reducer for base

I am getting closer to painting my project and would like to know what brand of reducer is acceptable to use. Do many use the reducer of the base paint company sells or use the high quality spi reducer in base? I’m planning using the slow reducer as that’s recommended and leaning towards getting some motobase but using spi Slow reducer since I’ll have it already when reducing my epoxy for sealing. Is this ok to do? Thanks

All reducer is not created equal. There are a lot of very low grade urethane reducers out there. With Motobase, use SPI reducer, either slow 885 or very slow (if it's near 90 or above when you spray) 895. Makes a real difference in how your base will spray and lay down. Plus it's priced very competitively.

With motobase use spi reducer or the motobase reducer.

Thanks very much guys. Now I have to figure out how much paint to buy. The jobbers here think I should only need 3 quarts for $360 or 480 for the gallon. Hate to run out plus it’s a metallic colour to begin with. Also its my first car paint job too. It’s for a third gen camaro t top full colour change.

What ratio does this paint mix?
1:1 or 2:1?
Some colors cover quicker than others. Some will cover in two or three coats and others might take 4-6 coats. Sometimes it pays to have left over paint in case something needs resprayed.
Complete color change you probably be better off with the gallon.

Id do the gallon just to be sure. You dont want to run out mid job. I just done an allover on one of my cars and came up short because i estimated wrong. Used every drop of base and have a spot on my fender thats a different shade where it meets the rocker because i needed a tad more base. And since i borrowed the paint room for the night I couldbt wait till the next day to go get more base and put on another coat before clear. I just had to go ahead and finish it. Its not bad and its my car so it doesnt really bother me but i sure wish I wouldve bought another quart of base.
Thats a decent size car and being metallic you will probably need 3 coats of base. Id also do a tinted sealer to help with coverage.

BallsOutPerformance said:

Id also do a tinted sealer to help with coverage.

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Tinting the sealer would only apply with a urethane sealer and honestly doesn't really save you anything. To really affect how much base you would use (or save) you would have to tint it with a lot of color which then starts to affect the integrity of the base product ( the sealer). Something that gets passed around a lot but really isn't effective.
Choosing your sealer according to the gray scale works well and is what most Shops do these days. Lighter colors > lighter sealer medium colors > gray darker colors > darker sealer. I normally use black and white epoxy or urethane) and mix in whatever combination to achieve the shade I want. You would not want to tint an epoxy sealer with your base. If you do choose to tint a urethane sealer you should only use solid toners not your actual base itself, especially if it's a metallic.

Thanks for the info all. I picked up some motobase last week. Pretty happy about that. I’m using gray epoxy as the seal coat before base for the best adhesion after sanding to 600 grit and 3-4 coats of base. Colour is shadow gray metallic. I hoping it covers well as I have never sprayed it before.

I just found out from researching the site that it’s required to add 1oz of activator for every rts quart of base which I’ll be doing with spi clear activator slow. I wasn’t planning on doing this as it’s not mentioned on the base coat tech sheets.

Does anyone know if motobase can be wet sanded between coats if needed? I will likely have some spot issues that needs fixing. I’m going to be following Barry’s perfect paint job instructions as well.
Cheers

Motobase sands nice, if needed. Sanding between each coat would be a waste of time. Just put 2-3 coats, sand if needed, and apply 2 more.

Tacking between each coat will help you a lot in a non booth environment. Use the low tack blue ones from Gerson or Surgical Blue. Don't use high tack clothes as they tend to transfer some of the sticky compound to the surface. Low tack is what you want. Do it between every coat, it will make a difference.

Chris, any recommendation on flash times between coats in order to use a tack rag? Newbie question I suppose, but worried about wiping paint that might not be 100% dry.

PS - Love your avatar.

Never mind that last question. I re-read Best Paint Job and some other posts and realized the wait time between base coats is 45 mins or overnight after 2 coats. I was confusing flash times for other products. DOH!!