Dull Paint... Clearcoat to Blame?

[Anonymous]

Hey, I just finished my 3rd (yes, third) attempt at painting my GS400 Tank. I took the time to actually do it right this time.

I used about 6 coats of a PPG single stage Red Paint, I used a simple grey primer underneath. The paint came out really well, it was super golssy, but I wanted some added protection, so I used Krylon's crystal clear acrylic coat.

After the clearcoat dried, the paint appeared dull. What should I do? Do I need to sand it down? Any suggestions?

Thanks, as always

Matt

[Doze]

Matt, I would definitely say the clearcoat was to blame. Most automotive paints don't react well to mixing with other products. Your single stage PPG paint was a catalized urethane right? If you didn't wait for it to completely cure before applying the Krylon clear, it will react almost immediately by either crazing or as it sounds in your case hazing to a flat dull finish. If you are going to the expense of putting a high quality PPG product on in the first place, you are defeating your purpose by applying Krylon over top of it. Krylon has virtually no UV protection in it, plus it will react with any gas that you might have the misfortune of spilling on the tank. If you want a clearcoat to protect your finish then by all means use a quality catalized urethane clear also. I would recommend PPG's new DC 3000 clear. It is very reasonably priced and is designed to air dry with a very short "tack" time so that you get a minimal amount of dust in your paint job.
Doze.

[WesV]

Have you tried buffing the clear coat out just to see if that will bring back the shine. If your PPG cured enough you might still be ok with a good buffing. 3Ms "buffing compound" is some good stuff, but use it sparingly as other will you will go straight down the the paint, youy have to really watch what you are doing, but it is good stuff.

[Anonymous]

The 2 post above are dead on accurate I just wanted to tell you that the quality of krylon paints has gone down hill since Home Depot stopped carrying them. From a can I prefer (as it relates to spray paint) duplicolor, I have found there primer to be of very high quality as well.

[KennyJ]

The acrylic clear is like a hobby paint, not automotive. It dulls up quick. I would get a sheet of 1500 or Ultra Fine sandpaper, remove all that clear, then hand rub out the tank (that is if it didn't lift, bubble or craze your basecoat). Stay far away from that acrylic clear and use their epoxy clear, or something that is urethane based.

Kenny