....and I know why, I just need some advice as to what I can do about it. After working for months on my F1 cab getting it straight and ready for paint, I took it to my buddys shop to spray the topcoat. He was busy and had his helper mix/shoot the paint. The helper paints almost everyday BTW. The mix calls for 1 qt of hardener per gallon of paint. It took a 1/2 gallon to paint the entire cab inside and outside. The half gallon should have taken 1 pint of hardner. The cab was shot last Monday ( a week ago) and finished up around noon. Not dry that evening, nor the next day. Finally picked it up on Wednesday morning. Still tacky but dryer than the previous day. I asked the helper if he used enough hardner and of course he says "yes". Not true. I got home and checked my hardner qt can and only 1/2 pint was used from the qt, half as much as should have been used. I've had it home since last Wednesday and its still tacky. If I lay a tool on the floor it sticks, paper sticks, everything sticks. The temps have been warm for this time of year for this area, mid 60's low 70's. Will it ever dry? I don't think I could sand it now if I wanted to, too sticky. I've been slowly assembling the cab but because of the sticky paint I can't lay on the floor to wire the instrument panel. Being pissed won't fix it. Should I just leave it alone till springtime and start reassembly? Any advice from you guys appreciated. sorry for the longwinded post. Merry Christmas! BOutlaw
I would call the company and talk to a tec person. They will have a answer for you. I would hate to wait til spring to find out that I still have to repaint it. If nothing else maybee you could put it in a bake booth.
Acrylic enamel? - It should dry with no hardener. But something is amiss if it is tacky with a little hardener.... Short of stripping it - Clear it or paint it again.... Similar thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=760836 .
You may have to wipe it off with reducer... I had a friend try to paint the top of his 50 chev delivery with deltron single stage and oops! no hardener. He waited a month thinking it would dry even after I told him it never will. It took a lot of reducer, a lot of rags, but the uncured paint was removed. Did I say messy? I'm not sure if yours will dry considering it actually had some hardener in it. There are some PPG guys on the board who could answer this.
Sorry to hear that boutlaw. I would definitely call the manufacturer for suggestions. I think it will eventually dry, but, who knows when. Let us know what you find out.
that omni paint will take a very long time to ''dry'' on its own----like a few months to a year---and never really harden ---i would wipe it down with reducer as said----and repaint with real paint[ppg or dupont single stage]-i would use base coat clear coat but the price range isnt low-----i wouldnt use this stuff on my frame of my plow truck[sorry bad taste in my mouth from using it before]
A couple of senerios. The paint got mixed consistantly with 1/2 rate of hardener. Or the helper forgot to put hardener in 1/2 of the time. Since the paint is not curing, I would guess the second senerio. Neal
Omni was a second line of PPG,orDu Pont,and was Ok considering it's price,but the fact it was undercatalized is the main problem. I would not wipe it off as suggested that is not an option,Omni,I am sure, is a Urethane,so the reducer is not like acrylic reducer,and more hazardous. I would contact the paint rep for the store you bought it from and ask when and if it could be recoated and if so re shoot it......
You can wait a year for it to dry or start wiping, either way it will still be ready before mine is. If you buy the beer I'll bring over a bag of rags!
OMNI is the budget brand of PPG and is available in Acrylic and Urethane. I finished my car in OMNI acrylic (catalized) and it dries very quickly if mixed correctly and if the temperature is not too cold. Call PPG and ask what to do. Maybe some time in a oven will cure it completely. The problem is the longer you wait and the more it cures the harder it will be to remove short of sanding the car down. This really sucks. I feel a pissing match between you and the shop in your future. I don't envy you.
I just went out to the shop to check on the "tackiness of the day" and it actually seems a bit dryer. Don't bring any rags over yet 28Tudor, that'll be my last fricking resort!! I'll call the tech guy and get some feedback.
did you re-look at the hardener can? i had this happen a few years ago after 30 years of painting the parts store paint mixer gave me the wrong material and i was too busy too look at it. long story short , in the clear i mixed MORE clear instead of activator ! it would never dry, so we scraped with a plastic scraper and power washed till we were blue in the face ! good luck and check your cans, this might have happened to you too. goat
I dont know the exact temp, but if the paint gets below a certain degree, it will stop all curing. It will take some heat to get it back going. Heat it up. It will cure. Even if it doesnt have enough hardner. Put a box fan on it at night, the air moving will help pull solvents out, it works. .
stop putting it together and strip it off---only fix i made the mistake of not putting enough hardner in featherfill primer--- tried putting more hardner in the next coat----the middle coat never dried and it was a mess had to strip it
The age of the activator will effect it also. While paints have a relatively long shelf life, the activators do not, particularly if the can had been opened. activators from supply houses shouldn't be a problem, but it's why I won't buy even name brands at a swap meet..you just don't know.
The hardner was the correct hardner for the Omni paint and was only purchased a couple days before painting. Not ready to start stripping yet. Will heat the garage and run a fan at night and maybe it'll chase off the bad ju ju solvents. Damnit! BOutlaw
Ohh bad juju is tough to chase off. Try a heat gun on a spot that wount show. You need to nail the helper down and find out if The paint got mixed consistantly with 1/2 rate of hardener. Or the helper forgot to put hardener in 1/2 of the time. That's going to let you know exactly what you need to do.
After the bake I would clear it. Omni is fine paint - at least it was fine on my Dad's glof cart a few years ago - still have some left in the cabinet form the cart shoot...
When paint is mixed they ad a "dryer". It is added to the paint when mixed. I had some paint that the dryer was left out of, took forever to dry. Like old enamel a month till it got hard. Omni without the hardner should get hard in 24 hours above 60*. Hardner isn't really the drying agent.
Toecutter is right. Find a body shop in your area that has a bake oven. Have then bake it for as long as it takes to harden. Most cases about an hour at 120 deg. If it is not hard then, you are in for some work to get it off.
I'd get rid of that crap paint and put a quality product on it. But that's just me. A bake booth might dry it.
I was a PPG certified rep a few years back. Sold alot of Omni, and actually ran into ths problem once before... Baking will help, but not completely solve the problem, because it dries the paint, it doesn't harden it. We recommended stripping it and respraying. The customer ended up spraying catalyst, cut with reducer, over the entire car, baked it for 2 days, and crossed his fingers lol. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS! But it did seem to work, and the car is still around with the same paint.
Even IF it appears to "dry" it's never going to cure fully. You can spend as much money and time as your willing to invest, on a paint job sure to fail, or you can remove it and do it right. Even IF you can repaint without lifting, you'll still have a weak soft and "moving" undercoat.
We took my Dads 63 impala to a guy for a paint job and had the same problem with omni paint. The guy finally wiped it all off with laquer thinner and repainted the car. What a mess!!!! He painted the car the second time with single stage metallic all apart and it came out three different colors. We ended up wet sanding the whole thing down and shot it with base clear. I feel for you man. I dont think you have any solution but to remove it. Ours was sticky for weeks before he removed it.
It will be like the TERMINATOR, when you poke it it will just flow back together... Seriously, I feel for you. I hope the guy at least evenly mixed in 1/2 of the hardener with every batch.
There is no problem with Omni...I use it on everything. But personally I would remove it if there wasn't enough hardener used.
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