Awesome Clear-coat in an aerosol

[gtownviking]

Hey fellow rat-rodders.....I have found the holy grail of clear coats!

http://www.eastwood.com/spray-max-2k-hi ... rosol.html

It's the Spraymax K2 High gloss clear coat. It's a two part clear that you have to break the seal inside of the can then mix by shaking for several minutes. The spray nozzle is fantastic!

I rattle canned my sisters cruiser a while ago and I was severely disappointed in the Dupli-color clear coat. Even after several months of 'curing' in my garage over the summer, the slightest little tap or nick would result in the paint coming off all the way down to the primer.

So after some research, I found this stuff and I have to say, HOLY COW it's awesome!

It sprayed on like a professional gun, the nozzle is fabulous.

High gloss is an understatement as well....

I highly recommend this product...it seriously made up for my amateur paint job.

BTW, I am in no way affiliated with this product or retailer....just a garage bike monkey that is really excited about a 'new discovery' and wanted to share with you all.

Pictures are of the chain gaurd with custom decals I had made.
Color is Dupli-color Perfect Match ( http://www.duplicolor.com/products/perfectMatch/ ) in basic Black Metallic.
Primer is their Self etching primer.

stripped
sanded
primed
wet sanded
primed
set sanded
painted
wet sanded
painted
wet sanded
painted
clear coated (Dupli-color)
THREE MONTHS LATER
wet sanded (to remove clear coat)
painted
Clear coated with Spraymax (one coat)

DONE!

 

[xbblues]

That looks very nice. Good to know for the next time I rattle can something.

 

[fatkid]

^This is awesome. Glad a company still cares about their customer base enough to do this.

 

[ozzmonaut]

Any thoughts on how this stuff compares to ppg? The paint shop by my house offers to match any color in ppg in a 17oz aerosol can for $17. I figure ppg is pretty tough but not sure if I want spend the money. I can spray anything I want as long as I have a tough clearcoat to put on it. After all a hard clear will protect the paint underneath.

 

[Voyager Al]

for that kind of money, My local bodyshop will clear my bike. he told me to bring it in painted w/lacquer, and he'd shoot clear while he was doing a car for 30. Not worth dyeing smelling that nasty 2 part paint. That stuff will kill ya.

 

[Wilcycle]

for that kind of money, My local bodyshop will clear my bike. he told me to bring it in painted w/lacquer, and he'd shoot clear while he was doing a car for 30. Not worth dyeing smelling that nasty 2 part paint. That stuff will kill ya.

You are lucky having a helpful guy nearby.
My wife cannot understand why I am so interested in trading estates. I am always on the look out for companies and suppliers that may come in useful in the future.
Half the challenge is sourcing materials and small traders that have the flexibility to help out.

 

[SummitCoCycleWorks]

Trying to find a local distributor or someone down in Denver since nobody will ground ship it up through the Eisenhower tunnel to me here in the high country.

But I have a question for the people that have used this stuff. Since it's a two part system, does that mean once the ingredients are mixed that you have to use it all in one application? In other words, once everything is mixed, can you put it on the shelf and use it on another project down the road or it's a one-and-done situation?

Thanks

 

[Xcruiser]

Ive looked into this K2 before and have one lingering question-can you shoot over enamel??

Anyway, can you ask the folks you talked to about shooting over enamel???

 

[expjawa]

The Eastwood page says it can be used over any basecoat. I'd take that to mean you can use it with laquer or enamel. Still, it seems like it'd be an expensive experiment to make sure...

 

[ED-PV]

Yes, you can definitely spray the SprayMax clear over either lacquer or enamel paint. The clear really does look GREAT!

 

[SummitCoCycleWorks]

Hey OP- how's the clear holding up after a few months of handling? Ordered my can the other night from Eastwood and have been prepping my frame and fenders in the meantime.

Question though- did you let that last coat of color cure entirely before spraying on this new clear? My parts have been painted and sitting for near two weeks now so I am assuming they have finished out-gassing. I took some 1200 grit paper to it last night to knock down some orange peel. I'm wondering if that will be enough to allow the clear to adhear well. Any thoughts? Does the can give some advice? I'd hate to move down to 400 or 600 grit- the Duplicolor Perfect Match I sprayed on really laid down nicely and doesn't even look like it needs a clear. I just want to protect it from chipping.

