66 Auto Color: 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Scotchbrite Grit Equivalency Chart

-TECH TIPS-

Have you ever wondered what grit your scuff pads are equal to? Wonder no longer!

3M SCOTCHBRITE GRIT CHART

7445 - White pad, called Light Duty Cleansing - 1000 grit
7448 - Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand - 600-800 grit.
6448 - Green, called Light Duty Hand Pad - 600 grit
7447 - Maroon pad, called General Purpose Hand - 320-400 grit
6444 - Brown pad, called Extra Duty Hand - 280-320 grit
7446 - Dark Grey pad, called Blending Pad -180-220 grit

Spray Max Aerosols in Boeing Orange & Magma Orange

Spray Max 2K Aerosols
We are highlighting orange a perfect color for the fall season and a popular color that has "eye-popping" appeal. Our customers are loving the Spray Max 2K aerosols. Below are two examples of how the Spray Max aerosols are being used.

Brian painted the Yamaha RD350 in Boeing Orange (a.k.a. Portuguese Orange). He ordered two cans of the Spray Max 2K aerosols. A close-up of the tank shows the great job he did applying the paint. The second picture shows the tank he recently painted compared to a previous original tank (on the right). Thanks, Brian for the pictures. Great job on the motorcycle restoration.

To order this color follow this link to our website:
66 Auto Color - Spray Max Boeing Orange

Brian - Yamaha RD350 paint

Roger painted the bicycle with a Volkswagen color Magma Orange (code LD2C). Looks great with the bikes blue tires. Roger ordered two Spray Max 2K aerosols along with one Spray Max Primer. Thanks Roger that is one gorgeous bike.
VW Orange Bicycle

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Prep Work for DIY Bedliner

Prepping Before Applying Bed Liner

1. Before doing any sanding, wash the area with a good quality degreaser soap, such as Dawn or Ajax.
2. Use a wax and grease remover such as Klean-Strip's Prep-All.
3. Protect the vehicle from over spray by masking areas that will not be coated. (Do not use plastic sheeting in an area that may get a lot of product on it. It could melt into your finish.)
4. Remove all rust by grinding or sandblasting. Blow off the surface to remove grinding and sanding debris.
5. Sand the truck bed with 40-120 grit sandpaper or use a nylon filament brush. The nylon brush fits on a polisher/grinder and saves hours of sanding. It is coated with nylon and should not cut down to bare metal. NYLON FILAMENT BRUSH
6. Blow the surface to remove sanding dust and clean again with wax and grease remover. Allow the truck to dry completely.
7. Follow directions on the bed liner product and finish.

Visit 66 Auto Color - Auto Paint & Body Shop Supplies

1936 Chevy Restoration

Customer Pics

D. Holmberg dropped by to let us see his beautiful '36 Chevy restoration. Randy Brown of RB's Body & Paint Restoration now located in Webb City, Missouri, did a beautiful job. Holmberg chose Matrix's premium grade paint in Victory Red. The running board was coated with U-pol's Raptor Bedliner in black. Thanks for showing us your awesome restoration.

Thanks to all our customers that have been sending in pictures of their projects. Send your picture to info@66autocolor.com.

DIY Bed Liner

Defender Pro Bed Liner

Do It Yourself Bed Liner

Defender Pro Epoxy Bedliner

Saving money is something we are all trying to do and a lot of people are looking at the Do-It-Yourself bed liner kits. They are fairly easy to apply and take minimal prep work. We have recently begun carrying the Defender Pro Bedliner Kit with Kevlar. Defender Pro is a top of the line product. The addition of Kevlar makes it extremely tough and durable. Defender Pro is one of the few bed liners made of epoxy. Epoxy can be applied direct to metal and seals out moisture, which prevents rust. One of the disadvantages to professionally applied and urethane bed liners is that they do not have any rust prevention qualities. Defender Pro bed liner is also excellent for Jeep grills, fender wells, or any place where rock chips are a problem. Check out the informational "How to Video."
Defender Pro Application Video

Be sure to check out our Tech Tips:Truck Bed Prep for DIY Bed Liner

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Blending automotive paint into an existing finish.

