OK, so my Cadillac is getting painted this weekend and the plan is suade paint with a pearl white roof with small to medium metalflake over it. What is the best way to spray it and are there any concerns I should know about. The guy who is painting my car has done it once or twice some time ago and says it shouldn't be a problem, but I would like to make sure he is doing it right, so I'm asking you experts here on the HAMB. Thanks.
You need to hang out with Paso John or Tuck up there. They both have sprayed LOTS of flake and would be good mentors.
go to the rod n custom magazine website and search for our own lownslow's article on spraying flake. explains everything you need to know. which i'm to dumb to do right now. been in the shop most of the day brain tired now. me talk funny. if your guy has sprayed flake before he shouldn't have problems but if you were to print the article and give it to him he might like to read it for a refresher. good luck and post pics when done. i like that car alot. wish you were closer i'd offer to spray it. oh yeah as said above tuck and paso john are a coupla masters of the flake in your area. they could probably help with any questions to...ken....
the getto way is to toss it into a wet coat of clear (this will most likely look like carp on a roof job)..might even try that "old school flake gun" but I've never used it.. or add it to your clear coats 6-14+ depending on your likes and flake size... Flash times should be doubled at lease, to avoid solvent pops!!! Heres how I've done: start with a metallic base coat!. fast coat/tack coat a clean clear coat lay a 2-3 med coat of intermediate clear with the small flake. mix the small and large flake and pound as many coats a you want.. (The most I've have ever done is 17!) then cover it with a 3-4 coats of clean clear... let it dry for 48-72 hour and wet sand it down.. Flash times between coats need to be up'd..double or triple depending on temp..
i used a 2.0 tip on a gravity fed run, giving it a little shake after every pass to keep it mixed up. Do spray it over a metallic base and it looks best to have the flake match the base pretty close. I was srapying normal size flake too, not the tiny*****, but not the bass boat*****. I sprayed 4 coats of flake I think, and then about 6 coats of straight clear, hit it with 600 the next day, then spray 6 more coats over that, and went over it with 1500 & 2000 grit paper, and then buff buff buff.....heres a pic of my roof right after the first batch of clear was sprayed over the roof....lownslow helped me out ALOT when i was doing this....I might just go back and flake out the rest of the car (if I can ever afford all the clear it'd take).
some clears you can recoat 48-72 hours or more without sanding.. if your using PPG you can go to their web site and down load the spec data page on it... which you should do anyway, answers a lot of ?'s..
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