November 2011 The Paint Spot Newsletter

Starting to cool down a bit so reducer/Hardener speeds should be compensated for. The 98 degree went to 95, and now we are at 85 and heading toward 70. The 60 degree may come into play if it gets cold enough. The hardeners are a bit different in that faster is not always better. The Matrix MH- 43 spot panel hardener implies fast results, however when you use that product it will speed up outer cure only. Another factor to consider is surface temperature. When the substrate of what you're painting is colder than 77 degrees that will slow the cure time as well. Example: You re using MH-43 spot panel hardener and the surface temperature is less than 77degrees, now the already slow through cure inherent with that product becomes even slower, which means if you need to cut and buff, you ll have to wait days before doing so. Experiment: Catalyze some clear with spot panel hardener and some with normal temperature hardener. Put both in a refrigerator or freezer. The clear with the spot panel hardener will stay liquid for days, while the other will gel sooner! What is the correct procedure? I would rather use MH-005 (normal temp) which has a consistent cure from top to bottom, and cut and buff the next day. You do have alternatives, and I will talk about them now. Accelerators: These are virtually NEVER used by me, but some of you will almost certainly have to at times. At Slix we have the luxury of altering either the environment or our production schedule to suit what we do. Many of you won't have that option. When using accelerators, use the one called for by the mfg (Matrix with Matrix, NorthStar with NorthStar, etc) and by all means follow instructions! I ll tell you now about an incident where I used PPG s DFX 11 Super Charger (an accelerator for their DCU 2002 clear). I had a quarter panel on a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse (which was a new car at the time) to paint. It was cold at the time so when I asked my local paint supplier (who s name I won't mention) what I should use, I was told (and sold) the DFX 11. I based the car with the silver factory code and then cleared with the 2002/DFX 11 mixed as per P sheet and it came out tits . About a month later I was at Startz Caf (a local caf here in Canyon Lake) for lunch, and when I was leaving, I saw that same vehicle in the parking lot. I looked at the quarter that we had painted and I was shocked! That quarter looked like it had caught on fire! It was completely burned and it was the DFX that did it. Now the customer was pissed (as she should be) but when I went back in and asked her about it, she told me that she was going to a better body shop in San Antonio that was more qualified to fix it right. I told her that I was responsible for the failure, and I would fix it correctly for free and pay for a rental car while I did it. I was lucky, she gave me a second chance, and to this day she is a good customer. PPG (and the mystery supplier) didn't do a thing except blame the failure on us. The weird thing is .they stopped selling DFX 11! I'm telling this story because when you alter the norm, you are basically doing it at your own risk! Years later I found out that the super charger and the aluminum in the factory code paint is why the reaction happened. Another choice is the new MS-15 Quick Clear. This new product from Matrix is as quick as technology allows and can be buffed in 45 minutes. Because of its revolutionary design, it through cures in that amount of time completely! It is not like the spot panel hardener which is added to existing traditional clears that results in only a quick outer cure. When spraying the MS 15 you ll find that although it is a medium solids clear, it is as thin as water, so do not assume you can apply it as you would RSC 220, MS-52, or MS-42 ..IT S DIFFERENT! I personally sprayed it on a black 1949 Mercury, where we were doing the right fender, right front door, and right quarter, and blending it into the panel between the deck lid and rear window. It was so quick that I put three coats instead of my normal two (first time spraying it and I was gun shy) and melting it in took a lot more Matrix # 840 ez blend than I've ever used before, and if I had to do it again I would have used the two gun method (one with ez blend and the other with the MS

