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Rustoleum guys - could it be that I'm not mixing the paint enough? Maybe the hardening agents are hanging out at the bottom of the can and I really need to mix it all up. I've never stirred it for more than about 30 seconds, till it looks even, but now I'm wondering since other people are not having the scratch problem. I know Baku said they mixed his up real good for a minute.

I'd like to give it a shot with this color, canvas white..
[image]
http://www.antiquetractors.com/gphotos/a7231.jpg[/image]

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Exit I live in roughly the same area as you, and have posted before about problems with Rustoleum scratchability. I am betting it is a Cailifornia or Northern California thing. A hardner maybe your only solution.

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Exit - That's certainly a possibility, but I hate to say that I don't think that's it. I started my next project (ironically it's a mower, like your photo) and I used the comsumer STOPS RUST grade paint (Sunrise Red). I only gave the can a quick stir (15 seconds maybe) as the paint looked very uniform, before I poured it into a small container to mix the mineral spirits in. This was last Sunday. I checked again last night and I could not scratch the paint no matter how hard I tried, at least not with a fingernail. I'm sure I could with a screwdriver or something, but I could do that on my factory paintjob too! (no, I'm not willing to test that theory!)

It's been ridiculously dry weather here in S. FL for the past two months, but it won't be long before the humidity level starts to soar. It will be interesting to see if that has an effect as well.

I honestly wish I could offer a more educated opinion as to why your paint does not want to stick. The thought just occured to me; areyou using "odorless" or "low- odor" mineral spirits, or regular. Obviously there is a difference from regular Mineral Spirits. I'm not home right now, but I'm fairly certain I used just plain mineral spirits. It's a LONG shot, but...?

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Hey Exit
I am using odorless mineral spirits from Ace. I seriously tried to scratch my car again, and nothing.
Maybe is the color. As far I can remember everybody is using dark colors. You are the only one using a light color.
I bought professional almond paint for my bug. I am going to start to paint tomorrow. I will let you know what happens.

By the way, anybody knows how to get rid of masking tape from the car. The tape have been there a couple of weeks on the trim and now I can not take it out. I have tried alcohol and hot water also (the paint is fine) but does not work.

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Speaking of heat, anyone know how well the paint holds up on the hood or in the engine bay? I wonder if it can get too hot and cause things to happen to the paint.

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if you know anything about Air cooled VW Beetles, you'll know that those engines run really damm hot, the exhaust is right under the rear apron in the back, 6yrs, no issues with the paint/heat on my 74 beetle. on my dads 71 dark blue beetle in the pics, the single stage is holding up to the heat, but you can see it's a bit dried out. the heat in old beetle in the back and under the engine lid is insane, you could run a set of headders on a mopar 1" from the paint with no issues, heck i'd even bet it would live on headders. i have yet to see a vw beetle painted with BC/CC survive on the back of a VW, almost allways cracks after a few months. heat is not a issue, you will never see the heat in a mopar engine compartment as you would in a old VW, they run oil temps of about 220-240*deg F, and the engine compartment ambient temps reach well over what you would see in a mopar, don't forget they are air cooled, there's no rad, just a oil cooler.

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I read online that low odor/odorless evaporates slower.


Baku, what type of mineral spirits were you using?

Just got off the phone with Rustoleum. He said he didn't think the mineral spirit type had anything to do with my scratchability. He also said in quarts, there is no VOC limit so the rustoleum product here is the exact same as the rustoleum product elsewhere in the US. He advised me that perhaps I was putting the paint on too thick, and that the surface was drying but under the surface, it was not dry and the solvents never escaped and so it could be scratchable for eternity.

I really wasn't putting it on that thick, but perhaps I didn't wait long enough between coats, or long enough after wetsanding. I'll try to find some regular mineral spirits (or at least not odorless) and give it another go, very slowly..

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HOly cow! I have been using LOW-ODOR MINERAL SPIRIT AS-WELL!.....mayb thats why i'm getting soo many BUBBLES...

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Well Baku if your stuff is unscratchable with low odor, then full-odor stuff should be bulletproof. I'm going to pick some up tonight.

I read more than once online that odorless takes longer to dry, and to use it when you want to be able to work with a paint longer. I'm hoping that using odorless, combined with humidity and cool temperautes, meant my layers weren't drying well enough between applications and thats why they were scratchable for me.

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Thats with Rustoleum Proffessional with mineral spirits. Hard as a rock, before the 6 hour period, i can only imagine how strong itll be after a few weeks.

Tried with full pressure on my nail and no scratch, so i guess thats a good thing. or i jus thave weak nails. haha.

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