Thanks for all the help

 

[SummitCoCycleWorks]

Hey all. I received my can in the mail the other day and noticed there are no prep instructions listed. So after a few YouTube searches I found a custom air brushing company out of California that had some video tutorials using SprayMax 2k clear and I wrote them with my questions about prep work. Below is their reply for future reference:

You will want to make sure the surface is scuffed with a 600 grit wet. This will provide proper tooth for adhesion. You will then want to use a pre cleaner (wax & grease remover) to clean off oils and contaminates. Your first coat of clear should always be a tack coat followed by 2-3 medium wet coats. Flash time between coats will vary depending on your working conditions, but averages around 10-15 minutes. Clear should be cured to handle in 12 hours in 75 degree temp and 24 hours to sand/buff or whatever else you may need to do. If in colder temps I would recommend a longer cure time before handling or sanding.

Coast Airbrush
312 N Anaheim Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92805
P: 714-635-5557 F: 714-999-6785
http://www.coastairbrush.com
http://www.coastairbrushTV.com
http://www.facebook.com/coastairbrush
http://www.twitter.com/coastairbrush

Seems like common sense but wanted to make sure before I wasted a $20 can of clear coat.

Hope this helps

 

[expjawa]

Good info. I just received my can today. Looks like I've additional sanding to do, since my prep sanding was finer than 600 grit...

 

[ED-PV]

GREAT info...if you guys could post some pics of the finished products here that would be great!

 

[expjawa]

I just finished spraying a project bike with this Spraymax. The frame, fork, & chain guard all came out fine. The fenders, however, both wrinkled badly on the last coat. :x Not sure why, I used the same paints/processes throughout. So, this stuff might be good, but it doesn't walk on water... I'll put up pics when I dump them off the camera.

 

[gcrank1]

Sounds like 'something' changed.............

 

[expjawa]

This evening I spoke with a guy I know that runs a body shop. As it happens, a buddy of mine had to drop off his Suburu for some work and needed a ride, so it was a good opportunity. From what he told me, it sounds like wrinkling occurs when too much reducer builds up under the paint. Apparently, some combinations of paint are prone to this (ie putting enamel over laquer), but that wasn't the case here.

More likely, I either didn't give the base paint on fenders enough time to cure before clearcoating or I sprayed that last coat too heavy (or both). On one hand, the fenders were the last parts painted by a day, and on the other, the application instructions that were posted earlier in this thread said that the 2nd and 3rd coat out to be "medium wet". Could be that I'm still trying to figure out what that means in practical terms.

I will say that the fenders are incredibly glossy, even over the lifted areas. Everything dried to the touch within, oh, two hours, and I felt confident enough to handle them by this evening to bring them into the warmer part of the house to cure better. Let me state this - this clearcoat is so glossy that it makes the parts look wet. If it proves to be reasonably durable, then it will definately be worthwhile.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the fenders. I either try to sand the clear down (it doesnt appear to have lifted the under coat or primer) and attempt to reclear them. If I did that, I'd have to complicate things by using a different clearcoat. I won't be able to sand these until after the SprayMax has, um, expired. But a clear laquer might lay down OK. Or, I can just leave it as is. This bike is a fairly ratty old frame that I've built as a winter bike. I only wanted to clearcoat it to protect the scraped and scratched areas from rusting. Seemed like a good candidate to experiment on with the Spraymax. So, this sort of adds to the bike's patina...

 

[gcrank1]

Go ahead and use them as is, might as well see how it all holds up anyway. Worst case is you decide to redo after a winter trial.

 

[expjawa]

Go ahead and use them as is, might as well see how it all holds up anyway. Worst case is you decide to redo after a winter trial.

Exactly. I'm running out of winter anyway (like we really had winter this year), so I need to get the winter bike finished up. The rear fender has the worst wrinkling; I'm putting a Topeak rack over it anyway. It won't hide the flawed area, but it will distract from it... If it bothers me enough (and it probably will), I'll take them off and redo them at some point over the summer.

 

[Rizzoguy]

Thanx for the info Bro!! I got two frames primed up ready for my Primo Rattle job and might as well
shoot the clear on both of them considering you have to use the whole .... can!
I've got an old western Flyer and Murray Comet just a waitin' for that rich deep shiny stuff!
Cant wait for the UPs driver to hit me with this box!!