talking car paint

EPA regualtions Paint Coatings and Paint Stripping

2010-01-22T11:44:00.002-07:00

Things creep up on you. You know it's coming but it's complicated of a long way off so you decide to just think about it later then it's time. Well it's time. The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants is now in effect the part that effects us as painters is subpart HHHHHH or NESHAP.

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/area/paint_stripb.pdf

Some background

The rules have been in development since 2002 they cover a large number of industries including cement manufacturing, the oil and gasoline industry, municipal and medical incinerators, asbestos production, the glass and ceramics industry, the list goes on . The final rules went into effect January 9 2009. The compliance date is January 10 2010 .

What do the rules cover

The rules cover automotive paint spraying
the use of paint stripping using methylene chloride
the use of paints containing the heavy metals lead, chrome, mercury, manganese, nickel or cadmium at reportable levels

Who does this affect

If you paint cars buses, trucks, trailers, motorcycles, boats, tractors, engines car parts you can figure it applies to you for a complete list see http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/area/fr09ja08.pdf

There is a significant exception if you are a hobbyist or a restorer or are repairing your own car you can paint up to 2 cars a year

What it takes to be compliant

You must use hvlp guns or the equivalent kind of guns and protective clothing. You must have compliant spray booths with filter technology with a 98% capture efficiency. Spray gun cleaning must be contained so that solvents are captured. All painters must be certified within the past 5 years. One of the main targets of these rules is to minimize the use of strippers containing MeCl your annual usage should not exceed 181 gallons and you must keep records of your use of stripper.

The final part is you must register with your area EPA office. Please do not take this as a definitive document on the subject DO YOUR OWN RESERCH but here is a warning get compliant and do it before they come knocking on your door. When you register they will come and check you out. If you have better information than I do please post it in the comments and I will correct this as new information becomes available to me

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Goodbye Geocities

2009-10-25T18:16:00.004-06:00

I heard that Yahoo is shutting down GeoCities this week. Back in 1999 Geocities was one of two or three places you could put up a free website. Good bye Geocities good bye The Paint Professor. Anyone recognize the Professor? I was trying for my dear friend the late Jim Wallen.

Here is a screenshot I took today

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Matrix MPB-9000 Black

2009-10-24T10:03:00.002-06:00

Here at Allen Paint we sell Sherwin Williams Ultra 7000 as our premier line. The Ultra 7000 is the basecoat I recommend for exact matches on newer cars it is excellent paint and I love it. It is not cheap but for exact matches stands up to any paint line. For complete paint jobs we sell Sherwin's economy line Dimension not designed for matching but it's pretty close in most colors. One of the places it falls down is black. It just isn't deep enough it always looks just a little brown. Kinda disappointing
We do however Have 2 other lines of paint Matrix and Wanda.
Today I would like to tell you about the Matrix MPB-9000 this is a factory black base coat that is deep and dark and rich and very very black. That and it's reasonably priced we sell it for 128.95 a gallon. We also pour off quarts pints and half pints.
That said it is not really suitable for matching I looked up some formulas this morning Dodge PX8 has a little bit of yellow oxide and a little white. Ford UA black was similar. Mercedes Benz uses a little blue the point is this not for matching but if your painting a complete this is the ticket.

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What is the right gun to use?

2009-05-17T06:57:00.002-06:00

This post comes in response to to a readers question. Donald Butler from Houston is restoring a Jeep and keeps a video blog of his progress.
Donald asked what is the best gun for doing a metallic finish for a base coat clear coat paint job?
In an ideal world I would like a whole arsenal of guns. I would like a 1.4 HVLP gun for base coat and a 1.3 RP (reduced pressure non hvlp for the clear), a 1.8 for urethane primer a 2.2 for those times when I need to use a polyester primer and a detail gun for shooting smaller projects and doorjambs.
The 1.4 HVLP gives the best color match and the 1.3(or smaller) RP lays down the clear the best. Primer guns need a larger oriface to lay down the heavier material.
Alas I can't afford all of them. I get by with a 1.4 HVLP for both base and clear a 1.0 detail gun and a 1.8 primer gun
There have been manufactures over the years that have made guns with interchangable air caps and I've tried a couple and have never been very impressed. They are compromises and just don't seem to work out well. To do it right youo would have ot change out the air cap, fluid nozzle and needle. Doing that you've probubly spent enough money to buy a new gun.
By far the most important thing is to match your gun to your compressor. This is about air consumption. Guns need a critical volume of air to operate correctly if you spend a lot of money on a good gun that requires 13CFM (cubic feet per minute) to operate and your compressor can only deliver 8 CFM it will not operate correctly and you will be disappointed.

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Invisible Car

2009-05-03T19:31:00.004-06:00

This from Telegraph.co.uk Art student Sara Watson a 22-year-old student at the University of Central Lancashire spray painted a battered Skoda Fabia to match the car park and entrance to her art studio.
Visit the Telegraph site for other views of the car

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Tips for using bodyfiller

2009-04-03T22:21:00.003-06:00

Polyester body filler, Bondo, (a registered trade mark that has taken on the generic title) pasta, or just plastic filler, call it what you want we all use it. There are economy fillers, premium fillers the fine folks at USC U. S. Chemicals & Plastics have given use a list of tips to better body filler

Outdated hardener is the #1 cause of problems. DO NOT use hardener over 1 year old
Do Not over catalyze
Always knead the cream hardener tube prior to use
Do Not whip body filler
Do Not put filler on paint shaker
Using coarse grit abrasives like 24 & 36 grit wastes time material and slows production use 80 grit and you will have a better job with fewer pinholes
Apply thin layers using a flat spreader working the filler into the scratches to promote adhesion and force out air

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Pearl Paint

2009-02-25T15:01:00.003-07:00

When asked for advise about pearl paint the first thing I have to do is narrow down what kind of pearl we are talking about. There are three kinds of pearl paint jobs. Pearl is an ingredient used in automotive paint. Pearls are used to add a sparkle to paint much like metallic. There are dozens of colors available dark and light blues, greens, golds, and reds but also slivers and bronze and copper.

Automotive manufactures will use just a pinch or 3 or more different pearls to add life to the paint. With modern base coat systems pearl coat will lay down as nice as solid colors. One note of caution the more coats of pearl you put on the darker the color gets. So when doing a repair leave a panel open so you don't put more coats on than necessary to achieve the color you are after.

The second use of pearl is on thi stage paint jobs like the Cadillac or Lexis white pearls. These involve a white ground coat then a pearl mid coat then a clear coat. Once again it's critical that you have the same number of coats on the whole project.

The third kind of pearl is used in custom painting to give a color shift for instance a white car with blue pearl mixed into the second coat of clear. I don't mix it into the first coat because I want the pearl to be suspended above the base. I fog on this coat then clean my gun and mix up some more clear to give it a couple more coats. SEM makes eight nice liquid pearls and Old School Flake makes about 20 powder pearls. How much to use? Well that's an artistic decision, I shoot a lot of test panels and take the panels out into the sun before I decide how much to use on the car or bike I'm painting.

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Hard times for some opportunity for others

2009-02-14T13:51:00.006-07:00

These can be hard times for paint stores. These can be hard times for your customers, especially if your customers are big body shops at the dealership level. These can also be times of great opportunity. There are plenty of small shops that have had no slow down in their business at all.

I have given this quite a bit of thought for the paint store owner and the paint store counter men and women, you need to take more time slow down and give the small shop owner and the backyard warrior more service. In the end it's better to have 40 small shops than 8 big ones.

