When a collision centre owner evaluates the performance of a paint system for making refinish repairs on today’s vehicles, there’s plenty of criteria to consider.

Topping the list is the level of colour-matching accuracy and throughput performance the system can consistently provide. Not coincidentally, these two considerations are often cited by owners as their major reasons for choosing PPG’s ENVIROBASE® High-Performance basecoat system.  

Colour-Matching Efficiency

This waterborne latex basecoat system incorporates all the latest pigment toners to match the highly chromatic, sophisticated colours offered on today’s cars and trucks. Key to its colour-matching prowess is an OEM-like, spectral grey undercoat system. 

Complementing PPG’s comprehensive colour formula library are two key colour tools to further assist the technician in quickly finding the right colour match. The new PPG DIGIMATCH™ spectrophotometer is small enough to hold in one hand, making it easy to digitally read a vehicle’s actual colour, even on curved panels and tight areas. The multi-angle camera features five geometries and five imaging angles to provide a magnified image of the colour, and sends the reading to PPG’s formula retrieval system to find the best match. Technicians also have the option of using a chromatically-arranged Color Variant Deck, containing thousands of prime and variant colour chips, sprayed with actual Envirobase basecoat and clearcoat. If the desired colour is in the chip deck, it’s a sure bet there will be no need for the painter to take the time to create a sample “sprayout.”

Throughput Performance

Reducing the need for sprayouts is one contributing factor to the excellent cycle time performance of the Envirobase system. Ease of use and fast dry times—from undercoats to final clearcoat—are also key to outstanding performance. For example, the basecoat requires only 15 minutes “flash time” before applying the clear, and there are clearcoat choices that can be force-dried in as little as 15 minutes. And painters regularly point out how the basecoat can easily be repaired “on the fly” should any dirt appear during its application. 

Overall, PPG states that with the right selection of a fast primer and clearcoat, a spot repair can be completed in about an hour.

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In summary, the ability to consistently get the colour match right the first time and expedient repair times are two major reasons why the Envirobase High-Performance basecoat system has become the best-selling waterborne system. For more information, visit envirobase.com.