December 2011The Paint Spot Newsletter

Hope ya ll had a great Thanksgiving and now brace yourself for Christmas! As you know we had a demonstration here at the Paint Spot for the POR 15 and Lizard Skin products. The turn out was not quite as good as it could have been, but we did manage to go through twenty pizzas and a complete keg of beer. The representative Dean Adams put on a very informative show, which included a somewhat brief description of all the POR 15 products and the Lizard skin. I ll go over some of the highlights.

For the demo, we used a roof top from an actual Slix job. It s a 1972 Ford Bronco top that was not in the best of shape. Since the Lizard skin is a product that is primarily used on interior panels (but can be used elsewhere) we were doing the inside of the top. Prior to the show we had treated some rather large areas that were rusted almost all the way through. We did this due to time constraints. When everyone arrived, they saw black POR 15 in random areas that had been brushed on. What you didn't see is how we treated the areas before we put it on, here s what we did. We scuffed the whole inside of the top with 180 sand paper. We used one sheet, and we spent a total of 15 minutes doing it ..including the rusted areas. We didn't do anything about neutralizing any rust at all! We then brushed the POR 15 on and let it set. We were going to coat the whole top with the Lizard skin noise deadener and then today I was going to spray the Heat Shield over it (the window between coats of noise deadener is 1 hour, and two coats are required. The window between noise deadener and heat shield is 12 hours, and all this is at normal temperatures). Things just didn't work out as it was just too cold for the POR 15 to cure good enough. We did however spray a sample patch of the noise deadener in an area that didn't have the POR 15 on it. The awesome thing about the POR 15 is that with little or no effort, we completely coated and killed the rust. Ordinarily we would have done the following: Sand blast the rusted areas, repair where the blasting went through the panel, etch the metal, apply self etch, apply epoxy, then prime and block. We eliminated all those steps! Another feature is the fact that this product can be brushed on, but when it's cured, it looks like a sprayed finish that's been cleared, cut and buffed

Absolutely no brush marks what so ever! Another feature is that when cured, it's absolutely bullet proof . Dean proved the point by continuously hitting two coated pieces of pipe together, and there wasn't even a scratch, let alone a chip! For you Bath Tub repairers ..there is a white that is stronger than porcelain! Lizard skin: The noise deadener is an awesome alternative to the traditional Q pads , and the other insulations that have to be glued in. Lizard skin is both cost effective as well as much more versatile. It seals off any moisture for ever, it takes a fraction of the time, it costs less, and it can be sprayed anywhere, including inner panels, such as inside doors or inner quarter panels. For all the R.V. customers with no prep work other than cleaning solvent ( Marine clean , from POR 15) the lizard skin can be applied directly to or instead of the rubber roofs now on so many R.V. s. Remember there are two options that can be used by themselves or separate

As many of you know, I was a loyal and dedicated PPG user for many years. When I changed over to Matrix 6 years ago, I immediately noticed more consistent paint jobs coming out of the booth at Slix (I was the painter); specifically the clear coat quality. I have long thought about the reasons and was pretty much satisfied with the fact that Matrix was just a better product, and that's why the clear was performing better. What you may not know (unless you read the June 2010 newsletter) was that when Matrix certified my shop and me as a distributor, they made an issue of excessive moisture at the booth air line. PPG had never made any issue of this at all ever! Matrix techs told me that until my humidity was 5% or under, (it was at 67%) they would not certify me. That s when I had to spend a lot of money on equipment due to Hoffman s selling me the wrong compressor. I made the corrections and got the humidity down to 2% and was certified. Here s what always bothered me .I have always wondered if I went back to PPG, and specifically the DCU 2002 clear, would I get better results since the humidity had been lowered so much . I bought some PPG DCU 2002 and some DCX 61, and a quart of DT 885, and cleared my green Nissan delivery truck with it. The Nissan had been hit in the left side by a big buck a few weeks ago. I cleared the hood and the whole left side with it, and left the six (almost seven) year old MS 42 clear on the rest (that by the way, has never been cut, buffed, waxed, or ever garage kept). Here s what happened. I immediately noticed that the clear felt thinner than the 42, especially when I added the reducer (1 part). I sprayed it as I normally would, and had a few sags which I remember all too well having years ago (and have never had with any of the Matrix clears). I waited twice the amount of time I normally wait to put the second and final coat on. This was necessary for a couple of reasons I remember the solvent pop problems with recoating too soon with that clear, and the tape that I usually touch to know when it's ready to recoat, just took that much time to get to the right point. I then applied the last coat and had no sag problems, and the next morning, the truck looked great! I have never said that PPG had a bad product, and I'm not suggesting that now, however, here are some facts that need to be stated and considered. Number one: A kit of PPG DCU 2002 cost me $396.95 (normal retail), and is a 4:1:1 Matrix MS42 Kit $235.97 (normal retail), and is a 2:1 Number two: The viscosity of the mixed 2002 is actually closer to Matrix MS 52 which is a 4:1 and costs $127.66 (normal retail) Number three: 2002 has a tendency to sag on the first coat. Matrix clears have anti sag agents in all the clears. Number four: If you were to cut and buff 2002 clear, you better do it within 48 hours of spraying, or you ll be cutting and buffing concrete! For all you ex-users, you know exactly what I'm talking about! Matrix clears: You can cut and buff anytime you want (wait ten years if you want) and it cuts and buffs like butter! Here s why that could be extremely important: Have any of you ever done body work to a vehicle, and had it come back weeks or months later, and you could see mapping (sanding, grinder marks where the original repair area was)? If you have seen this (I've had it happen hundreds of times, and seen it even more in someone else s repairs), you know that when the car left, chances are it looked Tits . Well, the solvents in the primer, base coat, and clear that you put on the car take time to evaporate or breath out of all that material to eventually get the new paint job to a Cured stage. That s why any paint company has always said do not wax the car for at least 30 days ..and that's all based on 77 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!! So here s my point: If you have to cut and buff 2002 within 48 hours, what s gonna happen (God forbid) when the solvents set into the repair area and later shows itself in Mapping ? YOU VE ALREADY CUT AND BUFFED, AND NOW, IF YOU HAVE TO CUT AND BUFF AGAIN, IT S GONNA BE NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE AND YOU RE NOT GONNA HAVE ANYTHING LEFT ON THE CAR IF YOU DO!!!!!! Next Item: This is a perfect segway for talking about what the cause of Mapping or as is often referred to

This problem usually happens with the primer, but can and does happen with base coat, sealers, and clear coats.