For the shop owner you need to be more agile I was talking to one of my customers today. Al of Exclusive Image here in Denver and he has been having a good no a very good winter. He does some dealer work, some rental car work and complete paint jobs on higher end cars; Bmw's Mercedes, Chrysler 300s. He sets his customers up with custom tires and rims and really treats them right. He's honest, detail oriented and doesn't cut corners it has a given him a great word of mouth following.

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Miles per Gallon

2008-12-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

Thinking about getting a new car? And you want a more economical one right? It turns out that looking at the MPG (miles per gallon) is more complicated then you would guess.

Rick Larrick and Jack Soll of Duke University explain it all at The MPG Illusion

Which is more useful to know: How far you can drive on a gallon of gas? Or, how much gas you will use while owning a car?

MPG answers the first question. GPM answers the second question. We suspect that, when buying a car, most people want to know gas consumption. Gas consumption, as measured by GPM, can be directly translated to the cost of driving the car and to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. MPG cannot.
MPG can be a misleading measure of fuel economy when comparing two cars.

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Planet Color Update

2008-12-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of months a ago I complained that I was out of the loop with the Sherwin Williams Planet Color system. Well I'm happy to say that my local SW rep took care of us and we have the snazzy fold out color display. We can make all of the colors and some of them are fabulous.
I always thought that thinking up names for colors would be a great job and these guys have some good ones click on the products tab to see the Sinister colors like Black Magic and Golden Violet. Click on Classic Muscle to see Dick Balsley Blue, or Gene Winfield Red, or Jon Moss Yellow. Dick Balsley a GM engineer that is Manager of Special Fleet at The GM Heritage Center. Gene Winfield is a custom car builder from Mojave California. And hot rodder and GM designer Jon Moss. Other great names are fitynine caddy, fritz the cat green and Stan Betz yellow. honoring Stan Betz of Betz Speed and Color. As for fritz the cat you may have to find some one that remembers a the late 60's to understand that one.
Great idea honoring these giants with cool colors

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Sherwin Willams HP process

2008-11-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Sherwin Williams has posted a preview of their new web site design very clean very web2.o

The web 2.0 part? Well they are calling it the beta site and they are posting videos to Youtube
I've just finished watching an eight minute video on the new HP process.
This is quite remarkable stuff very very fast curing at 75 degrees Fahrenheit prime, sand, paint,clear and buff all in 15 minutes. No bake cycle no ultra violet lights all at room temrerature. If you run a production shop you should take a look at this

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Electic Cars in Americas Future

2008-11-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

The news today revolves around a multibillion dollar bailout of the Big Three auto makers. I'm not sure where to come down on this on one hand we can't let millions of people to be thrown out of work, on the other is the management of these companies have resisted raising CAFE standards and suppressed new technologies. Are they going to embrace change and give us new highly efficient cars to break our dependence on Mideast oil. Or do they just give new gas guzzlers.

There are other car companies here in the United States that are making, well some are odd looking , but still innovative cars. If we are giving billions to the Big Three shouldn't the discussion include small innovative companies.

Here is a link to the Venture Beat Clean Tech blog post that has links to 30 companies making electric cars

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More on the return of Acme

2008-07-21T15:48:00.000-06:00

A note on the return of the Acme Paint label. I heard a rumor that one of the reasons Sherwin Williams has resurrected the Acme is a mater of use it or loss it.
Sherwin folded Acme back into the product line back in 1996 and now 12 years later if they had not used the name they stood to lose the rights to the venerable old name. Back before Acme was associated with Willie E Coyote and his plans to get that pesky roadrunner Acme stood for the best of something, the name implied it was as good as it could be.
As a marketing tool Sherwin Williams used Acme to differentiate it's market along with other brands Rogers and Martin Senour. I always thought that Acme had the best numbering system

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Memo to SW we are not the competition

2008-06-13T10:14:00.001-06:00

A customer came in the store the other day and with a very nice presentation book The Sherwin Williams Color Planet custom color book. It is a very nice book very cool colors much like PPG's Vibrance collection or Dupont's Hot Hues all interesting. All vying for that special niche market that House of Kolor has owned for years.
House of Kolor was started by Jon Kosmoski and made popular Kandy paint (Semi Transperent paint that is used over Metallics so the metallic sparkles through) HOK is owned by Valspar but they have recently brought Kosmoski back in to the company in a contributing capacity, they seemed to have been drifting for a long time.
The thing is about the Color Planet book, I had never seen one before and I sell Sherwin Williams automotive paint. We are and authorized jobber for SW and we buy form their company store here in town. But they treat us not so much as the competition but as the ugly step sister that "well we don't like to talk about don't-you-know."
It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. In trying to keep all of the sales to them selves they keep it from being viewed by a larger market.

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Acme Returns not with out problems

2008-03-22T09:25:00.000-06:00

I got to work this morning to find a new product on the shelf. Sherwin Williams has brought back the Acme label. When I first started in the paint business the store that I worked for sold Acme and aside for some snickers about the name association with Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner it was a widely loved product.
Like a lot of big companies SW markets it's products under lots of trade names but in 1996 SW folded Acme into the Sherwin Williams, I remember the binder we received "Combining Our Mix in 96" Now it's back.
Down to practice maters I looked on the gallon cans of acrylic enamel to see the mix ratio you know so I could tell my customers how to use it. THERE ARE NO MIXING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CAN! I hate this why, didn't the know when they made the label or is the information secret. But undeterred I went to the website that contained the PDS (product data sheets) www.acmefinishes.com sounds good I'm pretty handy with the keyboard and all. The web site does not exsist it redirets you to http://www.paintdocs.com/msds/ and there are noPDS on the site. Come on Sherwin Williams you can do better than this.

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The evolution of Car Logos

2008-03-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Karen Taylor for the link to this story on Neatorama an exhaustive look at how car logos have changed over the years

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Gunslinger Flake Job part 1

2007-12-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not having posted for so long, I broke my arm and that slowed me up for a while.
I went to visit a fabulous shop this week, Gunslinger Custom Paint in Golden Colorado. I would love to share some photos with you but they asked me not to take any pictures and of course I complied.
I went out there specifically because they completely flacked a custom motorcycle. They used the Old School Flake F-19 Chrome .064 this is the largest size OSF makes and in the sunlight it was dazzling the next step for this project will be to candy over it and I hope to have photos of it as a completed project to share.

