The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Jim Carter's ALK-200 Paint - anyone try it?

Any of you folks ever used Jim carter ALK-200 paint? I need to know what reducer to use and also what hardner if any to use? I read somewhere that it is ready to go right out of the can. I’m painting the inside of the cab.

Joe,

I use ALK-200 all the time. It’s a industrial enamel sold by PPG.
I really like it. I use it on the chassis as well as on the body.
It is ready right out of the can but......
You don’t need the reducer.... it sprays out really well as is.
I use the hardener. It doesn’t use much 15:1. The hardener moves to the surface to make a hard surface.
You don’t need to use the hardener. It just takes longer to get close to the same hardness.

If you do a google for the data sheet, it has all that info in it.

I like it because it doesn’t have the new car wet look of base/clear.

If you spray out 2 or more wet coats, it color-sands well. It dries quick and takes 7 days to fully cure.

Mike

You can find the tech sheet for ALK-200 HERE.
Scroll down to Topcoats and you'll find the tech sheet for it that you can save as a PDF. It says it can be reduced up to 10% with xylene if needed.
The hardener is ALK-201.

Thanks Mike for the help.

Thanks I’ll check it out

Rabaut what hardener do you use? The data sheet I found for ALK-200 calls for PPG ALK-201 hardener but I can't find it. I called my local PPG distributor and they tell me PPG does not sell this hardener any longer.

Fred,

They sell it here....

Does your PPG distributor sell the ALK-200?

The place that sells PPG auto products here is Auto Body Express in Tampa, Florida.
Phone number is 813-630-1702.
The guy I work with is James. You can ask for him. They will send it to you. It’s about $30 for a 1/2 pint..... that’s for a gallon... they make smaller containers.. 1/4 pint I think... so about $15.

I never used it on the engine paint.... I really don’t know why.... but I’ve had no problems. If you read the tech sheet, it shows that the hardness is not that different over time. I do use the hardener in the frame and body paint.

One of the best features of using this paint is if you have to patch up something.... I just use a artist paint brush... without hardener... no mixing...

If you need me to send you some, PM me.

Mike

I found ALK-201 listed on O'Reilly's web site. I doubt that most local stores would stock it, but the listing on their website indicates they could get it for you. I think it was in the $75/quart range.

Mike, I saw that the tech sheet says that using the hardener delays dry time (by quite a bit). Has that been your experience or is that a glitch in the tech sheet. It seems backwards to me, but I have no basis for that opinion. If true it makes me lean against using hardener.

I find that a gallon of ALK-200, the paint cost about $75.
The hardener (which is ALK-201) for that is about $30.

This is not a catalyze (2 part like epoxy) product. So it dries differently not like molecular chain linking like 2 parts do.

It’s true that the paint without the hardener dries fast, to touch in an hour or so, buts that’s here in sunny Florida.
With the hardener it takes longer but usually in both cases, I wait overnight so that it’s good and dry....

Remember, this is enamel not bAse/clear so it’s different.
Also, it takes about 7 days to fully cure although you can color sand it while it’s still soft you just need yo be careful.

Mike

Yep, looked again. $73.99 a quart, but I see they now list a pint for $23.99. Surprisingly they show that same price in Florida. But they'd probably charge me twice the list price to ship it up here. O'Reilly's also lists a gallon of ALK-200YL for $78 with a FL zip code.

I'm going to find out how it works this spring.

Thanks for the info.

I just paid $68 for a gallon of high gloss black.
That price you mentioned sounds like it came from one of the Chevy suppliers...
I saw that price a while ago and found a local supply and had my colors matched.

Did you call the place I mentioned in a previous message?

Mike