Automotive Refinish

A single-component, very low build promoter sprayed as a light mist coat onto untreated polyolefin mouldings before any primer or basecoat. It is not a primer: it adds negligible film build and no filling, and its only job is to give a surface the following coats can key into, on a plastic whose low surface energy ordinary refinish materials will not hold on to. The overcoat window is short, so the panel is built up in the same booth session rather than left overnight.

Substrates Untreated polypropylene, TPO and EPDM-modified polypropylene bumper and trim mouldings, and other low surface energy polyolefin parts. Polar plastics such as polyamide, PC/ABS and PPO blends, and previously coated plastic parts, are cleaned, abraded and primed directly and do not need the promoter.
Process Degrease, abrade, degrease again and dry. Apply one light coat by conventional or HVLP gun with a 1.3 to 1.4 mm tip at 3 to 8 µm dry. Flash 10 to 15 min at 20 °C and overcoat with primer, sealer or basecoat inside the stated window; air-dry only, no bake required.

A two-component epoxy primer cured with an amine-functional hardener, used as the foundation coat on bare and mixed metal repairs. It takes the place of a separate one-component wash or etch primer: the epoxy binder wets and protects bare metal without free acid, so it can be applied where cured polyester filler and bare metal meet on the same panel, and it can be sanded or overcoated wet-on-wet, where a wash primer is too thin to sand and has to be overcoated inside a fixed window. It carries the corrosion duty of the system, so it is the grade specified where a repair exposes bare steel, abraded aluminium and galvanised sheet together.

Substrates Bare and abraded cold-rolled steel, electro-galvanised and hot-dip galvanised sheet, abraded aluminium and aluminium alloy panels, cured and sanded polyester filler, and sound aged paint feathered back at the repair edge.
Process Mix by volume with the matched epoxy hardener and reduce to spray viscosity. Apply two coats by gravity gun with a 1.4 to 1.6 mm tip to 25 to 40 µm dry, flashing 10 min between coats at 20 °C. Overcoat wet-on-wet inside the stated window, or allow 4 to 6 h at 20 °C, or 30 min at 60 °C metal temperature, and sand before surfacer.

A two-component non-sanding sealer applied over the prepared repair to isolate it and give the basecoat one uniform ground. It is supplied in a graded set of ground shades from white through grey to black, with additional ground tints for low-opacity reds and for three-coat colours, because those shades only reach the target colour over the correct ground. Lower build and no sanding step distinguish it from Arcrefin PS 450: it flattens colour, not profile.

Substrates Sanded Arcrefin PS 450 surfacer, cured Arcrefin PR 230 primer, sound aged OEM or refinish paint sanded to key, and plastic parts previously coated with Arcrefin PR 110.
Process Select the ground shade called for by the colour formula. Mix with the Arcrefin AN 220 hardener and reducer, apply one or two coats at 20 to 35 µm dry, flash 15 to 30 min at 20 °C and apply basecoat inside the wet-on-wet window without sanding. No bake needed before basecoat.

An acrylic polyester surfacer used to fill P120 to P180 sanding scratch and rebuild the profile of a filled panel before it is sanded flat. Filler shaped with P80 is refined to P120 or P180 first, because coarser scratch is deeper than the sanded-back surfacer film and will telegraph through the finish. It is applied in two or three coats to a build that allows dry sanding back without cutting through, and it is the grade that takes the dry guide coat used to show up low spots and remaining scratch. Use it over Arcrefin PR 230 or directly over cured, sanded polyester filler.

Substrates Cured and sanded polyester filler and stopper, Arcrefin PR 230 primed metal, sound aged paint sanded to key, and plastic parts previously coated with Arcrefin PR 110 with flexibilising additive.
Process Mix by volume with the Arcrefin AN 220 hardener and reducer. Apply two or three coats with a 1.6 to 1.8 mm tip to 60 to 120 µm dry, flashing 5 to 10 min between coats. Cure 30 to 40 min at 60 °C metal temperature or air-dry per the data sheet, apply dry guide coat, then dry sand P400 to P600 before sealing.

The core solventborne colour range, supplied as a tinter set and a mixing binder so that solid, metallic and pearl shades are weighed out to formula on the shop scale rather than bought as finished colours. It is applied to hiding over a sealed ground, allowed to flash to an even matt, and cleared within a stated window. Batch-to-batch consistency of the tinters is the property that matters most here, because every formula in the retrieval system assumes the tinter is the same drum to drum.

Substrates Arcrefin PS 220 sealer in the ground shade called for by the formula, or sanded Arcrefin PS 450 surfacer. Not applied directly to bare metal, filler or untreated plastic.
Process Weigh the formula on the mixing scale, reduce with the Arcrefin AN 340 grade matched to booth temperature, and spray out a card first. Apply two or three coats with a 1.2 to 1.4 mm tip to 15 to 25 µm dry with 5 to 10 min flash between coats, plus an effect coat on metallics. Flash to an even matt and clear inside the stated window.

A translucent, pearl and candy loaded midcoat for three-coat colours, sprayed between a defined ground coat and the clearcoat. Colour is a function of coat count over that ground rather than of the formula alone, so the material is supplied with a coat-count reference and is always set up on a stepped spray-out card before the panel is sprayed. It is the grade used where a white or red three-coat pearl cannot be reproduced by a single basecoat layer.

Substrates The ground coat specified by the three-coat formula, normally an Arcrefin BC 210 solid or metallic ground over Arcrefin PS 220 sealer in the matching shade.
Process Spray a stepped card at two, three and four coats over the same ground and select the count that matches the vehicle in daylight. Apply that exact number of coats at 1.2 to 1.3 mm tip with full flash between each, keeping gun distance, pressure and overlap identical to the card. Blend the midcoat outward on each successive coat, flash to matt and clear.

