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Thanks, the color was a big debate for me, between the crimson/red and the original black. Seeing as 90% of these are black, I wanted this machine to stand out a bit while still having a classy vibe.
I'm still having some issues with the clear coat, I upgraded the air filter and dryer on the compressor end and made sure I had a fresh filter at the gun. Temps were in the low to mid 70s and humidity was right around 50% both days I sprayed. I'm thinking it may be the actual paint itself due to this same thing happening on two basecoats, I let the coats flash off for the higher end of the range between each one and between color and clear. Going to get some different clear and hope for better luck on the headlight and tank.
I cut and buffed out a section of the rear fender today just to make sure it isn't as bad as the headlight bucket, and I believe these are just at the surface and don't seem to be any deeper in the clear so I can at least clean it up in polishing. Thank god, I'd shit if I had to paint all this stuff again.
Interesting. I’m using a universal reducer from Eastwood but the clear is 4:1 and does not require reducer, and that’s the only layer I’m having the issue with.
Painting can be sooooo picky. Yet sometimes it all goes so well you wonder why you hate painting. Then shit like this happens LOL. I'm sure you'll sort it and I like the red a lot better than plain ol black.
I think doc is spot on with the solvent pop theory. Right now I’m thinking it is just the clear itself, as I drastically reduced the film build on the fenders and it’s nowhere near as bad as it was on the headlight.
I cut down a section of the rear fender that had some of these spots and it buffs out to look pretty great. I’ve got some new clear on the way which I’ll use when I shoot the headlight bucket and tank.
I still add a little reducer to clear even when its not required. I find if I leave it thick its easy to build too much film thickness while trying to get it to "wet out". th e thickness seems to enhance solvent pop, additionally you can effect the drying rate with a slow reducer which can help with solvent pop and orange peel. Painting is weird because you want to put on the least amount you can per coat while still wetting it out, but the instinct is to put it on thick with less coats. i find its always is worth it to spray out a sample when experimenting. prep sucks.
New clear came in today so I re shot the headlight bucket. Still having what appears to be some of this solvent pop.
I did not reduce this batch, the PDS does not call for reducer nor mention what to use so I err on the side of following the manufacturers direction. Doc, how much are you reducing your clear, 10%?
It’s significantly less than I was seeing on the last shoot so hopefully I can cut and buff it and save this coat. Will try it tomorrow after it’s cured for 24hours. Pretty fucking annoyed with the painting on this.
10% slow reducer for 4:1. 10-15% slow reducer for 2:1 i usually spray a few tests to see how it looks.
however that doesn't quite look like solvent pop to me. can you see the bubbles right away or do they show up later?
The orange peal looks pretty heavy suggesting the film is too thick and/or poor atomization. You may be spraying too close/too slow or too little air. try cranking up the PSI a little and making faster passes from further back.
Other things to consider: you also may want longer flash times. the times published are usually a minimum. I often will spray a test piece at the same time so i can poke at it an evaluate the paint dryness before spraying another coat. Ive also heard spraying without adequate ventilation can cause issues as well, but too much draft can cause the paint to skin up as well.
there are so many variables it gets crazy. I try to negate information overload and ensure success by buying high quality paint from a local knowledgeable shop to ensure the products I'm using are compatible and appropriate, plus then you can call then for troubleshooting tips if you have issues. All it takes is fucking up one involved paint job and buying cheap paint never makes sense again. I hate painting but I'm too cheap to pay for a nice job most of the time, and the couple times I paid for a high quality job they screwed it up.
Good to know. I definitely have some more practice ahead of me before I spray the Volkswagen. The orange peel looks worse in the pic tbh, but I’m willing to bet it’s my gun settings.
The bubbles appeared a few minutes after I sprayed, but I’d say 95% of them dispersed and leveled out.
I do try to stick to the upper end of flash times. Longer between coats is just more time for that solvent to gas off before you lay more on. Makes sense I suppose.
Started reassembling the dash, it’s cleaning up nice. I polished up the original indicator lights and escutcheons. 4/0 steel wool and Novus plastic polish cleaned them up pretty well.
Installed the gauges with new nylock nuts and plugged in some of the new wiring from Bender’s harness. I swapped out the amber Neutral light for a green because I’m just used to a green neutral light.
I plan to remake the labels for the indicator lights as well as add some directional indicators, but that will likely be a winter project.
Thanks, the chrome bezels on the speedo/tach are pretty pitted so I'll need to keep wax on them. There is a bunch of shit inside the glass on the tach so maybe this winter I'll revisit those and replace the chrome trim rings and clean the glass.
Aftermarket ignition switch doesn't fit at all so I'm gonna have to get creative there, maybe fire up the lathe to get that sorted out.
I gave the repainted headlight a good cut and buff and it came out great. Cleaning up the fuse panels and bus block and getting it ready to install next.
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