production clear correction

H

hapcj7

Promoted Users
Hi all,
With the help of SPI and its members i was able to prepare the nose of my car, (bumper, hood, and fenders), apply Dupont chromabase and Spi production clear. I shot 3 coats of production clear.Being this is my 1st decent sized project, outside of 2 small bumpers, i did okay.I feel with some paint correction the job should turn out nice. My biggest issue is a clearcoat sag, fairly large , on a concave section of the hood.. Ill leave that until the end of paint correction..
The cc was shot about 24 hours ago, and i attempted to run a razor blade over a different small cc sag, and the blade did not want to cut. I went very easy, as it did not feel proper. My finger nail did not leave a print, though.
How long should i let the 3 coats of clear cure for before i start to do the correction?- The car basically sits in a garage, and sees very little sun. I feel the cc is still soft. I currently only have a harbor freight 6 inch Random orbital, Da,(electric) that i was planning to do the sanding and polishing with, along with alot of hand sanding, etc..My plan was to get some "good" 1500 and 3000 paper and use with the above tool. If all that goes well, the same tool will be used for the polishing. The tool works okay for polishing but works slow....Thanks in advance
 
Is this a driver car or something u want to show off? 1500 will not cut down a sag/run. It will ride over it, and after buffed you will have a lumpy reminder
 
RosharonRooster said:
Is this a driver car or something u want to show off? 1500 will not cut down a sag/run. It will ride over it, and after buffed you will have a lumpy reminder
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This is only a driver, but looking for good end results..My posting was intended for all the correction outside of the clear coat sag..Ill do that last.Yes, ill have to start with something in the 400-600 range maybe for that sag...Thank you
 
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I haven't used the Production Clear but when reading up on it, I found something that I have to ask about.

In the Tech Sheet it reads:

Mixing: 4:1 Mix 4 parts Production Clear to 1 part activator.
900-4 Polar Accelerator may be added at 1-2oz per mixed quart of clear.
925-4 Urethane Retarder may be added at 1-3oz per mixed quart of clear. Up to 50 % can be added for the last coat or flow coat.

Is that last line correct? 50% Retarder ?
 
Up to 50%, as with all the clears, depends on how good you are, LOL
Most people I talk to are anywhere from 10% to 30%, but a few do at 50%/but Im talking average for all my clears.
 
I should point out dont need it unless you need it, but the production clear is made for two-coat insurance work, but we have people doing 4 to 7 coats on different things so that where retarder can come to play or add a few %
To your second coat if super hot for ins work.
 
Again, as a newbie, i had some issues with spraying the clear.I should have played with some old junk fenders or anything for that matter..I think by the end of spraying, this project, i learned all the proper techniques. Spraying with correct gun settings, distance, and like a robot at the correct speed ,are all critical. I think ill be very fine with some good paint correction...Question, my CC still seems a bit soft..How long should i wait to wet sand/etc?....It has cured for about 36 hours or so
 
hapcj7 said:
Again, as a newbie, i had some issues with spraying the clear.I should have played with some old junk fenders or anything for that matter..I think by the end of spraying, this project, i learned all the proper techniques. Spraying with correct gun settings, distance, and like a robot at the correct speed ,are all critical. I think ill be very fine with some good paint correction...Question, my CC still seems a bit soft..How long should i wait to wet sand/etc?....It has cured for about 36 hours or so
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Push it out in the sun for a few hours.
 
Barry said:
I should point out dont need it unless you need it, but the production clear is made for two-coat insurance work, but we have people doing 4 to 7 coats on different things so that where retarder can come to play or add a few %
To your second coat if super hot for ins work.
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Got it, thanks.
I used retarder once but only 2% if I remember correctly.

This is as sprayed.

Retarder.JPG
 
Here is the advantage of using retarder vs. reducer.
The more reducer, all you are hurting is the solids.
2oz of retarder, I would guess without figureing, would do what a pint of reducer would as far as flow or slowing down.
There are a lot of tricks you can do with a retarder that you can't do with a reducer.
 
Okay... As i write this posting my 3 coats of production clear has cured for 48 hrs.... This morning i tested a small area on the fender..I hand wet sanded with 2000 and got rid of most of the orange peel..(starting off very conservative).I then used Menzerna 400 with a yellow and orange foam pad. I got rid of most of the scratches but took longer than i expected..I then polished with 3m perfect it on a white pad, and results were very nice. This evening i hit the same spot over again, with the exact steps outside of re-sanding... This finish looks damn near perfect to me....
I just now tried the exact same procedure on the next part of the same fender, exactly as above.. I am now having a hard time getting rid of the 2000 scratches (all of them) with the Menzerna 400, with yellow and orange foam pad..My conclusion is i still need more cure time for the clear coat....I feel the first test spot cured up a bit more after i cut and polished it , making it damn near perfect on the second round of all the steps excluding wet sanding.... Does this sound correct?... I will get the car in the sun, at my next opportunity
I have some 3d 500, and 520, along with some new pads coming soon
Thank you
 
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RosharonRooster said:
Next thing I polish I want to go to 5000 grit and try foam pad, maybe retire the wool.??
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I understand some folks sand down to 3000, 5000, 8000 etc....With all these fancy new compounds out that claim to easily get rid or 1200 scratches, etc; how or why does this not work to some folks satisfaction?..
 
Me personally, since I'm not a professional, more time with sand paper and less time with the rotary polisher means less chance of burning thru, or having a mishap while buffing. The 3d aca 500 removes 3000 grit with wool pad, effortlessly, I think it would remove 5000 with foam pad just as easy, I'm going to try next time
 
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