Technical Mixing and painting with Centari acrylic enamel?

--Hi guys, I looked and did find a bunch of old threads about Centari but still not clear about mixing.
--I Hope you old school paint guys can help. I am getting ready to repaint my steel wheels for my Olds. --They were painted back in 95 or so and have held up well. But 2 wheels got bent and I replaced with some matching wheels I had. It was a rush job so I painted the 2 replacements with a brush- so they look like shit.
--So, I have a half quart of Centari paint that was left over from the first painting back in 95. I took it over to my paint store guy and had him look at it and shake it up and he said it still looks good. I bought some reducer and hardener from him. He remembered spraying Centari back in the day but couldn't remember what ratio..
--I looked on line and found most places say 8 paint/ 2 reducer/ 1 hardener. I looked here on the Hamb at some old threads and some said as much as 8 paint/ 4 reducer/ 1 hardener. These were from guys who said they used it back then.
--I am not a painter but I think I can do these wheels with my HF paint gun, since the wheels are away from the body and have a bunch of curves, etc. I would not attempt to touch up the quarter panel , etc- Way over my skill set!!
--I think that if I reduce it too much it will run? If not enough it will clog?? Thanks for your help- I know you want pics and I will get some. Thanks so much, Greg.

 

Mix it with the least reducer and give it a squirt. If it flows well, continue. If too thick, then add more reducer.

 

I shot it some back in the day and I believe it was 8:2:1. If I remember correctly, I used 793 hardener and maybe 8022 reducer? That was a long time ago, so I’d wait for more replies. Lol.

 

Yes, I remember 8-2-1. But I find old paint sometimes thickens in the can, and needs extra reducer to be sprayable. DO as alchemy says. mix and trial panel it until you get it right.

 

To much reducer = paint fades fast

 

Just make sure you have adequate respirator. Supplied air would be best, but on a couple of wheels you might skip that. Isocynate is very nasty stuff. I worked in a truck shop in the '70s where Centari was exclusively used in the body shop. Supplied air respirators were just emerging and suggested, but not everyone used one. Sadly in the '90s two of the guys had passed from cancer attributed to Isocynate. Not trying to be a Debby Downer, but those situations and EPA changes got us to the paints we use today. However, with correct equipment I still use Centari.

 

You can talk to a dozen different painters and get a dozen different mixtures. Just make sure you have a dam good mask and don't breath any fumes. Back in the 80's this stuff was nasty.

 

I certainly understand that paint is nasty stuff, but I heard Imron was worse than Centari when it comes to health. One thing about Centari, you never forget the scent of it.

 

Here you go.

 

Ah, yes....I remember the days of going to Carlisle in the '80s and, on a sunny day, you could smell the fresh Centari paint jobs on the cars in the car corral baking in the sun! And, you're right about Imron...THAT shit was a real killer!

 

Paper hazmat suit ($5) full face mask , gloves , isocyanate can absorb through skin ,& eyes nasty stuff .

 

Yeah, I knew a bodyman who never would wear a mask-them things were for sissies-and he ended up with cancer of everything about a year after he retired.

 

Main thing I remember about the one time I shot Centauri back in the late 80's was that it got on EVERYTHING. I had been painting for years prior and had never had anything stick like Centauri did. I painted a camper top for a pickup and had red hair, garage floor, air hose, etc. for a long time after I shot that stuff. Anyway, if I was to shoot it again on something like wheels, I would shoot it outside away from anything that matters as far as getting overspray on.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I'm still alive. First time I shot Centari, I just doubled up two dust masks and used my beard to filter the edges. Was in my 50'X80' school shop with a 16' ceiling and roof mounted exhaust fans. Stuff does get on everything. The only thing I had shot before was lacquer, the overspray was dry when it hit and you could just blow it off. Centari was still wet and stuck to everything. Luckily the only other cars in the shop were donated trainers. Spent a lot of time with a razor blade scraping desk tops.

