Project X

[blazeracer]

I shot 6 parts HOK F28 Kamen Blue flakes and 1 part F70 Red Gold Tranlucent flakes over black base mixed with dbc500 color blender midcoat. I never shot flake before in my life and probably won't again. LOL.. But it does look totally bad ass when the light hits it. It will color change red to blue to green to purple. Mostly blue and green though.

I bought a flake gun off of Ebay for like $50 that has a .050 tip or something like that.

And really, I would do it again for my own boat. It's not that hard once you figure it out. Problem for me is I have a few spots where you can tell I was still "figuring it out". Overall though, it's awesome.

 

[blazeracer]

This guy from Denton has a couple of YouTube vids that I used to paint mine. He's a trip, but the info is good.

Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxG8DDthfCc

Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyArOZyBefY

I still need to take my boat by Southwest Rod & Custom one day so he can see what I did with his info.

 

[spd500]

Thanks , I will take a look at them .

 

[customtouch]

Is it best to mix this stuff into the paint , or into a mid coat clear , or maybe just mix it into the first coat of clear ? I am going to be putting several coats of clear so I have enough to be able to wet sand and buff out trash from not painting in a booth . I can also buy the midcoat clear pretty reasonable in the same paint lline as the paint , so that isnt a big deal either .

That is what is great about this stuff, you will just add some in the paint and spray it. It does not look good to spray it on top with a midcoat clear. It almost looks like solvent pop when you do because it needs the pigment of the color to hid it. It also only looks good in certain colors (IMO) and blue & purple are the best (especially if they are transparent). To keep from waisting it, leave out enough paint for the final two or three coats of each color and just add the pearl to that. It does not change the actual color of the paint, it just makes it glitter like a bass boat in certain angles of sunlight. It looks real cool on a boat because of how the light reflecting off the water will light up only certain portions of the boat. Trust me, you will love it and people like the (wow factor) of how the glitter suddenly turns off and on. I will try to get a picture of the bottle and post it tomorrow.

 

[spd500]

I am only planning to spray about 3 coats of each color anyway , so should I just mix it in from the beginning , or wait until the last coat of each color ?

 

[customtouch]

Unless you have sprayed the color before, you won't know for sure how many coats it will take to get full coverage until you start painting. It may take several coats to get it in color and it may not. I have under estimated the amount of paint it should take many, many times. If you dump the pearl in at the beginning and end up needing to buy more paint then you will have wasted the pearl and need more of that too. You should know after the first or second heavy coats. Then add the pearl and apply a couple of light coats if you have achieved good coverage.

 

[spd500]

Ok , that makes sense . If I need to buy more paint do I just sand the paint that is already on the boat lightly and then spray more paint , or do I have to start over ? I am assuming that I will miss the window to recoat if I have to leave to go buy paint .

 

[customtouch]

That depends on the window of the paint you are using (it varies). Check with your paint company on that. Regardless I will normally get it in color, let it flash for an hour or two, then come back with 800 or 1000 and "LIGHTLY" sand over the top to take out any trash nibs that got in the paint. Then go back over it with another light coat or two. This way, the lighter coats will flash and dry before trash can get in it and you get a lot cleaner paint job. Also, you can lay out your metallics better this way.

 

[spd500]

That makes sense . I always wonder about the flash times and max times to recoat without sanding , mainly because the painters that do the best work usually give advice that goes against what the manufacturer times are . Here is a thread that has gone on for years over on Performance Boats that has lots of advice from one of the best painters I have ever seen and he often suggests things that are not possible within the normal operating times on the labels .

http://www.performanceboats.com/paint-fiberglass-repair/588-paint-detailing-questions.html

Here is a thread with pics of his work , he obviously knows what he is doing .

http://www.performanceboats.com/paint-fiberglass-repair/42984-custom-paint-pics.html

 

[spd500]

Here is a quote from Billy about the pics of his work :

"WOW Jerry thanks for putting these up. Forgot how many times you've been to the shop to shoot these deals.... They are all paint. Base coat clear coat. And none of them were done by following the labels on the cans "

 

[customtouch]

Yes, I am familiar with Billy's work and it is awesome. It is all about researching understanding the limitations of the paint you are working with and being able to read between the lines of the tech books. The normal max window between base and clear w/o sanding for most paints is 48hrs. It will be 6-8 weeks sometimes from first color to last and then clear for me but I came up with a system that allows me to get away with this. I have never had a warranty issue in the last 15 years of painting just boats, so I guess it works. Never had a real problem the cars and other stuff the 20 yrs before that either. 

 

[spd500]

I may just have to give you a call to talk about this system of yours before I spray my boat . It seems like alot to get done in a day , even for my basic paint scheme .

