Ben Hart
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Maybe if you post a picture of your 1/4 and your fancy looking pinstripe, I could come up with something else.
Have you thought of just doing the whole thing any way (removing the pin stripe) and taking it into a shop to re-do the stripe for you?
Not sure what year of caravan your are talking about (or what colour), but why not just paint the whole 1/4 and be done with it. They aren’t a large panel.
As for the pinstripe, you could sand it off then repaint it after (or go cheap and use vinyl). Or you could scuff it and clear over it.
I seem to recall the that its been over 10+ years since Chrysler was using the painted stripes…
That thing looks pretty sharp, great work! I love the green interior.
Spraying the lesonal wb should be the same as the autowave. The tinting charts should be available from your Sikkens rep or jobber.
I find with several of the metallics, the L or L1 variants can be a better match than the standard (obviously check before spraying).
Why aren’t you allowed to blend the colours?
The tinting chart for 777 says:
-metallics appear coarser
-lighter and coarser full flip
-slightly dirties faceAre you doing your spray outs with & without the drop coat…it can make a huge difference. The888C, 888DF and 888MS will have a lighter flip than the other 888 metallics according to Sikkens. Altough I am not so sure about the 888C having a lighter flop.
What colour are you having issues with? All metallics? Are you only spraying the standard or trying the variants as well? Generally the colours seem very blendable.
[quote=”JCClark” post=27072][quote=”Ben” post=27062]
I wish I didn’t go to school, or do an apprenticeship, I could have learned all the “right” ways on the internet and be the next Chip Foose. Now where is my Pro Form clear coat and lacquer putty, I have another show car to start…better stock up on the 400 grit now.[/quote]Wow, all that knowledge and never heard of sanding clear with 400.
you really need to get out more.
Go to the car shows and start asking about sanding the clear
to some of the really nice show car owners like I have.
Sure a lot being sanded with 400 or even 320 first.
And you’ve never heard of it or think it’s wrong???
wow! where have you been?
Perfect example of someone that”knows it all”
Can’t learn anything new, that’s for sure.[/quote]The problem I am having is this 320-400 grit non sense. Why would you sand that coarse and how much mil build is left when you are done (if you suceed at removing those scratches via sanding/polishing). The average car at most car shows is a finish off the gun, good or bad, period. The numerous people I know that do the high end restoration stuff either clear, then sand with 800 or so and re-clear…or, if they polish the entire car, it is performed with more suitable grits than 320-400. 800 is really coarse, and in a pinch if you have a bad fawk-up you might use it in a small area. But to say that everyone doing award winning jobs is polishing everything and starting the sanding process with 400 is simply wrong.
The collision side and restoration side are somewhat different, but a good painter (irregardless of background) should be able to get a finish off the gun that is pretty damn good, even for a show type car. Will it win the riddler award without being wetsanded and polished? Maybe, maybe not, but in any case, it can still be pretty nice.
I also find your lack of respect for the collision painters here to be unnecessary. There are several collison painters on this site who occasionally do resto type work and achieve excellent show quality finishes off the gun. Saying I/them are narrow minded is, rather, a reflection of yourself.
Open your mind are realize that many people do things differently, and there is often more than 1 correct way…but starting wet sanding with 320-400 is not one of them. There are a lot of corners people cut and methods that aren’t recommended. Not because they can’t work, but because there is such potential for problems to occur, maybe even problems that have been overlooked, such as delamination due to in adequate film thickness.
:whistle:Yes, I am sure every award winning show car was sanded with 400 and then worked up to 1500 or finer. And the ultra thin layer of clear that is left after all that sanding probably looks pretty good and will hold up forever…
I wish I didn’t go to school, or do an apprenticeship, I could have learned all the “right” ways on the internet and be the next Chip Foose. Now where is my Pro Form clear coat and lacquer putty, I have another show car to start…better stock up on the 400 grit now.
If I had to polish all my jobs, let alone sand any thing I painted with 400, I would be fired.
So its wavy from uneven overlap then?
Make sure the gun is opened up enough and allow a minimum of 50% overlap (I often go close to 70 % to ensure even coverage).
You said you are using the Devilbiss Plus? The Plus gun is ok, but it really likes a lot of pressure to lay clear really nice. Don’t spray the Plus too close, with the higher pressure from it, you will not get the even coverage you want, but somewhere around4-6″ may be better. Adjust the gun as needed and adjust your speed to suit it as well.
Always set the gun up before spraying on the panel and watch how it is laying down as you spray. If you need to occasionally stop briefly at then end of a pass to see how it looks, do so.
We use an old Concept down draft with bake (not insulated). There is definitely a lot of heat loss during the bake cycle (especially with the positive pressure). We have a small shop, and on the bake cycle, you can notice an increase in temp in the shop.
I would imagine you would notice a good difference on your gas bill and the added cost of the insulated walls should be recovered through savings on your energy bill.
Cleaning the gun is important, but it sounds like you have that covered. Check as Smooth said. What sort of cup are you running on it?
Or the other possibility is your air supply is short on volume. Your compressor may keep up (pressure wise) but you may be pulling a little too much CFM while clearing (which likely consumes more air volume compared to when you are basing and priming). What are you using for a compressor?
What do you mean wave? Usually wavy is body work. Are talking about texture/orange peel? Have you not tested the gun out and set it up for spraying first? If someone recommends a certain setup (including air pressure) that may be a good starting point, but you still need to adjust things to suit your need.
As Jayson matter the thickness (viscosity) had nothing to do with the solids content. Whether or not a coating is thick, with the right usage it should still spray and lay down well.
Using a slow vs fast activator/reducer affects the open time of the product. It can also affect the texture to an extent as well. But on a large job (such as a complete) the biggest concern is keeping a wet edge. I have sprayed a complete with a product that was a little faster than my liking. While knowing the product and working quick the end result was just fine.
Pigtails sometimes occur when you are using that paper, and not keeping the panel clean enough. Those ones will be deeper and seldom polish out. Normal 1500 scratches (followed by the 3000) should come up nice.
Also, you need to use a good polish system with the appropriate pads and a good polisher. Some polishes just don’t work well with some clears.
Being patient, using the right products and keeping everything clean are all absolutely crucial.
The clear is too hard to sand? Or do you mean it is difficult to remove scratches and polish?
P800 is really coarse for wetsanding and polishing. 1500 should do most stuff (unless you are just working 1 small spot) otherwise you may be better off sanding an re-clearing.
The Journeyman test (although updated) will likely still contain several outdated questions as well. Having these tests with similar format/questions will prepare you better for that. As far as painting goes, there may be a couple of questions on lacquer, 1k enamels, blending single stage, incompatibility of products over fresh 1k enamels etc… But you will also need to be up to date on safety, tinting, tri-stage/let down panels, booth flow requirements, proper specifications for colour corrected booth lights etc…
You definitely have a huge advantage if you do some of the schooling.