October 2010The Paint Spot Newsletter
As you know, we had the wizard from Lusid technologies come down to Texas for a color tinting and matching class. The guys name is Craig, and let me tell you he is nothing shy of a wizard . Craig is the head chemist at Lusid, and not only that, he can actually paint too! Craig got in from Salt Lake City Utah a little early, and assisted me on a paint job that I had just screwed up. The car was an 06 chrysler 300 paint code PP4 (light silver/ green that I had just painted with the Gen 2o waterborn. I got in a hurry and mixed the paint 1:1 with reducer (water from my kitchen sink). I wasn't thinking like I should have been, and accidentally mixed waterborn as I would have mixed solvent base coat (water based mixes no more than 20%). Anyway, when I looked back at the front end I had just painted, a river was headed right towards me on the hood ..OOPS! I let it dry, Craig said no problem Let's take some 800 sand out the sags and piss coat with more GEN2o and we'll be good to go. It worked, and the job left the next day
Later that evening he started the class by explaining color theory and a bunch of technical stuff. I was wondering how I would ever process all this information and be able to apply it, when all of the sudden, he said, ok, now Let's put this into laymen terms .
He then proceeded to make perfect sense out of all that he had discussed, and when I say perfect sense, I mean I totally understood all that had been holding me back with this scary subject of making a color from scratch. As it turns out, I really never understood why there was so many colors on a mixing bank, and what they all did, but after his explanation, I could easily see why I would spend so much time getting a color to match. Here are some of the things that made that possible.
Oxide colors will muddy the color. Fine metallics will also muddy the color. When mixing a metallic color, you should always get the color first, never start with the metallic. On solid colors, start clean even if the color you're trying to match looks dirty. You can always dirty a color, but cleaning one up will cause you to use way too much toner to do so. Flop adjuster he explained like this; 0-50 grams equals a darker flop and 50-100 grams equals a lighter flop.
I will enclose some of the technical info that Craig used in the class for those of you that couldn't make the class, and if it doesn't make sense, well you ll have to call the Paint Spot and we'll do it for you. The turn out was awesome and I'm glad so many of you found the time to come, although we sure went through a lot of pizza and beer!
Before I take over were we left off, I d like to thank all of you Paint Spot customers for giving me the opportunity to come into your shops and to aid you in getting the most bang for your buck . Hopefully along the way, you ve caught on to the fact that I refuse to be the business as usual type guy, and as many of you know for fact, I really will do what ever it takes to EARN your respect and trust (with or without a dollar attached).
With all that said, I would also like to welcome one of our newest Amaro Collision in Floresville Texas. Amaro has a lot of similarities to Slix, in that, Freddy, the owner started his shop at about the same time that I did. He also comes from humble beginnings as I do. They are hard working, loyal, and honest as the day is long. Amaro does collision as well as restoration and custom work, and let me tell you, they do it good! I feel right at home when I'm there and I am both grateful and proud to have you guys as Paint Spot customers. I also have to say that the way they became our customer has to be a first. Freddy was not only familiar with Matrix, but he had been getting the product by one of my counter parts (whose name will remain unsaid out of respect). His supplier was a bit lazy and uncaring and as a result, Freddy had to go with another supplier and paint mfg. That was right before he had contacted me about supplying him with Matrix and at that time I informed him that wasn't the Paint Spots territory and that he should work with the person that had that territory, and if it didn't work out, I would do what I could.
Well a year went by and the other brand of paint wasn't working out and going back to the other Matrix distributor wasn't workable either, he called me and well Oh, come on, ya ll know how I always say I ll do whatever it takes , so I did! Welcome aboard Amaro, I promise, I ll never let you down!
Once the vehicle is finally ready to mask off, if it's a restoration you ll need to put seam sealer on areas like the drip rails. This step must be done after last coat of primer has been sanded and right before paint. If the surface is horizontal, then a self leveling seam sealer might be you're best bet. Realize this, it's called self leveling for a reason, and this is it. The self leveling is flow able and if it gets used on an area that is not horizontal, it will run. If that is the possibility, then you should use a more stable seam sealer. There are two types of stable seam sealers. One is the tube that is used with a caulking gun and the other is brush able .
