I havn't got any probs with what anybody's saying about painting over decals per say.
There are rare occasions where the decal vinyl and/or adheseve can play up (solvent penetration issues)and cause reaction probs here and there, but on the whole, the process can and does work fairly well.
The key issue is to make sure you get good adhesion with your clearcoat to the vinyl decal itself. Chasing good adhesion to plastics and vinyls has always been a pain in the 'A' for painters.Some decals will have a solvent sensitive face and therefore will present no problem for the clearcoat to key in and adhere. Other brands may not, and will need the surface to be preped up before putting your clear on.
My two most favoured methods to achieve this is - give the decal surface a mild scuff up with a grey Scotchbrite scourer pad, dry, or with 800 wet & dry paper, dry. Then give the decal a very light wipe over with prepsol(wax and grease remover) Then use a good quality brand clear plastics adhesion promoter, over the decal, say one or two light coats, no more.
You could even leave the plastic primer out of the equasion if you want, and just rely on the scuffing alone to do the job.You should get a good key in with that done.
Again, i say for me, i will be putting stripes on top of my finished clearcoat, and leave it at that.
Greg.
Hi Eric,
Hope your well,
One quick point if i may. When solvent based basecoat is applied,(and even water based basecoat for that matter), there is a maximum window of basecoat drying time allowed, between when the 2pak clearcoat is applied,and after you have applied your basecoat.Normally, freshly applied basecoat does not require scuffing or anything done to it before you apply your clear providing you apply your clear within the max basecoat drying time.If you happen to go outside the max drying time, you can then rewet the basecoat by reappling more basecoat over what you have sprayed before, or give the base a light scuff with Scothch pad or 800 w&d.Rewetting is best.
This so called time window varies from paint company to paint company.That can be from 20 minutes to a whole day for example.It pays to stick to the manufacturer's time specs to avoid delam probs happening. If you come along and apply your clearcoat after the maximum reccomended window, you will risk the problem of clearcoat delamination for sure.
Delamination is the complete breakdown of adhesion of the clearcoat layer to the basecoat layer. When this problem occurs, you can tear and pull vast sheets of clear off the basecoat, as if you were pulling a sheet off a bed. I've see this prob happen several times in my travels over the years in the trade.Stick to the time rules, and you'll be OK.
Greg.
