What brand material are you using ?.. I use a single product for plastic cleaning & prep & a water base primer .. Very stable ..The water base creates a re coat barrier ...

 

Mostly dupont stuff this time. I had good luck with it on a few other panels and thought I would use it for the X. For primer I have pretty much always used rattle cans. Unless doing a big portion or whole car I like the cans because there is no gun clean up and they are ready to go. I've mostly always use rustoleum primers but the store that sells the dupont paint only had sherwin williams primer and the guy said he had good luck using it. It did work fine but didn't take kindly to being messed with after the base and clear were layed on it. I haven't had that problem before with rustoleum.

Before the dupont products I have always used ppg.

 

Looking good!

 

Un catalized finishes will give you trouble with the recoat window ,, try a 2 part clear ,, it will help greatly ...

 

The more I am thinking about the more I am thinking the original primer didn't fully set.

Two part clear? The clear I am using is a clear and hardener that have to be mixed.

This is the stuff I use, not my picture but the exact clear, hardener, and base color.

 

Finally got to give my gun a proper cleaning. Done and put away.

 

Looks great ...

 

Been following this thread for some time. Nice to see it's almost there. Wish I had those skills with a paint gun

 

That grill looks really good!

 

Thanks for the complements everyone! I feel relieved to have that grille done. Being two tone made it so difficult because I had to tape everything off every time and be careful of "the other color".

 

Lookin great Snow, paint is expensive huh

 

Yeah, in the end I could have probably payed someone to paint everything cheaper but then I wouldn't have learned anything. lol Education is expensive!

Really though the dupont stuff seems to be cheaper than the PPG I normally get. Normally my paint supply bill is easily over $100 many times over 200 but with the dupont supplies I didn't go over $80 any time I went and got stuff.

If all went right the first time I would have had about $130 in paint for the bumper and grille including primer, plastic conditioner, and clear. PPG that $130 would have been enough for clear and maybe one of the two base colors.

 

I'm a PPG guy for nearly 40 years .. But lately I have been trying a paint brand called "Wanda"

Its a step down from lesenol , so far I love it , & it is half the cost of PPG . Using the color & the clear ...You would have paid less than half for your project..Automotive Paint Supplies | Collision Repair - Wanda Refinish

 

I have seen this before and I believe the PPG dealer in our town has wanda in stock as well. Really cheap stuff kind of scares me especially using it on my own vehicle. The dupont stuff isn't bad priced and from what I have seen holds up well.

How well does wanda lay down and hold up to weathering?

The one big thing I liked about the chromabase dupont stuff is the base can actually be built up a bit like filler primer. I did a fender for a buddy awhile ago with the dupont (first time I used it) and was very surprised how much the base builds up and actually fills in low spots and scratches some. I have never seen the PPG do that, in fact PPG always seemed to magnify scratches and low spots.

 

So far , I am really liking the Wanda .. I especially like the clear . 2 coats gives you a very deep shine . I am told the finish is guaranteed to have good UV protection ..It also sands & polishes like a dream ...