Once the area is repaired, cleaned, and ready for paint, using the chart as an example, mask off your paint area, extending it 3 times further than your repair area (back masking will make a softer edge). Spray your first coat of paint on the repair area extending into the step 1 area. On the second coat, extend it into the step 2 area. For the final coat you will need a blending agent such as Matrix MPB-500. Read the directions on your blending agent. You may need to reduce the blending agent. Mix the ready to spray blending agent with the reduced paint at a 1:1 ratio and spray the Step 3 area. If necessary you can lightly blend the edges with 100% ready to spray blending agent.

Magna-Stitcher by Motor Guard

More and more plastic parts are being added to new vehicles. Repairing plastic can be a problem issue. Quite often an adhesive is just not going to do the job, something more durable and stronger is needed to repair the damage. Motor Guard has come out with a new product called the Magna-Stitcher as a solution - no more problem. The Magna-Stitcher turns your stud welder into a plastic repair system. On the underside of the plastic use the Magna-Stitcher's stainless steel stakes to "stitch" the plastic break back together, giving a strong permanent bond. Once the back of the broken part is stitched, complete the cosmetic repairs on the visible side of the piece. Magna Stitcher is available at 66 Auto Color.

How Much Paint Do I Need?

"How much product do I need to spray my project?"
This is always a difficult one to answer, since each paint formula is different. Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to decide how much to order. In most cases, you will need more product for silvers, yellows, oranges, and some reds since they do not have as much pigment in the formula as the darker colors like blacks, greys, blues, and darker greens. Back ground color is another element that needs to be considered. If the same color is being painted over an existing color not as much new paint will be needed as compared to changing drastically from one color to another, for example a red to a white. Another factor in determining coverage is technique, experienced painters generally need less paint, since they have fewer errors to correct (for example, sanding out a run and then applying a repair coat over the area). A starting estimate is 4 oz. of already reduced paint per panel or 3'x3' to 3'x5' area. The Spray Max 1k base coat aerosol, in general, will cover a 3'x5' area with two coats. The Spray Max 2k single-stage aerosol will cover somewhat less, since it also has activator and clear coat in with the paint.

Honda CB550 Motorcycle Restoration Using Spray Max Aerosols.

Honda CB550 Motorcycle Restoration Using Spray Max Aerosols.

Bill has been restoring his Honda CB550. He painted it using the Spray Max 1K aerosols and picked a beautiful color Inferno Red Pearlcoat. He used two Spray Max 1K aerosol paint cans and applied 6 or 7 coats. He followed this with the Spray Max Glamour Clearcoat. Bill said, "Color is spot on and the 8 coats of clear made it sparkle."

Thanks, Bill, for sharing your project with us.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Flexible Bumper Repair

●TECH TIPS●

Flexible Bumper Repair

1. Clean the damaged area with soap and water and a wax and grease remover made specifically for plastic (regular wax & grease removers will cause the bumper release agent to come to the surface causing adhesion problems).

2. Initial Prep Sand: Dish out the repair area using a P80 disc, feathering into the surrounding area. Follow up with a P180 disc, removing all P80 scratches.

3. Apply adhesion promoter: Blow off repair area with clean dry air. Apply adhesion promoter, allowing to dry 5-10 min. Always apply adhesion promoter before any filler material.

4. Mix & apply flexible filler: Mix and apply flexible filler material, such as our Proform Flexible Plastic Epoxy Repair Kit. Cure 15-20 minutes @ 75°F.

5. Hand block or DA sand flexible repair material with a P150 disc or sheet, followed by P180 disc or sheet.

6. Final sand and inspect: Finish sand repair and surrounding area using a P320 disc. Blow off repair and inspect for quality. Re-apply adhesion promoter and filler as necessary.
Proform Flexible Plastic Two-Part Epoxy Repair Kit $19.39

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Car Buffing How To Tech Tips

-TECH TIPS-

●TECH TIPS●

Car Buffing Tips:

1. Keep the RPMs on the slow side.

2. Work the car from right to left (right handed) and don't turn the buffer upside down, the cord will get wrapped in the buffer spindle if you do.