The shop owner Bryant at Chopped and diced said afterward that he cut and buffed it and it looked good but he wished he had done the right rear door at the same time. Because of the blending, he waited till the next day for the buffing. Ok, speaking of Chopped and Diced and specifically the owner Bryant , it was brought to my attention that sand paper grits weren t as consistent as they once were and he wanted to know why. Bryant is one of those guys who will go above and beyond in an effort to know all there is to know about something before he starts. He (unlike some of us) assumes nothing and questions everything until he completely understands what it is he s about to do. Since he is the owner, I think it's a good thing! He s leading by example! In the case of the sand paper mystery he got on the net and found a chart Standox Charts & Systems which compares U.S. standard with European standards. Bryant gave me a copy and asked if I could research it and make it a talking point of the next newsletter (this one). I have done as he asked, and I have to thank him for bringing it to my attention. As it turns out there are two different systems still in place, kind of like SAE and Metric . If you look closely at a label on sand paper most of the time (but not always) you ll notice a P in front of the grit. This P stands for P Grit which is a European standard for measuring the grain distribution on sand paper. It bares a lot of similarities to the metric system, as it is a more accurate measurement than the previous U.S. Standard. Upon researching for this issue I asked our suppliers why the vast majority of our stock had the P but some not, and I was told this all of our paper is rated using the European method . I say, unless you see a P somewhere on the labeling, I wouldn't believe it. I think (and I was told this might happen) that I opened a can of worms when I started asking questions. Who cares! I'm good at that anyway! It is for this reason (and the honesty is the best policy thing) that there will be a copy of this chart included in this month s news letter. I have for along time wondered why back in the seventies and eighties, we used 220 to 400 and never had a problem seeing sanding scratches in the final finish, now I know why you can't use anything less than 600 with base coat, or you will definitely see scratches! Per the chart, note what the old U.S. 400 compares to now .700 ! That s a BIG difference! This also explains Bryant s frustration. He had bits and pieces of several mfg s sand paper in his shop,(and yes, he had some from the paint spot) and he couldn't figure out why some panels had choppy sand scratches and others didn't ..looks like we all learned something! I must tell you what Bill (the rep from Norton) said. He said that besides the P rating Norton has an even more rigid rating as far as the consistency of the grit uniformity (the size of each piece of grit on the sheet). Where some manufacturers have as little as 75 percent uniformity (seventy five percent of the grit is all the same size and twenty five percent is not), Norton has a 99% uniformity rating! Learned something new again! Important Notice: Matrix has come up with a wonderful color mapping system! If you don't have one at all, your probably one step better than us suckers (ya, I'm included) that got totally Hosed by PPG (myself to the tune of $1500.00) for their bullshit color variance deck . That system is the poorest excuse for mapping color that I personally have ever used. If you ve tried to use it, you know what I'm talking about. And for those of you who think the Profit (spectrophotometer) is worth anything more than it's weight in dog shit , you're sadly mistaken! That piece of crap get s close at best, and that's only if it's kept in calibration and if it's more than a five angle. A certain supplier (again whose name I won't use) has the piece of crap I'm referring to, and no, it's not kept in calibration, and it's a three angle (antique). Matrix on the other hand has decided to put all the variances on one card ..AMAZING, PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY USED COMMON SENSE! They developed it based on what we(the refinishers) wanted! When mapping a color before you would have to go through hundreds of chips and settle for the ones that were the closest, then use process of elimination to see out of those, which ones were even closer. Example: Mapping a silver. After going through all the selectors, you have some too dark and some too light. With the Matrix system lights, darks, bluer than prime, etc., are all on the same sheet! All you have to do is shift the card till the shade matches as close as possible. Another benefit is ..they're all done with real paint and real clear! No ink, and no Bullshit ! I want all you RV places to have one of these systems. And anyone else who feels the need to get it right the first time! We spend far too much time (and we don't charge you for it) on getting panels, bringing them back, and matching paint, or trying to match in the field. My cost is $575.00 And your cost will be $575.00. And to make it easier, I will even let you make payments on it. From now on we can communicate intelligently over the phone and completely eliminate all the un-necessary running back and forth. Another example of how The Paint Spot is willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES!

I was invited to the Nace show in Orlando by Matrix earlier this month, and I was awestruck at how they have left the copy status of the past behind and actually have become the innovator of today. I will talk about some of their innovations next month because I'm running out of time and have to mention something that just pisses me off ! For years when I was the PPG Guy from hell , I was told that unless you use all these top of the line products, you won't get any warranty what so ever . You PPG guys out there know exactly what I'm talking about! Well apparently that was then and this is now , the same people who were telling me that, are now saying no such thing. Now they are willingly selling shop line, Omni, and get this .. Roberlo clears and primer with high end PPG products! Two things come to mind when I think of this, #1 those bastards owe me a lot of money back for all the years they screwed me, and #2 The Paint Spot has really shaken up their world! I know this much for fact (I visited the Roberlo booth while I was at Nace) the supplier who s name I won't mention inquired about products that weren t as expensive as his platinum PPG products the rep for Roberlo is also my rep for Iwata, and I was told that he had no choice because PPG can't compete with Matrix (The Paint Spot), and this Roberlo stuff is cheaper and easier to sell. What about all the bad mouthing that I had to deal with ( ya I know I did it too, but I told the truth and can verify all of it) Matrix, that stuff is shit, it's a generic copy of PPG, it ll never be as good as PPG all these years? Well by virtue of that suppliers own words, He has proven himself to be a LIAR! So much for the infamous LIFETIME WARRANTY ! And here s one for the books AT LEAST MY MATRIX IS ALL MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!! Catch me if you can Don, and remember . It s not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase !