Simon Richards
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Thanks. They’re painted in 1998- Toyota 1C6 Dark Grey (original/master variant).
Not sure what system you’re on, but there are two listings on the PPG lookup. One has the master and a variant and the other just has a master. You want the one spelled ‘Dark Grey’ with the two variants.
Some more projects I’ve completed…..
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Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Surely, somebody must be on the PPG GRS system and can look it up for me please?
Thank you all for the kind words! Glad to hear that you like what we do. :cheers
That is abrasion damage.
If the paint were peeling/delaminating, you would be able to pick the edges of the scratch up with your fingernail and the peel would keep going.
In fact, try that. If the paint edge won’t lift easily, then you’ll have your answer (and Dodge is not responsible).
Myself and my two painters all use Devilbiss GTI Pro Lite 1.3 guns with the T1 and T2 tips. I don’t have a mandate as to what my guys have to use, but they buy their own guns.
In addition to working at my shop, my guys also both work at another very high end shop that is a BMW Authorised Repairer. They do lots of $100K+ Mercs, BMW’s, Jags, Audi’s, Porsche’s and Maserati’s. So, they use these guns there too, and to my understanding two other painters who work at that shop have also switched to the GTi Pro Lite guns.
Not sure what other shops are using, but for our orientation/wet bed coat, we use PPG D895 ‘Colour Blender’, reduced 1:1, and applied with a basecoat gun (GTI Pro 1.3 with a T1 tip).
So, it’s not technically an RFU product and we wouldn’t use anything of the sort as a substitute orientation coat. We also take the D895 out into the adjacent panel if the blend is being done inside the main panel.
Any sealer or WOW primer we lay down will be [i]under[/i] the basecoat. We use the D895 as it is part of the PPG Deltron GRS basecoat system, thus everything is compatible.
PS: Re the scuff pads, if you find the grey pads are still leaving sanding scratches (we notice this on PP-E bumpers especially), you can use the 3M Scotch Brite 07745 gold scuff pads. They are even finer and work great!
We colour coded the chrome trim on a 1994 Jaguar XJS coupe last December. The car came back for some additional work 2 weeks ago and the parts still look like the day we painted them.
We used a product by House of Kolor called ‘AP01 Adhesion Promoter’. It is clear and all you need to do is thoroughly clean the part to be painted (no sanding required). You just put a LIGHT coat of the AP01 over the chrome, let it flash for 5 minutes (in a positive pressure spray booth with airflow) then we sprayed the basecoat as you would over normal primer. In this instance, you’d just start layering the candy, followed by clear.
[b]YMMV!!!! I can’t guarantee and won’t be held responsible if the finish fails on you![/b]
We get a lot of UK painters coming here to work. The lower end, high volume ‘sausage factory’ shops sponsor them then hire them on 457 working visas. These shops tend to pay pretty poorly and they have high employee turnover. I haven’t met many employees working at these sorts of shops that have ever claimed to be happy in their job…..plus a lot of ‘precious painters’ and politics to deal with too. Hope your friend has a better experience.
If it’s a shop in St. Kilda, I believe I know of the shop. I’ll keep my thoughts about them to myself however.
I know that you personally do great work Andy and I’m sure there are other great UK painters, but I haven’t had the best experiences with your compatriots that end up down under though……unfortunately while they claim they’re great painters, in reality they’re not up to the standards expected of decent quality shops in Australia.
Maybe they used to be good painters but the requirements of the shop (and customer expectations) they were working at in the UK might have been low/budget? Perhaps they weren’t able to do their best work due to the ‘type’ of work the shop took in?
Either way however, they don’t tend lift their game when they get here so I don’t know what’s going on? One painter at a shop I know told me they took in an Irish painter and he was shocking. Their apprentice was doing better work! The Irishman didn’t last long.
Andy, keep in mind that this $35-40 per hr is a contractor rate. The guys pay their own taxes, super/401K, their own workers insurance, they don’t get paid sick leave, annual leave or public holidays. There are also no penalty rates for overtime, weekends or if they choose to work on public holidays.