A water-thinned tinter set and binder for shops working to reduced solvent emissions. Flake and pearl orientation is set as water evaporates rather than by solvent release, so the booth needs directed air movement and some control of humidity, and the flash-off step is longer and more condition-dependent than the solventborne equivalent. Application technique, gun setup and drying are different enough from Arcrefin BC 210 that sprayer training is part of the changeover.

Substrates Arcrefin PS 220 sealer in the ground shade called for by the formula, or sanded Arcrefin PS 450 surfacer. Stainless or plastic-lined mixing and gun equipment is required.
Process Weigh the formula and reduce with the specified water-based reducer. Apply a closed coat plus a lighter effect or control coat with a 1.3 mm waterborne tip, allowing each coat to go fully matt under directed air movement before the next. Confirm the film is completely flashed, then clear inside the stated window.

A high-solids acrylic polyol clearcoat crosslinked with polyisocyanate hardener, formulated for short booth cycles on one and two panel repairs and spot work. It flashes and through-cures quickly at low bake, which shortens pot life and the usable wet edge. It is the wrong grade for a full respray, where the clear has to stay open along the length of a car.

Substrates Fully flashed Arcrefin BC 210, BC 350 or BC 480 basecoat inside its overcoat window. Not applied over unsealed surfacer or bare substrate.
Process Mix with the Arcrefin AN 220 hardener grade matched to booth temperature, typically 2:1 by volume with a small reducer addition. Apply one light and one full coat with a 1.3 mm tip to 45 to 60 µm dry, flashing 5 to 10 min between. Bake 20 to 30 min at 60 °C metal temperature, then cool before demasking. Air-fed breathing equipment required.

A higher-solids clearcoat with longer flow and a longer wet edge, for multi-panel repairs and full resprays. The extra flow time buys distinctness of image and a more even film across large areas, and the cured film is specified where scratch resistance and gloss retention have to hold up next to a weathered factory finish. It cures more slowly than Arcrefin CC 220 and occupies the booth for longer.

Substrates Fully flashed Arcrefin BC 210, BC 350 or BC 480 basecoat inside its overcoat window, across as many panels as the job covers.
Process Mix with the Arcrefin AN 220 hardener grade matched to booth temperature and job size, typically 2:1 by volume. Apply two full coats with a 1.3 to 1.4 mm tip to 50 to 60 µm dry, flashing 10 min between and keeping a continuous wet edge along the vehicle. Bake 40 min at 60 °C metal temperature. Polish, where required, after full cool-down. Air-fed breathing equipment required.

A blending clear and matched fade-out solvent used at the boundary of a spot repair, so the new film thins out into the adjacent panel instead of ending at a cut line. The blending clear is a two-component material: it is mixed with the Arcrefin AN 220 hardener grade in use on the job and then reduced with the fade-out reducer. It carries the repair out to a natural break such as a swage line or panel edge, and the fade-out solvent melts the overspray zone back to gloss. The test of the work is visual: the boundary has to disappear under booth light, again in daylight, and at the shallow angle along the panel where a blend shows first.

Substrates Sound aged OEM or refinish clearcoat on the adjacent panel, prepared with fine abrasive or a compound pad, together with the freshly cleared repair area.
Process Reduce the basecoat and step it out beyond the repair so no colour edge remains. Mix the blending clear with the AN 220 hardener grade in use and reduce it, apply it over the repair and out into the prepared area, then immediately mist the fade-out solvent into the overspray zone at low pressure from a longer distance. Flash and bake with the clearcoat cycle, then polish the faded zone after cool-down.

Polyisocyanate hardeners in fast, standard and slow grades, selected by booth temperature and by the size of the job rather than by preference. The grade sets pot life, the point at which the film stops flowing and the through-cure time, so a fast grade on a warm day will set a large panel before it has levelled and a slow grade on a cold morning will still be soft when the booth cycle ends. Grades are matched to a specific clearcoat, sealer or surfacer and its mixing ratio, and are not interchanged without checking the technical data sheet.

Substrates Not applied to a substrate. Supplied as the crosslinker component for Arcrefin PS 220, PS 450, CC 220, CC 450 and the Arcrefin BL 150 blending clear. Arcrefin PR 230 is an epoxy and takes the amine-functional hardener supplied with that primer, not this range.
Process Select fast below roughly 18 °C, standard for 18 to 28 °C and slow above roughly 28 °C or for large-area work. Mix by volume at the ratio printed on the base product data sheet, using a graduated mixing stick or the shop scale. Pot life is typically 40 to 90 min at 20 °C and about half that at 30 °C, so mix only what the panel in hand needs. Keep containers closed: the hardener reacts with atmospheric moisture.

Reducers in fast, standard and slow grades matched to booth temperature and to the hardener in use, together with the consumables that surround the repair: degreasers and panel wipes, anti-silicone additive for fish-eye, flexibilising additive for plastic parts, and dry guide coat for sanding control. Thinner grade controls atomisation, flow-out and flash-off, and on metallics it also controls how the flake settles, which is why a colour sprayed with the wrong reducer lands lighter or darker than the spray-out card.

Substrates Not applied as a coating. Degreasers and panel wipes are used on metal, filler, aged paint and plastic before each coating step; dry guide coat is used over surfacer and filler.
Process Match the reducer grade to the hardener grade and to booth temperature, and keep the same grade between the spray-out card and the panel. Add flexibilising additive to primer, sealer and clearcoat for flexible plastic parts at the rate on the data sheet. Add anti-silicone additive only at the stated low rate and only where fish-eye has occurred. Dust dry guide coat over cured surfacer before sanding.