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Favorite Colors and Art Cars

2007-10-23T20:35:00.000-06:00

Everybody has favorite colors it's one the things 5 year olds say to each other "Whats your favorite color?" orange? purple? Today at the paint store a guy came in and wanted to paint his car white. I asked "which white?" I mean there are dozens if not hundreds of whites. He had no opinion but was stunned to know I had a favorite white. It's Ford ZR ultra white it was used on 1999 Mustangs it's a very pure white with just a touch of blue.
Do you have a favorite blue, red pearl or green metalic please let me know.
A friend of mine is working on an art car. One side has a Japanese riseing sun in the background and Godzilla in the foreground I hope to get some photos soon if you have any please send them to me I would like to post some

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Neil Slade's How to Paint Your Car

2007-09-29T06:05:00.000-06:00

If you have read this blog for any length of time you have figured out that I work for a retail automotive paint store in Denver Colorado, Allen Paint. We are a small store and really specialize in hobbyists, restorers and back yard painters. We have taught many people to be painters.
Neil Slade came in one day angry and confused about bad advise he had gotten in the past. Neil became a good painter but more than that he has written about his experience, Thats what he does he's writer, musician and creator of new media.
Neil has written a book and set of movies that he is selling from his huge web site. Neil gave me a copy of the book to review and he has incorporated the important points that was in Jim Wallen's short paper " The Absolute Basic Guide to Painting Your Car"
Neil does not come at this from the point of view of as a seasoned professional but as a self taught amateur and that is really quite refreshing so if you have been doing this for a long time you are going to have some points that you will differ with Neil, I certainly did but nothing of substance.
Here is a sample of the video's that accompany the book

Whether you download the book or get the printed version I think this book is well worth it

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PPG Waterborne at NACE

2007-09-19T12:40:00.000-06:00

If your going to NACE this year stop by the PPG booth and see their line of waterborne basecoat system or their seminar "Introduction to Waterborne," on Friday, Nov. 2.
PPG has had a lot of expericnce in Europe with their NEXA AutocolorAquabase and we will be compelled to use it soon.
According to Doug Beuke, compliant segment manager for PPG North America,
"Shops in California and Canada are converting to PPG waterborne systems right now. PPG waterborne basecoat systems are as easy to use as solventborne systems, require no special additives, and feature non-stir toners that make mixing colors particularly fast and easy. PPG waterborne systems also provide consistent color and metallic control across a variety of different application techniques"

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The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

2007-09-09T12:55:00.000-06:00

Time has this list the 50 worst cars of all time. The the 1899 Horsey Horseless to the 2004 Chevy SSR. Some of my favorites are on the list the Renault Dauphine, the Ford Edsel The Pinto The Corvair The Gremlin, The Yugo and many others see if your favorite is on the list.

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BMW's Hydrogen 7

2007-09-07T21:07:00.000-06:00

Cnet has a review of BMW's Hydrogen 7 The car runs on hydrogen by default but can switch to gasoline. A nice car but I can't imagine that this will be the model for the way most cars will be powered in the future. Sure would be nice to play with one for a week or so though.

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The 50 dollar paint job

2007-09-01T20:57:00.000-06:00

I can't really believe this is going to last very long and I could think of a lot of things I would do to improve it but maybe in the interest of fairness make up up your own mind. The 50 dollar paint job

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The new Jaguar XF

2007-09-01T20:30:00.000-06:00

Pictures of the new Jaguar XF are out see lots of them at 4hweelsblog.com, and I have read that the first one will be actioned off for charity. The auction will be September the 7th just four days before the car makes it's debut at the Frankfort car show September the 11th.

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Icar rumors?

2007-08-31T13:07:00.000-06:00

There are rumors of Apple and Volkswagen getting together will it be the icar? Will it be all white, have propitiatory gas connector, scratch real easily, you wont be able to take it to a regular mechanic, the parts will be very expensive, none of the parts will be avalible at NAPA and you will not want a first generation. (Thanks to Tom and Molly at Buzz out loud)

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Mind your CO2

2007-08-04T06:26:00.000-06:00

When out shopping for a new car consider the carbon foot print you will be leaving. The British goverment web site Act on CO2 has a ranking of cars by their carbon emissions per km. The top cars are the hybrids and the diesels with top marks going to the Volkswagen Polo Blue Motion.

The Polo Blue motion is available now in Germany it was first seen at the Geneva Auto show and gets 62 mpg.
Thanks to Tree Hugger for the photo and their good work.

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Bumper Repaired

2007-07-13T16:47:00.000-06:00

I repaired a bumper today using the Evercoat system I talked about in my last post. Now I want to be clear I don't work for Fiberglass Evercoat, they don't pay me to write this and have never taken any money or gifts from them. I do work for a retail store that sells their products. But I love this stuff.
I repaired a 2007 Mitsubishi bumper that my friend Sal had discarded. Sal felt it was too badly broken his customer too picky, it seemed like a good piece for me to practice on.

The bumper has a piece broken out making it more challenging. At this point I have cleaned it and trimmed the ragged edges and sanded it.

I' m pretty happy with the result I had to use some glazing putty on the area that was broken out but I kept the lines the same.
Incidentally The material for the repair cost about $60. Sal paid $280 for a new bumper from the dealer but the bumper they gave him was not exactly right this is the bumper for the rally model so he'll have to go back to the dealer to see if they can locate the correct one for him.
I could have this back on the car and painted today.

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Fiberglass Evercoat Maxim System

2007-06-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I attended a class given by Fiberglass Evercoat promoting their Maxim repair system. I'm a fan of Fiberglass Evercoat they have a good range of products and they are a very forward looking company.
The Maxim (click on the video icon for and overview) system of plastic repair, seam sealers, foams and adhesives are all packed in two part cartridges that use a standard caulking gun. There are four good videos on door skin replacement, bumper repair, bumper tab repair and body filler and putty. The video's showed me some mistakes I was making using the products and I will be changing some of my in store discussions of how to use them. I recommend that you take a look even if you have years of experience or if you are just getting started.
As with all product promotions they want you to use every product in their lineup but you should pick and choose as it fits your needs. There are good suggestions here and it is worth checking out

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Chrysler sold what's next for American Cars

2007-05-17T09:28:00.000-06:00

So what are we to think of the sale of Chrysler?
Damler Benz has cut loose the Amaerican car maker for the bargin price of 7.4 billion dollars a company it bought in 1998 for 36 billion. Billed as a merger of equals Chrysler was a drag that DB was no longer willing to support. Yesterday it was announced that the Chrysler division lost 2 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year.
With Ford and Gm also running up huge losses can automobiles be produced profitably in the United States? Toyota seems to be able to do it. Maybe if the big three started making dependable, economical, fuel efficient cars that people fell love with there can still be a domestic auto industry.
Here's the thing that strikes me when I sit down and watch TV which admittedly is not that often, the advertising is for big trucks. Expensive gas gusselling trucks, that has to be a dead end I mean how many big trucks can Americans drive now that 4 dollar a gallon gas is looming

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2007-03-21T22:47:00.000-06:00

In 1941 Chrysler made only 5 Newport Phaeton duel cowl roadster. These cars pushed the envelope of design of the time. They toured the country showing design features that would be coming in the next five years. The war intervened and many of the design and styling features were not followed up on. The actress Lana Turner bought one and painted it red, the fifth was used as the 1941 the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car. Later repainted from the original gold to Walter Chrysler’s favorite color green and was kept by Walter P Chrysler Jr. as his personal car.

Ralph Roberts designed the car an aluminum body on a New Yorker frame at the LeBaron factory. The Newport and the smaller Thunderbolt introduced the envelope theory of design that is a single flowing surface from the front of the car to the rear. Before this fenders were bolted on to the body. The car also incorporated hideaway headlights an aircraft style cockpit, an electrically operated convertible top that folded automatically into a compartment behind the rear seat but in front of the trunk that also was electrically operated. It was powered by a 137 H.P. straight eight and a 3 speed manual transmission.

We made touch up paint for the car that was the lead car in Denver’s St Patrick’s Day parade. I would like to thank Karen Floyd for her photos of the parade.

I had a chance to see the car after the parade and it is one of the very most impressive cars I have ever seen

For more information and pictures see
The Imperial Club
The Walter P. Chrysler Museum
The Detroit News
and my Flickr page

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Anti Trust Settlements

2007-01-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review has reported that Sherwin Williams and PPG have preliminary approval of their part of the class action price fixing lawsuit. PPG will reportable pay 23 million Sherwin Williams will pay 16 million. DuPont has already settled for 36 million and BASF for 12 million.
Visit Auto Paint Litigation for more information.

