Back to PPG one more time

Hello Guys....
Just wanted to update you all on my progress since my last two post Here and Here.

While reading post on this board I expected the OMNI MAE to cost more but by how much I did not know so when I came up with a price of $400 for Omni MAE and $150 for PPG commercial and $100 for tractor paint I thought I was right on.

With your persistence and help with detailed and thought out responses to my post I have now seen my mistakes and can see it differently. I was adding apples to oranges before because I was leaving out many things on some of my quotes such as all the different gun cleaners needed to spray different products and even the 181 surfacer in the tractor paint quote.

I had never got a quote for MAE from my local store that gave me the quote on the ALK-200 thinking the store in a large town would be cheaper because of competition. I went to the local store today to get a quote on MAE and found out the store in the big city was charging me list price as you all suspected.

Now with the new prices and trying to add apples to apples let me show you where I am at. I printed out all the tech sheets for products I was considering and studied them. I noticed if I use tractor paint or PPG commercial paint I need a different gun cleaner for the epoxy primer and paint and even a different one for the surfacer. This drives up the cost of the total job and I was not even considering it before. I have also bumped my paint to 3 qts red and 2 qts gray which I feel should be enough.

WALTS tractor paint..... .
3 qts red 2 qts gray + shipping. $80.00 (no tech sheet so I do not know how to thin)
1 gal MX190 cleaner; 1 qt MP181 surfacer and reducer; 1 Gal each of EPX900/901 epoxy primer; gun cleaner; mask all from local PPG. $131.92 for a total of $211.92 While I could reduce this price I can only do it by skipping steps.

PPG commercial paint..... .
1 gal red; 1 gal gray ALK200 RTS. (only comes in gallons RTS). EPX900/901 primer; MX190 cleaner; MP181 surfacer and reducer; gun cleaner and mask; Total $229.25

PPG OMNI MAE. (see if these prices are better) 1 gal MP170 primer.....…50.85
2 qts MP175 hardener.....19.04
1 qt MP181 surfacer....…12.50
2 qts MAE-A gray..... .…31.42
3 qts MAE-C red..... ..….68.82
2 gal MR187 reducer..….36.80
1 gal MX190 cleaner....…15.42
1-3M 7192 disp. filter.….20.86 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----
TOTAL..... ..... ..... ..255.71

CHOICES..... .
1) Tractor paint 211.92
2) commercial paint 229.25 or + $17.33
3) OMNI MAE paint 255.71 or $26.43 more than #2 and $43.79 more than #1

So now the PPG sales person is still trying to sell me the ALK-200. She even sent me to a local place that rebuilds out board motors for their take on this line of paint. They use the ALK200/201 w/ hardener and say they love it. Wish I could find some one that has used both of these paints for a comparison but oh well. I think for $26.43 more I will take the advise of this board and step up to the OMNI MAE paint.

THANKS AGAIN GUYS FOR ALL THE HELP.

You also don't need 2 gal of the 187 reducer. Look at the tech sheets again. The 181 is reduced 1:1 and the MAE is reduced 4:1 with the 187. The 6 total qts of topcoat and surfacer paint you are buying only requires 2-1/4 total qts of the 187. You'll have almost a gallon and a half left over if you buy 2 gal. Unless you have some use for that much excess reducer, I'd suggest you only buy 1 gal and use the almost 2 qts that will still be left over as a gun cleaner.

BTW, the 190 is a surface cleaner. It is not a gun cleaner. Not sure if you were thinking otherwise.

Rod