Getting ready to paint my Suburban roof

Willy's Garage

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I'm getting ready to paint the roof of my 70 Suburban while it is on the rotisserie and have a couple questions. I'm leaning toward base/clear with the PPG Shopline as base and the SPI clear.
Is the SPI Clear compatible with the Shopline?
The roof was sprayed with SPI epoxy and 2K . It's been sanded with 400 grit dry sandpaper.
Do I need to seal with a sealer or sand with a higher grit sandpaper?




Thanks
Paul
 
SPI clear will work over your base.
400 is ok if solid color.
600 if metallic color. Make sure that you have full coverage before clear. I always seal before color regardless of grit that it was sanded.
 
What color base are you using? As stated before, you should be good with 400 if youre sealing and using a solid base. If youre using a metallic base or even a darker color base, I would go with 600. Ive used 500 for some bases as well.
 
Now I have to find a supplier for PPG Shopline.

Where are you from? Check out Single Source paints. They have a lot of locations. If you go on their website you can see if there is one in your area. Also, Ive had good luck with shopline plus base but you should be able to get something comparable in another brand, if there is no ppg distributor close by.
 
Shopline is low grade base, FYI. Same as Omni+. Both the Shopline and Omni+ solid colors are actually regular Omni, which is the lowest grade that PPG sells. I know that to because I had 2 different jobbers tell me that. Toners used to mix solids in Omni+ and Sholine are the same toners used in Omni. Only real difference in Omni and Omni+ (Shopline) is the binder used and some of the metallic toners. You can do much better than Shopline.
SPI is a high quality base on par with the best from the major manufacturers out there.
 
Shopline is low grade base, FYI. Same as Omni+. Both the Shopline and Omni+ solid colors are actually regular Omni, which is the lowest grade that PPG sells. I know that to because I had 2 different jobbers tell me that. Toners used to mix solids in Omni+ and Sholine are the same toners used in Omni. Only real difference in Omni and Omni+ (Shopline) is the binder used and some of the metallic toners. You can do much better than Shopline.
SPI is a high quality base on par with the best from the major manufacturers out there.

SPI doesn't mix paints and I'm looking to go with the stock Chevy truck blue #510
 
My only point was that Shopline is a low grade base. You can do much better. Motobase, Wanda, PPG DBC, BASF Diamont, Cromax, Sikkens, Glasurit, Standox etc. If you are looking for the best price versus performance Motobase is hard to beat. . There are a lot of quality base coats out there. Shopline isn't one of them. Being you are in New Jersey you have access to every quality basecoat made. All probably within easy driving distance.

Being that it's turquoise metallic, what I was saying above really applies. Metallic toners used in Shopline/Omni+ are low grade. They won't match OEM metallics on a lot of stuff. When sprayed they look muddy and not very distinct when compared to a high quality base. Also low grade toners don't cover anywhere near as well as premium grade toners. So your cheap base ends up costing you almost as much as a premium base.

For GM turquoise metallic, PPG DBC would be a good bet. I did one about 10 years ago in that color using DBC. Looking at my notebook that I keep, it's smudged but I think the PPG number is 43276. I can't remember if that's a Ditzler number or if that's a direct number for PPG DBC (only number I wrote down) but if you go to a Jobber they can mix it for you from that number. RM-BASF and Axalta will also have the formula. Euro companies like Glasurit and Sikkens may not.

When it comes to reducers use SPI. It is the best performing urethane reducer I have ever used and it is cheaper than PPG DT reducers (for example) by 25 bucks or more. Whatever brand you use don't use a cheap urethane reducer. All reducers are not created equal.

Only telling you all this because the Jobber rarely does. They just want to make a sale and not scare you off with the cost of premium materials. And on something you are restoring and taking a lot of time and effort on, saving a few hundred bucks is hardly worth the tradeoff imo.
 
From someone who has sprayed all the low line bases such as shopline and nason, I'd strongly suggest looking into Motobase just to see the price comparison.
 
Also, Ive had issues in the past with shopline base over SPI epoxy as a sealer. Not sure if it was user error or what, but the problems I had i've never had with other manufactures basecoats. And my title here is garage hack, so you know I've shit the bed a few times on paint work!!!!

I tried twice with Shopline white, mainly to keep the cost down for the guy. Same results with the cracking over reduced epoxy as a sealer. I finally gave up and went and got DBC, problem solved.

Now Im not a chemist so I dont pretend to know why this happened. But my procedure was the same as every other job, shoot reduced epoxy, chill for a few hours, then base......

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DBC- First try, no issues..

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My only point was that Shopline is a low grade base. You can do much better. Motobase, Wanda, PPG DBC, BASF Diamont, Cromax, Sikkens, Glasurit, Standox etc. If you are looking for the best price versus performance Motobase is hard to beat. . There are a lot of quality base coats out there. Shopline isn't one of them. Being you are in New Jersey you have access to every quality basecoat made. All probably within easy driving distance.

Being that it's turquoise metallic, what I was saying above really applies. Metallic toners used in Shopline/Omni+ are low grade. They won't match OEM metallics on a lot of stuff. When sprayed they look muddy and not very distinct when compared to a high quality base. Also low grade toners don't cover anywhere near as well as premium grade toners. So your cheap base ends up costing you almost as much as a premium base.

For GM turquoise metallic, PPG DBC would be a good bet. I did one about 10 years ago in that color using DBC. Looking at my notebook that I keep, it's smudged but I think the PPG number is 43276. I can't remember if that's a Ditzler number or if that's a direct number for PPG DBC (only number I wrote down) but if you go to a Jobber they can mix it for you from that number. RM-BASF and Axalta will also have the formula. Euro companies like Glasurit and Sikkens may not.

When it comes to reducers use SPI. It is the best performing urethane reducer I have ever used and it is cheaper than PPG DT reducers (for example) by 25 bucks or more. Whatever brand you use don't use a cheap urethane reducer. All reducers are not created equal.

Only telling you all this because the Jobber rarely does. They just want to make a sale and not scare you off with the cost of premium materials. And on something you are restoring and taking a lot of time and effort on, saving a few hundred bucks is hardly worth the tradeoff imo.


Thanks for all the information. Lots to digest here. My truck is a 1970 and the white and blue it will get are both non metallic colors. I'll talk to my paint shop about the DBC paint.
 
Thanks for all the information. Lots to digest here. My truck is a 1970 and the white and blue it will get are both non metallic colors. I'll talk to my paint shop about the DBC paint.

My mistake, just now, looking at my old Ditzler book, didn't realize that they switched 510 to a solid color in 1970. So disregard that number I referenced. That was for 510 Turquoise Metallic. Old Ditzler number is 2188. That should cross to something in DBC.
 
My truck was originally 510 medium blue, before I decided on the color to repaint I checked into getting the stock color again. Im pretty sure DBC can be mixed in that color, but make sure your sitting down for the quote. I figured a solid color would be relatively cheap, wrong. I found a local Wanda jobber and never looked back, although I dont remember if Wanda had 510 available, I think they did but not sure. Some of the older colors like this can be hit or miss, and I ended up deciding on a different color anyhow. Either way shopping around wont hurt, you can end up with the same or more quality for your bottom dollar.
 
Well I have my Motobase base and I’m waiting for the SPI clear and reducers to arrive. Wednesday it will be warm enough to start painting the cowl/firewall.
I need to look up the pressure settings and tip sizes for each of the paints.
I’m using SPI epoxy as a sealer. What mix ratio should I use and what gun tip and pressure should I use?
After the sealer I’ll paint the base and the clear. Any tips on procedures? This is my first time doing base/clear.
Thanks Paul
 
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