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Automotive Paint Code Locater needs your help

2007-01-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

I am stating a new project and would like your help. The car companies have not made it easy to find the paint code. The paint code is not in your vin (vehicle identification number) the dealer can call up your paint code by entering it into their database but it is a pain for you and them.

So where is your paint code? Now it would be logical for the manufactures to get together and standardize where the paint codes are but they can't even standardize them selves. General Motors has at least 19 different places that they hide their paint codes.

So I'm starting to make a web page where you put in the year the make and the model and it will display the resulting location and photo of the tag or sticker that contains the code.

Now this is where I would like your help. First is there a web page out there that already does this, if there is I'll save myself all the work. Second I have pretty good access to where the paint codes are in cars from 2007 back to about 1996 before that the information is much more sketchy if you can contribute to the knowledge base please do. Third take a picture of the paint code of your car and send it to me. Include the make the model and I'll credit you for your help

So far I nominate Honda for the most sane paint code sticker it’s on the driver side door and it simply says color and the code. Volkswagen for the most illusive tag often in the well where the tire is stored and once you’ve found the tag you would never know which number you need.

So please e-mail me at jlyons47@ gmail.com if you can contribute or if you would like to see an advance look at the site.

Right now I have a design that is still a sketch on a napkin and allot of data that I am transcribing and am trying to get into a logical form.

Please send paint code locations you know of, criticism or photo to jlyons47@gmail.com.

Thank you

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Mixing Paint Accurately

2006-12-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

The feedback that I get indicates that there is confusion about mixing ratios. We want to be as accurate as we can with out causing too much brain damage.
Common mixing ratios are 4:1, 8:4:1, 2:1 and 4:2:1. Let's use 4:2:1 as our example this is a common mix ratio for urethane clear. It means 4 parts of clear to 2 parts of reducer to 1 part of hardener. That means 4 ounces to 2 ounces to 1 ounce or 4 gallons to 2 gallons to 1 gallon or 4 buckets to 2 buckets to 1 bucket.
Using a graduated container pour the clear in to the 4 then the reducer in to the 6 then the hardener to the 7 then stir.
Before you leave the paint store make sure you know what the mixing ratios are and know what kind of reducer/thinner you should be using
I would like to see all paint companies have this prominently written on the label but it isn't always there so ask the paint store employee he should be able to provide you with a product data sheet
Thanks to Sherwin Williams for the diagram and to view more on the sbject including how to use a graduated stick visit Sherwin automotive mixing ratio page

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Flickr links to Great Car Pics

2006-12-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Looking threw Flickr this morning I came across a couple interesting new groups. and a Bog I think is just great.
For those not familiar with Flickr it is place to post your photos pictures of family, friends things we love (not surprisingly cars) I post there . This mornings finds are the car directory with more than 2,000 members and 20,000 photos cool cars, the Art of classic cars, and Classic/collectible cars and motorcycles
When your at car directory scroll down and it will show you the groups that are associated with it.
I also found a link to the Car [directory] that is a best of car pictures from Flickr

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Ford's Bold Moves

2006-12-02T04:39:00.000-07:00

Ford is in big trouble. I would hate to see them go away but they have real problems and I think they are dealing with them in smart and productive way. They are designing new vehicles that will, hopefully, get them through this rough patch.

Go to a clip from their Bold Moves internet marketing campaign

Waterborne paint is coming

2006-11-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

With the deadline fast approaching for the adoption of waterborne urethane in Europe, Bodyshopbiz.com reported that General Motors has announced that "Sherwin-Williams' AWX and Akzo Nobel's Sikkens Autowave waterborne paint systems have received approval from General Motors for use in North American collision repair centres."
What does this mean for small repair shops and hobbyists? Well I guess I'm going to put a UV curing light on my Christmas list. Seriosly this is going to be an advantage to the biggest shops and another impediment to the small guys.

Sandpaper for Every Step in Auto Refinising

2006-11-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

The folks at Carborundum came up with a refinishes guide, let me paraphrase .
Use 36 grit grinding disks for grinding welds and preparing a panel before applying body filler.
For shaping body filler use 40 grit then 80 grit on a file board or 40 then 80 with an 8" mud hog.
For finishing body filler before use primer 80 grit then 180 girt usually on a 6" DA.
For stripping paint down to primer or bare metal use 80 grit on a 6" DA.
When you use replacement panels with the black factory primer sand with p320 on a 6" DA or scuff it with a maroon scuff pad.
When you feather edge use 80 then 180 then 220 once again usually on a 6" DA.
In general 40 grit will take out a 36 grit sand scratch 80 grit will take out 40 grit scratches 180 takes out 80, 220 takes out 180, 320 takes out 220 and 400 will take out 320.
For preparing primer basecoat use 500 or 600 grit and this is the point that I recommend you should use wet sand paper.
For preparing a blend area for your clear use p800 or p1000 again with wet paper or a gray scuff pad.
For clear coat problems like orange peel use p1500 or p1200 or minor clear defects use p2000 or p2500 grit also wet paper.
Now I know that people have other ideas about what sandpaper to use and when so please send some your comments

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How much does all this cost?

2006-09-01T19:47:00.000-06:00

I recived an e-mail that asked just that question and this is in substance my answer

Are you down to bare metal anywhere? You will want a spray can of self-etching primer for the bare spots. Lets say $9.00 maybe a spray can of adhesion promoter to help paint stick to those problem plastics say $12.00 per spray can

You will probably need some bondo (generic name for polyester body filler) $10.00 to $20.00 /gallon.

Some polyester glazing putty (same thing as bondo but very much more refined very creamy and very smooth for easier sanding) $20.00 to 26.00 / qt

Primer I recommend urethane primer the generic primers are pretty good say $50.00 to $60.00 a gallon they mix a hardener $25.00 to $35.00 a qt and reducer $10.00 a quart. The name brand primers are going to be way more expencive but only marginally better.

Now you may not need to use any bondo or primer but you will need some wax and grease remover to get it really clean $12.00/qt

Okay now to the important question the paint. Dupont, PPG and Sherwin Williams all have thier top of the line paint that is great for color match and if you were painting the fender on a 2004 BMW I'd say go with the paint that is going to match the best. It's the hours of paint matching tecnology that you pay the premium for. But you're doing a complete paint job onan old Chevy Pickup right? Lets use the lower priced paint in Dupont Nason is the economy brand for PPG it's Omni and Sherwin Williams it's Dimension. These paints are substantially less money.

White and black are less expensive than red and yellow and any color that has a lot of pearl is going to be expensive. A gallon of white base coat is going to cost about $100.00 and a gallon of the premium red is well over $500.00 Urethane Clear coat sells from $45.00 to $300.00/gal or more for the high solid European clears. The paint and clear need reducers and hardeners that range from $35.00 a gallon for reducer and $25.00 to $85.00 a quart for clear hardener. Confused yet? I'm not even considering custom paint like House of Kolor or Alsa the sky's the limit with them.

Where I work at Allen Paint we sell a paint kit that has 3 quarts of color 2 quarts of reducer a gallon of clear the hardener for the clear and we throw in a couple of rolls of tape and a couple of sheets of sandpaper for $189.95. We can't make all the colors for that price but we can make about 12,000 colors. We are not the only or even the first paint store to put together a paint kit like this it has been good for our business, we sell a lot of kits every week.

