james caruso
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2000lbs would be 1 full pallet of bags. Yes you need to call them and find out. Everyones price is a little different and you do have shipping to take into account. We beat them up a little on the price when we got set up.
as with most stuff like this price really depends on how much you buy. its obviously more expensive to buy by the bag than by the pallet and cheaper the more pallets you buy. its also much cheaper if you buy it in the 3000lb sack than in bags. my price really falls in between sand and black beauty. they are 50lb bags and i think i am at $7 per bag. i got a sack once and that i think was $320. this is all for the medium grade.
there is no sanding and buffing. what you got is it. there is no fixing anything. if he scratches it its done. on a positive note if you do get a dust spec or he lightly scratches it, its much less noticable in a dull finish. you can use a flat clear or a flat black single stage. most paint companies have flat black ss. not sure what ppg’s is. a flat black ss will look blacker where as a cleared finish will have a greyer appearance. sem makes an excellent flat black. called hot rod black. the sheen matches the first picture exactly. its really durable stuff as well. basf has sc804. nice, expensive but no different from the sem stuff at 1/3 the cost.
all that stuff you are using that has no hardener is junk and is just soaking up the solvents. it will always shrink back and dull if you are using products like that.
fresh paint should not be waxed and it shouldn’t even need it anyway. give it a couple months in the sun then do it.
yes you never go right to clear. how much time really depends on alot of different factors. temp, humidity, airflow. most of the guys on this forum work in production shops and have the correct place to spray so they can chime in on their flash times. also production usually means that none of these guys sit around and wait too long either. time is money so most shops will get clear on as soon as they safely can. most restoration shops doing high end show quality stuff will wait anywhere from 4 – 24 hours before applying clear. most all guys i know personally spray the last coat of base, let it sit overnight and clear in the morning.
all this is happening because there was not enough flash time allowed on the paint. its shrinking back because solvents are slowly working their way out of the paint. after the basecoat went on if more time was allowed before clear then you would see alot less of this. cheap primer is also a big contributor as that will soak up more solvents. also priming over bodyfiller with too coarse of a sanding scratch.
yes, gel always needs to be sanded smooth and buffed back out. you would need to sand the whole thing with 150 grit. shoot the gel. sande it smooth with say 320, 600, 1000 then buff. its not like paint where you need to take it to higher grits but you do need to use gelcoat compound. the key is really to put enough gel on so when you sand and buff you dont make it so thin you can see the under color….just like with a single stage.
another note, when you spray gel not in a mold it needs to have wax mixed in it or it will dry sticky. in a mold, no wax, not in a mold/repairs…wax.
we used to use those $20 suction touchup guns to spray it. ones you can get from home depot or harbor freight. you know the ones with the trigger on top that you push down with your pointer finger. they actually have a fairly large tip and if the gel kickes off on you you wont cry over the $20 piece of trash you have in your hand. you will usually have to reduce gel with acetone. it will spray smoother no matter what gun you use.
hey chuck, i come from a pretty extensive marine background working for one of the largest yacht manufacturers in the world so i have seen my share of fiberglass and gelcoat….atleast enough to know i would rather be working on cars and bikes :lol1 you can certaintly spot in gelcoat. it always dries lumpy and dull so every repair will be blocked smooth and buffed to get flat and shine. you really need to be dead nuts on the color since there is no blending. good thing is its all solids and there are way fewer pigments involved than in automotive. there might be 12 or so and thats it. batches of gelcoat are never the same color and gel changes color in the weather and sun much more than paint does so getting gel from the manufacturer or somehting mixed up is uaually a waste of time. you really need a basic starter color which is in the ballpark and tint from there. you can buy gelcoat pigments or you can use different colors of gelcoat to tint with.
you cant tint it silver since silver isn’t a color. to tint the carbon it would need to be an actual color. silver reduced down would just look like small flakes over the carbon. probably just end up looking dirty. you need to use a candy dye in your clear. they are available in a whole array of colors.
yeah i dont really sweat it on an undertail. these aftermarket companies that make these things only get them so close as well. once they are mounted you cant tell at all.
yes all your doing is applying a candy over the carbon fiber. a little house of kolor tangerine candy dye in your clear and it will come out just like that. here is a link of a car i painted a couple years ago. look at the picture of the front of the hood. that was the same yellow candy i used on the car but over the carbon section in the center.
http://www.xtremekreations.com/carsgallery/Album9.htm
yup color-rite. very expensive, matches usually suck and the paint is soft and gummy like an old acrylic enamel. i hate that stuff.
no, they ship it all over the country. black beauty is fast but its pretty bad for you, easy to warp sheetmetal with and it embeds into the metal which can contribute to rust down the road.