A ‘staffer’ receiving the above benefits as part of their package would likely be earning $20-25 ph depending on experience.
[quote=”sage” post=34916]I think a lot of it has to do with my age, and the fact that I’m single. I’m only 26 and they know I don’t have to support a family, so they feel like they can pay me less. It’s bullshit, I should be paid the same as anyone at my skill level, regardless of details like that. A lot of people I have worked for seem to take me less serious because of my age, especially when I was only in my early 20s. I have been doing this since I was 16, and have always just been reasonably talented. Being the shop “kid” gets old after awhile, especially when you can out perform some of the people who are working with you. It’s usually the jobbers and paint reps who are the most respectful, but they don’t have to sign my checks.[/quote]
It’s all irrelevant.
Follow my advice above. Stick to your guns. If he needs you and you walk, you hold the power.
PS. You’re welcome…. by the way. 😉
[img]http://dna-paints.com.au/specialpaints/candycolorz/images/gallery-img1lg.jpg[/img]
I painted this Brembo alloy brake caliper (along with the other 3) back in December 2009. The calipers were fitted to my 500hp WRX STi that was driven HARD every day so the calipers got plenty hot, although it didn’t go to the race track with these particular calipers. What I can tell you is that they looked as good as the day I painted them when I sold the car back in late 2012, and having just seen the car a few weeks ago, they look no different today.
The process was:
Full cleaning and sanding 240grit dry
2 x coats of PPG D831 Universel Etch Primer
2 coats of PPG D839 ‘Prima’ wet on wet primer (W.O.W.)
3-4 coats of Deltron GRS D953 Coarse Lenticular Aluminium basecoat
4 light coats of DNA paints orange candy
2 x coats of PPG D8020 HS clear
Oven bake 30 mins at 65 deg C and let sit for 2-3 days
Sanded back with 500 grit dry
Logo masked off and STI sprayed on with 4 light coats of PPG Deltron GRS basecoat
3 x coats of PPG D8020 HS clear
Oven bake 30 mins at 65 deg C
Install and enjoy!So, even with all those coats, they still handled perfectly. I’ve done many other calipers (albeit with stickers for the lettering) and I have never had a customer return one because of paint/coating failure.
Seems like you are being underpaid. In Melbourne Australia, I pay my guys $35 an hour. They’re very efficient, high end painters with over 20 years each on the tools. Average painters get $20-25 an hour.
If you’ve become entrenched at your shop and you’re presenting good work, then the owner has become dependent on you, and will not like the fact that you want to leave because now he’ll have to work! You’ll rock his world in the most uncomfortable way!!! :cheers . Firstly, you need to tell him the reasons you are unhappy and that your needs are not being met. He may tell you to GF right then and there, but if that’s the case, then he’s definitely using you and you don’t need to be working for him anyways. If you’re unhappy then he needs to know about it. Put a fair and achievable case forward to him (on paper, not just words!!!) for what you’d like to achieve (ie. working hours, $ package) and set a deliverable standard that you both can agree on. Talk about a bonus structure as well. This shows him that you have the best interests of his business in mind. Are you able to bring any of your own work into the shop? Perhaps you can structure a fair referral fee for bringing in this extra work that he ordinarily would never see.
Importantly, [u]you need to always remain confident no matter what objection he throws your way[/u]. What you need to do is pretty much make up in your mind that you ARE going to leave (before you even talk to your boss), and that what you’re talking about is a new deal to [i]retain[/i] you at the shop. If you can’t reach a mutual agreement, then you leave right there with your head held high. Wait a few days for him to squirm under the pressure of all the work he now has to do himself and don’t be surprised when he calls you begging you to come back, and agreeing to your new terms! That’s why he needs the proposal on paper, so he can do the math and mull it over AFTER he has calmed down. After all, if you’re doing great work for this guy and you are easy to get along with, then you are an asset to the business and this guy would be a fool to lose you.
