I'm just having a hard time trying to figure out why this is going to the extreme that it is. There are many die hard SPI fans on this forum...that's great, I like it too. As a matter of fact I now prefer the Epoxy to what I had been using...my preference, that's all. As I mentioned in a previous post, perhaps a previous thread...I like 3M's perfect-it system for polishing, 3M's PPS system for disposable paint liners, 3M's Body panel adhesive, 3M's sand paper, masking tape and a host of 3M products...however, when and if I recommend any 3M product, I may get a fart in the wind type of rebuttal like "it's to expensive, use this" or "I use Norton because...", and that's it. The minute SPI gets mentioned it seems as though we better line up the artillery Martha, the British are coming.
I've been in the paint business a long time, I have never seen a paint brand invoke so much interest, emotion and even passion. For the first while on this forum, I stood back and watched, listened and finally, because of all the hoppla, I tried it. If this is all part of a grand marketing campaign, weirdest one I've ever seen.
As far as SPI not having a full color pallet and why not if SPI is so huge...well, I don't think SPI is that huge, I think SPI has a following of loyal customers that for some reason choose to use SPI over what they had been using and if that's the case, perhaps we need to ask ourselves why did these people choose SPI over what they had been using. Now this is where I can possibly put a little light on this subject. I had been a PPG, DP40 fan for well over 20 years...loved it.
Cost of the product...didn't care, I told the customer that DP40 was the best Epoxy Primer I had used (which at the time was true) the customer paid for the cost of using DP40, so it wasn't cost.
Availability of the product...well many more PPG jobbers than SPI jobbers, so DP 40 is more easily available.
Color choices...about the same, PPG's DP line may have an advantage, overall very similar.
What else is there...well I think that they are fairly similar in corrosion protection...the tests i did about 6 months ago show that SPI Epoxy outperformed the abuse I put it through and looking at the test panels today, they still look great.
So why go to SPI epoxy, for me it was the fact that I could get decent build if I needed it and it's sanding characteristics. Why the clear, it lays down nice, polishes well and if your in a production shop, you can save money because your baking costs are cut down.
Why does SPI not have a full pallet of colors, maybe because they aren't huge and getting a full pallet of colors would cost a great deal of money. I asked Barryk why, he basically told me that he wanted to concentrate on what SPI was good at...building high quality primers and clear coats. Not a bad answer, I feel that my area of expertise, if I have one, is painting, I focus on continually improving that skill. Why chastise a company that focuses on what they are good at.
PPG, Dupont, BASF, SW, all the majors, they all work, they all serve a purpose, they are all designed, when directions are followed, to fill a need in the market place, just like SPI. So, I guess it comes down to personal preference, many people prefer Dupont over PPG...I now prefer SPI's primers and clears over what I had been using, for me, they better fill my need. If another product or manufacturer's product better fills someone else's need then that is what they should use. At the end of the day, the basic principals of application and how the products are finished remain the same or at least very similar...so why get pissed if somebody really likes one product over another one? I don't get it.
Sorry for the long rant...but...just my thoughts.
Ray