I was at the hot rod reunion and there was a guy in the swap meet unloading a lot of surplus NASCAR stuff. One of the things he had was 2 gallons of acrylic urethane paint with activator for cheap. The color is "truck racing red". ...and supposedly came from one of the big racing teams. I can't seen to find anything online about Deft other than some references to PPG Aerospace paint. Has anybody ever used any of this stuff before? Did I waste my money? I had planned on using it on my daughter's off topic 4x4 project.
It seems that it is not automotive paint. http://www.ppgpaints.com/products/deft-polyurethane-interior-exterior-water-based-g Deft® Polyurethane Interior/Exterior Water Based - Gloss Deft® Interior/Exterior Polyurethane Water Based is a modified urethane that provides added protection from water, sun and wind damage. This advanced formula contains both UV absorbers and UV inhibitors to deliver excellent ultraviolet protection and provide protection against the damaging effects of the sun. Deft Interior/Exterior Polyurethane Water Based is ideal for stained or bare wood surfaces including doors, furniture, interior floors, cabinets, trim and more.
The guy described it a whole lot like Imron. A super glossy single stage that holds up to 200 mph. I don't know if he was full of shit or not. He was selling some cool parts.
Ive seen Deft branded wood finishes at sears, but cant say for sure that is all they make. Does it have a tech sheet with it?
Spray out a test panel, see what you got. This looks like industrial, fleet, coating, DEFT 36. http://us.ppgrefinish.com/DeftFinishes/Home.aspx http://us.ppgrefinish.com/DeftFinishes/Transportation
Deft actually made military and aerospace paint for years. In the 80s a project I ran for GM where we used from 24 to 32 gallons of Deft Polyurethane Enamel per day (a 1 to 1 mix) that was quite good although toxic for sure. It was an anti graffiti coating for RTS buses for the City of New York. It was extremely hard and after full cure it was near impossible to sand and polish. We had to do all sorts of tests though for GM and the City of New York and it was good stuff overall. Not sure on the acrylic as we never shot any. When Deft executives would pay us a visit they flew in from Los Angeles and I believe Deft was making this in Irvine. PPG bought out the assets of Deft to build up their aerospace a few years ago I read. One of the tech guys that came in from L.A told me that the military spec paint was actually developed and used on the space shuttle. Whether that is true-who knows. The government though did have them making coatings for the military. I do know other paint manufacturers tried to get us to use their paints but at that time only Deft had this paint that met spec. It came shipped to us in boxes with military numbers at first. I would shoot a test sample and let it bake in the sun and see if you can sand and polish after a pretty decent cure. One thing about the paint though is that the polyurethane we were using flowed very well-you could hope the acrylic flows as well. Red is quite expensive so if you got it cheap try a test panel. Good luck.
I'd pass on it unless it has PPG marking on it or I knew when it was manufactured. If it is marked PPG, it had to be made after DEFT was bought out in 2013. Even then, I'd want to know about the shelf life of the activator before figuring out how much I'd pay and find out if new activator is still available and the price if what came with it was past it's shelf life..
He asked if he wasted his money so I assumed he already bought it. Test it or toss it seems to be two options. I think I would try a test pattern to see how it sprays and how it comes out after full cure.
Oops, I missed the "Did I waste my money". You are right Jim, test it is what I would do also. It may not cure with that activator even if it does spray well.
