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so I'm starting to shop around for paint to paint my car, I've used a lot of of residential paint from Sherwin Williams (I know it's completely different) and because of that I get HUGE discount that DOES transfer over to auto paint. everyone is telling me to go PPG but that is from people that have used only pot, with np knowledge of Sherwin. so basically with the discount I get I can get the top of the line from Sherwin for less than entry level PPG. any input from people with experience with Sherwin?
I was under the impression that the sherwin automotive paint along with some other brands (I think summit) was all made by Kirker, which is a decent paint. So there are two schools of thought here:
1. Do it right and do it once, ie. use quality products and get good lasting results
2. Use a product that's not the best but you go into it knowing you'll be OK with however it turns because you saved a few bucks.
I have always stuck with DuPont. I've been using it for 15 years and have seen the differences between the Nason series and the Chroma series when being sprayed, sanded and after years of use. The Nason series fades over time from UV, the color has less pigment and the clear has less solids. Nason series is usually used by body shops for fender bender repair for regular everyday driver cars that will never have the paint examined, compared or appreciated.
Without having direct experience with Sherwin williams paint though all I can say is there is a reason why higher end shops choose PPG, House of Kolor and (my favorite) DuPont.
But if not's going to be a show car and you won't be keeping the car long term it might be worth not paying for the premium paint.
If you do go with PPG, stay far away from their Ceramiclear. I've heard and (mostly) read nothing but negatives about that product.
it's a garage kept, weekend cruiser, not a show car at all. the ppg is going to cost almost $1500 more than the Sherwin. i want to start practicing with my new set up this weekend.
$1500 is what I spent on paint. I used Dupont Epoxy primer, Euro Primer, Chroma color and Chroma Clear. If your local paint store will charge you that much I would just look into the house of Kolor or Eastwood paints. Much cheaper and they are mail order. RobGuitarGod used Eastwood on his Camaro, he has the other monster thread right now in the members Camaros section. I can't recall if Dennis went with Eastwood or not, I'm pretty sure he bought their primer.
I looked at Eastwood and from what I see they don't do any colors other than their own or do they? I am sticking with the flame red metallic color, that's why it's so expensive.
just for reference, the PPG is going to be right around $2500, the Sherwin is going to be around $1000, that's for the a gallon of primer, gallon of clear and gallon of color.
You get what you pay for. I have been a professional custom painter since 2002. I worked a couple years at the place that does the full body custom paint work for Winnebago, on their 36-40 foot motorhomes, and at the time they used Sherwin Williams. It was garbage...sorry man, but it was absolutely horrible crap to work with. I would never, ever pay money to use that stuff.
I have sprayed about everything you can imagine over the years in the custom paint business. I've painted over 1,000 motorcycles. I use PPG products. DuPont is killer, too. Those would be my top recommendations. BUT, if you want to save some money, you could check out PPG's lower end line called OMNI. Their production clearcoat is actually very, very good. Some of their basecoats don't cover quite as good as PPG, and their color matching isn't as close.....but if you're doing a complete I wouldn't be afraid to use it. It'd be MILES ahead of Sherwin Williams. Just my $.02
When i painted this bike, the customer bought his own paint and brought it to me with the parts. It was painted with 100% OMNI products. The stuff says PPG right on the can.....
After a car rear ended my Bronco and dented the rear quarter, I had the whole thing repainted. Mind you, it looked like this picture before it was hit, so I wanted it done right. The custom shop that I took it to used BASF Glasurit Paint.
It is expensive and high quality. It's used on many European cars from the factory.
I am very pleased with the finish. JMO. And I know...It's a Ford.
awesome, this is what I was looking for, omeone with first hand experience with Sherwin. I would like to save the money BUT I'm not willing to work with a far inferior paint, especially if it's going to make the job harder. I also don't want to order something online if I can help it.
I am not a professional painter by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just a hobbyist, so take what I have to say as such.
