To clear or not to clear.....

-
ragtopfury

ragtopfury

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2011
Messages
4,157
Reaction score
4,866
Location
Manchester, MD
So I went with the ever so cheap Rustoleum paint job on the Dakota this morning. Added a urethane hardener. Turned out pretty ok for a rookie. Slight orange peel here and there. Looks good at 5 feet and way good at 10 feet, so I accomplished goal.
Should I clear coat it or not? Do I wet sand before the clear or only after?
Going to be my daily beater.
20220726_112900.jpg
 
I would wet sand the orange peel out and scuff it all over, wipe down with Prep wipe , ask your paint dealer, then clear coat
 
memike said:
I would wet sand the orange peel out and scuff it all over, wipe down with Prep wipe , ask your paint dealer, then clear coat
Click to expand...

If he's gonna clear coat the window is pretty short, maybe 24 hours.... He best get on it...
 
1WildRT said:
If he's gonna clear coat the window is pretty short, maybe 24 hours.... He best get on it...
Click to expand...
agree again, catch it soft and it will sand easier, but like you said (Leave it alone) I would save my money for any other upgrade :thumbsup:
 
ragtopfury said:
Leave it alone, it is. I am/was not prepared for a 24 hr clear. Lol. Told you I'm a rookie.
Click to expand...
I have wet sanded enamel 15 days later, re-shoot it with white paint then clear it. But remember I am 64 and have not used these new paint they have now. Truck looks great for a rookie paint job :thumbsup:
 
I would leave it, I would'nt try to remove the orange peel either, once you cut it with a fine sandpaper, it's never going to be the same and will be hard to buff and you risk burning through.

Just leave it, noting wrong with a little orange peel, lot of cars were sold new with some orange peel.....Unless it feels like football skin, little to moderate is ok
 
Too late but I try and talk people out of doing this. Rustoleum is oil based, not acrylic or urethane so using those type of hardeners do absolutely nothing. Play mad chemist but there's no urethane in it for urethane hardener to harden. Rustoleum as an oil based paint falls into the alkyd family. Water towers, park benches, and fire hydrants. A paint family that's main purpose is protection over appearance. It's a softer more resilient abrasion resistant finish then catalyzed acrylic or urethane paints. The shines lasts about as long as it takes to dry. 60 days in.

The real problem can arise when you attempt to put a true automotive grade clear coat on top of the uncatalyzed OIL-Based disaster where it can wrinkle up, lift, fisheye no matter how many times you wipe it down prior to re-paint etc.

If the end game was a rustoleum paint job so be it, but if this was an "untill I can do something else" there were better choices.
 
Last edited:
GeorgeH said:
Too late but I try and talk people out of doing this. Rustoleum is oil based, not acrylic or urethane so using those type of hardeners do absolutely nothing. Play mad chemist but there's no urethane in it for urethane hardener to harden. Rustoleum as an oil based paint falls into the alkyd family. Water towers, park benches, and fire hydrants. A paint family that's main purpose is protection over appearance. It's a softer more resilient abrasion resistant finish then catalyzed acrylic or urethane paints. The shines lasts about as long as it takes to dry. 60 days in.

The real problem can arise when you attempt to put a true automotive grade clear coat on top of the uncatalyzed OIL-Based disaster where it can wrinkle up, lift, fisheye no matter how many times you wipe it down prior to re-paint etc.
Click to expand...

Don't they sell enamel hardeners that work with alkyd enamels? I thought I remember seeing some once that was meant to be used with oil based implement paint or something. I can't recall exactly what it was though.
 
mopowers said:
Don't they sell enamel hardeners that work with alkyd enamels? I thought I remember seeing some once that was meant to be used with oil based implement paint or something. I can't recall exactly what it was though.
Click to expand...
It all depends, there are all different levels of alkyd paints, some are modified with acrcylic resins and call for a hardener. It all depends on what the manufacture states on their TDS sheets.
Rustoleum doesn't make a hardener for it's product. Without the urethane resins to kick off with the hardener all that was accomplished was adding a can of something that never dries into the paint. You need the both the hardener and the same resins present for the chemical reaction to happen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top