Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Dry time for coats of spray paint

1,581 views
Skip to first unread message

gary

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 10:19:11 AM9/19/15
to
I just bought a new, outside rearview mirror for my car but I need to spray-paint the mirror before I bolt it to the car door.

The directions on the spray cans of Dupli-Color Perfect Match paint say to allow "sufficient" time for the paint to dry between coats.

How many minutes/hours of dry-time should I allow between:

* each coat of Scratch Filler Primer

* the last coat of the primer and the first coat of the color paint

* each coat of the color paint

* the last coat of the color coat and the first coat of the clear coat

* each coat of the clear coat

* the last coat of the clear coat and installation.

Thanks,

Ed Pawlowski

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 10:51:49 AM9/19/15
to
Last time I did a little spray job like that, I allows 10 minutes
between primer coats, then a half hour to the finish, then a half hour
to the clear coat.

In your case, I;d wait a bit longer, even overnight from primer to
finish if you can.

There are some paints that will say to coat withing an hour or wait at
least 12 hours, but if not stated, it probaly does not matter.

gfre...@aol.com

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 11:32:16 AM9/19/15
to
What is the type of paint and the weather? Lacquer on a hot sunny day
will dry almost instantly and enamel on a cold, damp dreary day may
take over night.

Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

gary

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 11:44:35 AM9/19/15
to
acrylic lacquer aerosol paint
70-80 degrees
All coats will be applied in an open garage (not outdoors)

Ed Pawlowski

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 12:12:12 PM9/19/15
to
Could be done in a couple of hours in those conditions.

gary

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 12:21:20 PM9/19/15
to
I want to apply 3 coats of primer, 3 coats of color and 3 coats of clear coat.

How much time between the primer and the color?

How much time between the color and the clear coat?

Ed Pawlowski

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 12:37:23 PM9/19/15
to
Assuming not too heavy a coat and not high humidity, half hour should do
it. I've done it in less.

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 1:10:22 PM9/19/15
to
Generally a good rule of thumb to follow, however.
The question becomes, what about that "within an hour"? 5 minutes or
55? 1 or 59? or 30?

I'll generally stray something other than the "prime target" and
assess the progress of drying or curing by touch on the "test sample"
to decide when to recoat, or sand off runs, or whatever - without
risking damage to the "prime target"

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 1:12:36 PM9/19/15
to
On Sat, 19 Sep 2015 08:38:59 -0700 (PDT), gary
<gcot...@earthlink.net> wrote:

>acrylic lacquer aerosol paint
>75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit
Generally speaking, half an hour between coats of like product, 8-12
hours batween unlike products to be safe. (acrylic laquer over enamel
primer, for instance -, or unknown clear over acrylic laquer)

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 1:16:09 PM9/19/15
to
Are they ALL duplicolor arylic laquer?

If so, half an hour between primers (unless you are sanding) but why
3 coats? then half an hour (or less) between colour coats (unless wet
sanding) then half an hour between clears (unless wet sanding)

If wet sanding, allow at least an hour or two before sanding - then
coat immediately after the item is FULLY dried from the sanding
operation.

Steve Stone

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 1:56:44 PM9/19/15
to
On 9/19/2015 10:18 AM, gary wrote:
I've never seen an off the shelf can of spray paint exactly match any
factory paint color.

That is why I would paint an accessory like this mirror black or some
other complementary color.