When your shopping for supplies remember that the big paint companies want you to use their system from top to bottom and that makes a lot of sense to them if they are selling to big shops that want the paint companies to stand behind them if there is a paint failure. However no mater what they say any urethane clear coat will work over any urethane base coat and any base coat will work over any urethane primer.

There are lots of little things little expenses sandpaper, tape, masking paper, tack cloth, lacquer thinner for cleaning your gun and please wear a good charcoal respirator. These are serious chemicals not to be taken lightly in some people breathing this stuff even once has been know to bring on chemically induced asthma

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Aluminum Repair with Mike West

2006-07-18T20:09:00.000-06:00

Mike West likes to say "Aluminum repair isn't difficult it's different" read his great article in this months Body Shop Business were going to see more aluminum parts and Mike's article with great photos will be a great help to any one taking on this new challenge.

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Self-etching Primer

2006-07-14T15:29:00.000-06:00

When doing major or even minor work on older cars your going to run into rust. The steel that is your car wants to turn itself back into the puffy red iron oxide that it was when it was mined. Whether you’re sanding, sand blasting or chemical striping to get rid of the paint and getting down to the metal the first thing you need to apply to the steel is self etching primer.

Self-etching primer is composed of an acid and zinc. The acid, usually phosphoric acid, forces the zinc down into the top couple of molecules of the steel. Chemically impregnating the steel like this cannot reverse the rust but it can stop in from getting worse. So it’s important that you get all of the scaly rust off.

Wipe the surface with wax and grease remover to get it clean enough so nothing interferes i.e. fingerprints. The self-etching primer is usually gray or olive drab gray but the color is just there to show you where you’ve put it on and it is very thin and one thin coat is enough. Putting more of the primer won’t make it work better. You can apply it over paint or bondo but it is only effective on bare metal. You can apply your high build primer or body filler over the self-etching primer but be careful it is not a finished product by it self.

In other words you can’t apply it and then push the car back outside, it has to have a sealed surface over it, water will reverse the reaction and will pull the zinc back out.

Self-etching primer comes as two parts or ready to spray and also comes in aerosol.

I use it when ever I see bare metal or if I’m putting one metal against another. For instance steel screws in aluminum or on welds.

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Slow for Summer Fast for Winter

2006-06-27T21:26:00.000-06:00

Now that summer is here we increase the stock of slow reducer and slow urethane hardener at the paint store. There seems to be a good deal of confusion as what slow means.
Automotive paint has a mixture of different solvents and we can adjust the solvency so in the winter when were painting at 60 degrees Fahrenheit we want the solvent to evaporate fast so the paint doesn’t run on us. Now that summer is here and were painting when the temperature is getting up to 90 or 95 we want to slow that solvency way down so the paint droplets will flow out one into the other so we have gloss.

I don’t think it is a good idea to paint when it’s colder than 60 because the chemical process of urethane just about stops at 50 degrees and your paint may never get hard.

And you don’t want to paint when it’s hotter than 95 or so it’s just too uncomfortable wearing protective clothing and respirator. And there is nothing to ruin a good paint job like a drop of sweat falling onto the hood of the car.

Set your self up with 3 or 4 different reducers and cocktail them together to give yourself good flow out and good gloss to meet the conditions of the day.

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Lacquer Primer does not Protect

2006-06-09T09:19:00.000-06:00

Every year some one comes into the store and wants to buy a gallon of lacquer primer and says, " I'm just going to prime it now and I'll paint it next summer."
Sounds good, seems to make sense the thing is lacquer primer does not protect the metal and because it is porous it actually holds water against the metal. This is the result.

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OSHA alert

2006-05-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

If you have a shop in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas or Missouri you could have a visit from OSHA. Dupont Refinisher News reports that "OSHA's Wichita office began randomly selecting area auto body shops for comprehensive site inspections".
The article goes on to say that the main thrust of the OSHA crackdown is isocyanate comliance.
Keep those MSDS handy and make sure all labels are clear.
Just a heads up

Paint match problems

2006-04-05T06:20:00.000-06:00

Now that spring is upon us it’s hard to work inside. But I’m lucky enough to be able to walk out into the parking lot to look at paint codes or admire or to customers paint jobs. I always tell my customers to bring in their cars when they get them done. I like to see great looking cars and I learn a lot.

In the past week I’ve taken a close look at two cars with the same problem. One was a 2004 Buick and the other a 1934 Ford Hot Rod.

It is my understanding (and please correct me if I’m wrong) that Buick bodies are made in one plant and the doors hood and trunk are hung on at the Flint Michigan plant. The Buick was a pewter color that had a warm reddish cast to the fenders and roof and a gray green cast to the hood and doors.

The old Ford was a bright Yellow that a green cast to the body and a more orange shade on the doors. I asked the Ford owner if he had painted the doors separate from the body and he said he had.

When you have the car apart paint under the hood and do your door jams and any other parts that need to be painted but put it all together when you paint the outside. The other point I’d like to make is if you’re doing a repair and are having trouble getting the paint to match it may not be your fault.

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Abralon by Mirka polish your clear coat

2006-04-02T11:31:00.000-06:00

When we think of sanding we usually think of cutting the finer the grind of the rock the finer the scratch. Mirka the Finnish abrasive manufacturer makes an innovative 6 in DA disk that uses knotted nylon instead of aluminum oxide or Silicon Carbide. Abrilon (no I have no idea what it means maybe it’s Finnish for something) comes in 800, 1000, 2000, and 4000 grit. I don’t know the application of the 800 grit but the 2000 and 4000 have some very enthusiastic fans for polishing clear coat. There is real attration for me to use my DA rather then hand sand. However not every one that tries it likes it. Here are Mirkas’ suggestions for use

  The following information is designed as a starting point when repairing
 clearcoat defects such as dirt, orange peel and runs. Final grit selection
 may be changed to meet specific application requirements. Abralon should be
 used wet....
 Place sander on the part before starting. Using moderate pressure, level
 sand the surface....
 2000 grit Abralon must be used wet. Place sander on the part before
 starting. Using moderate pressure, feather the leveled area to match
 the sheen of the surrounding surface. Abralon will remove the grit marks
 and bring the finish of the repair area to the desired gloss level.
         For ultimate gloss, repeat with Abralon 4000 grit.

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New Hybrid Saab uses No Fossil Carbon

2006-03-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

I think that there is a basic misunderstanding among many people about the global warming crisis that’s looming. The problem is not about heat production i.e. concrete gives off a lot of heat as it’s curing, it’s not about burning wood, it’s not about humans or animals breathing or farting. What it is about is pouring tons of fossil carbon in to the atmosphere. Fossil Carbon is the carbon that has been locked up as oil or coal for millions of years; we are releasing it faster than it can be locked up again.

The earth is not heated by human or animal activity it is heated by the sun. The sun warms the earth and that energy is radiated back off into space. Over the past million or so years there has been equilibrium between the amount of carbon that enters the atmosphere and the amount of carbon that is locked up again as plant and animal, biomass. Burning wood does not change this burning fossil fuels does change the balance. Pouring tons of carbon into the atmosphere changes the amount of heat that the earth radiates back into space.