 

[customtouch]

I am not sure if it will work with DuPont paint or not. I would have to research that and it is sometimes hard to do because most of the paint reps/techs don't have the answers I need. I was talking directly to the guy that wrote the tech book for Sikkens when I was developing it. It is not rocket science but it all relies on some key questions that is not in most tech books and most reps have never been asked. For you, if you think it will be too long before clearing, then just add a couple of coats of midcoat clear on top of each color as soon as you finish spraying it. Then that can be lightly sanded before actual clear and it will buy you all the time you need. This is a standard procedure and it works well.

 

[spd500]

Thats what I have been thinking , it doesnt cost that much to just get the extra midcoat and do it right . A friend of mine that does paint and body work for a living told me to paint the purple and let it dry for about 4 hours and then just tape the boat up for the blue and spray the blue , then the clear . Problem is by the time I wait 4 hours to tape the boat I lose most of the day . I really don't want to push my luck and try to tape it too soon , but if I use the midcoat clear I should be able to start taping after letting the clear sit for about an hour . I know that I am getting good information from him , but I think it might be the difference in me painting my own boat and him running a professional paint shop . I am trying to limit myself to painting when none of my neighbors are in thier offices to complain about the paint fumes . My shop is attatched to two lawyers offices and several other buisnesses , so I paint mostly on Sunday . I really dont think that they would ever even know there was paint work being done , but I dont want to have anyone complaining .

 

[spd500]

OK , so the boat is primed ............ again . A friend of mine loaned me a primer gun with a 2.5 tip on it , that thing is awesome . It sprayed 3 quarts of primer in no time at all , I think it took longer to clean the gun up than it did to spray the paint . Here are a few pics of how the boat is looking right now , but they look alot like the pics of how the boat looked the first time it was primed . You have to see it in person to be able to tell much difference , but it is looking alot better .

 

[spd500]

I almost sent these things back without taking the pics  crazy.gif Sorry , been busy with other crap and a cold and havent thought about taking pics . They are going to the UPS store on Monday to make thier trip back home , on my dime . I lost a fair amount on this experiment , I dont suggest anyone trying to use these for thier project .
The manifold

Next to the head

Another angle

If you really wanted to use them you could probably make it with custom spark plug wires , but I am not sure . The port spacing is really good , and the bolt pattern is not very far off . If I could get my hands on a set of 351c jet boat logs I would buy them without hesitation , but these were going to be more headache than it was worth to run an ugly log on the boat .

 

[Last Mohecian]

Looks like a mess.  And yes they are fugly.  What cha gonna do?

 

[spd500]

We are pricing a few options , but I am seriously considering a set of polished stainless fabricated logs . Still checking into the option of making adapters to use BBC exhaust too though . Not really sure , I should know for sure by Monday . Whatever I end up doing has to be something like a log though , that way I can just bolt on turbo/turbos when I get ready .

 

[spd500]

What we are thinking of for the custom exhaust is kinda like a cross between a header and a water log . Basically a 3" stainless pipe with the 1&7/8" stainless pipes to go out to each cylinder welded onto it , with a 4" stainless pipe around it where the water will flow . The same basic idea of a log , with the same flow capabilities of a header . Hopefully if I go this route it will flow enough to be able to just add the turbos when I am ready without having to redo the exhaust to support the turbo setup . What do y'all think ?

 

[customtouch]

Thats what I have been thinking , it doesnt cost that much to just get the extra midcoat and do it right . A friend of mine that does paint and body work for a living told me to paint the purple and let it dry for about 4 hours and then just tape the boat up for the blue and spray the blue , then the clear . Problem is by the time I wait 4 hours to tape the boat I lose most of the day . I really don't want to push my luck and try to tape it too soon , but if I use the midcoat clear I should be able to start taping after letting the clear sit for about an hour . I know that I am getting good information from him , but I think it might be the difference in me painting my own boat and him running a professional paint shop . I am trying to limit myself to painting when none of my neighbors are in thier offices to complain about the paint fumes . My shop is attatched to two lawyers offices and several other buisnesses , so I paint mostly on Sunday . I really dont think that they would ever even know there was paint work being done , but I dont want to have anyone complaining .

Sorry, but putting a midcoat clear on top of your paint will not accelerate the curing time of your paint to avoid tape tracking. If anything it will slow it down even more. The reducers in paint are used soften and liquefy the paint  allowing it to be applied through the gun. You have to wait for the solvents to evaporate, leaving only the paint to cure and harden. The more paint you put on, the more solvent that has to evaporate and the midcoat clear is just basecoat paint without pigment. You would want to use the midcoat clear if you were going to try to spray one color one weekend and the second color the next (using the before mentioned process). If you are going to spray everything in one day then all you can do is use a fast reducer in your basecoats to shorten the cure time before taping.