** HELP!!! Tractor Supply Valspar Paint/ Hardner?? **

Did you sand the primer before top coating it? If not that may be why you can scratch it off back down to the primer with your finger nail. Then you are screwed.

 

^^^
Here's my theory too......if it's flaking off with a fingernail, it's already dry, and it has an adhesion problem. That will NOT get better in a week or two.

 

X2 Maybee should have wiped the primer with liquid no sand prep stuff?

 

To any young rodder who is going to do his own work, before you select your paint, I'd recommend this: Read, read, read! And I don't mean rodder sites. Testamonials found there are prone to be subjective, not objective. Go to paint manufacturer sites and to articles from reputable publications. You'll not just get information on paint wherefores and how-tos, but step by step pics or even videos.

If you can, find a body/paint shop in your area that has an operator who has time for an inquisitive mind. (He's out there somewhere - off the beaten path, away from the glitzy real estate.) Ask him if you showed up some day, could you help clean up or gofer? In trade, you would like to come some evening with bar-b-que take-out (or some such) and listen to his wisdom for a while. After the evening session, he'll invite you to come back later with any question (or even a fender) that you need advice with. He has a ton of pamplets on painting that he'll be glad to clear his shelves of - from his library to yours.

I've known a couple of shop owners who would participate in something like that in a heartbeat. That will take time for you to do, but not near as much time as sanding off too many bad results. As some noted here, three bad jobs, done over, would have funded one really good one, not counting the lost hours.

 

ditto it is what it is, having said that the real thing at the local auto body paint jobber is nearly the same price and way more dependable and durable,

 

Since all of the work is in preparation; why not spend a few bucks more on some acrylic enamel with hardener, or urethane? It's pretty cheap; look at this place; they have prices for all budgets, and their red oxide primer is a good hi build primer.,,,nice buy tooo...

www.smartshoppersinc.com

call them and it will be at your door in 2 days...good place...

gaspumpchas

"the man had me , toad......"

 

I recently painted my old work truck with Valspar from TSC.Used a roller and brush,didn't thin the paint but did add hardener.The paint job looks nice enough for this rough truck....The truck has been sitting in my heated shop for about 2 weeks since painting it....running a finger nail across the paint leaves a slight mark,not removing paint,just a mark.I think it's because of the satin finish,I think a gloss finish won't show the mark.

 

It will be fine, I used the same stuff on a lawn tractor this summer. It takes a couple days for all the reducer to air out, then it's really resistant. If you get anxious, set a halogen lamp near the paint and move it to a new area every half hour or so.

 

posts 31, 32, and 33 have your answer. if it flakes it is cured. i always sand primer before topcoat. all primer/sealers say how long you have to recoat with same product, but you have to see if you can actually topcoat in that same window of time. some you can some can't. sorry for your troubles i know it is aggravating enough without being ridiculed by strangers.

 

I've sprayed a lot of Valspar paint with their hardener and have never had a problem. I agree with some of the posts, you should have scuffed the primer. I use a fiber scuff pad and get into all the corners, then blow off and tack off. It seems to me non auto primers dry smoother because it takes longer to dry completely and has more time level off, and definitely needs to be scuffed before painting. The paint seems to dry pretty much over night, it might be a little soft in the morning but by the next day it's hard. I thin it with either mineral spirits, or if I'm in a real hurry, lacquer thinner, only if I know the piece I'm spraying has a solid baked on finish. I also spray more thin coats allowing each to flash before spraying the next coat. If you spray it too heavy the thinners don't have as much of a chance to evaporate.

 

Thank you guys all for the input... looks like I may have learned my lesson.

 

All is not lost. I have seen this type of thing before with the lower cost enamels. The problem will go away once it cures real well. Leave everything in the sun as much as yhou can and the situation will resolve.

 

Yeah, I still think you might be ok too. You say it is coming off to the primer with your nail. Some people have made the jump to say if it is flaking off it is cured. I am guessing it is coming off like carving cheese off of the surface, not dry flakes splintering off.

If you can just carve through it like cheese, just leave it alone, maybe even for a few weeks or better. Mineral spirits is REALLY slow solvent better suited to cleaning brushes and stuff rather than thinning enamel.

I think you have primer that is still trying to let solvent evaporate out and you have sealed that in with yet another coat (the topcoat) that is gonna be tough to get the solvent out.

If the surface is just soft and cheesy feeling to the nail, leave it be and work on a different aspect of the project for a good long while.

I think you are likely still ok.

Yeah, other coatings would have been better, but it is no big deal.

 

let it dry...we use the tractor paint on all our offroad rigs.....takes a few weeks to completely harden but when it does its bomb proof...

my g-paw showed me an ooooold school trick...thin it out with GASOLINE...................takes the "shine" out of gloss paint..and dries fast....

 

The entire problem here lies in the fact the you used mineral spirits to thin the paint.

I am a big fan of Valspar paint from Tractor Supply. I always use cheap, no-name enamel reducer with this $30 paint, plus the hardener. Mix at 4:1:1 ratio and this stuff is extremely durable and dries pretty quick.

I realize that you won`t achieve a show-winning finish from this old-school enamel, but for certain paint projects it is great.

Case in point : Sprayed my metal patio furniture with it and after sitting in direct sunlight for 2 Texas summers, the furniture shines like I sprayed it an hour ago.


Don`t diss this cheap paint. It is good, if used properly.

 

I would be interested in an update...

Typical slow enamels industrial or tractor enamels are very similar to the old park bench coatings of yesteryear. Old timers will remember those metal park benches with "Wet Paint" signs on them for a good week or two and then the paint would sometimes be a little "Cheesy" for awhile (and the hooligans would scratch love notes and other not so lovely stuff on them while they were drying...) Once they were dry though, they were pretty much bullet proof to the elements for a good long time.

How is your frame?

 

i've used the same paint in the low gloss black. i mixed the paint with naphtha and no harder. it took six days to dry in 85 to 90 degree weather.it turned out ok but not great. it is good if you just want to make your car one color, or don't want your car to rust until you can redo it or get a good paint job.

 

IMO the issue is probably an adhesion issue. Was the surface scuffed/sanded to rough enough a surface?

Did the primer get too dry for a wet bond?

I have used Valspar hardener in Rustoleum, It DOES NOT kick like automotive enamel with hardener. It will kick, but it takes days for hardened rustoleum to begin to gel in the can, and after weeks it still is a clumpy liquid.

I use this mix on the underside of trailers, and it will work well if the surface prep is good.

 

I know the trend is old but I have to chime in. I feel your pain as I just w****d up a big project with some enamel (Iron Guard) which I think is made by Valspar. I used their thinner and hardner as well. Basically, I sandblasted, sprayed out 2 coats of SPI epoxy primer followed with 2 coats of SPI 2k primer, used the epoxy reduced as a sealer followed with 2 coats of the enamel. The **** is chipping off (as in dry flakes splintering) all the way to the sealer. Here's the thing though, I used 2 different colors and its only 1 of them. It's been almost a month since everything was finished.

 

how long did you let the epoxy dry before spraying over it? epoxy needs to dry thoroughly. is it blistering/peeling in spots that have a heavier build up [creases and low spots]?