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 2:20:00 PM9/19/15
to
On Sat, 19 Sep 2015 13:55:41 -0400, Steve Stone <n2...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I've had "off the shelf" match a whole lot closer than some "custom
mixed" or dealer supplied touch ups. For mirrors and other accessories
it is generally so close you cannot tell the difference, while using
it to spot repair a panel is a "horse of a different colour", and even
to paint a "defined panel" like a door can be off far enough to be
very noticeable becaue it is on the same "plane" and even between two
other original panels.

gfre...@aol.com

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 3:13:04 PM9/19/15
to
On Sat, 19 Sep 2015 09:21:16 -0700 (PDT), gary
<gcot...@earthlink.net> wrote:

It goes a lot faster if it is in the sun.
I have shot thinned poly urethane and been able to sand and shoot
another coat in a half hour sitting in the driveway in full sun. It
was tacky in 10 minutes.

gary

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 3:20:35 PM9/19/15
to
To: cl...@snyder.on.ca

The primer, color coat and clear coat are all arylic lacquer

The instructions on each can say to apply several light coats of each product. Three coats are "several" coats

Ed Pawlowski

unread,
Sep 19, 2015, 4:09:40 PM9/19/15
to
On 9/19/2015 1:55 PM, Steve Stone wrote:

>>
>
> I've never seen an off the shelf can of spray paint exactly match any
> factory paint color.
>
> That is why I would paint an accessory like this mirror black or some
> other complementary color.

I found a place on line that will make you a spray can. It is a perfect
match on my car. Cost more than the off the shelf stuff at the auto
store though.

gfre...@aol.com

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 1:59:28 AM9/20/15
to
Auto paint stores sell a little sprayer that uses a baby food jar and
a separate can of propellant.
They can mix just about any factory color, the problem that color has
probably faded if the car is a few years old.

micky

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 5:30:57 AM9/20/15
to
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 19 Sep 2015 08:40:48 -0700 (PDT), gary
<gcot...@earthlink.net> wrote:

>acrylic lacquer aerosol paint
>70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
>painting will be done in an garage (not outdoors)

I do my spray painting in the shade, but outdoors. Often in the hour or
two before sundown. I don't want to inhale the slightest bit of
paint, not even the stuff that sneaks around the mask or respirator.

And on a calm day or when the wind is blowing away from the houses and
the cars. Overspray can travel a long way. I do have an advantage
of 200 or 300 feet of woods in one direction. But when I've spray
painted a car -- because of the layout, I can't get my car into my side
yard -- either scratches or more, I drive to where there is no one and
nothing around, in any direction.

I used to put newspaper on the grass to avoid painting the grass, but
periodically I go around taking down the illegal advertising on public
land around here, the plastic sheets on metal poles. And I realized
those plastic rectangles make even better cover for the grass, because
it takes 10 times as much wind to blow them away. When it's windy
enough to move them, I wouldn't be painting anyhow.

I definitly paint on the grass and not a sidewalk because even though it
looks like the protective cover is plenty big, sometimes it's not big
enough. When paint gets on the grass, the grass gets mowed.

micky

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 5:51:05 AM9/20/15
to
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 19 Sep 2015 13:55:41 -0400, Steve Stone
<n2...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On 9/19/2015 10:18 AM, gary wrote:
>> I just bought a new, outside rearview mirror for my car but I need to spray-paint the mirror before I bolt it to the car door.
>>
>> The directions on the spray cans of Dupli-Color Perfect Match paint say to allow "sufficient" time for the paint to dry between coats.
>>
>> How many minutes/hours of dry-time should I allow between:
>>
>> * each coat of Scratch Filler Primer
>>
>> * the last coat of the primer and the first coat of the color paint
>>
>> * each coat of the color paint
>>
>> * the last coat of the color coat and the first coat of the clear coat
>>
>> * each coat of the clear coat
>>
>> * the last coat of the clear coat and installation.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>
>I've never seen an off the shelf can of spray paint exactly match any
>factory paint color.

I have. It was a long time ago, before the paint with clear coat, but
otoh, it was an unusual color 1967 GM mariner turquoise. And the car
was 10 years old. So it was about 1977.

All I was trying to do was get rid of scratches, and I would spray a
scratch and 30 seconds later, I could not tell where the scratch had
been. Nor could I tell what I had painted and what I hadn't. I was
amazed, that it coudl match so well, but it did. And I never did
notice what had been painted and what hadn't been, and since I had only
one can, I know I didn't paint most of this full size Pontiac Catalina.

