Some of you folks know Im a big fan of SEM products. Ive used their Color Coat and prep products on more pieces of interior plastic than I can count.
Im also a big fan of their Hot Rod Black. This is where the story starts.
Last Fall I picked up a fresh kit from the local autobody supplier. I used it to spray the inner fender for my wagon. It sprayed out fine. Smooth as glass. I cranked the heat up in my garage to 75 and let it cure overnight. The next morning it was dry but a high gloss finish. Needless to say I was pissed. Didnt match the other inner that was for the wagon or the other two for the coupe. I was even hotter when I found out the aerosol stripper for plastics was discontinued along with everything else that worked. The inner is still sitting in my shed. Thats a project for another time.
Since the drivers side spindle is currently out of the car I thought I'd clean it up again. It had a ton of overspray on it from when the car was painted. I used some of the paint from the same quart to spray the two OEM spindles and they came out fine. Perfect semi gloss.
The lower control arm and the spring were both sandblasted, primed with DP40LF and topped with the HR black. I started to clean up the lower and it was taking forever. Figured it would be easy to scuff and respray. I gotta say, it took a good 2 hours to sand that thing down Feathered in all the chips. taped all the bushings. I hit it with a quick coat of the DP again since a few areas broke through. Let it sit for close to 24 hours.
The next day I sprayed it with the black. It was a nice day. Warm, not humid. Again, I left it on the rack for close to 24 hours. It dried glossy. I have no clue why. I mix it the same every time. 4 parts color, 1 part reducer, 1 part activator. I use marked paint mixing cups. I use a Devilibis HVLP with a 1.3 nozzle. Same air pressure every time I paint. Tanks drained every day and Ive got a Devilbis filter inline. Im stumped.
Yesterday I called the tech support line at SEM. Figured I'd pick their brains. Maybe Im forgetting something ? I explained the whole thing. The guy that was helping me asked me for the batch number on the bottom of the can. It gave him the mixing date. The paints only 11 months old. He gave the batch number to the QC people. Turns out they do a sprayout of every batch of paint they produce. QC said the sprayout looks fine. Told him how much or the HR black Ive used over the past few years. Told him how I spray it. After talking to the guy for 15 minutes he tells me hes going to ship a fresh kit to me free. FREE !!!!! This last kit was around $110 plus tax, I thanked the guy profusely. As far as Im concerned SEM has an excellent customer service group. Even back when Ann Zolle was color matching Color Coat for me. Sad to say after PPG took over she left the company and they stopped that service. Seriously though, how many companies would ship a fresh kit to someone thats having an issue after their QC checks the batch and it looks fine ? Im more than happy !
I figured it would be way too much paint on the lower at this point so I ran it up to a local powdercoat shop and the guy sandblasted it to clean fresh metal again. Primed, new Moog balljoint. Ready to paint as soon as I get the new kit. Hopefully its going to dry semigloss. LOL
Im also a big fan of their Hot Rod Black. This is where the story starts.
Last Fall I picked up a fresh kit from the local autobody supplier. I used it to spray the inner fender for my wagon. It sprayed out fine. Smooth as glass. I cranked the heat up in my garage to 75 and let it cure overnight. The next morning it was dry but a high gloss finish. Needless to say I was pissed. Didnt match the other inner that was for the wagon or the other two for the coupe. I was even hotter when I found out the aerosol stripper for plastics was discontinued along with everything else that worked. The inner is still sitting in my shed. Thats a project for another time.
Since the drivers side spindle is currently out of the car I thought I'd clean it up again. It had a ton of overspray on it from when the car was painted. I used some of the paint from the same quart to spray the two OEM spindles and they came out fine. Perfect semi gloss.
The lower control arm and the spring were both sandblasted, primed with DP40LF and topped with the HR black. I started to clean up the lower and it was taking forever. Figured it would be easy to scuff and respray. I gotta say, it took a good 2 hours to sand that thing down Feathered in all the chips. taped all the bushings. I hit it with a quick coat of the DP again since a few areas broke through. Let it sit for close to 24 hours.
The next day I sprayed it with the black. It was a nice day. Warm, not humid. Again, I left it on the rack for close to 24 hours. It dried glossy. I have no clue why. I mix it the same every time. 4 parts color, 1 part reducer, 1 part activator. I use marked paint mixing cups. I use a Devilibis HVLP with a 1.3 nozzle. Same air pressure every time I paint. Tanks drained every day and Ive got a Devilbis filter inline. Im stumped.
Yesterday I called the tech support line at SEM. Figured I'd pick their brains. Maybe Im forgetting something ? I explained the whole thing. The guy that was helping me asked me for the batch number on the bottom of the can. It gave him the mixing date. The paints only 11 months old. He gave the batch number to the QC people. Turns out they do a sprayout of every batch of paint they produce. QC said the sprayout looks fine. Told him how much or the HR black Ive used over the past few years. Told him how I spray it. After talking to the guy for 15 minutes he tells me hes going to ship a fresh kit to me free. FREE !!!!! This last kit was around $110 plus tax, I thanked the guy profusely. As far as Im concerned SEM has an excellent customer service group. Even back when Ann Zolle was color matching Color Coat for me. Sad to say after PPG took over she left the company and they stopped that service. Seriously though, how many companies would ship a fresh kit to someone thats having an issue after their QC checks the batch and it looks fine ? Im more than happy !
I figured it would be way too much paint on the lower at this point so I ran it up to a local powdercoat shop and the guy sandblasted it to clean fresh metal again. Primed, new Moog balljoint. Ready to paint as soon as I get the new kit. Hopefully its going to dry semigloss. LOL
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