|
Hi Steve, If you are considering a clear over the MAE, you should definitely use the hardener. Clearing MAE without the hardener is NOT recommended by PPG. Doing so could result in wrinkling and lifting of the uncured enamel. As long as you use the hardener, there should be no problem, at least if you use the OMNI MC160 within one week of putting on the MAE. Both the hardeners for the clear and for the MAE have isocyanates in them so you should use a fresh air respirator. If you don't have one you might want to rethink using a clear. Clearing a single stage paint such as OMNI MAE is debatable, depending on reason. It was done years ago to gain a better "depth" appearance to the finish. It does do that but not to a great extent, IMO. If you had two vehicles next to each other and one was cleared and the other one wasn't, you likely would say the cleared one had the better appearing finish. Look at the same vehicles at different times and you might not be able to tell the difference. In other words, I personally think of it as not dramatic and probably not worth the effort and additional expense, unless of course, you are into show competitions. That said however, I have cleared over vinyl decals. I think that it tends to blend the edges into the surrounding paint and makes the decals look more like they were painted on. I find the downside with clear is that any scratches will show up as white against whatever color background you have. Even factory automotive clearcoats have a nasty tendency to peel after a while, making your vehicle look like it is shedding it's skin. I have had three vehicles like that. The peeling started after about 8-10 years. The only fix is a complete redo of the finish. The next step up from the MAE in the OMNI line is the MTK, a true native acrylic urethane. It's not a big step up from the MAE with hardener and is only a little more expensive. That's as high as you go in the OMNI line. There is also an OMNI MBC which is a basecoat that MUST be cleared. I am not a fan of BC/CC finishes. I don't do repair or color matching work on cars and for overalls, I just don't see any advantage. I have read that BC/CC is easier to use for metallic finishes but have no experience in that. It is something you might want to consider though if you go the metallic route. If you want to go higher than OMNI there's PPG's main Deltron and Global lines for some higher end paints. I have no personal experience with them. I like to keep my paint UNDER $100/gal :o). In between the OMNI and Deltron I would put DuPont's Centari. That's an excellent acrylic enamel that is mixable in the field as an "acrylic urethane" (per DuPont) if you use the correct hardeners and reducers. Probably around $100/gal by now. PPG's Delstar is also an eqivalent outstanding acrylic enamel if you can still find a seller with the mixing colors. I think PPG is phasing it out in favor of their higher end lines. I haven't been able to get it in quite a few years. I painted one of my trucks a couple of years ago with Centari mixed as an acrylic urethane. Very pleased with it. An easy paint to spray. Quite difficult to run. You put it on fairly heavy in cross-coat fashion with NO dwell time between coats. Kind of unusual but works good. I think it was about $75/gal not including hardener or reducer which were both on the pricey side as I recall. If you are going to paint over an existing finish that is sound (and not subject to a possible peeling clear coat) the epoxy primer will work fine for both a great primer for any bare metal spots and for a sealer for the existing finish. I'd be a little nervous about the future of the rest of the existing surface if you have clear peeling off on the tailgate after only two years. In any event, you should cover everything with the epoxy as that will also provide a uniform color base for your topcoat. If you use the epoxy you don't need a sealer. Otherwise you can use a dedicated sealer. Be forewarned that neither the epoxy nor any sealer will fill sand scratches of any significance. They are not intended for that purpose. If you have sand scratches much coarser that 400 grit, you should also use a surfacer such as the OMNI MP182 and sand with 400-600 prior to your final topcoat.  Rod
| 
