Hey guys, I'm left with a decision here, I'm painting my car in 2.5 weeks, and I'm just getting everything ready... What gives a better finish, 2:1, or 4:1 clear, thanks, KP.

I think the brand is Transstar, and the car is being painted metallic grey.

 

The things that make a quality clear are the resins and components and make for UV and fade protection. The amount of catalyst in the "b" component is actually very small it's mostly solvent. I'm not familiar with that brand but the seller should tell you the scale of prices of their products, More expensive is not always better. PPG has the Concept clears that are very nice and they should be at $300 and up. I have been using the Kirker brand from the smartshoppers web site. It's $70 a gallon and sands, polishes nice.

 

4:1 for the win all day long...

 

 

Sorry to sound novice - but is this 4 what - 4 parts mineral spirits to 1 part clear?
Also, is this for every measurement, like 4 ounces mineral spirits to1 ounce clear....thanks.

 

its a mixing ratio, 4 parts clear to 1 part catalist.....

 

what you are talking about when you say 2:1 and 4:1 is mix ratio and has nothing to do with how the clear looks when finnished. if you spray both they the same they will both look the same. it just depends on what paint system you are using and has more to do with how fast you want a clear to dry. for example the clear i use everyday you can mix it 2:1 3:1 4:1 and the only difference is the amount of hardener and dry times the end result after wet sand and polish is exactly the same

corey

 

yeah, everyone has their own ways of doin things, at my shop i use 4:1 ...its the best....

 

its the same clear how you mix it does not make it look any better. it should be mixed according to your needs and temp not because you think 4:1 makes it look better

so asking what clear to used based on how you mix it is not important, whats important is quality of the clear.

if you want a better finnish find a good painter not a mix ratio i would love to paint 2 panels with the same clear with diffrent mix ratio and have you tell me wich one is 2:1 or 4:1 i bet money you could not tell the difference

 

There are a few things that I do not understand.

1) is there an option to have different mix ratios with the same paint? I have never seen that.
2) $70 a Gallon? that is dirt cheap.
3) Are you sure it is not the reducer ratio?

I do not remember having to add so much hardener. I do know that you can adjust the the process time by adding or taking away the hardener. If you have it harden too fast you get horrible orange peal, Too slow, it would tend to be more likely to run, or worse, sag... That is why most paints have different reducers, some evaporate faster than others.

John

 

Most painters find something that they like and use it for various reasons- so maybe you should ask the painter? If it is you it is kind of hard when you are not familiar with it, but it can be done. Dry times can vary, I like to get on it as soon as I can it can sand a little easier, but not to soon. This is where being used to the product can really help. I have heard of paints that you can vary the reduction and that can help with flow out. It is a different matter if you have a pro booth with the heaters and want to get it done to get paid. I just do it as a hobby (cars) so I sand clear on every car that I have done recently. I have used the Kirker clear on a few cars and it nice and also cheap. HTH.

 

there is a reason why some clear coats are cheap. there uv resitence is weak, that means the clearcoat will not last as long or look as good over a period of time. cheaper clear allow more uv rays to get to the color wich ends up breaking down the pigments. sure it looks good now but 6 months later and you nice paint job wont look so nice spend the extra money on a good clear and your paint job will last much longer and look alot better. and once again as far as mix ratio that should be up to the painter and the brand you are using and not a way to judge wich clear you should get. if you are painting and dont understand the proper way to mix the paint you probably should not be painting
i reccomend getting a system of paint and follow the tech sheet it will tell you exactly how to mix the paint depending on the conditions you are in.

you can reduce any clear a little to help with flow but that comes with experiance and working with a product to know what it does and the results you will have.

 

correct you are!!
I can't tell you how many different reducers there are for each and every clear but,I do know there are 3 for the clear I used on my car and was still a battle when I sprayed it on last year in Fl. summer muggy temps.On top of painting in an open carport just spelled out total disaster!
Everything eventually turned out well but yeah,was quite a chore.

and okfoz,
1)1 mix for each product (afik)
2)70 is cheap until you add the catalyst and reducer.
3)afik,the reducer is an 8;1 ratio to the catalyzed mix.

 

What I see on the transtar site tells me I would go with the 2:1. It's a higher solids and lower VOC. Although before I checked I would have thought it would be just the opposite. I've never used that brand of product so I can't personally recommend it.

 

Just for the record the $70 includes the reducer and the catalyst. Yea the UV is not as good but our cars seem to spend allot of time in the garage!