But……IF you have to leave…perhaps see about presenting yourself as a contract worker to other shops in the area. That way, you just bill them your hourly rate and you cover your taxes/401K/sick leave/annual leave etc (make sure you increase your hourly rate to factor these ‘costs’ in). The benefit to them is they are not encumbered to you and if it doesn’t work out, then it’s easy and painless for both of you to part ways. You can also try out other shops to see what you like and if there is a fit. If not, you’re not locked in. But when meeting these shop owners, [u]make sure you carry an electronic folio on an Ipad[/u] to show the new shops what sort or work you can do and what you’re capable of. I get SO many painters wanting to work for me and the lazy bastards can’t even take the time to show me the work they’ve done in the past. They’ll all tell me they’ve worked on BMW’s, Porsche’s and Jaguar’s…but where’s the proof?! That’s not unlike a builder saying “hire me…I’m good”, without showing you any houses he has built!
Hope the above helps! Good luck and do keep us posted.
Cheers,
SimeSome tips from me……
1. Don’t paint in your shop clothes. Wear a spray suit. Wear disposable gloves. Keep your spraysuit clean by washing it regularly. Otherwise, I like to use the Tyvek disposable spraysuits. They cost $12 each and I change them out every second job.
2. [i]Wear the hood when you paint[/i]. The number of painters I see wearing a spray suit without using the hood baffles me. That’s akin to riding a motorcycle in full leathers without wearing a helmet!
3. Use compressed air to blow off your suit, face, respirator and eyebrows before you paint.
4. As mentioned earlier, use a tack rag to wipe the airline down regularly.
5. Wet the floor and walls down before spraying if you have a concrete floor booth.
6. Have all your materials you need set up and ready before you start. Minimise the amount of times you have to enter and exit the booth. Opening the door lets in dirt and can expose you to dust from the shop.
7. After you have finished clearing, resist the temptation to go back and admire your handywork. What’s done is done. Bake that sucker, [i][u]then[/u][/i] inspect it. And most importantly, if you have a customer watching you clear, [u]DO NOT[/u] bring them into the booth to look at the job before you’ve baked it.
8. PPS is good. Very good. It’s pricey, but it’s worth every cent.
9. Run some neat reducer through the gun after running gunwash through it.
10. As Ben mentioned, definitely clean the car before it enters the booth (including underbonnet/engine, inside door/trunk jambs, wheel arches, wheels and under the car). We have an underbody lance that can be hooked up to the pressure washer for this purpose.
11. I appreciate that it costs more from a labour perspective and sometimes budget precludes doing so, but try not to paint panels with moulds, lights, turn signals, badges, grilles and handles still fitted. These areas can and [u][i]do[/i][/u] easily trap dust. Plus you get a more thorough finish with better edge to edge coverage if done this way. Less chance of the clear edge lifting up too.
12. Not to pick on AndyT, but you should also backmask any holes such as turn signal openings, washer jet openings, [i]licence plate openings[/i] etc. The air pressure from the gun can dislodge dirt on the backside of the panel as it creates negative pressure/suction and it can pull dirt back into the job.
13. Always check that you’ve laid down your masking plastic down “Spray this side up”. The reverse side is not treated and paint will not stick to it. It can dislodge and flick back into the job…requiring a total rework.
14. Keep the entrance to the booth clean and clear. Mop the floor outside the booth entrance so you don’t track dirt/dust from the shop into the booth.
15. Keep all spray booth doors closed when the booth is not being used.
16. Don’t leave the airline in the booth when baking. The heat breaks down the inner lining of the line.
17. Run a line of 2″ tape around the glove cuff to the suit to seal things up. As an added benefit, on hotter days it will prevent any sweat dripping out of your suit onto the job.
18. Make sure to back mask the fuel filler opening. This will stop overspray getting in the recess and also any dust from that area being blown back into the job.
19. Use fresh mask paper and tape over your work horses/stands for every job.
That’s what I can think of ATM. Hope it helps.
We’re using PPG Deltron GRS solvent base and for the last 5 years have been using the Gerson Blue tack rags. They work great (as long as you don’t press too hard on the surface), and we use the old ones to wipe the airline in the booth when painting.
Best part is they cost only a dollar each, so you can theoretically use a new one for each job (I tell my guys to replace them every 3rd job though as you can keep turning them to a fresh side).