The new Saab 9-3 is a hybrid that uses 100% ethanol. So here we have a technology that is carbon neutral. It is a technology that I hope General Motors, Saabs parent company, jumps all over. Read all about this new car at the auto channel

2006-03-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Spray Max 2K clear has arrived and it's as good as advertised. This is the real stuff real urethane clear in a spray can. See my post about Spray Max 2K Primer

2006-03-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just recived the new issue of Fender Bender Magazine (Vol. 1 No.2) and I got to say I like it. Best of luck with your new enterprise. They of have a web site that is not active yet.
They have a little story about a

man sentenced in Colorado for 15 months for failing to disclose that salvaged cars were rebuilt....The indictment charged that he falsely and fraudulently misrepresented facts concerning the extent of the repairs made to the cars.

I won't say it's a common practice but alot of cars go back on to the street that should be parts cars.

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2006-03-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

Just for the record my bracket is totaly wrecked I had Duke going all the way and I loved Gonzaga.Villinava now got to be the strongest team but it would be great to see Wichita State in there.

2006-03-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Auto Blog reports that Volkswagon of Brazil will switch to 100% flex-fuel drivetrains that on ethanol, gasoline, or a mix thereof.

Spray Max Primer

2006-03-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

I have a real excellent new product today. The German company Peter Kwansy has brought their Spray Max line of primers to the United States. The revolutionary step is Spray Max is real 2K primer in a spray can. We have been selling 1K urethane primer in a spray can for a while now and all though it is a major advance over lacquer primer it was still single component primer. With the Spray Max primer we are now able to a have real 2 component product in a spray can.
There are three different primers an epoxy, a direct to metal epoxy and urethane. The trick is in the can there is a smaller compartment in side the can and when you activate the two parts mix together.
These primers will give high build, good color hold out and great chemical resistance. Use the epoxy when you need the best adhesion, the urethane for maximum flexibility and the direct to metal when you are down to bare metal.
As you can see in the diagram the inner container is activated by taking the red plunger out of the cap and pushing on the bottom valve, this releases the second component and after shaking vigorously you have primer. The can says you have 8 hours to use it before it hardens.
They promise we will see 2K urethane clear soon. It's on the boat just over the horizon.

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2006-02-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing about cars that were flooded in hurricane Katrina making there way around the country. I mean we all know this was going to happen it happens every time there is a flood. I tell people all the time that there are hidden problems in cars that were in floods increased corrosion and electrical problems.
With the cars that were in the New Orleans flood there is a new danger. These cars were in very contaminated water so contaminated that they are teaming with bacteria that can kill.

A Mississippi firefighter recently died from septic shock contracted through a slightly scratched finger suffered while extricating a victim from a crashed car.

The floodwaters that inundated The Big Easy tested at 50-times above the danger level for this type of toxin, which enters the bloodstream. Called sepsis, it spreads rapidly from just the tiniest break in the skin.

Thanks to Auto Body Repair News.

The Mississippi firefighter was Gary W. Kistler Sr., 65, a career firefighter with Saucier Fire Department

Read more about flooded cars at Auto Body Repair News and about Mr Kister at Firehouse.com

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C A Tecnologies

2006-02-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited C A Technology in the high tech corroder between Denver and Boulder Colorado. C A Technology makes spray equipment. As a small company, put together in 1998 when guys from Binks R&D got together to start their own company, they have not concentrated on the automotive market. Very reasonably they are concentrating building spray guns for industry and woodworking applications.
That’s not to say they don’t build very fine spray guns for automotive applications. I was there to pick up one of their Techline guns. I was interested in an HVLP gravity gun with a 1.3-millimeter fluid tip and one of their 300 series air caps. The Techline is a mid range gun priced in the low $200 range.
I was taken on a tour of their facility and learned that all parts are made locally in Colorado machine shops. All fluid nozzles are then hand lapped and are custom assembled. Cliff Little assembled my gun. the body is mated with the Fluid nozzle. Then the appropriate air cap is installed and the guns are individually tested.
While I was there I also took a look at their top end gun the Jaguar SLP it is an HVLP gun machined from stainless steel then anodized. I also took a look at their newest gun the Techline Jr a mini gun that comes with both an aluminum cup and a plastic one and three needle and fluid nozzle set ups .08mm, 1.0mm and 1.2mm that will sell for $155.00

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2006-02-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

Dura-Block the hand sand block caught on very quickly when it came out about 2 years ago.
It's no wonder they are affordable and if you have spent any time hand sanding you have thought there ought to be something like this. Dura-Block is made from EVA Rubber. The Ruey Lung Rubber Co tells us that: EVA Rubber is durable plastic foam material made of EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) resin.

There is actually no rubber in the EVA foam material. The word rubber was misused for the similarity of some characteristics of EVA foam and rubber foam materials.

The foam is fairly rigid (the technical spec is 20 PCF). It does have some give to it and will conform to say the curve of a roof. The blocks take stickit long board paper.
There are three new sizes 10 7/8" teardrop shape and two new long blocks.One of the blocks is 24 inches and the other is 30 inches. Tne best web link I could find is Trade Associates Inc. If any one has a better web site please let me know.

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Prevost a Better Coupler

2006-01-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

I spent a little time the other day with Brad Wolford he’s the Regional Sales Manager for the Prevost Corporation. Prevost is a based in France with worldwide distribution. The North American headquarters are in South Carolina. They make really superior products for fluid delivery.

It’s their hose connectors that impress me. These people have taken one of the small but vitally important pieces of the auto body repair reworked it taken it to a new level. Their Prevo.S line of couplers are safer, stronger, more reliable, and compatible with all the standard couplers. I especially like the swivel option I tried out. Next time your fighting with the couplers your using and wondering when someone will make something better give these a try. My Daddy told me one time "It only cost ten percent more to go first class". Some times it makes all the difference.

I’m going to try out their air filtration and control unit next; I’ll let you know.

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Detroit Car Show

2006-01-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve been looking at all the reports to come out of the North American Auto Show. The Detroit Auto Show is the biggest and most prestigious of the car shows at least on this continent and the manufactures, form all over the world, show their latest and greatest. The Mazda Kabura was probably the most exciting design. There were sub compacts from the Asian automakers including the Chinese Geely. I love the idea of the Nissan Urge. This is the car that Nissan is aiming at the Gen Yers. They have partnered with Microsoft. You drive around town and when you park you can fold down the Xbox 360 screen and play your road race game using the cars steering wheel brakes and gas pedal.

All the car companies were showing off their new technologies the new Toyota Camry will offer a hybrid. And the European carmakers are pushing their new cleaner diesel cars.

Ford has the new Super Chief that I wrote about earlier and the Reflex concept car. Ford seems desperate to show they will do something. While the cars they will be selling will be more of the same.

The bigger problem, it seems to me is General Motors. Even though their stock seemed to recover a little last week and their sales in China are good many analysts see serious and persistent problems at GM. In Detroit GM unveiled the new 400hp V8 Camero.

This is hardly innovative thinking and from what I’ve heard it was designed and built in Australia. If they decide to build it where will it be built in the Cadillac plant in Lansing they sure can’t build it in Flint.

Until American carmakers take up the challenge and start giving us smaller, safer, more fuel-efficient and more reliable cars. Things are not going to get better for them. Trouble for GM means trouble for the Midwest and for America.

Lets not forget that when GM made a deal the UAW to lower the total employment from around 600,000 to the current 150,000 or so and become more efficent the people that were let go were to keep thier health insurance and retirement bennifits. The idea was that GM would sell more cars because the cars would be better cars. It seems they just don't listen to what people want.

Ford's big truck will run on 3 fuels

2006-01-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Gizmag reports on a the Ford Super Chief a concept veicle based on a Ford F-250. It is a bold design that has a V-10 engine that will run on gasoline, ethonal or hydrogen.I will make a big splase at the Detriot ato show that opens to the public next week.

