chemical reaction.(Isocynate). OEM uses a single componet paint called theromset which
dries by you guessed it heat. They bake their vehicles at over 350 degrees. We cannot bake cars at that temp. We would melt tires,fry computers ect. A refinish shop bakes at a max temp of 160 to maybe 180 degrees. All this does is get
the car out of the booth faster so they can get the next car in. It has no effect on the actual cure rate of a Urethane. That is done by the ISO. Some of the new HC paint can cure in a hour and a half to allow rubbing! HC= Hyper Cure. Thats in a air dry scenerio. The comment about accelerator is true. It will help speed the cure rate but will cause other issues (chipping,brittle ect..)When you add accelerator to a clear coat you are altering the clear from what it was originally intended to do. Usually to meet a bad application enviroment. Also I will add do not add
more coats of clear because you think it will last longer. It will add more tail solvents that will take years to dissipate. Think about taking 8 Advils next time you get a headace. With today High Solids materials more is not recommended because of the % of soilds per gal.

Just my two cents,

Shannon