I bought a set a ebay lowers figuring I would buy PPG basecoat paint from the local PPG auto body supply. Went in today to get them to mix me up a pint, and the price was pretty high $108/pint). So I decided to check with the dealer, and the pricing is very reasonable. actually less then half of what the PPG paint costs ($92/quart). This just doesn't seem right seing that the small nail polish bottle of touch up paint that I got was $40.

So my question are:
Has anyone got their paint from the HD dealer?
Is it pre thinned, or does it require adding other expensive additives? (Parts guy had no idea).
Can I use regular PPG reducer with it?

Just Doesn't seem right, usually HD stuff is 2-3x more $ of everything.

 

Bump - -

 

It is not thinned, you still need reducer , and the clear needs additives also.

 

The dealer I went to wanted $45 for two tiny bottles of touch up paint (one black, one clear coat). I used some black nail polish on a chip near a stay on my front fender, and I have to "search" to find it. I`ve hit it with the pressure washer after it was hard dried and it stayed.

 

Thanks! I have an unused pint of PPG Clear and catalyst left over from when I painted my daughter fender. All I need is the basecoat. Sounds like ordering it from HD is the way to go. I should have an ample amount left over so I can do my inner as well.

Do you know how long of a lead time there is to get it?

 

I've used the hd paint with great results. It was cheaper than the ppg paint. You have to get the activator and my instructions on the paint can said that you can thin it with a thinner. I used ppg dt870 to thin it.

 

Thanks! Since it has an activator I will guess it's an acrylic enamel, correct?

 

It's says acrylic urethane on the can. I also used a ppg 2002 clear and that really made the color pop. Made it look deep.

 

A friend was having hard saddlebags painted to match. He took his side cover to a painter who "scanned" it and a computer program determined the paints and mix to use. Afterwards, you could not tell the difference from the rest of the bike. Depending on the color, it can take 2, 3, 4 layers of different "colors" to achieve the correct shade. My Crimson Red Sunglo FLHTC, if I just painted something the Crimson Red without the right base color, would never look close. high tech paint shops can match any color with just a sample to go by. And you get what you pay for, a cheap job looks cheap.

 

Don't know what color you are trying to match- but a word of caution. Several years back I wanted to color match a tour pack for my road glide and ordered Sierra red pearl from my dealer. No dice the color was close but would not match period. Turned out they sold me a single stage paint instead of basecoat/ clear coat. Went to the local PPG store got the right base/clear and the results were perfect.