The revival of 650143R, 1970 with TS.

[Bryan Boyle]

IMHO...you will not be sorry.  Just follow the directions and the reduction ratios.  You're in a good location (assume most of NV is dry?); shoot, let flash off and then sit outside in the sun for a couple days....flatten with 440.  Reshoot thin areas.  And don't forget the PPE.

Bit the bullet and bought the Duratec primer and reducer today.
Going to be a bodywork summer as the gallon is only guaranteed for six months.
3.5 cars of fiberglas to do.

[GavinT]

Bryan, are you (or anyone) able to comment on whether the Duratec primer is easier / harder to sand than the more common polyester spray fillers?

My impression is that Duratec is somewhat harder and perhaps it's because it contains more solids (I'm guessing) than something like Slick Sand or the like?
I know the blurb says "easy to sand" which is, of course, a relative term.

Also, there seems to be a number of different products that would fall under the descriptor of 'Duratec primer' and I'm not sure which is which as per this link.

https://atlcomposites.com.au/category/34/Sealers-and-Primers

[Kendo]

I did my engine and trunk lids with Duratec, and it’s great to sand. Then the rest dried up in the can. So respect that due date. So next I tried featherfill 2, and it sanded well, but not as well as the Duratec. For the rest of the body, I’m getting some more Duratec. When I’m ready to spray.

[GavinT]

Do you recall which particular Duratec, Kendo?

I've been surfing some body shop forums and there's some comments saying it sands like concrete. That's in contrast to others in the Europa world so I'm presuming there's different hardness applicable to different Duratec versions.

[Bryan Boyle]

Do you recall which particular Duratec, Kendo?

I've been surfing some body shop forums and there's some comments saying it sands like concrete. That's in contrast to others in the Europa world so I'm presuming there's different hardness applicable to different Duratec versions.

I don't recall having issues sanding the Duratec out; IIRC, I used 320 to knock it down, then 440 to smooth it out.  Use the "A" version.  My body guy did do a spray out, and managed to polish it to a reasonable shine (in other words, if I had wanted to do a grey primer car, I could have actually cleared it and had a car that was primer grey! 

(First three in no particular order, in the booth, last photo is after sanding out and pinholes addressed...sheesh...those were taken 15 years ago!  Time flies!)

[GavinT]

Thanks, Bryan, but which is the "A" version?

From my link:

Duratec 1794-006 VE Primer
Duratec 714-002 Surface Primer
Duratec 707-061 Sanding Primer
Duratec 707-051 Base Primer

[Bryan Boyle]

Thanks, Bryan, but which is the "A" version?

From my link:

Duratec 1794-006 VE Primer
Duratec 714-002 Surface Primer
Duratec 707-061 Sanding Primer
Duratec 707-051 Base Primer

https://www.fibreglast.com/product/duratec-gray-surfacing-primer

707-002s what you want.

[GavinT]

Thanks muchly, Bryan.

[Bryan Boyle]

Thanks muchly, Bryan.

my pleasure.  We're all in this together.

[Fotog]

There's a sheet that helps with selection of Duratec products available here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/vm6m277ux1stjp5/FLYER%20RIGHT%20CHOICE%20BROCHURE.pdf?dl=0

I was just going to attach it, but it's about 1500 Kb and deemed to be too big to attach here. 

Also, their distributor Hawkeye Products has comprehensive product data available that can help with selection.  See this page: https://hawkeyeind.com/duratec-guides/

Vince

[Richard48Y]

Now I know why R16's have nearly all been scrapped.
I thought I had seen some difficult to work on cars, but an R16 takes the cake.
Fortunate this one is headed to scrap, I used a Sawzall to simplify getting the engine out.
I would never want to have to put one in!
Now to clean up what I have bought.
Unfortunate the engine appears to be seized.
Good that I do not actually need it immediately.

[GavinT]

There's a sheet that helps with selection of Duratec products available here: 

Excellent, Vince, that's great.

Having all products on one page with descriptions of the intended purpose makes wading through the options simpler for the uninitiated. It also helps inderstand the nomenclature logic when seeing that the suffix numbers typically relate to the colour of the product.

Many thanks.

[Fotog]

All these sort of coatings and resins are always difficult to differentiate from one another.  I don't know what it is, but the producers aren't ever able to say that they are anything but unmatched in gloss, durability, ease of sanding, etc. etc.  Every one.  Makes it extremely difficult to choose.  And then there are the 'systems' where  you need to use 3 or 4 different things to get to the final result.  Super difficult to discern when you should use one system over another.  It's the same way with all this stuff for boats.  Still, this is what we have to go on.

-V

[GavinT]

Yes, but remember too that these Duratec  products are intended for mould/pattern making. We're using them outside of spec. We have zero info on possible automotive downsides and we obviously don't care about the gloss achievable.

Which is why I was wondering about hardness. What might be considered easy to sand for a smaller mould, might be pretty arduous over a whole car body.
That said, our little community must have a number of live Duratec 'experiments' running currently and, so far, I've not seen anyone unhappy with the performance of the product.

It's the same thing with veil which is also used out of spec. Still & all, this stuff is testament to the forgiving nature of these polyester based products.

[Richard48Y]

Engine cover for the red care is nearly ready for veil, them primer.
On my car I am using epoxy resin, a bit more work and expense but in theory even stronger.
I have set up an experiment for tomorrow.
For some reason Fiberglast says do not use synthetic veil with epoxy, but they do not say why not.
So I've put mold release on a plastic panel and will see what Epoxy does to synthetic veil and the same over a layer of glass matting.
I will report the result.