Expert: William Forster - 1/13/2008

Question
hi,
I am currently doing s project on an old mini cooper and seem to be having a problem with spraying.i spray the primer and basecoat perfectly, but my problem comes to the clear coat.i spray the firat coat of clear and it comes out awesome and wait about 5min for flash off time and spray the next coat.But the problem comes to the final coat ,this coat tends to have tiny bubbles wich pop and leave pin size holes which i've been told is solvent popping.what effective method do you recomend to eliminate this problem
kind reguards Shaun

Answer
You are applying too much clear if you are using an HVLP gun. 2 coats are plenty. It may be the clear, your shop conditions, you might tend to flood the horizontal panels, you might not be waiting long enough between coats of clear- you need to check the can label, or see if the manufacturer will provide you with a product data sheet. A lot of things can cause solvent pop, but I usually point my finger at the painter- I firmly believe you need to slow down, and to not bury the panels with clear. Bill