Mixing PPG DBC base coat and SPI Universal clear together, in same container.

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danford1

I'm painting my car a metallic copper/orange color using PPG DBC base and SPI Universal clear. My questions have to do with areas like inside the truck, door jams etc. NOT exterior surfaces.
Can I make a single stage type paint for inside the trunk etc by mixing the DBC and clear together, then spraying it on? crawling around inside the trunk while spraying is hard enough, let alone doing it for base and clear... A single mix would be nice. I'm doing a color change and want to cover ALL the original color that I find.
Yes, I could go spend more money and buy a single stage metallic but money is tight, so is time.

My thought was to mix the base and reducer as I would spray it then mix the SPI clear as I would use it, then blend the two mixes together, a 50/50 mix.
Let me know.

Thanks
Danford1
 
It will work great, done often.
Look at 30% base to activated clear by volume as a good starting point. Some do 20% some 50%, depends on color and hiding you want.
 
Thank you Barry. I was hoping that was the answer. I have some White SPI epoxy I can use under the color/clear mix.I'll try 30%-40% mix and see how it covers.

Can a base coat clear coat metallic mix be wet sanded and buffed?

Danford1
 
Not a metallic and normally this is only done on door jambs or inside car, never on outside, so no buffing done.
 
I have been doing that for years. When I replace rad supports and strut towers they are generally body color with a satin sheen I will generally mix with 10-20% clear into base color. When I've done those factory S-10 wheel flares on the ZR2'S nothing else worked nearly as well to get that sheen and holds up really good. I've even did a matching color on the inside section of his aluminum rims again no problem and tough as nails.
 
If a 10%-20% clear mixed in the base gives a satin sheen, am I correct in assuming a 50/50 mix will give a glossy sheen?
I'll also assume a 70% clear 30% base would give a high gloss finish but would take more coats to achieve full color saturation.

Sounds like I need to do some experimenting... where the frick am I going to get that kind of time ? ...

Danford1
 
danford1;n81563 said:
If a 10%-20% clear mixed in the base gives a satin sheen, am I correct in assuming a 50/50 mix will give a glossy sheen?
I'll also assume a 70% clear 30% base would give a high gloss finish but would take more coats to achieve full color saturation.

Sounds like I need to do some experimenting... where the frick am I going to get that kind of time ? ...

Danford1
Click to expand...


The more clear introduced to the base the more gloss it will have. I have never given it more then 50% which is still on the duller side of gloss. I am just trying to match the gloss of the factory part. It kinda seems to cover a little better when that is done too for some reason I don't know if it is because of the extra body or the clear keeps the color in suspension giving the layers better build I really don't know but does seem to cover a little better though.

Experiment and see which you like as describing the sheen is better with a live sample. Also the UC clear might yield more gloss then a lower solid clear at the same ratio.
 
Also remember your flash times will change also it won't be as fast as base and not quite as slow as clear use the touch technique (on a taped area) and don't pile it on.
 
Coverage might be bad with this method, so if what is to be covered is a way different color, you might want to start with straight base, and start adding clear on the second and third coats. That's usually how it gets done here, like:

1st coat: 100% base
2nd coat: 50% base, 50% clear
3rd coat: Add enough clear to what's left of the second coat to go around one last time.

But even this assumes there is a sealer or primer that is fairly close to the color and uniform over the whole area.
 
One question on this thread. Is the basecoat color unreduced or reduced before mixing with reduced spi clear. I would like to do this on a 35 ford dash and garnish mldg's for a low sheen finish
 
crashtech said:
Coverage might be bad with this method, so if what is to be covered is a way different color, you might want to start with straight base, and start adding clear on the second and third coats. That's usually how it gets done here, like:

1st coat: 100% base
2nd coat: 50% base, 50% clear
3rd coat: Add enough clear to what's left of the second coat to go around one last time.

But even this assumes there is a sealer or primer that is fairly close to the color and uniform over the whole area.
Click to expand...
Can all 3 coats be done in one day like this?
 
crashtech said:
The point, from a careful reading of the OP, is to minimize the number of coats in a challenging, physically difficult spray environment.
Click to expand...
Crashtech, that’s exactly the case and it worked great! And I used your advice that you wrote about one coat of base first. My ‘71 Karmann Ghia Convertible has a lot going on under both lids and interior. This is VW Light Ivory L80E. Instead of possibly 6 coats total (3 base / 3 clear) I was able to spray 1 coat of base then spray two coats of 50/50 mix of reduced base and activated clear. Most of what you see gets covered and won’t even be seen but I’m happy with the results. By the way, this project is the first for me using SPI products from epoxy primer to Universal clear to reducer, etc. and I’ll never go back! It’s truly great stuff!
 

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