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Sherwin-Williams announces new stabilizer

2006-01-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sherwin-Williams announced a new RHF series of integrated Basecoat Stabilizer for the Ultra 7000 basecoat system.

I love the Ultra 7000 system it is very user friendly has great color matches and the standard stabilizer has no reactive reducer so the paint I mix up today I can use a week form now or a month from now. For "better bite" on urethane bumpers or increased chip resistance I have recommended that my customers put a capful of hardener in their base.

Digging into MSDS I see that the RHF integrated stabilizer has two diisocyanates that are going to give great bite. The trade off is you lose the indefinite pot life (it goes down to 8 hours). But they still recommend using a little hardener to improve chip resistance.

There are two little things I am wondering about in the product data sheets; they say the recoat time is 7 days. Yikes can that be right I always figured is 4 hours was a long time.

And the other thing is when doing multiple colors "light colors dry faster than darker colors", really?

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Digital Clothing for Your Car

2005-12-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Gizmag reports that an Autralian promotional company named Decently Exposed, has developed a product named Auto Skins. It is a digital skin for your car. The skin costs between $US1500 to $US3000 depending on the size of the car.
They have been used not only for artistic impression but also for advertising. McDonalds, Coca Cola, Nokia and AustraliaÂs largest fleet, that of AustraliaÂs telco giant Telstra.
The AutoSkin has the double advantage of forming a protective coating which can be stripped off to reveal the original, as-new unblemished paint the car came with.

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Nissan paint that doesn't scratch

2005-12-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

There is a story on the Pysorg.com site that announced a new non scratch paint form Nissan.

"The Japanese automaker said the paint contains a newly developed resin that can stop scratches from marking the car's outer layer."

Now I can almost imagine a resin that would do that but there is always a trade off as Dom Palon keeps reminding me. What would a resin like this trade away, color life, fade resistance, how well would it stand up to chemicals. There is also one other little thing about the story they show a scratched hood when you photoshop a photo you can usually tell what the original photo was in this case it was a Chrysler Town and Country. We'll wait and see.

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The Worst Cars of all Time

2005-12-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

I like lists. I came upon Dan Lienert article on the Forbes web site a list of the all time worst cars. Some of the cars on the list would be on anybodies list the Yugo is there and the Fiat Strada. Also the Ford Pinto, The Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. There's also the 1983-1989 Ford Bronco II this is the one that defined "prone to rollover"and the 1979-1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 remember that one General Motors tried to convert standard gasoline to diesel. Probably the worst car of all time was the 1957-1962 Sachsenring Trabant P50 this little gem was made in East Germany and I am told everyone of them smoked coming right out of the factory. The thing is for every bad car, and I can think of a couple that are not on the list, there is an internet tribute page or a car club that honors or collects them. To view the whole list go to the Forbes The Worst Cars Of All Time and place your vote

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The Colors of the Future

2005-12-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dee-Ann Durbin of the Associated Press reported in the San Diago Union Tribune on future color trends.

"Blue will get more popular in the next four years as more dramatic shades are introduced, such as watery blue-greens and smoky lilacs. Yellows and oranges will get richer and warmer. Reds will glow in deep shades of cranberry and wine, and dark brown will make a comeback."

This year PPG is showing 130 new colors for the auto makers to consider

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The Colors We Buy Now

2005-12-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

Worldwide new car sales
34% silver
14.4% white
12.7 blue
11% black
Red, green, beige and other shades with less than 10 %. But new colors are on the way.
More on that tommorow.

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How much higher will paint prices go?

2005-12-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Mark Johnson of the Automotive Body Repair News interviewed officials of Dupont,BASF and Sherwin Williams and indicated that the price of paint could rise 25 percent. Now this is no surprise what also is no surprise is that the one insurance company that responded felt that was not their problem. Where does that leave the folks that fix wrecked cars well squeezed in the middle of coarse.

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What will the paint companies do?

2005-11-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

With the recent run up in the price of gasoline some may have noticed that the price of all the allied chemicals have gone up also.
Petroleum experts warn that the maximum amount of available petroleum is approaching (estimates range from with in years to with in decades.) We have heard a lot about the need to move to a hydrogen economy but have the paint companies given any thought or more importantly invested in what they will do when there isn't enough petroleum to go around. It's really hard to imagine what a world would be like when the pharmaceutical companies are competing with the plastic companies over increasingly scarce and expensive recourses were will paint rank on the bidding list?

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Spray Can base coat

2005-11-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

We saw a Dupont dealer bulletin today introducing their new aerosol spray cans. Seems like a good idea. We've been doing it for a number of years and it's worked out well for our customers. Dupont doesn't mention anything about including base coat fix in the paint. You know making it real base coat nor do they make a recommendation about which clear to apply over the base.
Congratulations over at Sherwin Williams for the guy that landed the account for the spray cans this is going be big for you.

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Evercoat urethane repair

2005-11-11T21:21:00.001-07:00

The Fiberglass Evercoat factory rep stooped in yesterday and showed us thier new products. Their new MAXIM™ Medium Urethane Adhesive and the MAXIM™ Fast Urethane Adhesive caught my eye. These are urethane repair material that first comes in a standard caulking tube so you can use a regular chalking gun second it works on all the plastic we are likely to run across doing auto repair. No more deciding if it's flexible or rigid no trying to decide if it is PUR, RIM, TPE, TPUR, PC, TPO, PP, or R-RIM.
Now the next big thing you can use this stuff to rebuild tabs on bumpers and do the repairs. That is going to keep many more bumpers out of the landfill.

Thiking of a new car? Thinking small?

2005-11-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

The Obvio is on the way. Brazil's import will be for sale in the United States next year.
This a three passenger car has an integrated rollcage disk brakes and will of course will have to comply to Federal safety standards. With a 1.6 liter 4 valve fuel injected engine that produces 115 horsepower.
It has an on board imobile carputer that if I'm reading their web site correctly has gps capabliities is your mobile phone plays cds and dvds and if your one of the first 1,000 buyers you get an I-Pod player and Boblbee backpack.
The external panels are "ABS/PMMA a special high-tech twin-sheet vacuum thermoformed multilayer plastic".
And the price: about $14,000.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Capone painter to the stars

2005-10-28T04:48:00.000-06:00

My daughter and I went out yesterday and to visit the new and as yet undisclosed location of Capone’s Kustoms. Capone is Denver’s own custom painter to the stars he has painted the cars of NBA stars Kenyon Martin and Chris Anderson, NFL great Tyrell Davis and is being backed by Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony. I know there are others of note that he’s told me about but the names escape me.

The new shop may remain at an undisclosed location. He was working in a very small shop in Aurora and guys and media people hanging around was getting to be a real problem. The new shop is a big improvement it will be interesting to see what this talented young guy does now. He is the most talented painter I know.

Next time I go out I’m bringing my camera.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Web Work

2005-10-21T07:12:00.000-06:00

just installed Flock the new web browser it is still in beta so it's still a little buggie but it is still interinsting

Google new blog search

2005-09-14T05:44:00.000-06:00

Check out Google's new Blog search http://www.google.com/blogsearch

New Orleans and Global Warming

2005-09-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Now this is a harsh thought, and I do sympathize to all those people that lost so much, but given the realities of global warming and climate change. Are we going to look back in 50 or 100 years and say "New Orleans was the first great city we lost" See the Union of Concerned Scientists for a discussion on Global Warming Lending Strength to Hurricanes so the question is does it make sense to rebuild?