(Some colors fade more than others. I don't know about cars, but leave a
map on your dashboard for a couple years and the red streets will
disappear. They didnt just fade, they disapppeared completely, even
though I knew where to look. The black lines and green lines were
unaffected by several years of sun. I forget about other colors, but I
think red is vulneralble because sunlight has a lot of orange or red in
it, or the red it has is different from the green it has. The sun is
yellow or reddish yellow, I think. That must mean something.

I took the car that morning to be washed at a cheap machine carwash, and
even though I didnt' ask for it or pay for it, somehow they spray waxed
it. I was angry, though I'd have to wait weeks to paint it, and his
answer was that the wax isn't anything anyhow. He must have been right
or when the wax wore off, the scratches would have come back.

>That is why I would paint an accessory like this mirror black or some
>other complementary color.

I see your point but then he woudl have to paint the mirror on the other
side too, and that's still on the car fwiw.

Clare's right, it's a mirror at different angles from the body, and even
if it's a little different, it won't be noticed.

Duplicolor only goes so far back but I too found that company, whose
name I've forgotten, that mixes any car color you want, based on the
color code from the car, and puts it in a spray can (which frankly I'm
sure works better than those add-on sprayers.) , But they make you buy 3
cans for about 60 dollars iirc. Base coat**, color coat, and clear
coat. I was going to do it until I wrecked the right front wheel. I
fixed it but the car isn't so perfect anymore. **I wouldn't even use
base coat for scratches. It would make the area to be painted bigger.

Next time I have pro's paint a car, I'll paint it to mach a car for
which duplicolor is still selling its paint. Then I can buy spare paint
at the low duplicolor price.

The first time I painted a car Maaco gave me 4 ounces without my even
asking, but the last time, I had to pay extra and they explained that it
wasn't the same paint. The paint they used had fast-drying stuff in it,
but if I used that it would come out bad. Or vice versa. So I paid
extra and then never used my 4 oounces.

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 8:58:28 AM9/20/15
to
PreVal sprayers. Work "OK" but mixing less than a quart, or better yet
a gallon, it is very difficult to get the color 100%/ Fading on
today's finidhes is almost a non-issue.

gfre...@aol.com

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 11:56:43 AM9/20/15
to
On Sun, 20 Sep 2015 08:57:46 -0400, cl...@snyder.on.ca wrote:

>>Auto paint stores sell a little sprayer that uses a baby food jar and
>>a separate can of propellant.
>>They can mix just about any factory color, the problem that color has
>>probably faded if the car is a few years old.
>PreVal sprayers. Work "OK" but mixing less than a quart, or better yet
>a gallon, it is very difficult to get the color 100%/ Fading on
>today's finidhes is almost a non-issue.

I have a red Honda that will dispute that ;-)

cl...@snyder.on.ca

unread,
Sep 20, 2015, 3:29:07 PM9/20/15
to
Red uis still the worst for fading - but not as bad as it used to
be. Biggest problem (particularly with the Honda) is when the clear
coat peals off. The clear coat is the UV filter - after it is gone it
goes red to pink very quickly - - -

gregz

unread,
Sep 21, 2015, 2:38:07 AM9/21/15
to
If your doing any sanding, must be pretty dry. As far as paint, it's good
to not let paint dry too much between coats. I usually use a Hair dryer fo
small projects to speed up. It's not good to spray clear over dried paint.
I've sanded and buffed lacquer, but never used clear lacquer. I've mostly
used enamels.

Greg

gregz

unread,
Sep 21, 2015, 2:38:07 AM9/21/15
to
I followed my cavalier paint code with disaster. I did better looking at
can colors.
Lots of shades of white LOL.

Greg

Oren

unread,
Sep 21, 2015, 12:51:20 PM9/21/15
to
On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 06:36:05 +0000 (UTC), gregz <ze...@comcast.net>
wrote:

>Lots of shades of white LOL.

99 shades, I believe, last I checked <G>
0 new messages