In my opinion, the paint itself is a very subjective subject. Why? Well, because everyone paints differently. Some people like to spray close with lots of fan and material and a fast hand speed. Some people are the opposite. There's also environmental, preparation, and spray gun differences. That's why you'll get complaints and praises about a brand in a single post.
In my personal experience, the Omni Epoxy I've sprayed didn't lay out very well unless I way over-reduced it. The Summit brand (as mentioned previously, probably relabeled Kirker) Epoxy was terrific for me. Most of the primer, paint, and clear I shoot is either Summit or Eastwood now, since the prices are affordable for me and I'm not painting show cars.
To summarize, you really have to paint with a few things to find out what works and what doesn't work for YOU. You'll also want to do yourself a favor and start out with a decent gun. I started out with a crappy Husky HVLP gun and it was a nightmare for anything other than polyester primer (since you sand most of that off anyways).
I am not a professional painter by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just a hobbyist, so take what I have to say as such.
In my opinion, the paint itself is a very subjective subject. Why? Well, because everyone paints differently. Some people like to spray close with lots of fan and material and a fast hand speed. Some people are the opposite. There's also environmental, preparation, and spray gun differences. That's why you'll get complaints and praises about a brand in a single post.
In my personal experience, the Omni Epoxy I've sprayed didn't lay out very well unless I way over-reduced it. The Summit brand (as mentioned previously, probably relabeled Kirker) Epoxy was terrific for me. Most of the primer, paint, and clear I shoot is either Summit or Eastwood now, since the prices are affordable for me and I'm not painting show cars.
To summarize, you really have to paint with a few things to find out what works and what doesn't work for YOU. You'll also want to do yourself a favor and start out with a decent gun. I started out with a crappy Husky HVLP gun and it was a nightmare for anything other than polyester primer (since you sand most of that off anyways).
You're 100% right about the OMNI epoxy primer. I use that all the time as a sealer. I mix it 2:1:1 with MR185 reducer and it lays down like GLASS. The mixture on the label calls for no reducer at all
Another IMPORTANT thing to remember with paint guns is having the proper size tip. I use 1.3 for almost everything car related. For motorcycle parts, I use a 1.2 tip. I use Sata and Iwata HVLP, gravity feed paint guns.
SIKKENS is some nasty stuff. I've sprayed some of their varnishes, and man, its potent.
That aside, I also find that a 1.3 or a 1.4 works for most materials. Except primer. I like to use a 1.8 for most primers. 1.5 sometimes for single stage paints.
SIKKENS is some nasty stuff. I've sprayed some of their varnishes, and man, its potent.
That aside, I also find that a 1.3 or a 1.4 works for most materials. Except primer. I like to use a 1.8 for most primers. 1.5 sometimes for single stage paints.
I didn't even know SIKKENS made varnishes lol. Their base/clear stuff is alright. You must be filling some mean sand scratches with primer to use a 1.8 tip. I sand filler to 180 grit, so my sand scratches aren't very deep and the primer doesn't shrink back over time and show your scratches under the fresh paint
By primer, I mean stuff I'm going to sand off, whether it be polyester primer or high build 2K. Not sealer.
Yes, I know what you're saying. What im saying is I sand my body filler up to 80 grit, then use dolphin glaze over that and sand with 180 grit, then prime over the 180 grit sand scratches. I block sand my primer with 320 grit, THEN seal over that and paint. What I'm saying is I don't need to flood it with primer because I'm not filling very deep scratches with the primer.
It's a glazing putty that you use over body filler. It's a 2 part that you mix just like body filler, but it's runny and all ya need is a super thin coat. It's super good stuff!! It allows you to use way less primer, and it doesn't shrink back so you won't get any sand scratches to reappear later on
Typically I avoid glazing putty as I've had it react oddly, thus the extra build of primer. Its probably from buying the cheap stuff, but whatever. Different strokes for different folks.
I had a lot of really shallow dents so there is quite a few small spots of body filler, I was looking at a sandable primer to fill in all of the sand marks before I paint.