Radio Show

2005-09-03T17:59:00.000-06:00

I was a guest this morning on the Hot Rod Talk show with Van Jeffries and Mike Young on KCKK radio AM 1600 in Lakewood. That was a lot of fun we talked paint and old cars. It’s a talk show in the usual call in format. I gathered it hasn’t been on the air long and they have a 13-week run.

They seemed pretty happy with me but well, I’m a talker I like to talk I took a couple of calls. I was a little nervous at first but I think I got over it quickly. They’re going to make me a cd of it so I can hear myself. I’d like it if they would ask me back.

I wasn’t going to say anything about this considering it was my first time and all but I couldn’t help bringing up the idea of podcasting the show and I got the usual vacant look when ever I say podcasting.

Oh well if it’s only a one time thing it was fun.

Revolutionary Transmission

2005-08-05T09:28:00.000-06:00

Thomas Kasmer's has come up with a come up with a new and revolutionary transmission that is 97 efficient and much lighter weight than a conventional transmission. Essentially it is a variable drive hydraulic pump that is attached to another variable drive hydraulic pump that can also act as a hydraulic motor. Mr. Kasmer is in talks now with Ford to equip Explorers and give them 40 to 50 miles to the gallon.

The transmission could be used to break the car and store the energy that could be used again to power the car back up to 90% of it’s speed with the engine at idle.

Read more about it at http://www.hydristor.com

Aircars in our future

2005-07-30T10:03:00.000-06:00

I've been complaining for years that the promise of the Jetsons has not been fulfilled. Well the time may have finally come. The Moller Skycar company is "accepting deposits to secure delivery positions for our M400 Skycar " Its about the size of a large car, has vertical takeoff and landings, gets 20 miles a gallon and can cruise at 315 mph.
Step right up put your money down and be the first one on the block to have one

how to wet sand and buff your car

2005-07-21T08:08:00.001-06:00

I have had a couple recent requests to post a detailed article on sanding and buffing your car.

I'm talking about basecoat/clear coat paint jobs here. You can wet sand and buff a solid color single stage paint but not a mettlaic or a pearl. Usually I just say when you do single stage you simply need to accept that what you get is what you get and just accept it and leave it alone. So if you are useing basecoat/clear coat here is how

1. Wash the car

2. Wipe the car with a mild solvent or commercially available wax and grease remover

3. Buy 3 or 4 sheets of each 2000, 1500,and 1200 grit wet and dry sand paper

4.Were going to walk down a ladder here and then back up again. I can’t see the condition of your paint so I can’t tell you which grit to use. Start with the 2000 grit if that seems to be leveling the surface great. If you determine that it’s just not doing the job go with the 1500 if that isn’t getting the job done go to the 1200. Now let’s say you have to use the 1200 after you have introduced throes scratches your going to have to cut the tops off of the scratch with the 1500 and then again with the 2000 grit. You can see you will be doing the whole job three times with this example so you want to get the job done with the finest scratch that will work.

5.Start with the finest grit, 2000 put a couple of sheets into a bucket of warm water and add a few drops of detergent (I just use what ever I'm using to wash dishes with at the time) and yes I almost always wash the dishes at my house. Let the sand paper soak for at least 15 minutes until it curls up we want the sand paper saturated. The detergent is for lubrication. Wrap the sand paper around a sanding block or a sponge and as you sand keep the surface wet and dunk the sand paper often a single piece of sand paper goes a long way if you keep it wet. When you are done the surface is going to look very dull and to bring back a shine we have to get rid of the sand scratches.

6. This is the point at which you need a piece of equipment; the standard of the industry is a 7” polisher you can rent these or purchase them form $75 -$400 Pads for the buffer are made off wool or foam. I like foam pads they don’t last as long as wool but I’m less likely to scorch the surface and I get better results. You will need two pads (a dense firm pad for compounding and a soft pad for polishing)

7. With old paint a rubbing compound was used to scourer the surface it had an abrasive in it but with modern urethane clear coats we need a rubbing compound that actually reflows the clear. Squirt some on to the surface and “butter it in.” That means spread the compound lightly with the polisher used at low speed and then let it sit on the surface thirty seconds or so to let the chemical action begin. You want to work areas that are four square feet or so before moving along operate the buffer at the lowest speed and don’t press down. Let the buffer do the work you are just there to guide it. Now it should be starting to look good. However you will see swirl marks the darker the color the more you will noticeable the swirl marks will be.

8. Hang in there we’re getting near the end. We are going to use a polymer sealant to fill throes swirl marks fill up the voids in the paint and give a gloss. WE ARE NOT GOING TO USE WAX. Wax is bad for paint it has always been bad for paint it was just the best thing they back in the good old days. Today with the advances in polymer technology we can make the paint stronger, longer lasting shiny 3M, Meaguire’s and Finish Kare all make good polymers sealants I use Finish Kare’s Polywipe. Go down to your local automotive paint store and ask them what they carry. Don’t bother to ask at the local parts supply house they just don’t know about this and will likely sell you wax. As far as how it is applied well that is very much like wax apply it with a soft cloth tee shirt material is good old cloth diapers are even better, work it in then let it have up for five or ten minutes. Next, buff with your clean sot foam pad. Work small areas at a time because you don’t want it to harden up it will get very hard and you will have a hard time removing it. Pay special attention to the hood and drivers side door those are the areas people look at closest.

9. Pay attention to the little areas like the edge of the hood and trunk lid get those spots clean before the polymer hardens

10. Pat your self on the back for a job well done.

Hydrogen fuel record

2005-07-11T17:34:00.000-06:00

How many miles per gallon could a hydrogen car get, is 10,000 mpg possible? Check
Autoblog.com. Jack Dex, 13, will attempt to break the world fuel efficiency record.

Candy Paint

2005-07-09T11:36:00.000-06:00

The big player in the custom car paint business is House of Kolor. They are no longer the only player SEM has now entered the field and I am very impressed. They're new line of candy concentrates and pearls is very impressive.

Flat paint for cars?

2005-07-04T08:51:00.000-06:00

I guess it just shows that all fashion is cyclic, or as my mother used to say "Wait long enough and it will be in fashion."
My friend Mike works at D & C Auto Body told me that in California flat automotive paint is the new thing. It's a throw back to the 1940 and 50's when the hot rodders were leaving their rods in black primer. Now here's the problem it's the shiny skin on the paint that protects the metal. I've looked at this from a few different ways and I can't think of a good way to do it.
My advice go for gloss.

flake buster dvd

2005-07-03T07:04:00.000-06:00

Rick over at Old School Flake has put out a dvd about how his flake buster gun works. I must admit I really didn't understand the tool before. It is very cool and I'm going to make sure all my friends that do custom painting see it.

Not only that it has some great out takes at the end. Well done Rick, will Hollywood be calling soon?

first things first

2005-06-30T17:42:00.000-06:00

Let me introduce myself. My name is Jim Lyons. I work at Allen Paint in Denver. I won't dwell on personal stuff, I don't want this to be a commercial for where I work but I want to be up front about my day job. I've run a web site for 6 years not a big deal but you can check it out at http://geocities.com/paintprof I've taught basic web page design for to middle school students for a couple years and I wanted to do a blog (I’ve tried to do a personal blog I just couldn't think of too much to say).
There are things that come up at work all the time and this seemed like a good idea. Please feel free to comment I may not know everything and in the world of car painting there are often more than one right to do things.