Since the most likely substance to have this happen is the primer, I ll start with that. Primer shrinking occurs when either too much is sprayed per coat, or not adequate FLASH time was used between coats. Now if you're one of those guys who thinks that PPG s primer is better than Matrix, or DuPont s primer is better than Sherwin Williams or .whatever, let me tell you this right here right now ..ALL PRIMERS WILL SHRINK, INCLUDING LACQUER, URETHANE, POLYESTER, ETC. and here s why. The solvents in the primer when adequate flash time was observed will evaporate upward.

If you don't allow enough flash time, the outer layer will air dry (skin over) and eliminate the escape route for all the solvent locked in the lower coats. Now, since it has nowhere to go, it's just sitting there saturating the bondo, putty, and old paint edges down where the repair first took place. So all the 36 grit, and 80 grit, and 180 grit scratches that was the reason you put primer on, are now the low lying areas that the saturated primer/solvent is settling into. Now one way or another, at some point, those solvents will come out, but since they can't get through the metal car body, they're gonna come back up through the paint. When they do, they will MAP the area that got saturated ..HENSE the term MAPPING ! Base coat: If you don't allow enough flash time on base coat, the first thing that will happen is, it will take a lot more coats of paint to cover the repair. White is a prime example. If you don't have enough flash time the second coat will mix with the first, and the third will mix with the second, and the forth will mix with the third, etc, etc, etc,. Whereas, if you let your coats flash properly the second coat will sit on top of the first, the third will sit on top of the second, and I really doubt if you ll even need anymore to get to its threshold! Clear will show itself as follows: I only use two coats of clear (all the time and on everything), however, my overlap is probably different than some of you guys. My first coat has about a 75% overlap, and my second has a 100% overlap (so you could call that what you want). After the first pass is complete, I wait until you can touch masking tape (near a fully cleared panel) and not get any stringing when you pull your finger away. At that point, I am ready for the final coat (could be five minutes, could be thirty minutes, depends on temp and hardener speed). If you don't allow enough flash time, the solvent from the first coat will not have had enough time to escape, and it will show itself later as DIE BACK . This is what you will most likely see with Matrix clears that weren t allowed to flash! With the PPG clears you could see DIE BACK , or more likely you ll see SOLVENT POP . The reason is that PPG usually calls for 1 part of reducer which adds even more solvent to the issue! Either way IT S NOT THE BRAND OF PAINT ..IT S YOU! Now I don't know if anyone has taken the time as I have to really figure this problem out. I do know that most of you (as well as every school teaching the body and paint trade) are convinced that you MUST finish out your body work before priming with 180 grit, and most of you are taught that the best way to do that is to coat all your bondo and panel with polyester putty because it's supposed to be easier to work with. Here s what I say .THAT S BULLSHIT! All this was concocted by material suppliers and paint companies in an effort to get you to buy more materials. It was also a half ass way around the problem of mapping that we just mentioned. Think about it, if you finish out your body work with 180, you won't need as much primer. I ll give them that, but that has nothing to do with the original problem! That s like a medical doctor prescribing Prozac for anti depression, instead of solving the reason for depression ..and God only knows how many people bought into that! The bottom line is simple LET YOUR CHEMISTRY FLASH! Next Item: The real story about MSB (Matrix standard base) Several years ago PPG came up with some new toners to add to your existing DBC bank. They were commonly referred to as The four digit toners . When this happened we (yes I was a PPG guy back then) were duped and given the chorizo straight from our PPG suppliers and PPG themselves. It was an extreme (and I mean extreme) price increase under the cloak of better color matches . If that were true, then that also implies that until then, their color didn't match, and I know for a fact IT ALWAYS MATCHED! They then made sure that all our data bases on access were updated by the local suppliers and all the old formulas were eliminated (thanks to Bob and Carol from Hoffman s, I continued for two more years using old discs that they had given me). I finally had to submit and buy the new toners. Now all these colors used to be made using the old existing toners before, and like I said, they matched. Now using the new toners, I noticed two things, number one the toner strength wasn't as strong, and number two, they were twice as expensive. Well here s what I didn't realize until recently ..MATRIX KEPT ALL THOSE FORMULAS IN THE ACCUSHADE DATA BASE!!!!!!!!!! And they are the MSB Formulas. So here s the breakdown: MSB = DBC (using the earlier and cheaper toners) MPB = DBC (using all the toners including the four digit toners) RPB = Omni Plus except instead of being a stand alone system, it's all the DBC/MPB toners on the same bank. RSB = omni except it's a combination of all the MPB,MSB,DBC toners, and again, it's all on the same bank. This is only the base coats. All vibrance, and House of Kolor are on this bank, and so is single stage (four levels) and interior paint! LET S SEE PPG MAKE THAT STATEMENT ! (OR EVEN COME CLOSE)! I VE SAID IT BEFORE AND NOW I LL SAY IT AGAIN