3. Work the buffer right to left over bead of polish and/or compound. Start slightly on edge and finish flat. Work small areas, keep your pace uniform and in "rhythm."

4. Let the weight of the buffer do most of the work. Don't wear yourself out. Work with the buffer, not against it.

5. Keep the buffer in motion to avoid burning the paint. With practice you will get a feel for how the buffer wants to move.

6. Watch for pad grabbers like antennas, windshield wiper and emblems. The cautious approach is the best approach, mask or remove where possible.

7. Avoid or mask rubberized body side moldings, you can burn or stain them.

8. Avoid edges by masking or working parallel with the buffer wheel. Work close but not over edges unless you have a good touch. Edges are easily burned through.

9. If you are a beginner, don't lock the variable trigger, this will allow you to slow down at any time.

10. Keep compounding/polishing pads clean. Not doing so can cause scratches.

Stewart - 1967 Firbird

Customer Pics

Our second picture was sent to us by P.Stewart.

A beautiful job on a '67 Firebird.

Thanks to all our customers that have been sending in pictures of their projects. Send your picture to info@66autocolor.com.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Tech Tip: Peeling - Loss of Adhesion or Separation of Paint Film

-TECH TIPS-

●TECH TIPS●

Peeling – Loss of adhesion or separation of paint film from substrate.

Cause: (A) Improper preparation of the substrate (sanding and cleaning)

(B) Omitting or applying an incompatible undercoat to a specific substrate (e.g. aluminum, galvanized, plastic, etc.)

(D) Insufficient film thickness of undercoat, or topcoat or clearcoat.

(E) Clearcoat finishes: 1) Using solvent to clean basecoat before clearcoating. 2) Sanding base before applying additional base or clearcoat. 3) Basecoat applied too dry. 4) Clearcoat applied too dry. 5) Baking base before applying clear. 6) Using fisheye eliminator in base. 7) Incompatible clear. 8) Use of incompatible “adhesion promoter”. 9) Excessive basecoat film thickness. 10) Over or under reduction or incompatible reducer for basecoat.

Repair: (A) Remove the finish in affected area, featheredge, and refinish.

(B) Or, strip to bare substrate and refinish.

Prevention: (A) Clean and prepare all substrates according to product recommendations.

(B) Use recommended primer (plastic parts may require special primer or adhesion promoter).

(D) Apply sufficient amount of coats for recommended film thickness.

(E) Follow basecoat/clearcoat applications using compatible products (e.g. recommended reducers or no reducers for many clearcoat products.)

If you need more technical assistance on other paint issues check out our blog at http://www.66autocolor.blogspot.com

Customer Pictures - Spray Max Guitar & House of Kolor Dragon

We have two customer submissions this month.

The first one is from Jim in Pittsburg. He did a beautiful guitar for a Christmas present in a color called Plum Crazy - code MSB-914203. He used two cans of Spray Max 2K and one can of Spray Max Glamour Clear Coat.

Jim had these comments:

The finish came out beautifully. Much better than I could have hoped for, especially since it all came from spray paint cans! I used Spray Max products on my motorcycle, and people are amazed at the finish quality, so I knew going into this guitar project exactly what I wanted to use and I was not disappointed.

Jesse Morrow from Joplin submitted the following photo of a chained mechanical dragon. He did this for one of his customers. This was on a trike. Jesse does quality airbrush work using Matrix Products and House of Kolor.

Thanks to all our customers that have been sending in pictures of their projects. Send your picture to info@66autocolor.com.

January 2012 Newsletter - Proform Automotive Products

66 Auto Color E-Newsletter

January 2012

●PROFORM PRODUCTS ●

ProForm is a new company for us. However, ProForm has been providing automotive coatings since 1972. Apparently, they are doing something right. ProForm has quality products at an economical price. Since their line of products goes hand in hand with our philosophy of quality, it seemed to be a good fit. We hope you think so too.