The brush able is especially neat to use around cowls and the trunk areas, while the tube is better suited for seams where a nice even bead is desired. Do not overlook this step by assuming that the old seam sealer is still good. All too often, the original sealer is Lacquer and over the years has dried and shrank to the point that moisture has gotten around and underneath. When that has happened, you can bet there will be rust under it.
Once you have all that behind you, you're ready for paint. I see most painters out there using sealers as a first down cure all , my response to that is I mean honestly, what are you trying to seal? If you ve got primer or the original finish properly sanded, there is no reason to put anything other than the paint on the vehicle, you're just wasting time and money! EXCEPTIONS:
If your original finished is oxidized (like an old red paint job), then by all means, you ll want to seal it. In this instance, if you don't, the red will most likely bleed into your new paint.
Another exception would be an E-Coated panel. You should never paint over the E-Coat without first priming or sealing it.
Most sealers are a one or a two component watered down primer. Most of them either dry too quick or not quick enough. The ones that dry too quick seem to always make a mess, in that they create a lot of dust that must be cleaned off before you apply the paint, or you ll end up with a dirty paint job. That s a hassle, not to mention a time waster . The ones that dry too slow will pull gloss out of the final product or show mapping (body work or sanding scratches were work was performed), after the car is finished. HERE S A TRICK THAT I USE .Use MPB 500 1:1 with reducer and add a little MX-57 base coat hardener (no more than one ounce per spray able quart).
MPB 500 is a transparent base coat, so it's just like the paint that will be touching it next, when it's used with the MX-57, it makes a beautiful sealer.
It also makes an awesome blender and pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you, as it is one of the most cost effective, money generating tips I ll ever be able to tell you. Imagine you ve got a gold or silver vehicle (or any other difficult colored car including a tri coat), the front end has been repaired and you are going to paint new E-Coated parts and blend into the existing perfectly painted doors, hell, Let's even throw in a new plastic front bumper. Here s the procedure
Put some plastic parts adhesion promoter (bulldog) in your gun. Apply two coats on the bumper(no need to mask around the fenders, the bulldog won't hurt them) and let it dry as recommended. Next, dump the leftover bulldog back into the can, mix up some MPB500 with MX-57, and put in the gun(no need to wash out the cup), put one or two coats on the car, including the doors. Let it dry according to the book (I would wait at least twenty minutes, longer if you can). Dump the remaining MPB500 back into the mixing cup and save it. Even with the MX-57, it will last a few days, especially if you keep it in the fridge. Next, mix your color, again no need to clean the cup. Apply the paint as you normally would, sweeping away from the blend area, and every coat bringing your blend a little farther into the doors. Make sure you allow plenty of time between coats for complete flash of the preceding coat, if you don't, you ll have to use a lot more paint to cover and you WILL get mottling! Now think about what we just did, on the E-Coated panels the MPB500 (because we added MX-57) became a sealer. Because it is transparent we didn't have to do any masking, and where the MPB500 went over the doors, it became a blender. Because MPB500 is transparent basecoat, when the color goes onto the panel, or part of the panel because it's a blend area, it's actually the second or third coat and that's why the metallic won't stand on edge or halo . Now, if you are really following what I've just explained, think of how much time and materials you just eliminated, we didn't even have to wash the gun between steps! Here s a little added bonus that nobody will tell you (especially the PPG guys), not only is MPB500 the same as DBC500, but if you're out of the 500 and you have either a PPG or a Matrix mixing bank you can make it by mixing MT89 (PPG 1689) and MT49 (PPG 649) 1:1 ..That is MPB500!!!!!!! All too often I see painters trying to blend without using the 500, it's a suckers bet , don't do it! Over reducing a base coat metallic will only disrupt the ratio and make the metal more dominant. In the next issue, we'll get into clear coat and single stage paint, including single stage metallics. We ll also discuss Matrix being recoat able and what that means.
There will be a lot to cover, so adding it to this issue will only overwhelm you. My advice at this stage of the game is to really think about what we've just covered. Make it make sense to you and please feel free to call me if you either don't believe it or it's not making sense. I ll be happy to come out to your shop and demonstrate, all you have to do is ask.