An idea for saving your paint supplies.

[adriver]

Maybe everyone else has figured this out already.
It's a little embarrassing it took me so long.
Let's say you bought the giant economy size of hardener and want to save it for later projects.
You know that cap that gets stuck on and you have to use pliers to get it off later?
Teflon tape before you put it on.
And if that's not good enough, wrap some fusible electrical tape around the top for extra.
I have had not had a cap get stuck yet and the hardener stays good.
I'm thinking it will work on cans too.
But that's an extra.
Oh, and steal some nail polish jars from your wife for touch up.
Butter containers make good stackable temporary containers for screws and stuff.
Takes up less room on the bench if space is tight.

 

[GeorgeH]

Catalyst/activator has a definite shelf life after it's been opened. I purge the can with argon put the lid on, put it in a ziplock, and put it somewhere the temperature is stable. If it's more then a few months I toss it. Not worth the hassle of laying it down on a car and the paint not kicking off and ending up with a gooey mess.

 

[Bodyperson]

I just clean it with a little thinner and a clean towel after the pour. Don't get any on the lid. Never have a problem.

 

[mopar head]

A simple swipe of the threads with a paper towel each time will keep the cap from sticking.
Yeah, I went through the channel lock cap removal only once, ripped the cap out of the can! lol.

 

[adriver]

Catalyst/activator has a definite shelf life after it's been opened. I purge the can with argon put the lid on, put it in a ziplock, and put it somewhere the temperature is stable. If it's more then a few months I toss it. Not worth the hassle of laying it down on a car and the paint not kicking off and ending up with a gooey mess.

There is always the freezer to extend that.
But your meat may taste funny.

 

[adriver]

I just clean it with a little thinner and a clean towel after the pour. Don't get any on the lid. Never have a problem.

Well yea.
If you are a bodyperson that does a lot of body work, you probably use it up in a week before it gets sticky.

 

[GeorgeH]

There is always the freezer to extend that.
But my meat may taste funny.

Well, Under absolutely no circumstances am I going to taste your meat!

 

[RichB]

I've put mixed base coat in a prescription bottle, kept it in refrigerator for over a month and it's still good for touch up. No luck keeping clear coat.

 

[Bodyperson]

O.K. lets get this straight.
Adriver has trouble getting it off because his meat stinks.
GeorgeH purges and ends up with a gooey mess.
Bodyperson never has a problem.
moparhead ripped it out of the can.
Rich B has been mixing prescriptions for over a month.

Got it.

 

[adriver]

Yea, I wouldn't cut corners on a complete car spray.
But that hardener that I pictured above was for one car and I shot it in stages.
I think I used almost 2 gallons on the car.
Those B bodies are huge.
Ok, I sort of painted it twice since I wasn't happy with the first spray.

B Body.
PPG couldn't mix the MOPAR blue color for that year, they said.
So after sand blasting the dash frame, I painted the dash frame with what PPG said was a match for that year MOPAR blue in a Ford mix.
(Polyurethane)
Now the car's steering was in pretty bad shape.
JB Weld and lacquer filler primer.
What to do? What to do for paint?
I didn't want to go out and find/by blue epoxy.
But I had a color match in a satin from Sherwin Williams already.
I had tried it on the dash.
Found out it wasn't hard enough on the dash so used that PPG automotive polyurethane.
But the Serwin Williams paint was "non metallic" and I figure it would look like "plastic".
Shot the wheel with it and used some clear coat from the 90s that I had left over from my wife's 88 Voyager deer hit.
It looks nice in person.
Hey, it's a steering wheel.
You never know.
Point being waste not want not.
And the Teflon tape works for other cans.

 

[adriver]

Well, Under absolutely no circumstances am I going to taste your meat!

I gave you a "like" for creativity in changing my post.
But you are supposed to say:
"There I fixed it." When you do that.
And when you want to go to the bathroom.
So you get a demerit.
We had a science teacher that did that to us for cutting up in class.
Not cutting the frogs though.
I remember getting squirted in the eyeball when I was goofing around and squeezing the frog's eyeball in my forceps.
Some justice there.
Frog eyeball juice in my eye.

 

[GeorgeH]

O.K. lets get this straight.
Adriver has trouble getting it off because his meat stinks.
GeorgeH purges and ends up with a gooey mess.
Bodyperson never has a problem.
moparhead ripped it out of the can.
Rich B has been mixing prescriptions for over a month.

Got it.