The big thing for me would be if it would dry in a normal time frame,some of that old stuff might take 2-3 days to dry,if you do a test panel,try and do it the same as you will be doing the car.If you cheat on the test it may not be good?.If it is similar to Imron it will be hard to match later,wont be able to blend in a spot if needed,these finishes are super durable,but are hard to use in a custom way?. Harvey
Agree with spray a test panel to see what you have. If it is past its shelf life then it may act stupid. We were painting an airplane with urethane that was going good. Paint suddenly would not lay down properly. My penny pinching friend decided to use the tail end of a very old can. Not sure why he did it except he thought he could get away with it. There was more than enough new paint. The messed up urethane had to be left for a few days to be sanded down as it had not cured well. The paint stayed tacky way to long & ended up with a texture. It gummed up the sand paper and was difficult to take it down. Went back to the new urethane & it laid down fine. This particular urethane had a one year shelf life given from date of manufacture but vendor said if we stored in a cool place could get a year & half which was true. It would be good to know what the life of your product is. Spray it see how it lays down, if it is a material you want, color & can the product be sanded. Try apply a second color over it for the heck of it to see if anything sticks to it. If nothing sticks to it then it could be a specialty coating. Google the product numbers found on the can to see if it brings up anything. If it is an industrial product then there should be information out there including MSDS sheets. Industrial paint may behave differently where no one cares if it fades, loses its shine etc. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a car ready to lay down paint. If the paint is the wrong product, does not behave as expected, cannot be sanded or worked with then all the good work is lost. Best to be cautious with an unknown.
Thanks for the links. Looks like I have theme park paint. Part number is 36-R-050. I will try and spray a test panel this weekend.
According to this under "recommended storage", 2 year minimum shelf life. Scroll down to bottom for Deft 36 info. http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-so...port-documents/metallic-coatings.pdf?sfvrsn=0
If I open the cans to do a test spray.....how will that affect the shelf life of those cans? (Assuming the stuff is good now)
I rarely give paint advice anymore since it has been a few years since I was involved in the process as either a painter, project manager or consultant and I would rather not lead someone into a trail of problems. When I did consulting I always stressed that the whole process is based in science, both chemistry and physics alike-painting is not done by guess or by golly. It is especially true with two part component coatings since the hardener has a tendency to throw a wrench in the works if you do not follow the scientific advice. If your project is very important and you cannot afford any problems and you do not have much money into the paint purchase then maybe you should pitch it. If you want to use it then you have to follow the best procedure possible-whatever that is. If there are product safety sheets available they may be helpful with the shelf life. If not you could try and contact PPG and seek their advice. When I did it for a living I constantly called PPG as they were one of the most helpful companies around. In my earlier post I suggested that you paint a test panel and let it bake in the sun. I suggested it since you may want to accelerate the cure. If let’s say within 24 hours after baking you can sand and it is hard and has a good shine and overall look then the activator is probably good. If it is soft (and balls up you sandpaper etc) you may want to let it cure for another 24 hours in the sun. If it still is not cured I would not hesitate to pitch the activator since the problems you will have with your finished project will be very unpleasant and costly. I have not studied the data sheets on your product and they are always helpful. They are often available online and would surely help. If you are going to open the activator and try and save it there are few things that I have done in the projects I have been involved with. Deft with our anti-graffiti project told us that the activator had a limited shelf life once opened (of course). We used a different activator than you but the activator we used had a 10 to 12 day window once opened. They advised us to use the opened components ASAP but knew we had repair work to do so they had to give us some leeway. We painted 1500 RTS coaches and had hundreds of repairs since the city of New York was a very demanding and tough customer. We received out activator in gallon cans but our repair department would use smaller amounts on a full time basis. Some of the repairs were done with a touch up gun or quart siphon feed gun so opening a gallon for each repair was a stretch. Deft advised us to transfer an open gallon to smaller cans (quart and pint cans) as they said that the more air that the activator is exposed to the greater the chance of failure. We would completely fill the smaller cans and label them with the date and we never used the hardener past 7 days of the date we placed on the can. We never had a problem with our procedure but I am not sure of the shelf life on your product. I am not sure whether your activator is in quart or pint containers or whatever. Once you open the activator the clock on its demise starts running. What you are asking goes against everything I advised in industry situations since we avoided potential problems like the plague. It is cheaper to pitch it then to suffer the repair process for sure. If you are hell bent on using it then I would plan on painting your project within a few days of initially opening the activator. Good luck.
Jimdillon thanks for the info. I'm not ready to spray the land cruiser just yet....so I will wait on the test panel.
Flipper PM me whenever or when the time comes and I will give you my number if you want just in case you want to ask a last minute question. I cant answer every question but I may get lucky. Good luck
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