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CN, I'll add my 2 cents. I doubt you'll see any advantage. DPLF advantage(s) over MP170 for the DIY as I see it: 1. 7 day recoat window instead of 3 - perhaps some additional value there
2. 6 colors instead of three - questionable additional value there
3. Bragging rights - additional value = ? For the commercial shop using PPG trained/certified personnel, there is the consideration of manufacturer warranty of the painting "system". That warranty is not applicable to the DIY, so there's no additional value there, at least for most of us. As you probably know I used DP for years, even before they took the lead out and renamed it DPLF. It is a great product but I no longer use it because of the clear price advantage of the MP170. I'll grant that it is "better" in the sense that a premium product is usually considered better than a similar economy one. However, the question is really whether DPLF actually provides a level of increased performance over MP170 sufficient enough to justify the much greater cost - at least twice as much. Is it twice as good? I think not but I am open to any reasonable argument that it is. I have not noticed a difference in how the two apply. They seem equally good. I suspect that only some kind of careful, long term comparison testing (including adhesion tests) could determine any actual performance difference. I doubt that's been done by anyone. I can personally verify the long term durability of DP. I've only been using the 170 for about four years but so far, so good. I have every confidence that you would not have a problem applying DCC (or anything else for that matter) over the 170, either directly or in conjunction with any surfacer of your choice. In any event, you ought to try some DPLF just to satisfy your curiosity. You can get it in quarts so you don't have to spring for a whole gallon. That will give you 1-1/2 qts RTS material. If you wind up liking it better than 170 and feel it's worth the greater cost to you, then go for it. You certainly can't go wrong since it's a top notch product. Of course if you use DPLF as your bare metal primer and DCC as your topcoat, why stop there? It's only another step up to move to a premium surfacer from MP182 and thus complete the Deltron "system". In the end you will have spent between two and three times more than an OMNI MTK system would have cost. For commercial shops doing collision repair on modern automobiles, the better color matching, time saving and manufacturer warranty of the premium systems make them definitely worth it. For a DIY doing an overall on his tractor(s), I seriously question whether it is. Like you, I want to at least try the DCC. I actually bought some back in March. Cost $64/qt for my persian orange (DCC60080). The hardener (DCX61) was $28 for 1/2 pint and the reducer (DT870) was $15 for a qt. With the recommended 4:2:1 color:reducer:hardener mix, that works out to about $57 per RTS quart. These are walk-in prices. I don't get any kind of discount. The invoice indicates (if you can believe it) suggested list prices as follows: $80/qt for the color, $35 for 1/2 pt of hardener and $19 for a qt of reducer. That's $71 per RTS quart. The DCC is very noticeably heavier in the can. But it's also reduced twice as much as the MTK. I haven't used it yet because the shade is not a perfect match with MTK 60080 and I don't want to use both on the same tractor. I may wind up using it on my snowblower but that is not likely to happen this year. I strongly suspect I'll come to the same conclusion that I did with my DBU/MBC basecoat comparison of a couple years ago. Namely that the premium color covers better such that you can use one less coat than the economy color. Even considering that, the cost was still more than twice as much for the premium DBU. Where the additional cost is fully justified is in panel color matching with OEM finishes on cars and trucks. The DBU was clearly superior in that respect. If you haven't already got some DCC in your color (71310 isn't it?), you may have to prevail on your supplier to actually call PPG. The formula for the same code in DCC may not be in the computer. Jason (ma) clued me in to that. I was told that my 60080 was not available in DCC, only MTK. Fortunately, the jobber called PPG after I requested it and they faxed the formula in DCC so he could mix it. You may even find that the DCC eliminates that orange tint that concerns you in MTK. You will never know unless you try it. Rod
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