csertich

SUCKS! It's so bad, its funny. I bought from paintscratch.com and gave it a try. I think my car must be faded enough that the color match was so-so. Of course, Mr. Impatient is painting in 80% humidity and 80 degree heat.

I damaged one of my splitters by being stupid (never hit a parking concrete stop in the three years I've owned the car. Until now.) Messed up the splitter pretty good but they are original material and could be worked back. With a little more sanding my surface would have been perfect. I thought it was perfect (novice) until I painted. But I decided to move onto the clear coat anyway because it wasn't that bad and this is only temporary. I need either new splitters or a Turbo bumper. Well, I went to the clear coat. The best way for me to describe what I got is that if you can see around the splotches of clear coat, where it's not splotched, the clear coat really darkened the color. I really didn't think it was going to be too bad, but I was wrong this one time.



For those of you who have done this either with the paintscratch spray can method or more professionally, does the clear normally darken the color? I don't know why I got the splotches-I shook the clearcoat until my rotator cuff poked through my skin. Could be the humidity, I guess.

Thanks in advance.

I'll send some pictures but don't laugh too hard!
chuck

PS-I like the paintscratch products. They worked well. They warn about using in high humidity and I even read the directions before I sprayed the clear coat. This is by no means a complaint about paintscratch.com. This IS a complaint against DUMBA**, AKA chuck

BS911

Hey Chuck. I've actually had good results with Paintscratch paint. That being said, I've also had HORRIBLE results with Paintscratch paint. The key factor between the two - as you said - was me and my impatience. I'm actually getting ready to redo some stuff on mine in the next few weeks with the non-aerosol version of their paint and a paint sprayer. Maybe I'll get better results.

For your question though - I wouldn't say the clearcoat "darkened" the color, but "deepened" it. Ok, I know, about the same thing. On guards red anyway it just went from a good color that was a tiny bit flat to a nice deep gloss. I can't really complain about the color match on the guards red because my original paint is in pretty bad shape anyway. The one trick I found with the paintscratch aerosol cans... lots and lots of light coats to build up. Let a coat tack up, then hit it again. As soon as it starts building and you get the speckled texture from the light coats, let it dry hard then wet sand out the texture back to smooth. Rinse and repeat. I did let my color coat dry hard... overnight... before hitting with clear. Using the same process on clear except you don't sand on the final coats between color and clear. You need enough clear down so when you wet sand and rub it out for the final gloss it doesn't cut right back through all of your clearcoat. Could that be where you are getting splotches?

I'm doing the el-cheapo route myself because I'm just prolonging the need to do a full respray. I figure when I get to 200,000 miles I'll treat myself with a fresher upper professional paint job. Should be about 2 1/2 years from now.

csertich

Thanks Brian. I'm going to tackle this again. I appreciate the info. It was actually kind of fun doing this. Now I just need better results!
I appreciate the note,
chuck

Crimson Nape Racing

Chuck - I used Wurth wrinkle finish under the paint. It matches the finish of the side rocker panels and helps to hide any blemishes in the splitters. I think it would also help to hide difference in color, as the texture would be different from the bumper.

Davies

I refinished a set of rims in 85% humidity, and the finish was awful. Sanded them, refinished again with exact same paint only on a nice clear, dry day and the finish was perfect. I guess the paint captures moisture on its journey from the sprayer to the surface, and it just craps up the whole thing.

Oh, and always let the paint dry for at least 24 hours before clear coating. That way it forms a separate layer, rather than bonding and mixing with (and screwing up) the color coat.
(I've made that mistake too...) - Patience (and some AC) is definitely a virtue when painting...

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Having painted my 1987 Mustang years ago with base coat clear coat system using only the best PPG paints. You apply three coats of color to a perfectly sanded 400 grit and cleaned with wax and grease remover car or part. The temp has to be perfect, if its cold you need an accelerator that is for the temp in your area etc. Also you would want to use some fish eye killer. only a cap full is needed. Let that set for a bit then apply the clear coat. If its cold out watch the runs (hence the accelerator for the temp is important). I think applying the clear coat is the hardest part. Its tricky. however the good part is you can always wet sand and buff most of the runs or orange peel out.

Its an Art thats for sure. It takes practice.

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Oh. to answer your question.. "does the clear normally darken the color?" no. at least with the traditional painting methods it does not. I'm not familar with this paintscratch system. so I cannot speak to that.