 

If your mix ratio needs more reduction than your theoretical formula, shoot your 'test panel' on the vertical. That should give you the best clue on how much it will 'run'. The test also validates the tip adjustment, size, pressure, etc.

 

Remember walking across the shop in your tennis shoes after painting a car with Acrylic Enamel and sticking to the floor? Like the starting line with VHT on it. LOL. 8-2 ought to work and reduce accordingly. You can shoot it without hardener also but don't try to sand and re-coat later.

 

I had a little shop in SoCal back in '78. I painted mainly Porsche's, a few Mercedes, and a few early birds. I loved Centari, and never had any complaints about finish or shine. Part of that could be attributed to my good friend who recently passed, Julian "Jules" Alvarez. The man was a wizard with a buffer. Even though I was very consistent in my application, he always color sanded before buffing. Consistent..... I started counting, and once a 356 Porsche was cut-in, I always used the same number of passes on every car....
Now, when using Centari, I always used a "viscosity cup" to thin the base material. Also, I never used a hardener. I'm not sure it was even out at that time. Using the cup would compensate for outside temperature. The cup had a small hole in the bottom, so I simply scooped up a full cup (not an actual cup) and counted the number of drips that dropped in 60 seconds. Seems that 19 was the magic number, but it's been a long time... Consistency, that's the secret....

 

I remember the viscosity cups!! Seems like to me 20 drops. LOL. And when the reducer and conditions were right Centari would flow out and look like glass. But the hairs on your arms would be standing up, so you had to use a rag with thinner on it to wash up.

 

i use to use it a lot in early 90s than i got some in early 2000s for something and i do think it was 8-2-1 for that because i remember thinking wtf. i am sure the older stuff was 8-4, i will look if my old cans say anything.

 

Correct, I do some parts this way and it looks like powder coating.

 

I think you will find that acrylic enamel used a catalyst, not a hardener. Straight enamel uses a hardener and if you use too much the enamel will eventually crack.

 

Wow thanks guys. A lot to think about....

 

I'm pretty sure 793s was the hardener for Centari acrylic enamel, and it said so right on the can.

 

Yes, I sold lots of it in the '80s. 793S, and the reducer numbers 8022S and 8034S are embedded in my brain forever.

 

Used to paint with that shit back in the old days in a pair of coveralls a charcoal respirator and a ball cap with a window fan wedged under the garage door for an exhaust fan. Should be dead but managed to survive. I quit painting myself and started hiring it done. As a result I can't hardly even do any painting with a rattle can. Think is it worth it? Be careful.

 

I can relate to that. I had pretty much that same setup as a youngster.

 

I hated Centauri. I hated Delstar too. Yes, both had an iso catalyst available. Neither needed it but without it was still sticky hours later. DAU was the best of the best of the best, but PPG dropped it because of iso too. I'd suggest you reduce 1st to sort out the consistency then add your catalyst. You want the consistency of whole milk. Take your time and shoot the 1st 2 light, get what us old fucks used to call a "tack coat" and then cover it after about 10-15min flash. Heed the warnings about fresh air and also GET AWAY FROM THE WET PARTS AS THEY'RE CURING. The vapors are where the deadly shit is. Ventilate the best you can and get into fresh air as soon as possible. Don't fear it, just be smart and get fresh air. And yes, cover whatever you don't want overspray on.

 

And Delthane. Nasty shit too.

 

The thing about spraying Centauri is no matter what respirator you use it makes a cold beer taste so good...

 

I used Centari for my first paint job. Gunmetal grey metallic. I got one tiny run and somehow I got rid of it without a trace. My nephew, a body,an, was so impressed as he asked me where I got it painted. I used a borrowed 1.5 hp compressor and a borrowed mask. I was assured the filters on the mask were new but after painting I struggled to get outside, rip off the mask, and laced on my back on the grass trying to get back to normal...

As far as Centari getting on everything, was that due to not using HVLP guns?