I'm getting ready to paint my car soon and I need flex agent for the bumpers. Does anyone know where to get any? They don't carry it on the website I'm buying my paint from and I can't seem to find it when when I look it up online.

 

PPG makes DX-814
but you should only use it in PPG products

 

As long as it works with acrylic enamel and urethane enamel it shouldn't matter.

 

I use SEM theres seems to work pretty good.. U can get it from here
Terry's Auto Supply - Browse products

go allmost to the buttom of the page... That place is pretty good I have order stuff from them

 

Actually, you don't unless you plan on painting it in pieces and wating awhile before reassembly.
Not sure about others but, PPG flex additive will discolor the paint ever so slightly (or, I am overly picky and it's easier to tell on lighter colors).

 

So your saying if I'm painting assembled I don't need it. But wont it help protect the bumpers from cracking and chipping after painting. I don't want to get tapped in a parking lot and have to repaint the entire bumper. When I got my camaro that had already happened. The rear bumper had cracks all through the paint and the front bumper was cracking at the top above the emblem. It could have just been from a bad paint job because the paint actually started flaking off the rear bumper.

As for the dicoloration, I've heard that all flex agent slightly darken the paint color. I don't see how it would discolor black. I've also heard that spraying it on hoods can help protect from getting rock chips as easy.

 

I checked that web site and couldn't find it. Could you post a direct link?

 

flex agent is only good for like 48 hours probably longer but my buddy is a paint guy and says its best to do it within the first 48 hours, so it's mixed in then it cures from your paint in a certain amount of time. If your painting the car all together you wont need it. So it doesn't help down the road when someone bends in your bumper cover.

 

thats true to a point. There are 2 differnt kind of flex agents. Theone that comes out over time. And the one that stays in.... Well atleast thats what my paint rep told me. And other painters

 

I was under that impression too. I was looking around at other sites and found that some of the newer ones actually bond with the paint permanently. I don't know if they will work with acrylic enamel though. Since I'm painting with everything together I'm not going to worry about flex agent since it would have been done when acrylic paint first came out

 

i don't know but i do know that he said there were 2 differnt kinds. U try a search this has been talked about alot. Or maybe someone that knows more about could help out.Cuz I would like to know more to

 

so if i were to paint the bumpers and the gfx off the car i would use the dx-814 flex agent from ppg? is that the right stuff?

 

josh,
DX 814 is the old school retarding agent that some here are referring to. It will evaporate over time. D814 is the resin flex that PPG developed for their "GLOBAL" line, that was designed to compete with the European brands. (Which, by the way, have it all over the American paint companies.)
I would never advocate mixing paint lines. FWIW.

 

so what would be your suggestion for the brand of paint and flex additive to add and use? All i care about is getting a deep black decent paint job.

if not ppg, dupont....then who and would you suggest and would my local supplier carry?

 

go Sikkens, i love the stuff, personally i think it blows house of color out of the water.

 

PPG and DUPONT are fine. NEXA AUTOCOLOR, AKZO, STANDOX, GLAZURIT, SPIES, all these are a step above. True urethane all the way through, VOC compliant, high solids, with easy steps with simple hardeners and reducers.
But, ALWAYS stay within the system you pick.

 

does akzo / sikkens make primer, (i was under the impression i should use the same name bumper paint remover, primer, sealer, base and clear)

and none the less how can i find a distributer around my area that carrys those high end names?