I'm painting a tailgate on a friend's Ranger. Over the last 2 weeks I've been painting a motorcycle of mine, using Dupont stuff in a bc/cc paint job. Had enough left over to help him out so he wouldn't need to buy paint (white). I'm using Dupont Chromabase, Basemaker, mid-temp activator. Everything has been just fine, because I used the manufacturers recommendations.

Anyway, we were getting prepped for mixing the paint, because he wants to involved in the process, I told him what ratio to use. I sprayed the tailgate for him, everything seemed OK after the first 15 or 20 mins. The paint was still tacky after this period of time. After painting my motorcycle parts, the paint seemed almost dry. Immediately, the alarms start going off in my head. I'm thinking to myself, something isn't right here.

After a question or 2, I asked him how he mixed everything. He used 2 oz of Chromabase, 1 oz of Basemaker and 1 oz of the activator. Totally wrong, he added too much activator!
This morning, I decided to go out to the garage to check on things. It's still feeling a little tacky and not dry.

My question is, will this stuff dry at some point so that I can clear it? Or, is it pretty much ruined with us left with having to strip the paint and start over again?

Thanks!

 

Don't you have a window for recoating with clear? from what i have read you can not force dry chromabase, so i'm not sure what you need to do. sorry i'm not much help.

 

The mix ratio for chromabase is 1:1..1 part chromabase to 1 part basemaker...You should only use 1oz of chromapremier activator to a quart of mixed base and 1/2 oz for a mixed pint of base.I dont see how 2oz of base would even start to cover a whole tailgate to begin with even after mixing it...You only have 24 hours to clear base coat..If its still tacky i would just use some wax and grease remover and wipe the base off that you have sprayed and if its dry now i would scuff it back down and spray it again with the right base mixture.

 

Remove it and start over again. It will eventually harden, but after a long period of time.

 

I have used DuPont BC/CC for the last 15 years and have never used any activator in my base coat, just 1:1 basemaker & paint. Yes it should dry almost immediately depending on how heavy your coat was. I would rather spray 5 or 6 lighter coats as opposed to 3 or 4 heavier ones

okiepc1